Stafford and District Caledonian Society

Dance of the month and other Cribs

 Dance of the Month will be repeated each week for one month during our main class, 19:45- 21:30, and may also be included in the early class.

We will also use thise page to incude cribs for our special dance programmes, such as our President's evening and Annual Ball. 

Dances devised by, or special to, Stafford & District Caledonian Society

Awa The Noo (S5x32)  5C L set.   Stafford & District Caledonian Society 2002

1-4     All set, holding hands on sides and then cross with right hands

5-8    All set, holding hands on the sides ad then cross with left hands

9-12  All lead down holding right hands, then pull left shoulders back individually, while still holding right hads; the ladies pass under the arch of the joined hands, then all face up in promenade hold.

13-16 All promenade up, then 1s & 3s cast off one place, 2s & 4s continuing to dance up. 1s & 3s end in the centre line of the set, back to back, men facing down and ladies facing up, to take hands on a circle of 4 in the middle, and circles of 3 at each end.

17-22 All set in the circles, then circle left only, to finish on the sidelines in order 21435

23-24 All set, holdibg hands on the sides

25-28 All dance back-to-back with partners, passig right shoulders to begin.

29-32 Meanwhile: 1s & 3s (now in 2nd & 4th places) cast off one place while 2s, 4s & 5s dance back-to-back with partners, passing left shoulders to begin. All finish on the sidelines in order 24153

Repeat 1-32 four more times, ending respecively in the orders 45231, 53412, 31524 and finally 12345

 

Betty's Fancy (S5x32) 5C set    Composed by John Wilcock 

1-8    1s+2s+3s dance 3 couple Knot while 4s+5s dance a 2 couple knot (order 32154)

9-16  1s going to their R dance 1/2 and Inveran reel on partner's side and half an Inveran reel (as they return to starting place) on their own side 3rd place (order 23145)

17-24 Stafford Knot figure: (1s dancing through & around 4s - Beware it is 10 bars of dancing in 8 bard of music!) 1s cross down RH, cast up, cross RH, cast down, cross up LH (order 12(1)45)

25-28 2's &3's dance a 2 cpl chain (i.e. 1 bar per hand around a square) while 1's, 4's & 5's dance half a chain (i.e. 4 bars with 1's crossing to start) (order 23(4)(5)(1))

29-32 2's & 3's turn 2H once round while 4's 5's & 1's turn 2H 1.5 times (order 23451) Repeat 4 more times.

 

Cannock Chase (J4 x 32) (4C set)   Composed 2001 by members of SDCS

1-4    All men chase clockwise, 1M leading, to stand behind ladies' line, facing in. Ladies pull right shoulder back to face opposite men, moving back to the centre of the set.

5-8    1M with 4L, 2M with 3L, 3M with 2L, 4M with 1L: All turn with both hands 1 1/2 turns to own side, using Pas de Basque steps.

9-12  All ladies chase clockwise, 4L leading, to stand behind men's line, facing in. Men pull right shoulder back to face partners, moving back to the centre of the set.

13-16  All turn both hands 1 1/2 turns with partners to own side in order 4321, using Pas de Basque steps.

17-24  Circle eight hands round and back.

25-32  4s, 3s &2s Allemande to order 2341

The dance repeats three times more with 2s, 3s & 4s as the head couple.

 

The McColl Strathspey, Triangular S1x64 3C  (2000, for the 25th Wedding Anniversary of Jack and Isabel McColl, enthusiasts of waterskiing & international tennis champions. The left hands acros  & chase figures represent the turning of the screw of the boat & the churning of the water, the long set figures represent the water-skiing from side to side across the wake, and the circular figures represent the shape of a tennis racquet)

1-4    Half Interlocking reel - men anti-clockwise (ACW), ladies clockwise (CW) Pass partner byt the R shoulder, next lady by the left shoulder, next lady by the R shoulder. Acknowledge partner & pull right shoulder back to reverse direction.

5-8    Half interlocking reel, men CW, ladies ACW. Pass lady byt the right shoulder, next lady by the left shoulder, turn partner by the right to bring men into centre.

9-16  (The screw of the boat & the churning of the wate) Men LHA two full turns while Ladies clock wise (CW) with small steps once around the outside of the circle back to place. Bar 16, 1/2 turn partner to bring ladies into centre.

17-24 Ladies LHA two full turns while men chase CW small steps once around outside of the circle back to place. On bar 24 turn partner by the right 1/2 and face ACW in promenade hold.

25-32 (The next 8 bars change the shape of the set)  All promenade ACW to bottom of set (4 bars) and promenade straight up to own sides into longwise set.

33-40 (The next 16 bars of long set set figures represent water skiing with crossing the wake)  1s followed by rest, cast off to bottom, cross at the bottom and dance up to partner's place, opposite side.

41-48 1s followed by rest cast off to bottom, cross and dance up own sides. Face partners across the set ready for:

49-52 Reform Triangular set - Turn partner BH for 4 bars (1s actually turn 2 1/2, 2s turn 1 7/8 & 3s 2 1/8 turns, 2s pass between 1s & 3s while turning). All end on the side in triangular set positions for:

53-56  6 hands round circle to the left only - finish in allemande hold and face ACW

57- 64 Allemande ACW all way round back to place by ed of bar 62, bar 63 begi slow left-hand quarter turn to bring ladies into the middle back to back.

 

Stafford Diamond Jubilee Jig (J8x32) 3C in 3 or 4C L set. Stafford & District Caledonian Society 2016

1-8    1s cross R, cast one place (2s step up). Half fig 8 up around standing 2s

9-16   1s & 3s dance Diamond Reels - a "reel of 6 in a circle giving "60". Diamond Reels figure : 

1s going to the right first, dance a "Reverse Inveran Reel" across the dance anticlockwise while 2s dance L shoulder half reel across the dance with 1L, then half reel across the dance with 1M, and 3s dance L shoulder half reel across the dance with 1M then half reel across the dance with 1L). End in 2nd place own side.

 

17-26  1s dance Stafford Knot 10 bar phrase around standing 2s

17-18 1s cross up giving L hands between 2s

19-20 1s cast down one place on wrong side

21-22 1s cross R in second place to own side

23-24 1s cast up on own side

25-26 1s cross down giving R hands to wrong side in 1st place and face out

27-32 1L cast up then face down between 2s while 1M casts down and faces up between 3s; 1s approach in the middle & turn R 1 1/4 turns to 2nd place own side.

 

The Stafford Knot (S8x32) (4C set) Composed by SDCS led by John Wilcock1994 

(Stafford Knot sheet music copyright David Sturgeon 2004)

1- 8 1s+2s dance the Knot

9-16 2s+1s dance R&L

17-24 1s dance the Stafford Knot:-

1s cross down RH below 3s, cast up 1 place and cross RH to own side, 1s cast downbelow 3s, cross up LH to 2nd place opposite sides

25-32 1s dance reflection reels of 3 on opposite sides (out and up to start) then cross up from 3rd place to 2nd place own sides

 

TEA WITH SYLVIA  (J4x32)  4C set

Devised by Lyn Wilson for Sylvia Dalkin (Stafford CS) – Sep 2013

Rec: tune “Tea with Sylvia” on track 11 (Morland Ladies) of CD Crossing Borders by Chris Dewhurst

 1- 8         1s cross RH & cast to 2^nd place (2s step up on bars 3&4) THEN 1s dance ½ fig of 8 round 3s. Ord: 2,1,3,4

 9-16        2s/1s/3s dance reels of 3 own sides (1s-in/up,2s-out/down,3s-out/up)

17-24       1s/3s/4s dance reels of 3, 1s crossing down between 3^rd & 4^th places into reels of 3 on partners side. (3s-out/up,4s-in/up) Ord: 2,(1),3,4

25-28       1s cross RH & cast to 4^th place. (3s/4s step up on bars 27/28) Ord: 2,3,4,1

29-32       All turn RH or Birl.

 

Wigglety-Wagglety  (R4x32) (4C set)  Composed by Stafford & District Caledonian Society 1994
Recommended tune: Any good 4 x 32 bar reel

1-4   1s & 3s cross right with partners; cast one on wrong sides, WHILE 2s & 4s move up
5-8   1s & 3s half right hands across with 2s & 4s,all set on side holding hands
9-24  Passant = "busy" (adjective) or "passer-by" (noun), (a wiggly Grand Chain, or progressive Rights & Lefts):

1. cross right hand with partners,
2. cross left hand on sides (1s & 3s down, 2s & 4s up),
3. cross right hand with partners,
4. cross left hand on sides (1s down, 4s up, 2s & 3s change ends by left hand pass outside the set, men clockwise, ladies anticlockwise),
5. cross right hand with partners,
6. cross left hand on sides (1s & 3s down, 2s & 4s up),
7. cross right hand with partners,
8. cross left hand on sides (3s down, 2s up, 4s & 1s change ends by left hand pass outside the set, men clockwise, ladies anticlockwise)

25-32  1s move in slowly, join inner hands and face up WHILE 2s & 4s cross right hand with partners.
1s cast to bottom and full turn right hands to own side WHILE 2s, 3s & 4s move up joining hands on sides

33-64     2s repeat 1-32

65-96     3s repeat 1-32

97-128   4s repeat 1-32 

 

Yorkshire Rose, Triangular Sx32 3C written by Jean Thomson for her mother, Betty " A true Yorkshire Rose". The Schehallion reels represent the petals of the rose.  Betty was dance teacher at SDCS for many years and Jean also taught there before moving to Gloucestershire. 

The dance begins in a "Y" formation with the Ladies on the inside and their partners on their right, all facing clockwise:

Start of dance -  2M                       3M

                              2L               3L

                                      1L

                                      1M

1-4    All set and link but finishing on the sidelines with the men facing in and the ladies facing out, right shoulder to right shoulder:

                            2M                  3L

                         2L                        3M

                                   1M  1L

5-16   All dance Schehallion Reels, finishing on the sidelines, all facing in

17-24 All dance six hands round and back

25-26 All face partners on the sidelines & set

27-28 All turn partners right hand 3/4 times to finish ladies on the inside facing partners on the sidelines

29-30 All set to partners finishing facing anti-clockwise with nearer hands joined

31-32 All dance on for two steps.