Zigzag Zodiac

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 4 1st and 4th couples turn once round giving both hands and cast inwards one place as 2nd and 3rd couples step to the ends.
5- 8 1st and 4th couples dance half right hands across in the centre, then half turn the corners with the left hand and end facing them on the sides.
9-12 All dance half a left shoulder reel of four on the sidelines ending in the order 1,3,2,4 with 1st and 3rd couples on the opposite side. All face in and diagonally to their right.
13-14 1st woman and 3rd man, also 2nd man and 4th woman, each set facing diagonally.
 Meanwhile 1st man and 3rd woman, also 2nd woman and 4th man, each cross over, dance left shoulder round their partner and take nearer hands with them.
15-16 All then dance on a quarter anticlockwise in each half of the set and those on the inside (who set in bars 13-14) bring their partner across to face them and take both hands. All couples end on the centre line, slightly angled along the 1st diagonals (but not back to back as for the standard strathspey Poussette). The order from the top is 3rd woman and 3rd man, 1st woman and 1st man, 4th man and 4th woman, 2nd man and 2nd woman. Those who brought their partner across need to change feet.
17-24 All dance the Zigzag Poussette. Each couple will progress, in a zigzag fashion, down the men's side or up the women's side, changing direction and orientation at the ends.
 1: All set diagonally, 3rd and 4th couples (in 1st and 3rd places) out to the men's side, 1st and 2nd couples (in 2nd and 4th places) out to women's side and all quarter turn on the hop pulling right shoulder back.
 2: All set diagonally back to the centre line pulling left shoulder back on the hop.
 3-4: 3rd and 2nd couples repeat the bars 1-2 zigzag from their new places.
 Meanwhile 1st and 4th couples, who are now at the ends, set diagonally out to the sides with small steps then on bar 4 set back into the centre with a half turn, pulling left shoulder back.
 5-8: All repeat bars 1-4 from new places (1st and 4th couples have changed direction).
 End with all again on the centre line, each couple still slightly angled on the diagonal, in the order: 2nd woman and 2nd man, 4th woman and 4th man, 1st man and 1st woman, 3rd man and 3rd woman. 2nd woman, 4th man, 1st man and 3rd woman need to change feet again.
25-28 All cast away to the sideline on their right then cross over giving right hands.
29-32 All circle eight hands half way round to the left.

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

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA April 2015 (revised 2025 and 2026)

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Dance Information

The dance then lay dormant for 10 years until I revisited it and sacrificed the alignments at the end of bars 3 and 7. After considering a few options I chose the set and half turn above. The entry and exit from the Poussette were also both changed.

In this dance the Zigzag Poussette starts and ends in the centre. Other variations starting and ending on the sides would be possible with a different progression.

Recommended music: Suggested tune: Mrs J Bishop's Strathspey (William Marshall).
Suitable recording: Boundary Cottage (Green Ginger: 12 Scottish Country Dances - devised by Mervyn Short).

(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA April 2015 (revised 2025 and 2026)

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