Chase, Pursued By A Bear
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Chase, Pursued By A Bear (J4x32) 32 bar jig for four couples in a square set, Murrough Landon, 2018.1- 4 1st and 3rd women dance out between the couple to their right then curve left to end in the centre of the opposite side. Meanwhile 1st and 3rd men, giving right hands, turn one and a half times to end back to back on the centre line facing out to their partner. 3rd couple are at the top of the line and 1st couple at the bottom.
5- 8 1st and 3rd couples dance half a reel of four up and down the centre, starting by passing their partner left shoulder and ending on the centre line facing their partner again.
The next 16 bars is a sequence of four 4 bar figures each being a 2 bar turn, then 2 bars of setting, crossing through the setting couples or looping on the sides. 1st and 3rd couples turn left hand, 2nd and 4th couples turn right hand each time.
9-10 All half turn: 1st and 3rd couples left hand, 2nd and 4th couples right hand. 1st and 3rd couples are in a line up and down with the women closely back to back in the centre. 2nd and 4th women face in, their partners face out.
11-12 1st and 3rd couples set. Meanwhile 2nd and 4th women cross over between the setting couples while 2nd and 4th men half loop back to where their partner was.
13-14 All turn three quarters: 1st and 3rd couples left hand, 2nd and 4th couples right hand. 2nd and 4th couples are now in a line across with the women closely back to back in the centre. 1st and 3rd women face in, their partners face out.
15-16 2nd and 4th couples set. Meanwhile 1st and 3rd women cross over between the setting couples while 1st and 3rd men half loop back to where their partner was.
At this point all the women have crossed over, 1st woman is facing 3rd man, etc.
17-24 All now (almost!) repeat bars 9-16 from new places with one crucial difference: On bars 17-18 1st and 3rd couples make a full left hand (or elbow grip) turn. 2nd and 4th couples just half turn right hand. This is the change over so that now the men end the turns facing in to cross over or to set closely back to back in the centre while the women are now at the ends of the setting lines or facing out to loop.
The orientation of the setting lines is across the set (again) for bars 17-20, then up and down for bars 21-24.
End with 3rd and 1st couples up and down the centre line, the men back to back. 4th and 2nd couples are facing their partner in 2nd and 4th places with the men in the women's places and vice versa.
25-26 All turn their partner with the right hand: 1st and 3rd couples turn three quarters, 2nd and 4th couples half turn. End on the sides facing clockwise in the order 3,4,1,2.
27-32 All chase clockwise three places round the set to end in the order 4,1,2,3.
(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA April 2018 (Revised 2021))
Dance Notes
Some additional, very useful dance notes may be found on the original crib. See link below.Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams
Dance Instruction Videos
Chase, Pursued By A Bear - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
Recommended Music: Inveresk House (traditional).Suitable recording: Inveresk House (J Gray and S Petrov: Opus Dance - Tweeddale).
(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA April 2018)
Published in Chase, Pursued By A Bear, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA.
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