An Upbeat Reel
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
An Upbeat Reel (J4x32) A 32 bar reel for 4 couples in a longwise set. Murrough Landon, 20231st and 4th couples start on opposite sides.
1-4 2nd and 3rd couples set facing in diagonally, without taking hands on the sides. They then dance half left hands across retaining hands in the centre.
5-8 3rd and 2nd couples take right hands with the corners and all balance in crossing lines. Releasing left hands in the centre, 3rd and 2nd couples half turn the corners giving right hands and end facing them on the diagonals.
9-16 All dance complete intersecting reels of four, starting by passing right shoulder and with a quick half left hands across in the centre. All end facing the same person on the diagonals.
17-20 All set. Those in the centre dance out to the next corner place on their right and face in. Meanwhile the corners dance in and pull right shoulder back to face the place they just left. This is similar to the Set to Corners and Cast Away figure.
21-24 All repeat bars 17-20 from their new places. 2nd and 3rd couples end on the men's and women's sides respectively, the women in 1st place and the men in 4th place. 1st and 4th couples end facing the same person as at the end of bar 16, all having moved round one corner position clockwise.
25-26 1st and 4th couples turn the corners once round with the right hand. 2nd and 3rd couples, in the corners, end facing clockwise, 1st and 4th couples face their partner up and down in the centre.
27-32 2nd and 3rd couples chase three quarters round the set clockwise to 4th and 1st places on opposite sides.
Meanwhile 1st and 4th couples, giving left hands, half turn their partner. They then join hands to dance left hands across one and a quarter times ending on their own sides opposite their partner.
The final order is 3,1,4,2 with 3rd and 2nd couples on opposite sides.
(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA March 2023)
Dance Instruction Videos
An Upbeat Reel - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
This energetic dance was written for a tune composed by Wouter Joubert.He kindly offered me this tune, which he renamed as "An Upbeat Reel", following a discussion we had after I suggested that his recording of the tune he wrote for Eric Ferguson should start with an upbeat or "lead in" note.
Recommended music: Suggested tune An Upbeat Reel by Wouter Joubert played ABAB; suitable recording A 4x32 recording of this is available via https://my.strathspey.org/u/murrough/recording/.
(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA March 2023)
Published in An Upbeat Reel, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA.
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