[Callers] Re: Sicilian Circle question

Hi, I always treat the dancers facing counter-clockwise as the active dancers who get to do everything first, so they could be considered the #1s. I believe this is a common convention. Promenades are usually done counter-clockwise, which is also the normal Line of Dance for ballroom dances and free-style waltzes, so it is natural to think of CCW as the primary direction. Many traditional dances end with a Swing & Change where the two couples have to dance around each other swinging or polkaing (or Poussetting if you go back further). I believe that the EFDSS issued a directive in the 1950s stating that the direction should always be counter-clockwise, in order to avoid crashes which had been occurring! Again CCW is the norm. One of the early references to the Sicilian Circle formation is in "The Modern Dancing Master" by G.M.S. Chivers (1822): http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/EFDS4802-CircassianCircle.html Only one minor set is active initially, then the dance propagates in both direction so that eventually, when everyone has joined in it looks like a modern Sicilian Circle. The term "Circassian Circle" obviously lost out to the more popular term "Sicilian Circle", in much the same way that the term "Rifleman Formation" lost out to the term "Becket Formation" - the Americans won the marketing campaign! http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/EFDS4911-Rifleman.html As it say in a Scottish publication: "The most extravagant novelty was the Chivonian circle invented by Chivers himself which consisted of the four couple sets of La Tempête arranged around the room like the trio sets of Dashing White Sergeant. These new formations tended to have rather exotic names such as Mescolanzes, Spanish Dances, or Swedish dances. These were merely names, of course, and in particular, the Circassian circle has nothing whatever to do with Circassia." There are challenges with doing many contras in a Sicilian Circle. Long Line Forward & Back and Tidal Waves are obvious challenges. When choreographing Sicilian Circles we often have the action (e.g. Ladies' Chain, Right & Left Through) around the circle, rather than across the set. As a contrast, try to get some modern contra dancers to dance this: http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/EFDS7703-CelebrationSpecial.html - The dancers tend to swing to the side of the set rather than finishing facing up and down! But, yes, you could do many contra dances in a Sicilian Circle, as long as you check them carefully for spacing and orientation problems first. There are Becket Sicilians, but the dancers need to make sure they stay in their own inner or outer circle as they progress! Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent