Dances
what we do
!
Dances
what we do
!
We have an extensive repertoire of traditional dances performed to competition standard ........ That's what it could say, but it's not true. We have learned dances at workshops and made up some of our own using original moves, standard moves and moves inspired and borrowed from other teams. We have been utterly inspired by the Witchmen and Beltane Border and endlessly encouraged by Herbaceous Border.
Our rapper dances consist of traditional moves and new moves made into dances. We don't follow any particular tradition because we're not clever enough to read Cecil Sharp's books! We have two routines which vary slightly according to who is dancing them. Workshops by Thrales, Silver Flame and Black Swan have helped us put our own routines together.
Original - The
original combination we put together of good looking, straightforward, standard
moves with the
occasional flash of pure genius.
Clash, Eggwhisk, Moving Fixie, Glass & Haymarket,
NUT, MaryAnn, Fast&Loose, Cramper, CROWN, Reins, Off
Watch it here.
New - Full
of rapper moves for rapper move anoraks - slightly trickier and a little
extraordinary. Clash, Inside Guard, Slingshot (toastrack, lines, circle,
crown, out), Choker, MaryAnn, FastFiddler, Cramper, Off
Watch it here.
Our main border
dances are
our own Lumbawakk Behind, Lumbawakk Go Mauve, Lumbawakk Noughts and
Crosses, Lumbawakk Fairy Dance and Lumbawakk Jacobs Ladder.
Please ask our permission
if you want
to perform our dances, keep them as written and ideally learn them from
us and credit them to us at every possibe opportunity!
We also dance two dances
that are danced by many border sides and allow us to dance
massed
dances - Tinners Rabbit and Just
as the Tide
Was
Flowing.
Lumbawakk
Behind 2011 - Simple to
remember moves so we shouldn't have to call it. The moves are called
A, R S and
E which we
usually
dance in that
order for simplicity. The tune is Derriere Les Carreaux composed by the awesome
but not particularly morrissy Frédéric Paris. Watch
it here.
Lumbawakk Noughts and Crosses -
A self-penned dance with original moves that we made up over a couple of
weeks mucking about with new ideas. It's great
to dance and even better to watch! Watch
it here.
Music - Star of the County Down - Reel - 16 bars.
Formation 2 lines of 4 in a cross
Sticking - Starting forehand: Slow 7, Fast 3, Fast 3, Slow 3
Moves -
Sticking, hey, sticking, elbows
Sticking, hey, sticking, cam
Sticking, hey, sticking, magic roundabout
Sticking, hey, sticking, scram
The Fairy Dance - Our
very own dance made of standard moves, moves inspired from other teams dances
and "Fairy Dance move" created by our very own at the time Adam
which is original and good to watch
and dance. Watch it here
- from 2009 Wantage
Music - King of the Fairies (32 bars x 2) The Fairy Dance (32 bars x 4)
King of the Fairies (16 bars)
Formation - 2 lines of 4 dancers
facing each other
Sticking - see the short
video
Moves -
Diamonds, sticking, hey, sticking
Allemand, sticking, hey, sticking
Fairy dance move, sticking, hey, sticking
Cast into each others place, sticking, hey, sticking
HOY
Cast into each others place and off
Jacob's
Ladder 2009- written by
squires and family at the foot of Jacob's Ladder during Sidmouth
Folk Week
2009
Formation: Longways set for as many as will. Or
2 if that's all there is.
Music: Laride (French) Watch it here.
Chorus:
- Sticking 3x(tap-tap-,tap
tap tap-)(starts quiet, ends loud, with stepping turn
to
wind
up
to
next
move),
- Quarters (slow steps) (First move into line, then forward & left turn, turn
round
180 degrees and
surge
back to place),
- Sticking as before
Figures:
- Musical intro for 14,
then
face
left in 2.
- Stepping up - starting move to establish mood and steps.
Left,
stop, left, stop, 90, stop, 90, stop, left, stop, left, stop,
90,
stop, plant yourself.
- Sticky elbows (left elbow turn with sticking on
beats
1 and 3. 6 hits then back to place),
Left, swing, Two, swing, Three, swing, Four, swing, Five, Swing,
Six, Swing, Round
your stick and back to place.
- Squarecrows (curly squares starting on own side to the left.
Left,
right,turn
around, Left,
right,turn
around, Left,
right,turn
around, Round your stick and back to place....),
- Bonfire (anticlockwise large cirle for 6, turn around for 2 then clockwise
high basket for 6 & back to place),
Left, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Turn around, Left, Two,
Three, Four, Five, Six and back to place.
- Bottoms up (inside cast towards band from far end to near end culminating
in contrary
circles
and
dance off behind band)
Lumbawakk
Go Mauve
Formation: 2 lines of three facing each other.
Person at rh end of each line is the pivot. (remember: right pivot!)
Music - Go Mauve (a tune by Blowzabella's
Ian Luff) 8 bars per move... Watch
it here - though be warned we have changed some of the moves since
then to improve the flow...
Introduction - shamble on
Chorus:
-
Sticking: Forward,back,forward, back with left diagonal, Forward,back,forward,
back with right diagonal, Forward,back,forward,
back with partner, People each side of pivots rotate around pivots to form
new lines of three at about 45 degree angle to original lines.
Forward,back,forward,
back with left diagonal, Forward,back,forward, back
with right diagonal, Forward,back,forward, back
with partner, People each side of pivots rotate around pivots back to original
places.
-Hey: Hey on ends. Middle person in each line crosses between dancers to
their left to start a three person hey on the end stick to stick with the person
who was originally their left diagonal.
then: Hey along lines:
Once everyone is back to place, the
middle person in each line starts a three person
hey
along the line with the person to their right (a pivot)
Figures:
-Back to back (with partner. Cross right shoulders first, then left shoulders)
Left forward, right forward, stop and stop, left backward, stop,
left backward,
stop. Repeat anticlockwise.
More figures like: fountain, circular
hey, cross and round.
Witchmen's Just
as the tide was flowing - Dance we learned from
the Witchmen at Wallingford
Bunkfest and have their permission to perform. A great
dance with a brilliant Hey. See
the video on the Witchmen website.
Grims
Pund's Tinners Rabbit - a
version of the dance originally written by Gozzer of Grims Pound Border,
as taught to us by Herbaceous Border. We use this
as our "audience
participation" dance.
It has been done to various tunes, with various implements when we run out
of sticks - shoes, breadsticks
and hands!
Music - anything
Formation - three people in a triangle
Sticking - (1 hits 2, 2 hits 3, 3 hits 1 ) four times then "hit it on the
floor" three
times
Moves -
1 weaves around 2 and 3,
sticking,
2 weaves around 3 and 1,
sticking,
3 weaves around 1 and 2,
sticking,
left hand star, sticking
tinners (triangle), sticking, HOY!
Dances
we have worked on but don't
often 'perform':
Worcestershire Monkey -
Devised by Martin Hallett
of Wicket Brood, based on Chinese Monkey, Pershore & new
chorus.
Music is 5x through Weasels Revenge by Jan Hurst of Wicket Brood - from whom
the notation is available.
Hook Tandoori - We
saw this dance at Bunkfest and those nice folk at Hook Eagle put the notations
on their website
Notation below is straight from http://www.touchstone.uk.com/HEMM/dance_notes/hook_tandoori.htmSource Hook Eagle (New for 1997)
Music: Orlando's Return, inspired by Gas Mark 5 but played as a slow dotted hornpipe.
Formation: Straight line of 6. Single short stick each.
Step:Single step. Stand for sticking
Sequence: Sticking / Hey / Sticking
Ends Ho
Sticking / Hey / Sticking
Dozy doe
Sticking / Hey / Sticking
Middles Ho
Sticking / Hey / Sticking
Cross and round
Sticking:
First time in each sticking/hey/sticking: Top couple hit sticks F-B-FBF-,
whilst others keep sticks on shoulders. Then middle couple hit sticks, while
top and bottom don't. The bottom couple hit sticks while top two couples
don't. Then all three couples do.
Second time, as first, but starting from
the bottom.
Hey:Whole hey for 6, starting by passing right shoulders.
Ends Ho: 2&3 and 4&5 do right arm / left arm swings for 8 / 8 steps whilst ends do a Ho around them and back to place for 16 steps. Both ends start by passing right shoulders, and hit sticks as they pass through the middle on steps 4 and 12.
Dozy doe: 2 steps pass partner right shoulders to face someone else (except those now on the end, facing out, of course!); 2 steps hit sticks with person you are facing (FFF-); 2 steps complete dozy doe to face own partner; 2 steps hit sticks with partner (FFF-); 2 steps pass partner by left shoulder to face somebody else, as before; 2 steps sticking as before; 2 steps to complete dozy doe; step-stomp-stomp on the spot (no sticking).
Middles Ho: 1&2 and 5&6 do right arm / left arm swings for 8 / 8 steps while middles do a ho around them and back to place (start by passing right shoulders, hit sticks as pass through middle on step 8).
Cross and round: All turn out to left to form round (2 steps), 2 steps on the spot to turn to left, then surge into ANTIclockwise whole rounds, and finish with out-and-in, in-and-out, lead-off as called.
Twiglet - This is how we do it...
A five-person dance
- four in a square (numbers 1,2,3 & 4)
around one (number 5) in the middle. A version of the brilliant Freaks
In The
Peaks
dance -
useful to us because it needs 5 people, like rapper.
Music- known by us as Twiglet, really called Vanittalse or Shave the Monkey
Twiglet - A five-person dance - four in a square (numbers 1,2,3 & 4)
around one (number 5) in the middle. A version of the brilliant Freaks In
The Peaks dance - useful to us because it needs 5 people, like rapper.
Music- known by us as Twiglet, really called Vanittalse or Shave the Monkey
Sticking – to start then between all moves except after surreel
Beat 1,2 : Hit floor twice. Beat 3,4: 1 & 5 clash twice, 3&4 clash
twice, 2 brandishes.
Beat 1,2 : hit floor twice. Beat 3,4: 2 & 5 clash twice, 4&1 clash
twice, 3 brandishes.
Beat 1,2 : Hit floor twice.Beat 3,4: 3 & 5 clash twice, 1&2 clash
twice, 4 brandishes.
Beat 1,2 : hit floor twice. Beat 3,4: 4 & 5 clash twice, 2&3 clash
twice, 1 brandishes.
Crossover -
4 beats: 1 & 3 swap places, right shoulders either side of 5. 4 beats:
2 & 4 do same
4 beats: 1 & 3 swap back to own place, right shoulders either side of 5.
4 beats: 2 & 4 do same.
Reels - 8 beats: 1,5 and 3 do a 3-person reel while 2 & 4 rest 8 beats: 2,5 and 4 do a 3-person reel while 1 and 3 rest.
Weave - 4 & 2 step in place turning as they
are passed by. 1,5 and 3 form a line and do figures of 8 around 2 and 4,
the front man peeling off to the
back as they reach the middle each time. When 1 gets back to the front he dances
back to place, and so do 5 and 3.
Cross and Pass - (Makes a bow-tie shape)
4 beats: 1 & 3 swap places at the same time as 2 and 4 swap places, round
5 like an English mini-roundabout.
4 beats: 1 & 2 swap places on the side at the same time as 3 & 4
swap places on the side.
4 beats: 1 & 3 swap places at the same time as 2 and 4 swap places, round
5 like an English mini-roundabout.
4 beats: 1 & 2 swap places on the side at the same time as 3 & 4
swap places on the side.
Surreel - (reel in pairs)
Beats 1 & 2: 1 & 2 link, and face 5, at the same time as 3 & 4
link and face 5, 5 steps in middle
Beats 3 & 4: pairs take 2 steps backwards to make some space, 5 turns to
face 1 & 2.
Beats 5,6,7,8,…16: pair 1&2 start a reel (acting as one-person) with
5 and 3&4 (acting as one person) As you complete the reel, line up in order
1,2,5,4,3. 1 faces forward, 2 & 5 face each other, 4 & 4 face each
other ready for next move immediately (no sticking between)
Aardvark -
4 beats: 1 peels off over right shoulder and makes big half-circle to bottom
of set while pairs clash three times then turn 180 degrees. 2 is now at top.
4 beats: 2 peels off over right shoulder and makes big half-circle to bottom
of set while pairs clash three times then turn 180 degrees. 5 is now at top.
4 beats: 5 peels off over right shoulder and makes big half-circle to bottom
of set while pairs clash three times then turn 180 degrees. 4 is now at top.
4 beats: 4 peels off over right shoulder and makes big half-circle to bottom
of set while pairs clash three times then turn 180 degrees. 3 is now at top.
4 beats: 3 peels off over right shoulder and makes big half-circle to bottom
of set while pairs clash three times then turn 180 degrees. 1 is now at top.
4 beats: 1 peels off over right shoulder to start a SLOW circle while pairs
clash three times then turn 180 degrees. 2 is now at top. 1 is 1/5 of the way
round.
4 beats: 2 peels off over right shoulder to join in the SLOW circle while pairs
clash three times then turn 180 degrees. 5 is now at top. 1 is 2/5 of the way
round.
4 beats: 5 peels off over right shoulder to join in the SLOW circle while 4 & 3
clash three times then turn 180 degrees. 4 is now at top. 1 is 3/5 of the way
round.
4 beats: 4 peels off over right shoulder to join in the SLOW circle while 3
bangs stick on floor three times. 1 is 4/5 of the way round.
4 beats: 3 peels off over right shoulder to complete the SLOW circle.
Ending 1: 8 beats: 1 leads circle off behind the band or out of the door...
other endings possible...
Seven Up - Another one from the Witchmen at Bunkfest. Done to the music "Four up" by Barry Goodman, Lawrence Wright& Mark Rogers.