[Bg-dance] Notes on the Earl of Essex Measure

[Charlene Charette]

On Mon, Jan 23, 2012 at 1:51 AM,  <tmcd at panix.com> wrote:

> I had a sudden dreadful thought, that someone might think that I was
> implying that it's remarkable that Perronnelle was right about
> something.  No!  "Fancy that" was an ironic dig at myself, and at a
> lot of other SCA dancers, who take these HUGE galumphing steps in
> Italian ren (and exhaust ourselves) while Perronnelle is looking
> stylish and talking (as she has for years, I think) about how small
> steps are what the period sources call for.

Small steps are certainly more difficult to perform. (Also, slow steps
are more difficult than quick steps.) I don't mind people taking steps
larger than 2" (I rarely dance that small), but the really huge steps
do look ungraceful. I try not to be a stickler about it unless asked.
If the dancer is trying, moving in the correct direction at the right
right time, not messing up the rest of the dancers, and having fun --
I can live with the steps being not-quite-right.

--Perronnelle



-- 
I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but
I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.  --
Robert McCloskey