Study Notes Copyright © William Lynch 2007
| The first three figures of this set are danced as half-sets and the fourth as a full set. |
| First Figure - Crossover (Reels) | 120 bars |
| 1 | Crossover, ladies R to R (2 bars) and gents L to L (2 bars) and repeat the movement back to place (4 bars). | 8 bars |
| 2 | Step it out: partners face each other and dance the step in place. | 8 bars |
| 3 | Swing, with ceili hold. | 8 bars |
| 4 | Ladies chain R hand in the centre, L to turn under the arm of the opposite gent who follows her round, R hand in the centre and L to turn under and round her partner who turns with her. | 8 bars |
| 5 | Step it out.
Swing. |
16 bars |
| 6 | Advance, retire and cross: with crossed hand hold couples advance (2 bars) and, as they retire, the lady dances across her partner under raised arms to finish alongside him on his L (2 bars). Couples dance across the set, gents L to L (2 bars) and each dancer ˝ turns inwards to face their own place (2 bars). The whole movement is then repeated back to place. | 16 bars |
| 7 | Step it out.
Swing. |
16 bars |
| 8 | Advance, retire and cross. | 16 bars |
| 9 | Step it out.
Swing. |
16 bars |
| Second Figure - Ladies chain (Reels) | 160 bars |
| 1 | Ladies chain. | 8 bars |
| 2 | Step it out.
Swing. |
16 bars |
| 3 | Dance around: 1st lady and 2nd gent dance a full circle clockwise around each other to end face-to-face in the centre. The movement may be embellished according to individual taste. | 8 bars |
| Swing: the dancing couple swing (6 bars) and fall back to place (2 bars). | 8 bars | |
| 4 | Advance, retire and cross. | 8 bars |
| 5 | Dance around and swing:1st lady and 2nd gent repeat 3. | 16 bars |
| 6 | Advance, retire and cross back. | 8 bars |
| 7 | Step it out.
Swing. |
16 bars |
| 8 | Dance around and swing: 2nd lady and 1st gent dance 3. | 16 bars |
| 9 | Advance, retire and cross. | 8 bars |
| 10 | Dance around and swing: 2nd lady and 1st gent repeat 3. | 16 bars |
| 11 | Advance, retire and cross back. | 8 bars |
| 12 | Step it out.
Swing. |
16 bars |
| Third Figure - The Three and One (Reels) | 160 bars |
| 1 | Ladies chain.
Step it out. Swing. |
24 bars |
| 2 | Three and One: 2nd couple hold R hands while 1st couple house within the set to leave the 1st lady to the R and in front of 2nd gent, facing out of the set. On the last 2 bars, 2nd lady ˝ turns anti-clockwise to face out of the set while 2nd gent takes 1st lady’s L hand in his L and 1st gent dances in between the ladies, without taking hands, to form a line of three. | 8 bars |
| The formation retires (4 bars), and advances (4 bars) and on the last 2 bars the ladies ˝ turn inwards to give their free hands to the 1st gent while keeping hands held with 2nd gent. The formation advances (4 bars) and retires (4 bars), ladies dropping hands and turning inwards to place their hands on the gents’ shoulders as they form a little christmas on the last 2 bars. | 16 bars | |
| Swing four: they swing clockwise (8 bars) and anti-clockwise (8 bars). | 16 bars | |
| 3 | Ladies chain.
Step it out. Swing. |
24 bars |
| 4 | Three and One: 2nd couple lead to repeat 2. | 40 bars |
| 5 | Ladies chain.
Step it out. Swing. |
24 bars |
| Fourth Figure - The Full Set (Polkas) | 136 bars |
| 1 | Circle: all take hands in a circle and advance and retire twice. | 8 bars | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Dance at home. | 8 bars | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Circle, and ladies move on to face the next gent on the R on the last 2 bars. | 8 bars | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Dance at home. | 8 bars | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Circle, and ladies move on.
Dance at home. Circle, and ladies move on. Dance at home. Circle, and ladies move on to their own partners. Dance at home. |
48 bars | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Advance, retire and crossover: keeping waltz hold, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 7 | Ladies chain, top ladies leading and side ladies starting 2 bars later.
Step it out. Swing. |
24 bars | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| STEPS Traditionally, a doubled reel step, similar to the Connemara step but brushed with the ball of the foot rather than danced with the heel, was used to Step it out. Nowadays dancers dance whatever step they wish. |
| SOURCE Pat Murphy at his Bristol workshop, April 2000. |
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