The Umpteen Bar Reel

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1-8 1st and 4th couples, giving right hands, turn three quarters to the centre line. They then dance down or up in tandem, passing the other couple left shoulder.
 1st and 4th men dance right shoulder around 3rd and 2nd men respectively and cast up or down to original places (passing outside 4th and 1st women).
 Meanwhile 1st and 4th women loop left shoulder round each other, dance out between 2nd and 3rd couples on their original side and cast up or down to original places.
9-12 1st and 2nd men, also 3rd and 4th men, giving right hands, cross diagonally, then 1st and 2nd men cast down two places as 3rd and 4th men cast up two places passing the other man left shoulder on the side. All the men end facing in and to their right.
 Meanwhile the women all set. Then 1st and 2nd women, also 3rd and 4th women, giving right hands, cross diagonally to end facing out and to their right.
13-16 All dance half a reel of four on the sides, starting by giving right shoulder.
 The order is now 3rd woman, 2nd man, 1st woman, 4th man down the men's side and 1st man, 4th woman, 3rd man, 2nd woman down the women's side.
17-24 1st man and 4th woman, also 1st woman and 4th man, giving right hands, half turn to end facing on the diagonal. They then dance half a diagonal reel of four starting by passing right shoulder. On bars 23-24 they pass right shoulder again to end on the sides facing in.
 The order is now 3rd woman, 2nd man, 4th woman and 1st man down the men's side and 4th man, 1st woman, 3rd man and 2nd woman down the women's side.
25-32 All repeat the figure of bars 9-16. The women cross, cast up or down and face in. The men set then cross to face out for the half reels of four on the sides.
 The order is now 3,1,4,2 with 1st and 2nd couples on opposite sides. 1st and 4th couples stay facing the ends.
33-40 1st and 4th men each dance a figure of eight on the sidelines, starting by passing 3rd and 2nd women right shoulder.
 Meanwhile 1st and 4th women each dance a figure of eight across the dance, starting by passing 3rd and 2nd men right shoulder. They end curving to their right into place.
 Meanwhile 3rd and 2nd couples dance the track of back to back twice on the sides with the dancing couples, starting right shoulder first, then left for bars 37-40.
41-48 3rd and 1st couples, also 4th and 2nd couples, each dance right hands across.
 Then 1st and 4th couples, in the centre, dance left hands across.

The progressed order is 3,1,4,2 with 1st and 2nd couples on opposite sides.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA June 2022)

Dance Notes

The inspiration for bars 33-40 is from a similar figure in The Hyperactive Reel by Jill Garrett and Ralph Stoddard.

(Dance notes by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA June 2022)

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Dance Information

So I was amused when David Queen, in a brilliant lesson at the 2021 London Branch day school, regularly asked for various different length phrases, such as 9 or 10 bars, and also "umpteen bars of reel time".

The essential progression in this dance is in bars 9-32.

The other phrases provide some relief and variation but leave the dancing couples in the same places. So although I advise sticking to multiples of 8 bars the dance can be done as 4x24, 4x32, 4x40 or 4x48 as desired.

Recommended music: Suggested tune To be decided; suitable recording Butterfly Bride (Nicol McLaren and the Glencraig SDB: Craigevar Dances).

(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA June 2022)

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