Demented Seagull
Author: Geoff Todd, from 'The Knot Unties'.Formation: Square
Difficulty: 3
Style: American
| A1: | Heads forward to meet, star through with person opposite; heads circle left halfway and pass through to face their corner. |
| A2: | In lines, reels of four. End still facing your corner. |
| B1: | Grand chain halfway round until you meet your corner again; swing them. |
| B2: | Promenade to man's place. |
"Star through" is done by a man and a woman facing each other. The man puts his right hand to the woman's left and they both move forward, the woman going under the arch, to finish side by side having both turned through 90°.
Another way of explaining "star through" is to say that you lead your partner forward (nearer hand), then give that same hand to your opposite and continue to move forward with the lady going under the man's arch.
People may be fooled by the grand chain because you're starting in a column rather than a square and you're going the wrong way round from normal, but don't give them a chance to panic! Just say "Pull by right with your corner (and remember them), give left to the next, pull by, right to the next, left to the next, meet the one you remembered and swing them".
Another way of explaining "star through" is to say that you lead your partner forward (nearer hand), then give that same hand to your opposite and continue to move forward with the lady going under the man's arch.
People may be fooled by the grand chain because you're starting in a column rather than a square and you're going the wrong way round from normal, but don't give them a chance to panic! Just say "Pull by right with your corner (and remember them), give left to the next, pull by, right to the next, left to the next, meet the one you remembered and swing them".
Music: 4 x 32-bar reels
Thumbnail: Heads star through and half circle, pass through. Reels of four. Grand chain, promenade