Review of The St Andrews Collection of Step Dances

The St Andrews Collection of Step Dances Vols 1 & 2 plus CD

At last, the long awaited book of step dances. The St Andrews Collection of Step Dances was ready

for the 2009 AGM and volume 2 plus double CD made an appearance at Summer School 2010. The 34 dances over two volumes include the Four Step Dances last published in 1953 and material drawn from The Hill Manuscriptof 1841. Isobel Cramb, assisted by Flora Cruikshank, interpreted and reconstructed many of the dances. Miss Cruikshank also supplied dances as did Mary Isdale MacNab from Canada. Others can be traced back via Wendy West, her mother Tihi and Hope Little to “Dancie” John Reid of Newtyle. Susan Nedderman’s extensive notes were used as a reference for volume 1. Dances devised by Pat Clark, Lesley Martin, Esme Randall and Vera Sim are also included. Both volumes are clearly laid out but volume 2 has the advantage of adding counts to the dance descriptions for most of the dances. “Dancing words” are available for The West Repertoire and Irene Fidler’s The Bonnie Broom. A few errors were noted at Summer School this year so will hopefully be corrected for the next print. The music for volumes 1 and 2 was arranged by Pat Clark and Muriel Johnstone respectively. Muriel Johnstone and Keith Smith then recorded the CD. The dances, for the most part, appear in alphabetical order. The CD is great to listen to with a large selection of familiar tunes from a variety of sources, one of the earliest being The King of Sweden from 1735. A number of the alternative tunes are by Nan Main. A few tracks are not at the speed I would like, but only by a few seconds. The finish for the 6/8 Blue Bonnets could have slowed slightly earlier to accommodate the curtsey on bar 7. As well as the usual rhythms, 6/4 and 9/8 time are required. Dances which use more than one time signature are included too. This was fashionable in the 1800s and the Pas de Trois for the Misses Glennieis a fine example. Until these books appeared we have relied on notes handed down by teachers or made by students, like myself, of this dance genre. This package is definitely a bonus and it will allow me to revise my repertoire and extend it as I sample some of the other dances now that music is also available. Janet Johnston, Stirling Branch