SR - Dance for Squires 1.2

[Cian MacQuaid]

HL Ihon Vinson MacFergus, who is being kind enough to teach the dance at
Squire's, sends this message:

Grace & peace to all
It will be my privilege to teach Heart's Ease at Squires in the main hall.
I will also judge.
My intent is to teach two sessions, one at 11:00 a.m., the other at 1:30
p.m.  Each session will be one half hour.

Here follows an explanation of the dance:
Heart's Ease - an English Country Dance for Two Couples
Definitions:

proper -- Lord left of Lady
your corner -- herein, the opposite gender of the other couple
forward a double  -- herein, three walking steps forwards, the first double
beginning with the left foot and bringing feet together on the fourth count
(when more than one double is executed in succession forward, the beginning
foot alternates, first left, then right, etc.)
fall back or back a double -- herein, three walking steps backwards
beginning with the right foot and bringing feet together on the fourth count
(when more than one double is executed in succession backwards, the
beginning foot alternates, first right, then left, etc.)
side -- dancers face, forward a double to end side by side, fall back a
double to place; a side right places the dancers' right shoulders side by
side, a side left places the dancers left shoulders side by side
arm -- dancers face and gently grasp the forearm of the other (right forearm
for 'arm right', left forearm for 'arm left') and circle forward once around
(clockwise for arm right; counter-clockwise for arm left) to place
Partners begin proper facing corners
First Verse
Forward a double, fall back a double; that again;
Chorus:
Back a double from partner; forward a double, turn corner once around with
the right hand (that's right, you have to turn to your corner in order to
turn your corner -- how and when you do this is not made clear in the
original -- I try to do it on the very last possible beat to emphasis the
'rejection' of my partner -- Cecil Sharpe, in his 'reconstruction', puts it
on the first beat of the new measure.  Whatever you decide be sure your
partner and the other couple in the set agree);
Back a double from corner; forward a double, turn partner once around with
the left hand;
Second Verse
Side right with partner; side left with corner
Chorus
Third Verse

Arm right with partner; arm left with corner
Chorus
Have fun!  One of the primary judging criteria for me is whether you at
least look like you enjoy what you're doing.

--
ihon

hl ihon vinson macfergus, 15th c. lowland Scot and all around good guy,
Stargate, Ansteorra -- macfergus at unidial.com
John F. Hirling, 20th c. cleric and all around good guy, Houston, TX --
SkyPilotPCUSA at netscape.net

I concur with his criteria and enormously appreciate his assistance.

Sir Cian



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