Study Notes Copyright © William Lynch 2007
CORNERS AND CORNER COUPLES
(X = gent O = lady)
Opposite couple |
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O X |
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4th corner |
3rd corner |
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1st corner |
X |
O |
2nd corner |
|
couple |
O |
X |
couple |
|
1st corner |
2nd corner |
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X O |
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Home place |
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| First Figure - Swing Opposites (Polkas) | 200 bars |
| 1 | Top couples:
1st gent and 2nd lady dance in (2 bars), take ceili hold and swing (6 bars), while their partners dance in place. The swinging pair finish facing their own partners, dance out to meet them (2 bars) and both couples swing (6 bars). |
16 bars |
| Ladies chain R hands in the centre, L arm to turn the opposite gent, pass back R to R and into ceili hold. | 8 bars | |
| Swing. | 8 bars | |
| 2 | Step and swing corners: gents and their 1st corner ladies take R hand in R, dance the step (4 bars), swing with ceili hold to finish in a circle (4 bars), L hands still held by the corner persons and R hands held by partners - gents facing into, and the ladies out of, the set. | 8 bars |
| 3 | Circle and swing partners: all dance the step in the circle (4 bars) and swing partners (4 bars). | 8 bars |
| 4 | Top couples repeat 1. with 1st lady and 2nd gent leading. | 32 bars |
| Step and swing corners.
Circle and swing partners. |
16 bars | |
| 5 | Side couples dance 1. with 1st gent (R of 1st
tops) and 2nd lady leading.
Step and swing corners. Circle and swing partners. |
48 bars |
| 6 | Side couples repeat 1. with 2nd gent and 1st
lady leading.
Step and swing corners. Circle and swing partners. |
48 bars |
| Second Figure - Slide and Home (Polkas) | 168 bars |
| 1 | Top couples:
1st couple slide and home: taking ceili hold, they slide in to the centre - 1, 2, 123 and back, 2, 123 (4 bars), and dance at home, turning once (4 bars). |
8 bars |
| 1st couple step and swing. | 8 bars | |
| Ladies chain. | 8 bars | |
| Swing. | 8 bars | |
| 2 | House around, with ceili hold. | 8 bars |
| 3 | Top couples repeat 1. with 2nd couple leading.
House around. |
40 bars |
| 4 | Side couples now dance 1. with 1st couple leading.
House around. |
40 bars |
| 5 | Side couples repeat 1. with 2nd couple leading.
House around. |
40 bars |
| Third Figure - The Kiss (Polkas) | 200 bars |
| 1 | Top couples:
1st gent and 2nd lady dance in and kiss, turn and dance back to their partners, who are dancing in place (4 bars), and swing (4 bars). The dancing couple again dance in and kiss, turn back and swing partners (8 bars). |
16 bars |
| Ladies chain. | 8 bars | |
| Swing. | 8 bars | |
| 2 | Step and swing corners.
Circle and swing partners. |
16 bars |
| 3 | Top couples repeat 1. with 2nd gent and 1st
lady leading.
Step and swing corners. Circle and swing partners. |
48 bars |
| 4 | Side couples now dance 1. with 1st gent and 2nd
lady leading.
Step and swing corners. Circle and swing partners. |
48 bars |
| 5 | Side couples now repeat 1. with 2nd gent and 1st
lady leading.
Step and swing corners. Circle and swing partners. |
48 bars |
| Fourth Figure - The Chain (Polkas) | 256 bars |
| 1 | Chain: all face partners, R hand in R, and chain around to meet partners R hand in the opposite place (6 bars) and dance the step (2 bars). They continue to chain in the same direction, meet R hand and dance the step at home (8 bars). | 16 bars | |
| 2 | Swing. | 8 bars | |
| 3 | Top couples: Ladies chain and Swing. | 16 bars | |
| 4 | Cast off and up the centre: 1st top gent dances clockwise and 1st top lady anti-clockwise around the outside of the set, followed by 1st side, 2nd side and 2nd top dancers in that order*, gents behind the gent and ladies behind the lady, to meet and take R hand in R. 1st top couple lead back up the set to their home place, followed by the other couples, and partners turn in to face each other in two lines. | 8 bars | |
| Step and swing, all couples finishing back in place. | 8 bars | ||
| 5 | Chain and swing. | 24 bars | |
| 6 | Top couples: Ladies chain and Swing. | 16 bars | |
| 7 | Cast off and up the centre, 2nd top dancers leading, followed by 2nd side, 1st side and 1st top dancers. | 8 bars | |
| Step and swing, back to place. | 8 bars | ||
| 8 | Chain and swing. | 24 bars | |
| 9 | Side couples: Ladies chain and swing. | 16 bars | |
| 10 | Cast off and up the centre, 1st side dancers leading, followed by 2nd top, 1st top and 2nd side dancers. | 8 bars | |
| Step and swing. | 8 bars | ||
| 11 | Chain and swing. | 24 bars | |
| 12 | Side couples: Ladies chain and swing. | 16 bars | |
| 13 | Cast off and up the centre, 2nd side dancers leading, followed by 1st top, 2nd top and 1st side dancers. | 8 bars | |
| Step and swing. | 8 bars | ||
| 14 | Chain and swing. | 24 bars | |
| NOTE - The general rules as to the order in which dancers 'cast off and up the centre' in this Figure are: | |||
| 1st tops, 2nd tops, 1st sides and 2nd sides lead the movement in turn. | |||
| When the couple to your L is leading, you go 2nd. | |||
| When the couple to your R is leading, you go 3rd. | |||
| When the opposite couple is leading, you go last. | |||
| Fifth Figure - The Gallop (Jigs) | 200 bars |
| 1 | Top couples:
Gallop: with the gents' hands on the ladies' hips and the ladies' hands on the gents' shoulders, 1st couple starting from their 2nd corner of the set and the 2nd couple from their 1st corner: 1st couple gallop diagonally across the set - hop 1234567, finishing with the ladies back-to-back.(2 bars) 2nd couple gallop diagonally across.(2 bars) 1st couple gallop back, finishing with the gents back-to-back.(2 bars) 2nd couple gallop back.(2 bars) The whole 8 bar movement is then repeated. |
16 bars |
| Ladies chain. | 8 bars | |
| Swing. | 8 bars | |
| 2 | Step and swing corners.
Circle and swing partners. |
16 bars |
| 3 | Top couples gallop, 2nd couple leading
from their 2nd corner and 1st couple dancing from their
1st corner.
Ladies chain. Swing. |
32 bars |
| 4 | Step and swing corners.
Circle and swing partners. |
16 bars |
| 5 | Side couples gallop, 1st couple leading
from their 2nd corner.
Ladies chain. Swing. |
32 bars |
| 6 | Step and swing corners.
Circle and swing partners. |
16 bars |
| 7 | Side couples gallop, 2nd couple leading
from their 2nd corner.
Ladies chain. Swing. |
32 bars |
| 8 | Step and swing corners.
Circle and swing partners. |
16 bars |
| Sixth Figure - Steps With Each Couple (Polkas) | 264 bars |
| 1 | 1st top gent dance steps with each couple: taking his own partner in ceili hold, he slides to the centre and back and dances on 1 full turn to face his 2nd corner couple and drop hands (8 bars). He takes R hand in R with the new lady, as does his partner with the new gent, and both couples dance the step in place and swing (8 bars), 1st top lady remaining with 1st side gent. | 16 bars |
| With his new lady he slides towards his 4th corner and ¼ turns, slides towards his 1st corner (4 bars) and dances round to face his opposite couple and drop hands (4 bars). Facing dancers take R hand in R to form new couples, dance the step in place and swing (8 bars). | 16 bars | |
| With this new lady he slides towards his 1st corner and ¼ turns, slides towards his 2nd corner and dances round to face his 1st corner couple and drop hands. Facing dancers take R hand in R to form new couples, dance the step in place and swing (8 bars). | 16 bars | |
| With the last lady he slides towards his 2nd corner, then his 3rd corner and dances round into his home place. | 8 bars | |
| 2 | House around, new couples, with ceili hold. | 8 bars |
| 3 | 1st side gent dance steps with each couple. | 56 bars |
| 4 | House around, new couples. | 8 bars |
| 5 | 2nd top gent dance steps with each couple. | 56 bars |
| 6 | House around, new couples. | 8 bars |
| 7 | 2nd side gent dance steps with each couple. | 56 bars |
| 8 | House around. | 8 bars |
| Seventh Figure - Around the House (Polkas) | 88 bars |
| 1 | Circle: all join hands in a circle and advance and retire twice. | 8 bars |
| 2 | Swing partners. | 8 bars |
| 3 | Circle and ladies dance on to the next gent on the
R on the last 2 bars.
Swing. |
16 bars |
| 4 | Circle and ladies dance on to the next gent on the R.
Swing. |
16 bars |
| 5 | Circle and ladies dance on to the next gent on the R.
Swing. |
16 bars |
| 6 | Circle and ladies dance on to their own partners.
Swing. |
16 bars |
THE STEP
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| The 'cuts' are performed by first taking the weight on the R foot and lifting
the L so that the L heel is just in front of the R shin, toes pointing down.
The weight is then transferred to the L foot and the R is lifted to bring the
heel in front of the L shin, toes again pointed down.
In Step and swing and Circle and swing the full 4 bars are danced, but in the Chain, when partners meet each other, only the last 2 bars are danced. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SOURCES Donncha Ó Muínneachaín in Birmingham, September 1991, was my first source but his explanation of the Fourth Figure was so unclear that none of us could dance it on that occasion. The 'general rules' for the Cast off and up the centre in that figure I derived myself, and was pleased to find them corroborated when Mick Mulkerrin taught the set at Priddy, Somerset, in May 1993. |