Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Tandem

The term, Tandem, is not actually a Figure in its own right. It is used to indicate that one Dancer should follow closely behind another in a Figure, the pair behaving as a single Dancer would in the normal form of the Figure, as for example in bars 17-24 of Lady Sophia Lindsay where 2nd Man follows his Partner closely so as to Dance a Reel of three on the Men's Side with 1st Man and 4th Lady and similarly the 3rd Couple Dance as one person in the Reel on the Ladies' Side.

Further complexity may be added by changing the Lead as the Figure proceeds; for example, in bars 9-24 of the Scottish Dance Pelorus Jack there are four successive Tandem half Diagonal reels of three in which the lead (by 1st Man or 1st Lady) alternates as they pass each Corner.


Here are examples of those Scottish Country Dances for which we have instructions on this site and in which the term, Tandem, either appears explicitly or is implied; note that for a common term these will be a small selection; for a rare term, these may be all that exist:

Anna Holden's Strathspey
Buttermilk Falls
Dancing Dolphins
Flight Of The Falcon
Iain's Obsession
Lady Sophia Lindsay
Otters In Kenick Burn
Pelorus Jack
Scott Meikle
Symphony Hall Strathspey


Links To Pages Related To 'Tandem'

Figures

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