Study Notes Copyright © William Lynch 2007
CORNERS AND CORNER COUPLES
(X = gent O = lady)
1st corner |
X |
O |
2nd corner |
|
couple |
O |
X |
couple |
|
1st corner |
2nd corner |
|||
X O |
||||
Home place |
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| First Figure - Swing Two Girls (Reels) | 168 bars |
| 1 | Top couples:
Gents cross and swing the opposite lady with ceili hold. |
8 bars |
| Half diamond: with crossed hand hold in front, new couples dance to face the side couple on their L (2 bars) and fall back into the opposite place (2 bars). | 4 bars | |
| Ladies half chain: ladies give R hands to each other in the centre and L to their partner, dance round behind him turning once clockwise under arm as he dances in place, and finish beside him in ceili hold. | 4 bars | |
| Swing partners. | 8 bars | |
| 2 | Walk the house, each gent with his 1st corner lady. The gent turns to the lady on the 1st step and, taking waltz hold, turns her clockwise into his place on the 2nd, walks 3 & 4, reversing the lady, along his side of the set (2 bars) and ¾ turns her clockwise on 5,6,7 & 8 (2 bars). He reverses her along the second side of the set 1, 2, 3 & 4 (2 bars) and ¾ turns her clockwise in the second corner of the set on 5, 6, 7 & 8 (2 bars). The movement is repeated into both the 3rd and 4th corners, dancers separating and finishing in their own positions on 7 & 8 (8 bars). | 16 bars |
| 3 | Side couples now dance 1. | 24 bars |
| 4 | Walk the house and separate. | 16 bars |
| 5 | Top couples repeat 1. | 24 bars |
| 6 | Walk the house. | 16 bars |
| 7 | Side couples repeat 1. | 24 bars |
| 8 | Walk the house. | 16 bars |
| Second Figure - Swing Four (Reels) | 168 bars |
| 1 | Top couples:
Advance and retire, with crossed hand hold. |
4 bars |
| Crossover: partners cross each other L to L, ladies ahead of the gents (1 bar) and ladies pass each other R to R while the gents dance anti-clockwise outside the opposite lady (1 bar). Partners meet in the opposite place, turn inwards and take crossed hand hold (2 bars). | 4 bars | |
| Advance and retire. | 4 bars | |
| Crossover, and into a christmas. | 4 bars | |
| Swing four. | 8 bars | |
| 2 | Walk the house, corner couples, and separate. | 16 bars |
| 3 | Side couples now dance 1. | 24 bars |
| Walk the house. | 16 bars | |
| 4 | Top couples now repeat 1. | 24 bars |
| Walk the house. | 16 bars | |
| 5 | Side couples now repeat 1 | 24 bars |
| Walk the house. | 16 bars |
| Third Figure - The Gathering In (Jigs) | 128 bars |
| 1 | Circle, all join hands in a circle and advance and retire twice. | 8 bars |
| 2 | Walk the house, this time with own partner, stepping short for the first 4 steps into the corner and returning to place together. | 16 bars |
| 3 | Circle.
Walk the house, corner couples, ladies ending up in their new partner’s place. |
24 bars |
| 4 | Circle.
Walk the house, corner couples. |
24 bars |
| 5 | Circle.
Walk the house, corner couples. |
24 bars |
| 6 | Circle.
Walk the house, corner couples. |
24 bars |
| Fourth Figure - The Diamond (Reels) | 144 bars |
| 1 | Diamond, all four couples, back to place. | 8 bars |
| 2 | Ladies change partners: all ladies give R hands in the centre and L to the opposite gent, dance round behind him turning once clockwise underarm as he dances in place and dance on to give R hand to the gent in the place R of their starting position and turn under his arm and into ceili hold. | 8 bars |
| 3 | Swing. | 8 bars |
| 4 | In, out and around: facing in with crossed hand hold, new couples dance into the set and back (4 bars) and half diamond into the opposite place (4 bars). They repeat this whole 8 bar movement back to place. | 16 bars |
| 5 | Ladies change partners.
Swing. In, out and around. |
32 bars |
| 6 | Ladies change partners.
Swing. In, out and around. |
32 bars |
| 7 | Ladies change partners.
Swing. In, out and around. |
32 bars |
| Fifth Figure - The Grand Chain (Hornpipes) | 136 bars |
| 1 | Chain: partners face each other, R hand in R, dance in place (2 bars) and the lady turns anti-clockwise underarm to pass her partner and face the next gent (2 bars). The sequence is repeated L hand with this gent and R hand with the next, the gents remaining all the time in their own place (8 bars). Facing the fourth gent L hand in L, all dance 2 bars in place and ladies turn under arm to face this gent and take waltz hold. | 16 bars |
| 2 | Walk the house, stepping short for the first 4 steps into the corner. | 16 bars |
| 3 | Chain.
Walk the house, new couples. |
32 bars |
| 4 | Chain.
Walk the house. |
32 bars |
| 5 | Chain.
Walk the house. |
32 bars |
| STEPS : A very flat reel step is used for all reel figures in this set, and also for the hornpipe. There is no battering. Walk the house - The step is a short walking step, 2 steps to each bar of music, and danced with a pronounced sway of the hips known in the Tubbercurry area as 'jazzing' the step. The Advance and retire (Second Figure) and the In and Out (Fourth Figure) are danced: 1, 2, 3, heelcut and back, 2, 1, 23. Circle, jig time: heel 1, heel 2, heel 1234, heelback, heel 2 heel 1234. |
| SOURCE I wrote this set in memory of my father, Patrick Sylvester O’Hara, who was an enthusiastic dancer in the Tubbercurry area and beyond in the 1930s. His homeplace at Cloonadiveen, Aclare, Co.Sligo was for many years the dancing house of that part of the parish of Kilmacteige, although I did not learn of this until long after his untimely death. |