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| Frequency | Weekly (September to May) |
| Time | 9.00 am on Monday |
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Location | Abbot Hall Social Centre |
| Coordinator | Linda Wood |
The main forms of country dancing are: circle dancing, longways set, square set and couple dancing. The couple dance first appears in Bavaria in the late 18th century and rapidly spread around Europe. The most famous couple dances are also the names of time-signatures: waltz and polka. Circle dancing is known from classical times. By the time of John Playford's “The English Dancing Master” (1651) it was a dance for everyone. The English term “Country Dance” was adopted all across Europe.
The longways set was the most popular type of country dance in the first edition of Playford's book. A line of males faced a line of females for as many as will
. “Roger de Coverley” and “The Grand Old Duke of York” are among the most familiar examples of this kind of dance. By the 1820s it was considered old-fashioned.
We now have a repertoire of 20 plus dances. Pat Gordon is our teacher with Tony Miley as stand in teacher.
October 2011
Our new term started very well with 30 of our 45 members turning up. Unfortunately I had to add more members to our waiting list on the open day in September. Pat is still leading us in the dancing but one of our other members has kindly offered to learn the ropes to give Pat an occasional break.
We are finishing this season on December 19th with a Christmas Jacob’s Join and dancing led by Ian Jones and his wife to get us into the festive spirit.
June 2011
We had a very good Spring season with our very patient teacher Pat Gordon. I never fail to wonder how she doesn’t lose her voice! We ended the season with a caller Ian Jones and his wife leading us in the dancing and finished off with a Jacob’s Join.
As we have several new members wishing to join I would appreciate it if you could let me know if you do NOT wish to continue. If I don’t hear from you I shall put your name back on the register. Thanks.