English Country Dance
From MiddleWiki
A very popular dance style in the SCA. Many of the dances done in the SCA come from John Playford's English Dance Master which was published in 16-something, and thus one of the most frequently used out of period sources.
There are just a few basic forms of English Country Dances:
- "USA" Dances (Up and back, Siding, Arming)
- Circle Dances
- Dances in a square
- Progressional Dances (Almost all of this type of dance are very much out of period.)
Some popular English Country Dances:
- Jenny Pluck Pears (circle)
- Gathering Peascods (circle)
- Grimstock (or Dove's Figary) (USA)
- Black Nag (USA)
- Heart's Ease (Square)
- Ruffty Tuffty (Square)
Dance Steps
Most English country dances follow a set pattern of steps interspersed with inventive choruses. In the USA style the formula is: Linear movement (Up a double and back), Chorus, Siding, Chorus, Arming, Chorus.
The chorus varies from dance to dance; sometimes the chorus is the same each time and sometimes it differs. The Hay step frequently appears in the chorus.
- Set and Turn
- Siding
- Arming
- Hay
- Circular Hay
- Handed Hay
- Mirror Hay
- Sheep-shank Hay