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BOOK 51 Review
Book 51
The call for submissions for Book 51 requested dances suitable for young and less experienced dancers. The five jigs, four reels and three strathspeys, come from Europe (including England), New Zealand, and the US, one devised by a teenager and several associated with children’s classes. Two are for two couples in a longwise set; two are for four couples; one is for a square set; the others are for three couples in a four-couple set. None of the dances is complicated, nor contains more than two major formations, so they are suitable for less experienced dancers. They may not be particularly exciting for advanced dancers but that was not the aim of this book – after all, it follows on from a book of dances devised for experienced, fit, dancers – and they would provide suitable contrast to more complicated dances on event programmes.
New Year Jig was devised to teach reels of three and Hello-Goodbye introduces set to corners and partner. Bohemian Reflections contains a ladies’ chain; in Fair
Enough there is a two-couple allemande; Holyrood Strathspey has corners pass and turn and reels of three; The Somerset Children’s Reel has a double figure of eight; and rights and lefts feature in both Come What May and Pluto’s Head. Both The Edinburgh Toy Shop and Save the
Children require the first couple to know who their corners are.
And for the Young Ones and Summer on the Beach are probably more suited to children than adults – in the former, all four couples dance constantly, but if taken gently it works as a good warm-up mixer in a large circle; in the latter, 1 st and 4 th couples have 4 bars’ rest, 2 nd and 3 rd couples dance for all 32 bars. However, I like the ‘story’ attached to the latter, and particularly the ‘meanwhile’ representing children jumping over the waves. An unexpected influx of beginners means this
book has had great use in Dublin in recent months, and, all in all, it ‘does what it says on the tin’ and is a useful addition to most teachers’ repertoire.
Helen McGinley, Dublin, International Branch
