The Nightingale Floor
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
The Nightingale Floor 32 Bar Reel For 5 Dancers In A Square Set, Devised By Frances Wallace, 2012.Published in the notes below this The Nightingale Floor video on Youtube.
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Dance Instruction Videos
The Nightingale Floor - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
This dance, The Nightingale Floor, was dedicated by the deviser to Patsy and Ian Marks on their return from a Rotary trip to Japan in March 2012.Suggested Music: 'Folksy Fivesome', from 'Dancers' Choice 2', played by Robert Whitehead and the Danelaw Band.
Nightingale floors are floors that make a chirping sound when walked upon. These floors were used in the hallways of some temples and palaces, the most famous example being Nijō Castle, in Kyoto, Japan.
Dry boards naturally creak under pressure, but these floors were built in a way that the flooring nails rub against a jacket or clamp, causing chirping noises. Upside-down V-shaped joints move within the boards when pressure is applied.
It is unclear if the design was intentional. It seems that, at least initially, the effect arose by chance. An information sign in Nijō castle states that "The singing sound is not actually intentional, stemming rather from the movement of nails against clumps in the floor caused by wear and tear over the years".
Legend has it that the squeaking floors were used as a security device, assuring that none could sneak through the corridors undetected.
Nightingale Floor - Information Video
The Secret Of The Squeaky Nightingale Floors Revealed - Nails
Published in the notes below this The Nightingale Floor video on Youtube.
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Nightingale Floor article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Chris Gladis, Creative Commons Licence 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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