The Dream Catcher

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

THE DREAM CATCHER (S96) Sq.Set Eileen Orr RSCDS Book 45

1- 8 All circle 8H round and back
9-16 1s+3s dance the Swirl:
9-10 Turn partner RH into Allemande hold
11-12 Dance LSh round other couple ½ way, on bar 12 drop right hands
13-16 1s+3s dance LH across. On bar 16, pull back LSh and dance on to face side couples (BtoB with partner and Lady facing Man, 1L+3M face 2s, 3L+1M face 4s)
17-24 All dance reels of 4 across
25-32 All set and dancing couples dance out between side couples, cross and cast to change places RH with partner back into places
33-40 All set and advance with partners, retire diagonally with corners and set
41-48 1L+4M dance R&L with 3L+2M (on diagonal)
49-56 1M+2L dance R&L with 3M+4L (other diagonal)
57-64 All set with corners, advance and retire with partners and set
65-88 2s and 4s repeat bars 9-32
89-96 All circle 8H round and back. 1234

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

The Dream Catcher
Eileen Orr RSCDS Book 45
Strathspey 96 bars 4 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Square Set

1-8 All 8 hands round to the left and back;

9-16 the swirl for 1s and 3s:

9-10 1s 3s turn by the right into allemande hold;

11-12 1s 3s (allemande hold) pass left shoulders to exchange places and drop right hands;

13-16 3s1s left hands across, release hands and turn anticlockwise on the spot to finish back to back with partners and facing second corners across the dance;

17-24 4M3L3M2L 4L1M1L2M reels of 4 across;

25-26 4s set facing 3L1M WHILE 3M1L set facing 2s;

27-30 3L1M 3M1L lead out of the sides, cross and cast to partners' places;

31-32 1s 3s cross by the right with partners to original places;

33-36 1s 2s 3s 4s take hands with partners, set and advance towards the centre;

37-38 all release partners' hands, take hands with first corners and retire to places;

39-40 retaining hands with first corners, all set;

41-48 4M3L 1L2M cross by the right to start rights and lefts diagonally across the set;

49-56 4L1M 3M2L repeat bars 41-48 on the other diagonal;

57-64 repeat bars 33-40 in reverse (take hands with corners to start);

65-88 2s4s repeat bars 9-32 (reels up and down);

89-96 8 hands round and back.

(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)

Dance Notes

1-8 Making eye contact with second corners (3 dancers away on partner's side) will pay dividends on bars 16 and 72 when you need to be facing this dancer at the end of the swirl.

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

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Dance Instruction Videos

The Dream Catcher - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

This strathspey, The Dream Catcher, was devised by Eileen Orr from RSCDS Royal Tunbridge Wells Branch and first published in their Silver Anniversary Book of Dances in 2001.

This is one of the most popular Scottish country dances. It has been in the top twenty most frequent dances appearing on dance programmes, for decades.

In Ojibwa culture, (or Chippewa is the largest group of Native Americans-First Nations north of Mexico, the third-largest in the United States, surpassed only by Cherokee and Navajo.) a dreamcatcher is a handmade object based on a willow hoop, on which is woven a loose net or web. The dreamcatcher is then decorated with personal and sacred items such as feathers and beads.

Traditionally, the Ojibwa construct dreamcatchers by tying sinew strands in a web around a small round or tear-shaped frame of willow. The resulting "dream-catcher", hung above the bed, is used as a charm to protect sleeping children from nightmares. As dreamcatchers are made of willow and sinew, they are not meant to last forever but are intended to dry out and collapse as the child enters the age of adulthood.

The Ojibwa believe that a dreamcatcher changes a person's dreams. According to Terri J. Andrews, "Only good dreams would be allowed to filter through... Bad dreams would stay in the net, disappearing with the light of day." Good dreams would pass through and slide down the feathers to the sleeper.

In the Ojibwa language a dream catcher is called asabikeshiinh, the inanimate form of the word for "spider".

A Dream Catcher

Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Dream Catcher article on Wikipedia.

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