Crossing The Meridian
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Crossing The Meridian (R8x32) A 32 bar reel for three couples in a four couple longwise set. Devised By Murrough Landon June 2024.1- 4 1st couple cross giving right hands and cast off one place as 2nd couple step up.
5- 8 1st couple dance half a figure of eight to their right, 1st man up round 2nd couple, 1st woman down round 3rd couple. They end passing left shoulders to face their 1st corners.
9-12 1st couple each dance back to back with their 1st corners, who touch hands in the centre, and face them again. 1st couple take care not to retire further than they advanced!
13-16 1st couple dance half a diagonal reel of four with their 1st corners, starting by passing them right shoulder. 1st couple end passing left shoulder to face their 2nd corner.
17-24 1st couple repeat the pattern of bars 9-16 with their 2nd corners. 1st couple end on the centre line facing their own side, left shoulder to each other, 1st man above 1st woman.
25-28 1st couple turn one and half times giving left hands ending on the centre line, 1st woman above 1st man. Meanwhile the corners chase half way round clockwise.
29-32 1st woman with 2nd couple and 1st man with 3rd couple each dance right hands across ending on the sidelines. The final order is 2,1,3.
(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA June 2024)
Dance Notes
After writing this dance I discovered that the figure of bars 9-24 here also appears, in strathspey time, in The Rampant Unicorn Strathspey by Jim Rae. It is also similar to the McTurk movement in The McTurk by John Tyler.(Dance notes compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA June 2024)
Dance Instruction Videos
Crossing The Meridian - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
This dance is for John Evans, who regularly dances with the Gay Gordons and enjoyed it when it was first tested, and who lives near the Prime Meridian in Greenwich.Recommended music: Suggested tune: Dawn Express (Traditional).
Suitable recording: Longfield Reel (Andrew Lyon's SDB: Music for 2nd Book of Graded SCDs).
(Dance information from notes supplied by the deviser, June 2024)
Published in Crossing The Meridian, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Murrough Landon. Licensed under CC BY-SA.
Back to the top of this Scottish Country Dancing Instructions 'Crossing The Meridian' page