When Dr. Winerock shared the strange custom of dance duels at Known World Dance in 2019, it caught my attention. Here was something I’d never heard of, from a source that was relatively unknown. I happened to be in the car with both my laurel and Gun∂ormr’s laurel. When I asked them how crazy it would be if I tried to have a dance duel at Gun∂ormr’s upcoming laureling both replied, “That’s crazy, but in the best possible way.” Thus was born a really good plan and an interesting delve into a possible custom (albeit slightly post-period and minimally substantiated). It also turned out that the best person to get me a copy of the translation was, in fact, our soon-to-be research-laurel! So armed with a book, a trusty peer and a bunch of good friends I orchestrated a new kind of dance reenactment.

Along the way I learned some important lessons.

1. Nothing goes according to plan. Especially if not everyone is in on the plan.

   1. While I planned for things not going right, the things that didn’t go right were things I didn’t think of.

   2. Gun∂ormr argued for the right to choose his own dances, as he was the one being challenged. (I talked him out of that.) Later, he did not wait for Þóra to finish dancing before jumping in.

2. The things I know are not always true.

   1. I was sure Playford described setting and turning alternately, in precisely one dance, which was the source of the schism. It turns out he described it that way zero times, and the Old Measures had the passage which caused the controversy.

3. There is a lot of extrapolation when taking something from an original source and putting it into practice.

   1. I could not figure out most of the steps or dance forms that were suggested in Navarro’s example, nor could any of my collaborators.

   2. The fifth and sixth reading of a source still provides new information. So, while I understand a lot from one reading of a source, I understand more with a few rereadings.

   3. When recreating, not only did I need to understand what they did, I also needed to figure out what I wanted to do with what they did.

4. Working directly with musicians on dance recreation adds a lot to the quality of the recreation and to the quality of the dance itself.

   1. The musical arrangement worked because we had development sessions with both the dancers and musicians together. The musicians’ suggestions guided the process more than expected.

5. When trying to get attendance at an unpublicized activity at an event, get the help of as many heralds as possible.

6. When I was planning the day it seemed wise to have the duels bookend the open dance session. It was not. In practice, it caused confusion for an event that already had many moving parts.

   1. People being confused about when an activity is going to happen is never a good thing.

7. A set of three musicians is what I predicted we needed, and I was right.

   1. As long as they play somewhat loud instruments.

Finally I must admit I am unsure if the custom of dance duels actually existed. Dr. Brooks says “...the lack of evidence for such dance duels suggests that they were not common.” While I do not recommend for them to become common practice, they are a new way to perform dance and I would like to promote their reenactment when appropriate.