English Country Dance Party (Book)
English Country Dances a form of social folk dance which originated in Renaissance England, & was popular until the early 19th century in parts of Europe, the American colonies & the United Sates. It is the ancestor of several other folk dances, including contra & square dance. English country dance was revived in the early 20th century as part of the larger English folk revival, & is practised today primarily in North America & Britain. In Britain, this form is often referred to as "Playford", while "country dance" is applied to a range of English folk dances. Each English country dance is based around is fixed series of movements, call figures, which are uniquely paired with a piece of music. The choreography dictates the interactions between partners & between couples in a set. A set is a group of couples, most commonly two or three, but sometimes four, that interact during a single progression. Rarely, dances call for five or six couples in a set. Most commonly, English country dances are longways & progressive. Multiple sets of couples form two long lines, along which couples travel at the end of each iteration of figures, meeting new couples & repeating the series of figures many times. Alternately, dances can be finite, a set forming a independent unit withing the series of figures are repeated a limited number of times. These dances are often non-progressive, each couple retaining their original positions in decades they are performed. I hope you like this compilation of essentialy English tunes & dances. Derek Jones - July 2013
Track
|
Dance
|
Bars
|
Type
|
Formation
|
Lead Tune
|
1
|
Leaving of Liverpool
|
3 x 32
|
Reels
|
Longways x 3
|
Leaving of Liverpool
|
2
|
Stevies Hop
|
8 x 32
(Twice)
|
Hopstep Reel
|
Longways
|
Lollipop Man – Portsmouth Harpers Frolic
|
3
|
Jubilee Rag
|
6 x 32
|
Reel
|
Longways
|
The Happy Cavalier – Three Scamping Rogues – Maxwells Rants
|
4
|
Walpole Cottage
|
4 +
5 x 48
|
Reel
|
1 man 2 ladies
|
Walpole Cottage
|
5
|
Gossips Reel
|
8 x 32
|
English Reel
|
Sicilian Circle
|
The Girl I left Behind Me – Petronella Shepton Hornpipe – The Rose Tree
|
6
|
A Trip to Easthamsptead
|
5 x 40
|
