1 May
2007
1 May
'07
12:15 a.m.
On 4/30/07, Nancy Turner <nancyturner(a)madriver.com> wrote:
Hi All,
Two questions.
First, I'm looking at Sue Rosen's Handsome Young Maids and it
includes a Clover-leaf turn single (Ladies turn over left shoulder,
Gents Rt). In this move, it appears that both the ladies and the
gents spin around themselves, with the ladies going around their left
shoulders while the gents go around the right shoulders... they then
meet for a balance and swing. Is this right? Here's the dance, so
you can see it in context:
Turn single is a popular move in English Country Dancing. You walk around
a little circle ending where you started. (It's four steps/beats, often
preceeded by the "set".) Default for a turn single is going right,
clockwise. The important point often stressed here is you're not
just spinning in place -- you're walking around a small circle.
(Often described often as a manhole cover, which makes me
worry about falling in it, or as a pizza, which makes me start to drool.)
Sometimes there's a variant called the cloverleaf turn single,
where two people turn left, and two people turn right. (In improper
formation, men would turn one way and the women the other.) Viewed
from overhead you might see the resemblance to a cloverleaf.
If you squinted.
Another way of thinking about this is you turn away from someone -- in
this case away from your neighbor.
But the short answer to your question is "yes." And Handome Young Maids
is a wonderful dance, even before you consider that you can use it
to infect contra dancers with English Country Dance.
-Chris Page
San Diego