A Trip To York
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
A Trip To York 32 bar Reel for 4 Couples Rod Downey The Johnsonville CollectionA 4 couple 32 bar Reel.
Third and Fourth Couples begin on opposite sides.
1-4 1C and 2C dance forward and pass right shoulder and turn to the right.
The couples should not dance to the other side, but remain reasonably close. They then dance in the direction they are facing, passing, turning right again and then right again back to own sides into progressed places.
("Pass Right Progression"-but it hardly merits a name)
(To wit: The men have the 2nd man leading, dance to second place, turn right, dance to own side, turn right and then dance up the men's side, the finishing in order 2nd man at the top and first in second place; the ladies symmetrically, but starting upwards.)
The 3rd and 4th couples dance similarly.
5-8 1C and 2C dance four hands across and finish first couple facing second on the sidelines.
3C and 4C similarly.
It is important that the hands across finishes all the way around, dancers should not be tardy.
9-16 On the sidelines dance reels of 4. The 1st and 4th couples in the middle don't do the last left shoulder but dance past each other by the right, finishing in a line of 4 across the dance with the two ladies in the middle, ready for...
17-24 The middle couples dance the Targe as follows.
17-18 The two ladies turn left hand ¾ while the two men dance ¼ around clockwise.
19-20 Fourth man turns first lady right hand once around, similarly first man and fourth lady.
21-22 The two ladies turn left hand ¾ while the two men dance ¼ around clockwise.
23-24 Fourth man and first lady turn right hand ¾ to finish with fourth man in "third man's" place and first lady in second man's place. Similarly first man and fourth lady finishing with first man in second lady's place and fourth lady in "third lady's" place.
25-28 First and fourth couples set and link, finishing with fourth couple facing up, and first facing down on sidelines.
29-32 First and third ladies, first and third men, turn left hand once around.
Similarly fouth and second couples.
Finishing order 2, 4, 1, 3.
Repeat from new positions.
(Dance crib compiled by the deviser Rod Downey, Johnsonville SCD Club Tutor)
Dance Notes
In the pass right progression, it is important that the dancers do not dance to the opposite side before turing right.They should try to pass on bar 1 and immediately turn right.
(Dance notes by the deviser, Rod Downey)
Dance Information
This reel, A Trip To York, was devised on 22nd May and 19th May 2017 and revised on 24th May, 2017.This is a present to the York group for "Downey Day of Dance". On the day, bars 16-24 were a chain progression and Malcolm Brown suggested the targe movement.
Recommended music is "Hon Mrs Fraser" by Robert Mackintosh, played ABAB. This is the lead tune for "The Auld Alliance" and a suitable recording is by Gordon Shand in Music for Book 23.
(Dance information from The Johnsonville Collection Of Scottish Country Dances, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey)
Published in The Johnsonville Collection, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey.
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