The Melbourne Cup
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
The Melbourne CupCathy McLeod Dance Odyssey, RSCDS South Queensland
Jig 4 x 32 bars 4 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Longwise Set
1-8 8 hands round and back;
9-14 Ls (holding onto their hats with left hand and (pretend?) champagne glasses with right) pass partner by the right and dance back to places;
15-16 1s2s3s4s take hands on the sides and set facing partners;
17-24 1M2M3M4M chase clockwise around the set, finishing 1s facing down, 2s up;
25-25 1M2M 1L2L cross on the sides by the right, 2s finishing facing in;
26-26 1M3M 1L3L cross on the sides by the left, 3s finishing facing in;
27-28 1M4M 1L4L cross on the sides by the right, 4s 1s finishing facing in;
29-32 2s 3s 4s 1s turn by the right.
(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)
Dance Notes
25-26 1 bar only for these crossings on the sides.
25-28 Use polite turn as appropriate.
Dance Instruction Videos
The Melbourne Cup - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
Also see The Melbourne Cup (3-Couple Version)Every year on the first Tuesday in November, Australia stops to watch a horse race: The Melbourne Cup.
Bars 1-8 represents the race track, bars 9-16 the ladies' fashion parade, bars 17-24 the race with the men as the jockeys and bars 25-32 congratulating the winner and collecting the winnings.
(Dance information by Teresa Lockhart)
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's most famous annual Thoroughbred horse race, with the first race held back in 1861. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.
It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races. The event starts at 3pm on the first Tuesday in November and is known locally as "the race that stops a nation".
The Melbourne Cup - Information Video
Finish Of The 1905 Melbourne Cup
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Melbourne Cup article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Aussie~mobs from Brisbane, Australia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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