Chinese Breakdown
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Chinese Breakdown A forty-eight bar Reel for three couples in a longwise set, devised by John W Mitchell, Published in Whetherly Book 4.1- 8 First and second couples dance a reel of four, to commence first lady and second man dance in passing by the left shoulder. First couple finish in second place,
9-16 First and third couples dance a left shoulder reel of four, to commence first lady and third man dance in passing by the right shoulder. First couple finish in second place.
17-20 First lady dances right hands across with second couple whilst first man dances right hands across with third couple.
21-24 First lady dances left hands across with third couple whilst first man dances left hands across with second couple. First couple finish facing first corners.
25-26 First couple set to first corners, coupé pas de basque with right foot.
27-28 First couple change places with first corners with two travelling steps, commencing with the left foot.
29-30 First couple set to first corners, coupé pas de basque with the left foot.
31-32 First couple change places with their first corners giving right hand and pass by the left to finish facing their second corners.
33-40 Repeat bars 25-32 with second corners. On the last two steps first couple must cross into second place on own side.
41-48 Six hands round to the left in a circle and back to the right.
Repeat from second place.
(Dance crib reproduced from The Whetherly Book of Scottish Country Dances, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Published in The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances Number 4, 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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