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Hello there !

Here are the notes for some well known English ceilidh dances.

Before we start there are a number of other bits of information which you may find useful:

The English Folk Dance and Song Society publish THE COMMUNITY DANCE MANUALS. There are seven of these books which are also published as one big volume (ISBN 916622-45-2). These are useful in that they give an indication of possible (although not always the best) tunes to fit the dances.

Dance enthusiasts in England also publish dance instructions on the internet. There are lots of useful addresses but a good place to start is webfeet, in particular the What is English Ceilidh? page which contains links to sites with dance instructions. For a glossary of terms used in dancing have a look at Hugh Stewart's Elements of English Country Dance which will explain some of the terms used below.

And so to the dances ...

CIRCASSIAN CIRCLE

FORMATION : large circle around the room, standing next to your partner, lady on the man's right.

MUSIC : anything really with 32 bars ... we use jigs. On our CD Champagne Brawl, possible tunes would be:

  • Café Charbons/Queen of Hearts
  • Boodell Lope/LambertWaddle
  • Boddingtons/T.J.'s
A1 Everyone into the middle 4 steps and back 4 steps (twice)
A2 Ladies 4 steps in and out ; men 4 steps in and out (clapping is traditional !)
B1 Swing partners
B2 Promenade (men inside , women outside) anticlockwise around the room

CLOPTON BRIDGE

FORMATION : 4 couple longways set

MUSIC : any 32 bar hornpipe (from Champagne Brawl, The Hornet would work, as would Scottish a Virmoux/Biscuit Shuffle). The dance is danced to a Step Hop all the way through.

A1 Top man and bottom woman meet in the middle of the set and link right elbows. Right elbow turn for 8 stephops, followed by a left elbow turn
A2 Top woman bottom man do the same
B1 Middle two couples right and left hand star
B2 Top couple swing down to the bottom. Everyone swings as they pass

ROSA

FORMATION : this is a couple dance

MUSIC : any slowish 32 bar Waltz (You could try The Tender Trap from the Champagne Brawl. You may fall over if you try to use Dampolska)

A1 Facing your partner, palms to palms, sway 1-2-3 then on the 4th sway the woman turns round so she has her back to her partner and he is embracing her
4 steps to the right
A2 4 steps back to the left
Some more swaying at the end of which the woman turns back around to face her partner
B1 Right hand to right hand . Balance towards, away, towards again and the woman twizzles (turns) underneath the man's right arm as you swap places
Repeat
B2 Ballroom hold. Chasse 2 steps to the man's left, and two steps back the other way
Waltz

THE STAFFORDSHIRE KNOT

FORMATION : 3 couple longways set

MUSIC : the dance is usually done to 32 bar hornpipes or 32 bar polkas. From the Champagne Brawl, Iron Legs/Champagne Brawl would fit.

A1 Middle man - right hand turn top woman , left hand turn bottom woman
A2 Middle woman - right hand turn bottom man, left hand turn top man
B1 Reel of 3 on the side (the women dance a figure of eight in line and the men dance a figure of eight in line)
B2 Top couple dance down to the bottom of the set. Everyone swing.

BOSTON TEA PARTY

FORMATION : 5 or 6 couple longways set

MUSIC : 32 bar jigs (e.g. Café Charbons/Queen of Hearts; Boodell Lope/Lambert Waddle; Boddingtons/T.J.'s

A1 Top couple gallop down to the bottom of the set then come back to the top making an arch over the heads of all the men.
A2 Top couple gallop down to the bottom making an arch over the heads of all the women then back to the top up the middle of the set
B1 & B2 Top couple face down the set, all the other couples face up. Top couple DIP AND DIVE to the bottom of the set (i.e. the 2nd couple makes an arch and the 1st couple go under, the 1st couple makes an arch and the 3rd couple goes under, 4th couple makes an arch and 1st couple goes under, 1st couple makes an arch and the 5th couple goes under.) When the top couple reaches the bottom of the set they make an arch. The other couples SINGLE CAST (they don't have to wait until the dipping and diving is finished before they start to cast) and go through the arch at the bottom of the set. Back up to place and swing if there's time.

THE CUMBERLAND SQUARE EIGHT

FORMATION : 4 couple square set.

MUSIC: 64 bar jigs or reels (2 x 32 bar tunes is fine)

A1 head couples gallop 8 steps across the set and back
A2 side couples do the same
B1 head couples right hand star and left hand star in the middle of the set
B2 side couples do the same
C1 head couples BASKET (men join hands around the back of the women, women bring their hands up through the middle and rest them on the mens' shoulders. Right foot into the middle, lean back and pivot around to spin)
C2 sides do the same
D1 circle left 16 steps
D2 promenade anti-clockwise back to place

We hope that these explanations are reasonably easy to understand. webfeet is a really good source of information. Any problems or questions you can always us!

HAPPY DANCING

Sheen Masson

Maintained by Chris Walshaw ()