Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Back To Bach

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

BACK TO BACH (R5x32) 5C set John Drewry Bankhead Book 3

1- 8 1s and 3s set, cast 1 place and dance ½ Figs of 8 (Lady round couple above and Man round couple below)
9-16 1s and 3s dance RH across (Lady with couple below and Man with couple above) to end facing 2nd corners and dance ½ diagonal reels of 4 with 2nd corners
17-24 1s and 3s dance LSh round partner to 1st corner (position) and turn corner RH, dance LSh round partner to face 4th corner (position) and turn corner RH into prom hold
25-32 1s and 3s with corners cross diagonally (pass RSh and 1s and 3s end 2nd/4th places opposite side), cross LH and cast 1 place

(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)


Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams


Dance Instruction Videos

Back To Bach - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

This reel, Back To Bach, (word-play on back to back) is a five-couple adaptation of Drewry's Bratach Bana, Dave Goldberg's favourite dance.

Back To Bach, was dedicated to the Goldberg family with whom the deviser, John Drewry, stayed during some of his visits to the US. Dave and Lois Goldberg are RSCDS (New York) dancers and teachers.

The subtitle of this dance was "The Goldberg Variation". The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a musical composition for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations.

First published in 1741, the work is one of the most important examples of the variation form.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, and for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor.

Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he is generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

Johann Sebastian Bach was said by his first biographer, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, to have composed the Goldberg Variations for Count Hermann Karl von Keyserling (1697-1764) as a sleep aid. The work takes its name from Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a musician in the service of Count Keyserling.

The Goldberg Variations, Johann Sebastian Bach - Information Video

Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer and musician
Statue Of Johann Sebastian Bach, Saint Thomas Church, Leipzig, Germany


Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Goldberg Variations article on Wikipedia.
Text from this original Johann Sebastian Bach article on Wikipedia.
Text from this original Hermann Karl von Keyserling article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Zarafa Creative Commons Licence 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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