A Trip To Bavaria

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

A TRIP TO BAVARIA (R4x32) 4C set James MacGregor-Brown Guide To SCD (ex-Collins)

1- 4 1s and 4s cross RH while 2s+3s dance ½ RH across, 1s+3s and 2s+4s change places LH on sides
5-16 Repeat 1-4 another 3 times (end couples cross RH, middle couples ½ RH across; couples in 1st+2nd place also 3rd+4th place change places LH) All finish in original places
17-24 1s set to 2s and cross over to face 3s (2s dance up), set and cross to face 4s (3s dance up)
25-32 1s set to 4s and cross over to 4th place on opposite sides (4s dance up), all advance and retire 2 steps and 1s change places RH (2H popular) to retire to own sides

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

A Trip to Bavaria
James MacGregor-Brown Guide To SCD (ex-Collins Pocket Reference Book)
Reel 4 x 32 bars 4 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Longwise Set

1-2 1s cross WHILE 4s cross WHILE 2s3s right hands across halfway;

3-4 1s3s 2s4s cross by the left on the sides, finishing 3s1s4s2s, all on opposite sides;

5-8 repeat bars 1-4 from new places, those in 1st place dancing as 1s and so on, finishing 4s3s2s1s;

9-16 repeat bars 1-8 from new places, those in 1st place dancing as 1s and so on, finishing in original places, 1s facing down, 2s facing up;

17-18 1M2M 1L2L set;

19-20 1s cross down to face 3s;

21-22 1L3M 1M3L set;

23-24 1s cross down to face 4s;

25-26 1M4M 1L4L set;

27-28 1s cross down to 4th place;

29-32 2s3s4s advance and retire WHILE 1s advance, turn both hands and retire, finishing 2s3s4s1s.

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

Dance Notes

1-16 Beware of going too far in the right hands across halfway; pull the left shoulder back slightly at the end to face up if now in 2nd place, down if now in 3rd place. Note that 2nd couple must progress all the way to 4th place before returning to 1st place and then back to 2nd place; similarly, 3rd couple must progress all the way to 1st place before returning to 4th place and then back to 3rd place.

19-20 1s should take right hands while crossing down.

23-24 1s should take left hands while crossing down.

27-28 1s should take right hands while crossing down.

29-32 The first step of the advance should be long so that the 1s can more easily turn both hands; the first step of the retire should be short so that the 1s can more easily join in.

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

A Trip To Bavaria - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Instruction Videos

A Trip To Bavaria - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

This dance, A Trip To Bavaria, was originally titled Eine Reise Nach Bayern and was devised by a Scottish Country dance exhibition team while visiting Bavaria, c. 1960.

Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of the country. With an area of 70,548 square kilometres (27,200 sq mi) and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, it is the largest German state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany. Its capital is Munich in Upper Bavaria.

I well remember James McGregor Brown's reel, A Trip To Bavaria, as quite the fun dance.

Bavaria? Scottish country dancing exists in Bavaria? "You betcha", as Sarah Palin is wont to say! Bayern, as they call it if you live there, is the second most populous of the states that comprise the Federal Republic of Germany. The largest city is Munich. Its inhabitants, who number well over a million Bavarians, call it München (with an umlaut over the "u"). But Scottish dancing?

Well, back in 1973, a group of expatriate Scots and their friends decided to found the Munich Scottish Association (MSA) to further Scottish culture in south-east Germany and they have been going strong ever since with a steady focus on the dancing that we all know and love.

The MSA is not a branch of RSCDS at present, but it is afﬁliated with same. That said, the first RSCDS Branch in Germany was founded six years ago under the name "Central Germany Branch", and is headquartered at the Kuckucksnest in a community about 80 km south of Frankfurt/Main. Run your finger down a list of the SCD "movers and shakers" either in Munich or in Central Germany, and the names you see are very Germanic. There is not a Mc or Mac to be seen.

Even so, go back to the second century AD, and it appears that the Bavarians of the day were called Baiuvarii, which means "Men of Baia", whose homeland, a.k.a. Bohemia, was occupied by a tribe of Celts called Boii. Celts, did you say? Aha! So it really is in the blood. Those Celtic folk are everywhere... Isle of Man, Brittany, Cornwall, and even Bavaria. Not to forget, on another level, both Boston and Glasgow.

The Barry Pipes Canon 036- October, 2010.

Bavaria - Information Video

Bavarian Alps

Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Bavaria article on Wikipedia.
Additional search terms: Bevaria.

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