What sort of dances and music can we expect?
We have a large and varied repertoire of dances ranging in origin through English, Scottish, Irish and American- we also occasionally go Welsh, Israeli, Balkan or Scandinavian. They may be very easy (the Circassian Circle, for example, is not unlike the hokey kokey) or quite challenging (such as the Strip the Willow or Eightsome Reel. If you already know a bit about this kind of dancing, feel free to request anything you like- though if it's a bit obscure, be sure to give us sufficient notice.
With some dances, such as the Gay Gordons, you have one
partner who you stay with all the way through. One of the moves
involves walking forwards with your partner, turning on the spot
and then walking backwards- but in the same direction! This is
obviously open to misinterpretation and some interesting collisions
are almost inevitable!
With the Lucky Seven
you start with a partner, but at the end of each sequence you
walk around a circle, passing six different partners until you
meet the seventh, with whom you dance the next sequence. Lucky
for some!
In dances such as Saturday Night there's a clapping sequence
with your partner which may involve placing your arms around them
and clapping behind their back- a good way to get to know someone
quite intimately!
The Cumberland Square Eight, in which four couples make
up a group or "set", includes a figure called The Basket-
a sort of scrum of four people spinning rather rapidly. This can
turn into the notorious Flying Basket- in which the girls' feet
rise off the ground and spin round like helicopter blades, maiming
shins and kneecaps with gay abandon. And yes, we do have public
liability insurance!
A very popular dance or figure is Strip the Willow; here
couples face each other down a long line; the head couple has
to weave their way down the line, linking arms with and circling
each member of the opposite sex in turn, alternately returning
to their partner in the middle. This one always sorts the sheep
from the goats! (we try to discourage goats from attending our
dances)
For each dance we have a different
set of tunes, matched to the rhythm of the steps. These may be
reels, jigs, hornpipes, slip jigs, polkas or waltzes depending
on the dance.
We usually run three or four tunes together. In Quicksilver we
are distinctly adventurous in our approach to the music; we tend
to improvise and take liberties with the original tune. So a polka
might turn into swing jazz, a hornpipe into reggae, or a slip
jig into heavy rock!
In between dances, when the audience needs a short break, we'll
play one or two tunes, which might include Western Swing, bluegrass,
Italian, French, klezmer or jazz depending on what seems suitable
inappropriate. One of our specialities is "Turkey in the
Borscht"- a re-working of Turkey in the Straw which alternates
in style between Russian and Down Home American, gradually accelerating
to a dizzying climax.
All in all, we like to have fun!
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