A Winning Smile
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
A Winning Smile (4x32R) 32 bar reel for four couples in a longwise set, Murrough Landon, 2021.1-4 1st and 2nd couples, also 3rd and 4th couples, each dance half a double Fig of 8. 1st and 4th couples start by crossing inwards as 2nd and 3rd couples start dancing up or down the sides.
5-8 1st and 2nd couples, also 3rd and 4th couples, each turn one and a half times on the sides. 1st and 4th couples start inwards between 2nd and 3rd couples.
4th woman, 1st woman, 4th man and 1st man end in a line across the set between 2nd and 3rd places. Those who turned left hand (1st man and 4th woman) are at the ends of the line and those who turned right hand (1st woman and 4th man) are back to back in the centre.
9-16 1st and 4th couples dance a reel of four across the set. 4th and 1st women, also 4th and 1st men, start by passing right shoulder. On the last bar 1st woman and 4th man pass right shoulder to end in tandem behind 4th woman and 1st man facing out on the men's and women's sides respectively.
17-20 4th and 1st women, also 1st and 4th men, dance half a tandem reel of three on the sides. They start by passing 2nd woman and 3rd man by the right shoulder, then cross to their own sides ending in order 3,1,4,2 with 3rd and 2nd couples still on opposite sides.
21-24 1st and 4th couples dance half right hands across, then half turn their partner right hand into allemande hold facing up. Meanwhile 3rd and 2nd couples cross over giving right hands, then set.
25-32 4th and 1st couples dance the first 6 bars of an Allemande. Then, retaining left hands, they turn once round to end on own sides facing out ready for the repeat. The progressed order is 3,1,4,2.
(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA September 2021)
Dance Instruction Videos
A Winning Smile - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
The title for this dance was inspired by meeting a woman called Win Balgarnie on a dancing holiday. She was then approaching 90, but still full of energy and enthusiasm for dancing and she always seemed to be smiling. So this dance is dedicated to all those who increase our enjoyment by looking at, and naturally smiling at, other people on the dance floor.Recommended music: Baldovan Reel (Betty Low).
Suitable recording: Baldovan Reel (Deirdre Adamson Quartet: A Birl Roond Forfar).
(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA 2021)
Published in A Winning Smile, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA.
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