Victoria Reel

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1-8 Eight hands round in a circle to the left and back to the right.
9-12 First couple dance anticlockwise behind fourth couple, the lady dancing round in front of fourth lady whilst the man dances between fourth couple in front of fourth man: at the same time third couple dance similarly behind second couple, third lady dancing in front of second lady and third man between third couple in front of second man.
13-14 First and third couples dance right hands across in a wheel half way.
15-16 First and second couples dance left hands across in a wheel half way, third and fourth couples do the same.
17-24 Second man passes first man by the left shoulder to dance round the set in an anticlockwise direction, second lady passing first lady by the left shoulder to follow her partner, second man leads behind third couple and dances round in front of third man, second lady dancing between third couple to finish in front of third lady; at the same time fourth couple dance similarly, passing third couple by the left shoulder and dancing anticlockwise round the set behind first couple to dance into the centre fourth passing between first couple to finish in front of first lady and third man dancing round them to finish in front of first man.
25-26 Second and fourth couples dance right hands across in a wheel half way.
27-28 First and second couples dance left hands across in a wheel half way, third and fourth couples do the same.
29-32 First lady passes second lady by the left shoulder and casts anticlockwise to her original place, first man passes second man by the left shoulder to follow his partner back to place: third couple similarly dance back to place, passing fourth couple by the left shoulder and casting in an anticlockwise direction.
All four couples are now back in their original places.
Second figure

1-8 The four men dance across in front of their partners and cast behind the next lady in an anticlockwise direction to the opposite side of the set; the men then dance left hands across in a wheel half way back to their original places and set: at the same time the ladies set, dance left hands across in a wheel half way to pass their partners by the right shoulder as the men dance in to commence their wheel; cast in an anticlockwise direction one place round the set and cross in front of their partners to their original places.
9-12 All turn their corners once round with the right hand.
13-16 All turn partners with the left hand one and a quarter times round, at the end the ladies join right hands to form a wheel, the men turning to face clockwise and joining nearer hands with partner.
17-24 Grand star, all dance right hands across in a wheel once round.
25-28 All set twice to partners.
29-32 All turn partner once round with both hands using pas-de-basque step.
Third figure

1-6 Half a double reel of four, the men pass their partners by the right shoulder to give left hands across to commence the reels.
7-8 All set to partner.
9-24 Star chain, once round, two steps to each hand. To start all change places with partner, the men turning to face the next lady on their right with whom they then change places with the left hand, the ladies dancing in and turning to face the next man to their left; these four bars being repeated three times round the set.
25-26 All set to partner.
27-32 Half a double reel of four, the men again passing their partners by the right to give left hands across.
All are now back in their original places.
Fourth figure

1-4 All turn partners with two hands once round, using pas-de-basque step.
5-8 All set to partner, on the last step all turn to face anticlockwise, joining nearer hand with partner the ladies giving left hands across ready for a wheel.
9-16 Grand star, all dance left hands across in a wheel once round.
17-20 All turn partners one and a quarter times round with the right hand to original places.
21-24 All turn corners once round with the left hand.
25-32 The ladies dance in front of their partners, cast behind the next man's place to the opposite side of the set; then give right hands across in a wheel half way back to original place and set. Meanwhile the men set, dance right hands across half way to pass their own partner by the left shoulder as the ladies enter their wheel; then cast one place in a clockwise direction and dance in front of their partners back to their original places.
Note: the entry to this figure is made easier for the ladies, if the turn on bars 21-24 is accelerated to a three bar turn allowing the lady the fourth bar to complete a polite turn into place.
All are now back in their original places.
Fifth figure

1-4 Second man casts in a clockwise direction behind third couple and dances round in front of third man, second lady follows him and dances between third couple to finish in front of third lady: meanwhile fourth couple similarly cast behind first couple, fourth man dancing round to finish in front of first man and fourth lady dancing between first couple to finish in front of first lady.
5-6 Second and fourth couples dance left hands across in a wheel half way.
7-8 First and second couples dance right hands across in a wheel half way, third and fourth couples do the same.
9-16 First lady passes second lady by the right shoulder and casts in a clockwise direction round the set behind fourth couple to finish in front of fourth lady, first man passes second man by the right shoulder to follow his partner round the set and dance in between fourth couple and finish in front of fourth man: meanwhile third couple dance similarly, third lady passing fourth lady by the right shoulder and casting clockwise behind second couple to finish in front of second lady whilst her partner passes fourth man by the right shoulder and dances between second couple to finish in front of second man.
17-18 First and third couples dance left hands across in a wheel half way.
19-20 First and second couples dance right hands across in a wheel half way, third and fourth couples do the same.
21-24 Second man passes first man by the right shoulder and casts in a clockwise direction back to his original place, second lady passes first lady by the right shoulder to follow her partner to place; at the same time fourth couple dance similarly, fourth man passing third man by the right shoulder and casting to place whilst fourth lady passes third lady by the right shoulder to follow him to place.
25-32 All dance eight hands round in a circle to the left and back to the right.

(Dance crib compiled by Alison Mitchell, under the CCA NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, 2021)

Dance Notes

(Dance notes compiled by Alison Mitchell, under the CCA NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, 2021)

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

Victoria Reel - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Instruction Videos

Dance Information

(Dance information by Alison Mitchell, under the CCA NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, 2020)

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