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.

Book Two revision

Well, I did manage to get these in book order however I did make one or two mistakes. In Glencar Reel I got all the movements right but forgot to add Full Chain on the end. Unsurprising as I can't get to grips with it. And in the Antrim Reel I mistakenly called Swing Out to Next Couple, Swing and Exchange Partners. However I did remember that I'd got that wrong before marking - while writing out Bonfire Dance actually. So chuffed I remembered all of Tunes and Paddy's Day!

So, to revise from this book (in addition to Book One revision)

6) Antrim Reel - just needs a quick refresh, especially the dance downs/sidesteps
7) Glencar Reel - in full
8) Three Tunes - All movements
9) St Patrick's Day - refresh the body

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 :)

Sides

Inspired by the "16-Hand Reel Question" on the TCRG Voy, I wanted to see how many different movements come under the name of "Sides". The answer's ten!

1) Eight-Hand Reel, Cross Reel
Technically this is Extended Sides but I'll include it anyway. Partners exchange places with sidestep and threes, then continue on the same direction. Gent takes right hands with the lady on his right and they turn in place before chaining back to meet own partner in original place (16).

2) Morris Reel
Partners take both hands - right in right, left in left. Tops dance sidestep and threes to the right and back, while sides dance to the left and back. Tops then dance sidestep and threes to the left and back, while sides dance to the right and back (16).

3) High Cauled Cap
Partners take inside hands. Tops dance sidestep and threes to the right, sides to the left. Continue in the same direction back to place (16).

4) Sixteen-Hand Reel
Partners exchange places with sidestep and threes, then back to place (8).

5) Humours of Bandon, Eight-Hand Jig and St Patrick's Day
Partners exchange places with sidestep and rising step, then back to place (8).

6) Siege of Ennis
Partners take inside hands and exchange places with the other couple in their set of four, with sidestep and rising step, then back to place (8).

7) Harvest-time Jig
Each trio moves to the right with sidestep and rising step, then back to place. On the repeat, they move to the left and back to place in the same way (8).

8) The Three Tunes
All hold hands in a ring and sidestep/threes to the left and back, then to the right and back (16).

9) St Patrick's Day
Another Extended Sides, done in the same way as the Eight-Hand Reel but with the rising step in the place of the two short threes.

10) The Duke Reel
Partners exchange places with sidestep and threes, then return to place. Gents then exchange places with lady on their left in the same way, and back to place (16).

Thank goodness for consistency, right?! I think my favourite method is the Morris Reel, just because of the crossed hands.

The Three Tunes

I first saw this dance on the Worlds 1994 video; I think it was about 2002 by the time I finally got my hands on a copy of said video. A girls' team from the Scanlon school were performing what I later learned was the "Roly Poly", and I couldn't believe my eyes. Up until that point my ceili experience stretched only as far as the Four-Hand Reel and the High Cauled Cap. What were they doing? But it's now one of my favourites, just for it's complete uniqueness and the seamless link between each of the three tunes and the dance that accompanies it. It all just fits, perfectly. Looking at this ceili, and at the traditional sets, I can't help but wonder if people had a better grasp of rhythm, musicality and syncopation "back in the day".

Here's my attempt at remembering - corrections done after in some contrasting colour or another.

a) Sides (Haste to the Wedding)This would probably be called "Rings" in any other dance. Sidestep and threes to the left and back, then to the right and back.

b) Rings (Haste to the Wedding)Ladies take hands in the centre and promenade clockwise for 4 (back to place). All clap twice to one bar, then half-sidestep past partner (count 123, ladies in front) then full sidestep back to place (gents in front). Gents now repeat this movement! (How on earth did I forget that?!)

c) Lead Round (Leslie's Hornpipe)As ever.

d) Stamp and Clap (Leslie's Hornpipe)Stamp stamp stamp, clap clap clap. Partners exchange places with sidestep and back to places, clap hands above knees 5 times (RLRLR), clap clap clap. Repeat! Why do I keep forgetting the repeats?!

e) See-Saw (The German Beau)
Partners take hands and swing a complete anticlockwise circle, turning clockwise, back to place. Then reverse direction and swing a complete anticlockwise circle, turning anticlockwise, back to place.

f) Roly-Poly (The German Beau)With hands in fists and arms raised across chest, roll the hands around each other 3 times forwards then 3 times back. Pivot around on right heel and clap once. Gents shake right fist towards opposite in threatening manner whilst also stamping forward with right foot; repeat with left fist/foot. Gents stamp feet three times and clap hands near face of partner three times. The ladies usually raise up onto demi-pointe and turn their head to the right during the claps. Sidestep and threes (consecutive sevens - no threes) to exchange places with partner, and then return to place. Repeat.

g) Hook and Chain (Haste to the Wedding)
Gents hook left arms with the lady on the left and turn in place, then chain back to partner with right hand and continue the chain in the same direction until they meet their partner back in place.

h) Rings (Haste to the Wedding)As before

i) Sides Under Arms (Leslie's Hornpipe)Top couples form an arch under which couple to their left pass. Turn about and side couple form the arch under which tops pass. Tops then form an arch under which couple to their right pass. Turn about and side couples for the arch under which tops pass.

j) Stamp and Clap (Leslie's Hornpipe)As before.

k) Thread the Needle (The German Beau)All take hands in a ring except gent of first tops and lady on his left (lady of first sides). Top couple form an arch and lady on left passes under and back to place with all other dancers following. Lady then makes an arch with partner and top gent leads the line under the arch and back to place.

l) Roly-Poly (The German Beau)As before.

I also flipped See-Saw and Hook and Chain, but I put them back in their original places because my descriptions were correct. With some of the dances, remembering the sequence of movements photographically has helped, so I'll have to try and use that so I don't get it wrong in future. Overall though, quite pleased with how I did there.



So, twenty-seven down and three to go. I'm quite sad that there isn't more to learn, really.In terms of doing the exam 30 is more than enough of course, but if there was another book of dances that weren't on the exam then I'd want to learn them all too. I've enjoyed learning them all, I really have. A right little voyage of discovery.

I've also made a bit of a leap forward and (gulp) put some money in a savings account last night. The exam fund has begun. It's starting to get real.