Cape Town Wedding
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
CAPE TOWN WEDDING (S8x32) 3C (4C set) Tom Kerr RSCDS Book 391- 8 1s cross down (no hands) to 2nd place (2s step up), dance out and ½ turn 3s with nearer hand; 1s ½ turn RH and lead up to top ending in prom hold (2s+3s step down 7-8)
9-16 1s in prom hold dance reel of 3 with 2s (RSh to 2L to start) 1s end in middle at top facing down (Lady on Man's Left), 2s on sides and 3s step in and face up
17-24 1s+2s+3s set, all Petronella turn one place (1s+3s Petronella-in-Tandem); all set advancing (1 bar), join hands in circle and set (1 bar), pull back RSh and cast clockwise back to places
25-32 1s+2s dance the Knot. 213
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
Cape Town Wedding
Tom Kerr RSCDS Book 39
Strathspey 8 x 32 bars 3 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Longwise Set
1-2 1s cross down (no hands) to finish facing out in 2nd place WHILE 2s step up;
3-4 1L3M by the left, 1M3L by the right, turn halfway;
5-6 1s turn halfway by the right;
7-8 1s lead up to 1st place, finishing in promenade hold facing up WHILE 2s3s take hands on the sides and step down;
9-16 2M1s2L reel of three across, 1s giving right shoulder to 2L to start, finishing with 2s in original places, 1s turning on the spot to face down on own sides of the centre line in 1st position, 3s advancing and facing up;
17-18 all set, 1s 3s taking nearer hands;
19-20 releasing hands, all petronella in tandem around the corners' square, finishing 1s on the Mn's side line, 3s on the Ls' side line, 2L on the centre line in 1st position, 2M on the centre line in 3rd position;
21-22 all set advancing and take hands in a circle;
23-24 releasing hands, all cast clockwise to original places;
25-32 1s2s dance the knot:
25-26 1s 2s turn halfway by the right, finishing in allemande hold facing down:
27-28 2s turn anticlockwise ¼, dance out to the Ls' side line, turn anticlockwise ¼ and begin to dance up the Ls' side line WHILE 1s lead down, turn anticlockwise ¼ and dance out to the Ls' side line, finishing in the Ls' side line, facing out;
29-30 releasing right hands, 2s continue up to 1st place and turn by the left halfway WHILE 1s turn by the left ¾, both opening the hold to finish on opposite sides of the centre line, 2s in 1st position, 1s in 2nd;
31-32 2s 1s continue turning by the left, finishing 2s1s3s on own sides.
(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams
Dance Instruction Videos
Cape Town Wedding - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
We are grateful to Wendy Mumford, the RSCDS teacher from Andover, for this report of Tom Kerr's explanation of the origin and the more subtle points of the dance.Cape Town Wedding tells the story of the meeting, courtship and marriage in Cape Town, South Africa, of Tom and whoever his bride was (I only know Tom - and of course they are now divorced, hence his dance 'Fare Thee Well' with the formation 'untying the knot!)
Bars 1-8 represent the group of friends who always went about together and the meeting of the couple:
1-2 cross down - no hands because they don't really know each other yet
3-4 change with 3s - they are part of the group
5-6 ½ turn right hand - spotting each other and meeting
7-8 lead up - not yet promenade because they aren't an item yet
9-16 now in promenade hold because they are now 'an item' and let the rest of the group know
21-24 set advancing with no hands, taking hands in a circle at the last minute - to give a flash of the engagement ring
This explains why people are really puzzled when I won't hold hands to advance into the circle - but I've had it from the horse's mouth; he was in the teachers' class at St Andrews when the dance came out and explained it as we learned it.
25-32 the knot - obviously tying the knot; the wedding.
Tom said they were always good friends but it didn't work out as a marriage so they got divorced and went back to being good friends again as it worked much better!
I think it's a great story for a really nice dance - pity it ended up with Fare Thee Well!
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the largest inland area with an estimated population of 3.5 million in 2007.
View Of Cape Town From Table Mountain
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Cape Town article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Mrtnklr.
Back to the top of this Scottish Country Dancing Instructions 'Cape Town Wedding' page