Link Road
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Link Road 32 bar Strathspey in a 4 couple set Rod Downey The Piwakawaka Collection1-4 All take hands on the side and advance and retire.
5-8 All dance back to back with partners.
9-12 The 4 ladies dance a set and link in tandem for 4. To wit
9-10 All the ladies take hands and set.
11-12 1L casts to 3rd place, 2L to 4th place, 3L dances up in front (link s) to 1st place and 4L links to 2nd place.
(This resembles a normal set and link for two, with 1 and 2 L on the "left" working in tandem and 3 and 4 L on the "right", working in tandem and everyone casting two places.) While
9-12 The 4 men advance and retire.
13-16 From the new positions the 4 ladies dance a set and link in tandem, while the 4 men also dance a set and link in tandem for 4.
The finishing order on the ladies' side is 1,2,3,4 and 3,4,1,2 on the men's side. Finish with 1L facing 2L, 3L facing 4L 3M facing 4M and 1M facing 2M on the side lines.
17-18 All facing people (i.e. 1L, 2L etc) set to each other.
19-22 The same people turn each other once around with two hands opening out to form lines on the sidelines.
23-24 All set on the sidelines.
25-32 All dance a 4 couple chain progression. To wit:
25-26 All turn the person opposite ¾ with the right hand into line up and down the set.
27-30 While 1L casts to the foot or the set in the middle, and 2M casts up to the top of the set in the middle, everyone else turns the person beside them 1½ with the left hand to change places. Thus, 3M turns 2L, 4M turns 3L and 1M turns 4L.
31-32 All turn partner ¾ out to own sides with the right hand. Finishing order 2,3,4,1.
Repeat with a new top couple.
(Dance crib compiled by the deviser Rod Downey, Johnsonville SCD Club Tutor)
Dance Information
This Strathspey was first devised 5/8/2023.I like the idea of a 4C chain progression, and the sympathy of that movement to a 4 person set and link.
Link Road is a road near our house in Newlands in Wellington.
Recommended tune is "Oakland Rainstorm" (by James MacQueen) and a suitable recording is "Dancin' in the Rain" from the CD "Excited States" by "Stringfire!".
(Dance information from The Piwakawaka Collection Of Scottish Country Dances, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey)
Published in The Piwakawaka Collection, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey.
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