[MR] Name That Dance

[Steven Chang]

Dunno, but if you look up irish dance in wikipedia :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_dance you can see that is the formation
they describe as a irish set or ceili dance.

On 9/7/07, C. Brian Towey <cbt at ib-ent.com> wrote:
>
> Dear dance masters,
>
> I was at a party in rural Ireland recently, and there was a traditional
> band.  They struck up a lively 4/4 tune, and everybody got up to dance.
> Maybe I missed it in the hubbub, but nobody named or called the dance.
> Nevertheless, all the locals young and old seemed to know it.  It was more
> similar to dances I've seen in the SCA than to either contra dancing or
> square dancing.  Some variety of English Country Dance, perhaps.  I'm
> hoping
> that one of you gentles will be able to tell me the name.
>
> Dancers formed up in ranks of four abreast, MFMF.  There needed to be four
> files (columns) and an even number of ranks (rows).
>
> Odd ranks faced up the hall; even ranks faced down the hall.  This gave
> facing groups of eight.
>
> v v v v
> ^ ^ ^ ^
>
> v v v v
> ^ ^ ^ ^
>
> v v v v
> ^ ^ ^ ^
>
> v v v v
> ^ ^ ^ ^
>
> Etc.
>
> A Part (Verse) (8 bars)
> =======================
> 1) In 8 beats, within each rank the two couples changed places sideways.
> MFmf became mfMF.
> 2) Repeat, to restore the original rank.
> 3) Then, each pair of facing ranks divided like this.
> MF     mf
> MF     mf
> The foursomes took hands, and they circled to the left for 16 beats.  Most
> made one circle in that time. Some foursomes of experienced dancers turned
> twice as fast.
>
> B Part (Chorus) (8 bars)
> ========================
> 4) As the music changed, they kept circling to the left for 16 more beats,
> then took hands in their original ranks.
> 5) In 8 beats, the two facing ranks came together, double forward and
> double
> back, holding hands within each rank.
> 6) In 8 beats, the ranks facing down the hall raised their joined hands
> and
> the ranks facing up the hall passed under.
>
> ^ ^ ^ ^
> v v v v
> ^ ^ ^ ^
>
> v v v v
> ^ ^ ^ ^
>
> v v v v
> ^ ^ ^ ^
>
> v v v v
>
> The music repeated every 16 bars (64 beats).
>
> I didn't notice what happened to the orphaned ranks on either end, but
> with
> each verse the odd ranks of four processed one place up the hall while the
> even ranks of four processed down the hall.
>
> I'm sure there is a more elegant way to describe it, but that's the best
> this hoofer can do.  I can try to post video if anyone wants more details.
>
> Your servant,
>
> Charles the dancing fool Fleming
>
>
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