BOOK 50 Review

Book 50

Most of the dances in Book 50 require sustained energy and effort, but once mastered, are most enjoyable. They are dances suitable for teaching at various levels of ability and the music provides the impetus required. The Spring Fling Reel is lively and enjoyable with different turns in bars 37–40. Les Remparts de Seville proved to be popular with an interesting twist in setting to corners and partner. There’s Something about 30 is a beautifully flowing strathspey with an interesting variation in the middle of the dance. In contrast to this 192 Miles Home is a lively jig danced in a square set. Dancers enjoyed this dance and the high energy required to perform it well. The Doonhammer Delight is a round-the-room dance requiring nimble changes of direction. It involves all the dancers moving throughout the 32-bar sequence. Mathilde is a Delight has known and lesser known formations Attention must be given to phrasing, in particular in bars 23 and 24 to enable ease of entry into the 6 bar formation, the capstan. In contrast The Wandering Wallaby is an excellent dance for teaching newer dancers reels of four and a three-couple promenade. It is, nevertheless, not without its challenges for beginners. Shadow and Trip to Applecross present some challenges. The latter includes variations in the ladies and men’s chains as well as in set and rotate. Dancing Spirit is a lively dance with flowing entries into a figure resembling the spoke and finally, La Baratte your Way Home presents difficulties in initial learning but, once mastered, is a refreshingly new, if challenging, dance. Congratulations are in order to the young devisors and to their fellow dancers. Let us hope that they continue to enjoy dancing in the spirit engendered by this book of dances.