The Corian Strathspey

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 8 1M+2L turn RH 1½ times while partners dance round anticlockwise ½ way, 1s dance ½ Fig of 8 round 3s. (2)13
9-16 1L+3M turn LH 1½ times while partners dance round clockwise ½ way, 3s dance ½ Fig of 8 round 2s. (2)3(1)
17-24 2s+3s+1s set and 3s petronella turn to 3L between 2s facing down and 3M between 1s facing up, all set and link for 3 once. 231
25-32 3s dance RH across (Lady with 2s and Man with 1s), 3s pass RSh and dance LH across with other couples. 231

(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

The Corian Strathspey - Full Size And Key To Symbols

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Aha! What have we here? Corian - a brand name owned by Dupont? Can this be it? A synthetic material made of acrylic polymer and alumina trihydrate? It's used for kitchen countertops, vanities, etc. Hard to visualize, say, "dancing on the countertops"! Nah! That can't be it! Not even for The Dancing Bells! So where did it come from?

The dance brief says it surfaced in RSCDS Book 43, which was issued in 2003. Obviously, that is where I should have looked first. This enables me to take tongue out of cheek and find out who devised The Corian Strathspey. And here is where I learn of a Montreal dancer named Maurice Whitby, who devised the dance in 1995 to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of Miss Corie Duque, a young Scottish country dancer, and her swain, Mr. Brian Prentice. CORie and BrIAN, get it?

I'll bet that all this probably happened under the aegis of RSCDS Montreal. After all, in that locale, Maurice Whitby was well known as a dancer and dance deviser. Who remembers another of Maurice's strathspeys by name of My Trusty Fiere (a small portion of Auld Lang Syne no less)? Moreover he was also blessed with a wicked sense of humour. There are anecdotes galore, often involved with Maurice's frequent visits over the years to RSCDS Boston's well-known events at Pinewoods, in the company of other Montreal dancers. As a memorial to the late Maurice Whitby, a dance was devised by Gary Thomas, a San Francisco SCDer, with music written by the ubiquitous Ron Wallace, another SCD Californian. The dance is called, simply, Maurice.

The Barry Pipes Canon 037- November, 2010.

(Dance information from set and link, RSCDS Toronto Newsletter - What's In A Name? The Barry Pipes Canon 2005-2018, reproduced here with kind permission. Copyright Barry Pipes. All rights reserved)

Miss Corie Duque, And Mr Brian Prentice

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