Coram Fields

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1-6 1st and 2nd couples dance the first 6 bars of a two couple Bourrel to end facing partner up and down on the centre line.
7-8 2nd couple continue the Bourrel as usual, turning three quarters with both hands to end in 1st place. Meanwhile 1st couple turn, with both hands, just over once round to end back to back facing their 2nd corner.
9-10 1st couple set right to 2nd corners (one bar). Then, pulling left shoulder back, they curve left (one bar) to end back to back facing their 1st corner. The corners set normally for 2 bars.
11-12 1st couple repeat bars 9-10 with 1st corners and end right shoulder to partner on the 2nd diagonal facing out to 2nd place own sides.
13-16 Corners Pass and Half Turn Partner:
 1st couple dance right shoulder round their 3rd corner position then, following their 3rd corner person, they dance in passing both 2nd corner person and partner right shoulder to end back to back facing their 4th corner position.
 Meanwhile 2nd and 3rd couples half turn their partner with both hands and then, continuing in the same direction, curve away, pulling left shoulder back to end on opposite sides (their track is similar to half a right shoulder reel of three across).
17-20 1st couple repeat bars 9-12 facing their 4th and 3rd corner positions (1st and 2nd corner persons) and end right shoulder to partner on the 2nd diagonal facing out to 2nd place opposite sides.
21-24 All repeat the Corners Pass and Half Turn Partner figure of bars 13-16. This time 1st couple do not pass each other but pull back right shoulder to end on the centre line, left shoulder to partner, 1st man below 1st woman, each facing the opposite side.
25-32 1st woman with 2nd couple at the top and 1st man with 3rd couple dance right hands across. 1st couple pass right shoulder to dance left hands across with the other couple ending on the sides in the order 2,1,3.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA January 2023)

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Dance Information

Coram Fields famously only admits adults if accompanied by a child. However it also has a dance hall, with a separate entrance, which the RSCDS London Branch sometimes uses for advanced technique classes.

Recommended music: Lady Louisa Gordon's Strathspey (Robert Mackintosh) or North of the Grampians (Simon Fraser).
Suitable recording: Peggy's Love (Catherine Fraser and Duncan Smith: Old Favourites and Odd Couples).

(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA January 2023)

The park is on the former site of the Foundling Hospital, established by Thomas Coram in 1739. After the hospital relocated in the 1920s, a campaign led by Janet Trevelyan and supported by local fundraising and a donation from Harold Harmsworth resulted in the park opening in 1936.

Coram's Fields offers various services for children and young people, including after-school and holiday programs, a sports program, a youth center, and early years programs such as a nursery and drop-in.

The park features three eight-a-side football pitches, two tennis courts, a stickball field, a basketball court, a children's playground, sand pits, a pets corner, and a café.

Coram Fields

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