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Celtic Reels are a pretty figure, but feel either too slow e.g. First Rain of Spring, where the people who meet in the middle have difficulty believing they only need to go three-quarters round each other, or too fast e.g. whatever Corryvrechan dance featured them with 2 steps per change. I think three bars per change would be about right. But that means finding music that will help, that is, has clear three- and six-bar phrasing. There are jigs like this, but I really liked the reel Flee Over the Water by Neil Gow. And the first figure I included fits with the theme - the souls of Irish mercenaries returning home from Wild Geese.
I was not happy with my initial attempt at an ending, as it broke the pattern of three-bar phrases. I asked Jacob 'Dances for the Brave' Steel and the SCD Teachers' group on Facebook and got some assistance. La Baratte (Gabor Turi's suggestion) was an appealing idea, as it is genuinely a six-bar figure, but it three lots of two rather than two lots of three, and it felt a bit rushed to get the progression in afterwards. The Chain Progression (Andrew Timmins) has the dancers in the right places from bar 3, but again really needs four bars for the turn/chase rather than three. Gabor also suggested a quick-time diamond poussette, but actually I think b3-8 of the standard quick-time poussette fits as well (and you do one thing on each bar, so the music will not lead you astray). Andrew also suggested finishing with the circle, assemblé soutenu en tournant ('leg over') and chase back from Major Ian Stewart, but in the interests of not making the dance harder than the unusual phrasing already makes it, I have stuck with a simple circle and back.
We now have the bouncier A parts featuring Pas de Basque and the smoother B parts only in skip-change or slip step.
FLEE OVER THE WATER (R6x30) 2C (3C set) E McIntosh music ABBAC
A 1-6 ‘Wild Threese’ - both couples set advancing into RH wave, RF PdB in line. 3b RH turn partner, ending on the centre line 1L 1R 2L 2R
BB 7-18 FULL Celtic Reel, but the end people hold back and the middle people go slightly further around, to end in the same order, but with the 1s offset towards the larks' side and the 2s towards the ravens' side, both hands joined.
A 19-24 six bars of poussette (up/down, quarter turn, into the middle, half turn, retire, retire).
C 25-30 2s+1s circle round (SIX slip steps) and back.
previous 19-30:
A 19-24 1L & 2R lead partners CW to progressed places (as in Swiss Lassie) (4b) and all set advancing (2b)
C 25-30 Turn partner 2H SkCh (2b), circle 4H left only (4b).
Concerto Caledonia have a jolly recording, but the parts are in the standard order AABC, so I had to do some editing to get it into the five-figure format I needed. The second time through the B part ('C') finishes with a very obvious 'this is really the end', so I have chosen to repeat the first B for the second half of the Celtic Reel and only use the C part for the last phrase of the dance. I have left in an extra A part at the beginning instead of having a chord:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uWc3lFkdUA8ZMNs-6tZ59YorNtT9yHM4/view?usp=sharing
Here's the ABC:
X: 1352
T: Flee over the Water
R: reel
B: Niel Gow & Sons "A Collection of Strathspey Reels, etc." v.1 p.35 #2
Z: 2022 John Chambers <jc:trillian.mit.edu>
M: 2/4
L: 1/16
Q:1/4=110
P:ABBAC
K: A
P:A
af |"A" e2A2 (dc)BA | e2A2 (dc)BA |"E" G2B2-B2 af |
"A"e2A2 (dc)BA |a2A2 dcBA |"E" E2A2-"A"A2 ||
P:B
c2 |"A" e2fg (ag)fe | (fe)dc (dc)BA |"E" G2B2-B2 cd |
"A"e2fg agfe | (fe)dc (dc)BA |"E" E2A2-"A"A2||
P:C
cd |"A" e2fg (ag)fe | (fe)dc (dc)BA |"E" G2B2-B2 cd |
"A"e2fg (ag)fe | (fedc) a2E2 |"D" E2A2-"A"A2 |]
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