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The Tempest
Author: from Encyclopaedia BlowzabellicaFormation: Longways, Four facing four up and down the room (can also be done as a Double Sicilian Circle)
Difficulty: 2
Style: English
| A1: | All 8 circle left then right. |
| A2: | Forming 2 lines again, the middle 4 do right and left stars and the ends balance and swing with the opposite person. |
| B1: | Taking ballroom hold with your partner -. |
| either: | |
| gallop across the set quickly, men going back to back, then women back to back as you return to place - all this twice (4 steps each way),. |
| or: | |
| (more fun if you have room) gallop sideways across the room and back (8 steps each way). |
| In a double sicilian circle the outside couples dance into the centre while the insides dance right out to the walls, and back. All this once only. |
| B2: | Dip and dive around the square: Facing across the set in the lines of 4, the left hand couples make arches and the opposite couples dive under. All couples turn 1/4 (like right and left through) and keep going round, dipping and diving alternately around the square until back to place, then do one extra dip or dive to move on to a new line of 4 ready to start the dance again. |
|
| Lines that reach the end stand out for one turn and wheel as couples, so that ends become middles. |
This version, taken from Encyclopaedia Blowzabellica (see Resources page), has an unusual but effective figure in B2. The usual figure is:
B2: Lines of four take hands, go 4 steps forward, four steps back, clap hands and then go forward and pass through to meet the next line.
Music: 32-bar polkas
Thumbnail: Circles, galops, ends swing while middles star, dip-&-dive or fwd-&-back.