Farewell To Chernobyl

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 6 All set, dance forward and back
7- 8 1s and 2s dance RH across half way while 3s cross by the right
9-16 All set, dance forward and back, All half turn by the right hand into promenade hold facing up
17-24 All dance a three couple allemande
25-32 1s cross by the RH, turn 1st corner by the left hand, second corner by the right hand, partner by the left hand to own side in progressed position

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, John Roby, 2026)

Dance Information

Try this music Tamlin/Devil In The Strawstack/Farewell to Chernobyl video on YouTube.
I slowed it down to 108 for the dancers

(Dance information by the deviser, John Roby, 2026)

The tune title almost certainly refers to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, although no published explanation by the composer for the title has been located.

The Chernobyl disaster occurred on 26 April 1986 at Reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, then part of the Soviet Union and now in Ukraine. It is the only accident in the history of commercial nuclear power in which deaths have been directly attributed to radiation exposure.

The accident took place during a late-night safety test intended to determine whether the turbine generators could continue supplying electrical power to essential systems after a loss of external power until emergency diesel generators reached full output. During the test, operators disabled several safety systems and the RBMK-1000 reactor entered an unstable operating condition. A sudden increase in power caused steam explosions that destroyed the reactor and ignited a graphite fire.

The explosions released large quantities of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Radioactive contamination spread across much of the Soviet Union and was detected throughout Europe. The Soviet authorities evacuated Pripyat on 27 April 1986, and more than 100,000 people were subsequently relocated from the surrounding area. A 30-kilometre exclusion zone was established around the power station.

Two power station workers died on the night of the accident. Of the workers and emergency personnel admitted to hospital, 134 were diagnosed with acute radiation syndrome, and 28 of them died within three months. Studies have identified around 6,000 cases of thyroid cancer among people who were children or adolescents when exposed to radioactive iodine, with a substantial proportion attributed to the accident. Estimates of the total long-term number of radiation-related deaths differ between scientific assessments.

Investigations concluded that the disaster resulted from a combination of deficiencies in the RBMK reactor design and errors made during the safety test. The International Atomic Energy Agency's revised INSAG-7 report identified both design faults and operational failures, together with shortcomings in nuclear safety culture, as contributing factors.

A concrete and steel shelter, commonly known as the sarcophagus, was completed over the destroyed reactor in December 1986 to reduce the release of radioactive material. Between 2016 and 2018, the New Safe Confinement structure was placed over the original shelter to allow the dismantling of the damaged reactor and the earlier enclosure. The remaining three reactors at the power station continued operating after the accident and were shut down between 1991 and 2000.

Aftermath Of The 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Disaster, Ukraine In The Former USSR

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