Dance Songs

I was a local dance master for a while, and one of my techniques was to preview the music to the dancers. At first I hummed: “The first phrase goes like this: dum-dum-DEE-dum-DEE.” But it quickly occurred to me that I could teach steps and music simultaneously through the use of song. I'm sure the idea goes back to the Sumerians, but hey, they didn't have the internet, so how smart could they have been?

In any case, here are my dance mnemonic songs. The songs represent the dances as they are taught to me (and as I subsequently taught them to others), so they may or may not conform to how you learned the dance. I claim no great originality, artistry or scansion to the following. Add in “da da da das” as necessary.

The Dances

• • Bransles

    • • Bransle Charlotte

      • Bransle de Guerre

      • Scots Bransle

      • Horses's Bransle

  • English Country

    • • Gathering Peascods

      • Chestnut

      • Upon a Summer's Day

      • Dargason

      • Heart's Ease

      • Hyde Park

      • Black Nag

      • Jenny Pluck Pears

      • Rufty Tufty

  • Other

    • • Black Alman

      • Madame Sosilia's Alman

      • Ballo del Fiore

      • Gelosia

      • Lorraine Alman

Jeff's SCA filk

More atrocious songs

Jeff's Home