[Bg-dance] First Italian practice

[Charlene Charette]

On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 1:32 AM, Tim McDaniel <tmcd at panix.com> wrote:

> We and they do do Whirlygig a la Stargate.  The only differences that
> I noticed:
>
> - a flourish: when they do the long cast (not cast to star), the posts
>  meet at the bottom, touch palms, then do small casts to their post
>  positions, as a flourish and to allow more room for the other two
>  couples to pass between.

For years we had dance practice in my living room.  Because of tight
spacing, the top couple had to get out of the way so the other two
couples had more room to pass.  Hence, the birth of a flourish.
Similar to the "why do we cut end off the roast" story.

> - when they do the s-hays, the "turn to your left, offer your right",
>  the two people doing the handed turn rotate around their common
>  center.  In Bryn Gwlad, often the receiving person acts as a post,
>  with the incoming #2 person revolving around them.

The receiving person is *supposed* to stay in place and not come
forward to meet the middle dancer.  They were being sloppy; probably a
result of being brain dead after hours of Italian instruction.

--Perronnelle

-- 
Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of
thought.  -- John F. Kennedy