Playford's Progeny

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
====== Irish Mary ======

Ken Alexander\\
Longways for 4 couples, proper \\
Tune: Blind Mary

<code>
Al 1-4 Partners lead up a double and back: 
   5-8 Partners face, set right and left, and cross over into
       lines running across the room. (Top and bottom couples cross with
       partner and face down or up; middles make a long cross to join the
       ends of the line of four, as in Newcastle.)
A2 1-4 Lines lead in a double and back;
   5-8 Set to the person opposite and cross as in Al into lines going
       up and down the room. (The set is now inverted an and all are
       improper.)
B1 1-4 Middle couples half figure eight through the nearer ends;
   5-8 End couples half figure eight through the middles
B2 1-4 Top three couples dance a half Grimstock hey while the bottom
       couple dances back-to-back;
5-8 All gypsy allemande with partner.</code>


Gypsy allemande: Partners join right hands and raise them high. The woman dances
straight forward and falls straight back, while her partner dances a right shoulder gypsy
around her. Bernard Bentley devised this figure, which he called a a “high allemande,” in 1977

Grimstock hey: a symmetrical or mirror image hey, usually initiated by the top couple
leading down the middle; the middle couple facing up and separating outside the top
couple; and the bottom couple leading up the center, with the top couple separating outside
them. The convention is for dancers to take hands with their partners whenever possible.

Teaching Tip: Ends cross short; middles cross long. Don't let the lines get too far apart at
the beginning of the A2, or the middles won't make it to their new positions.