Crossover

Teaching Sweets and had a panic about Cross Over and Back. I know in Cross Over and Lead Around the gents pass shoulder to shoulder and I know in Circle Round and Hands Across the ladies go shoulder to shoulder. So I dithered and sent them gents left to left. OF COURSE it is gents left to left. I know this, I know I know it. Stop second guessing yourself, you're absolutely fine.

15 days.

Tunes n Trip

I've spent the last two nights revising from the Olive videos, saying the movement aloud before the dancers get to it, watching the trickier bits, and making a list of mistakes. Personally I didn't make many but it did give me the opportunity to tidy up a few things in my own mind.

Next week, I'm planning to teach The Three Tunes. I've told them there's a "fight scene" in it so they're dead keen! But, I always mess up the order. I know the order of the repeated moves, I know that Sides comes first and Lead Round comes third, and that Thread the Needle comes before the final Roly Poly. I CANNOT get the other movements straight.

In correct order, the movements are:

Sides
Rings
Lead Round
Stamp and Clap
See Saw
Roly Poly
Hook and Chain
Rings
Sides Under Arms
Stamp and Clap
Thread the Needle
Roly Poly

Racking my brains and this is the only way I can think of to remember it: See Saw comes before Sides Under Arms in the Sweets of May. Hook and Chain goes in the middle. Or Hook goes with Haste. Hmm.



And, Trip. I know this one quite well but when writing it out I can never work out who goes under who arch first. Tops make the first arch so the order of passing under is: Opps under tops, opps under opps, tops under tops, tops under opps. Opps, opps, tops, tops. This makes no sense to anybody :)



Doing this has made me realise though - I do NOT know any of the ceili tunes. Not well enough to lilt in an exam anyway. I could get by with St Patrick's Day and Haste to the Wedding I reckon, Roly Poly part of the Three Tunes, but nothing else. This needs WORK. Off to iTunes to create a playlist I go - I got 100% in a music quiz earlier so I can park that for a while and work on ceili music instead.

"If you get it wrong, you have to get it right. You can't just leave it."

Wise words from a ten-year-old. And she (Julia, Jig) is right - you can't just leave it. This is why I was never a particularly good dancer. I would start off practising my reel, only I couldn't get the timing or I couldn't do that bicycle...so I'd move on to slip jig instead. What Julia, or Brogan, or Claire would have done, is to keep practising until the timing was stuck in my head, or get between two chairs and figure out that bicycle. And to be fair, that's not even just a champion's mindset. That's just a hardworking mindset.

It's slowly dawning on me that things worth doing need work. Why did I never put my shoes on and drill trebles? Why did I just accept that I would miss them occasionally on my left foot? Now that I've drilled, I don't miss them on my left foot. Why did I just accept that I couldn't hit clicks? Now that I've drilled, now that I've actually caught on to the concept of pointing and turning out, I CAN hit them. Not consistently still, but I'm getting there, because I am no longer just leaving it when I get it wrong. This is so infuriating to me. Ten year olds know this stuff - why didn't I? I did know it deep down, but why didn't I apply myself?

I can't remember whether I wrote about Monday's class or not. There again, during the warm up I was really concentrating on turning out and crossing my skips. I looked down, and everything was where it was supposed to be. It was working.

I ran through Sweets again, and caught up the people who hadn't been there the previous week. It was R's first time doing it as she couldn't go last week so she was nervous, but picked it up a treat. Such a lovely dance. We then moved on to Cross Reel and I took turns teaching it with the regular teacher - he's definitely better than me! I'm too meek. I need to speak up and have a bit more fun with it. We got through lead, extended sides, full chain and gentlemen interlace - next week back-to-back, which I've never taught and can only dance as top gent or lady. Nevertheless, should be interesting. No class next week due to the bank holiday so just my Wednesday practice session - more heavy jig work. No use moving on until I've got both steps PROPERLY right, because as Julia says: "If you get it wrong, you have to get it right. You can't just leave it."

Time for an update

It's been such a long time since my last update. I don't really have a reason for that but rest assured that the lack of updates doesn't mean a lack of work.

One of my girls bought herself some hard shoes on eBay a week or two ago, so we've spent some time on treble drills and really just showing her how to use the shoe. This has done ME the world of good as well although my foot injuries haven't thanked me. I feel like I'm gaining a bit more control over those feet and shoes, and am working out how to get the best sounds again. It's coming along.

This week I was given the chance to teach a HUGE class - well, huge by my standards. 16 dancers! It was a ceili class so we went through Sweets of May and they were fantastic, we got through the entire dance (all four figures) within about 40 minutes. So impressed. I didn't want to keep them going over the same material all night though so we moved on to Lannigan's Ball which I taught as a 16-hand. I had to spend some time teaching them the rising step as not all of them had done it before but we got through the first four movements - perhaps I'll get to finish it next week alongside the regular teacher. I didn't break sweat but it was great practice and good fun: "cotton-eyed Joe", "think speed!". Good times.

The Sweets of May
First Figure - Rings
Body - Cross Over and Back, Advance and Retire, Ringing the Bells
Second Figure - Lead Round
Body
Third Figure - See Saw
Body
Fourth Figure - Sides Under Arms
Body
Repeat Rings

Lannigan's Ball
Rings
Quarter's Hook
The Rise and Grind Step
Lead Round in Centre
Flirtation
Stack Up
Lead Round
Rings

The previous week we'd done Trip to the Cottage (although not the first figure unfortunately) so it was good to get a few dance-throughs of that into the legs. I'm confident on Cross Over and Lead Around and on the body, but I often fluff the figures when writing up exam papers. To revise!

Pop Quiz I

Time for a quiz! Match the movement to the dance in which it appears:


Ooohhhh, you didn't think it'd be that easy, did you? That's only the starter question. The real question is this: Which is the odd movement out and why? I'll give you a few days before I post the answer. No prizes for guessing, save for bragging rights and a sense of self-satisfaction :)

The Sweets of May

I wish it was May :(

Corrections in a different hue as before - I'm yet to decide which colour to use.

First Figure - Rings
All take hands in a ring, sidestep to the left and back then the right and back, finishing each time with two short threes (16).

Body
Cross Over and Back - top couples take inside hands and exchange places, gents left shoulder to left shoulder, turning into places without releasing hands. While top couples are exchanging places couples 3 and 4 dance two threes in place. Side couples exchange in like manner while tops dance two threes. Tops return to place as before, followed by sides (8).
Advance and Retire - tops advance to centre while sides mark time with two threes. Tops retire while sides advance. Sides retire while tops advance, then while tops retire sides mark time with two threes (8).
Ringing the Bells - all beat hands above knees four time (right on right first) then clap hands twice. Repeat. Sidestep past partner and I can't remember! - sidestep past partner and dance two threes in place. Repeat whole movement this time sidestepping back to place (16).

Second Figure - Lead Round

Third Figure - See-Saw
Partners take both hands and swing a complete anticlockwise circle back to place, turning clockwise. Reverse and swing a clockwise circle back to place, turning anticlockwise (16).

Fourth Figure - Sides Under Arms
Tops make an arch under which sides on right pass (2nd sides under 1st tops, 1st sides under 2nd tops). Tops then pass under arch made by sides. Tops turn towards sides on left who pass under their arch (1st sides under 1st tops, 2nd sides under 2nd tops). Tops then pass under arch made by sides (16).

Can't remember if there's a finish or not... Repeat rings.

Not bad! :)



Can I make an announcement please? Of course I can, this is my blog.

I have finished Book Three!!!!!!