Barren Rocks Of Aden
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Barren Rocks Of Aden A thirty-two bar Reel for three couples in a longwise set. Devised by John W Mitchell, Published in Whetherly Book 15.1- 2 First couple cast off into second place.
3- 4 First couple cross giving left hand to face first corners.
5- 6 First couple change places with their first corners giving right hand.
7- 8 Second man and third lady turn three quarters with the left hand to face their partners.
9-10 Second and third couples change places with partner giving right hand.
11-12 Second lady and third man turn with the left hand three quarters to face first couple.
13-14 First lady and third man change places giving right hand, first man and second lady do the same.
15-16 First couple turn with the left hand to finish back to back, first lady facing up and first man facing down, second and third men face down and second and third ladies face up.
17-24 Ruptured Triangle*:
17-18 all join nearer hands in triangle formation and set;
19-22 first lady dances up and casts off into second place on own side, whilst first man dances down and casts up into second place on own side, they pass by the left to finish back to back in the centre of the set, first man facing the ladies' side and first lady facing the men's side. Meanwhile second and third couples dance half rights and lefts, giving right hands on the sides to commence;
23-24 first man joins hands with third couple on the ladies' side and first lady joins hands with second couple on the men's side in triangle formation and all set.
25-28 First couple dance a half a reel of four with second lady and third man, who are in first corner positions; first couple finish in second place on own side facing out .
29-32 Half reels of three on own side of the set, to commence first and third men pass by the right, as do first and second ladies; first couple finish in second place facing out ready to start again.
Repeat from second place. After the repeat, original first couple continue to dance bars 1 & 2 to finish in the bottom of the set. Recommended tune: The Barren Rocks of Aden * The Ruptured Triangle is described in the appendix of this book.
(Dance crib reproduced from The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell)
Published in The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances Number 15, by John W Mitchell, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell. Instructions reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND 4.0).
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