Download this dance
Barley Reel
Author: "Swing Partners", 1964Formation: Set dance, 4 couples
Difficulty: 2
Style: Scottish
A1: | Lines forward and back. Men arch, all cross over. |
A2: | Lines forward and back. Ladies arch, all cross over. |
B1/2: | Top couple strip the willow, and make a two-hand arch at the bottom. |
C1: | New top couple cast, the others follow, and lead up through the arch to these places. |
C2: | All swing. |
This is "Barley Bree" from RSCDS book 13 (1945) with
C2 added to lengthen it from 40 bars to 48 bars. The link shows you Scottish dancers doing it their correct way, but I think the English way with a swing at the end is more fun, and if people are late they just get a shorter swing rather than missing the start of the next turn of the dance! And the band would probably prefer 48-bar tunes. I've suggested reels, probably because of the word "reel" in the title, but actually a strip the willow is known as "reeling the set" so it could equally be jigs - in fact the RSCDS specifies jigs and yet the second video on the linked page is using reels, so it's clearly up to you!
Music: 4 x 48 bar reels
Thumbnail: Lines, arch and cross, strip the willow, cast, swing.