Our tutor Rod Downey gives some tips on who your corners are and turning corners

Who are your corners?
Turning corners
Turning corners in Reel of the Royal Scots

Who are your corners?

Remember if you are first couple standing in second place, your first corner is the person on your right on the opposite side, and second corner is the one on the left, also on the opposite side.

See my diagram below:

For first lady:

• your first corner is 2nd man who is in first man’s original place
• your second corner is 3rd man in his home place

For first man:

• your first corner is 3rd lady in her home place
• your second corner is 2nd lady who is in first lady’s original place

These are important people. In traditional dances you often do something with the first corner then with the second.

Turning corners

In Delvine Side with video these are 2-bar, two-hand turns. Count: turn on 1, letting go on 2 (1C release L hand), pass on 3 & 4, turn on 5, letting go on 6, pass on 7 & 8. (i.e. Turn for 2, pass R for 2, turn for 2, pass R for 2.) Delvine Side is a very old dance and we could imagine ladies in 18th Century formal attire, flowing through such a dance.

What is the key to these turns? Yes, it is phrasing. They must be big wide turns (don’t pull!) and you must let go (left hand of dancing couple) early in the turns, else you are misdirected.

Note that, after the first turn, the active couple are more or less in line with the people they turned:

• first man will be between the 3rd couple facing up
• first lady will be between the 2nd couple facing down

After the second turn, first couple will be on the sidelines, as they still have 2 whole bars to get to the next place. 

See my diagrams showing positions at the end of each bar below.

Turning corners in Reel of the Royal Scots

Similar turns are in The Reel of the Royal Scots with video, a favourite dance of Kristin’s, and one we often do at club to bagpipe music.

These turns are a little different, with the corners turning for 4 bars while the dancing couple turn for only 2 bars.

The video is not bad, but you can see the first lady may be a wee bit anxious about getting home, so she is already in the center at the end of eight bars (rather than on the sideline), while her partner isn’t! All steps are not equal length in Scottish Country Dancing. If you attack your steps you can initiate the turn from the sidelines and still get home in time. Don’t be a one-speed dancer.

The first couple turn their corners for 4 bars but only hold on for 2, so that the corners have two bars dancing the remainder of the turn by themselves. 1C is turn right, pass right, turn right, pass right. So, attack is needed to get home for the first couple.

This is a relatively modern dance (late 20th Century) by Roy Goldring who was a prolific deviser especially of ‘social’ dances. The keys to this dance are:

• you must think geographically: `Where am I going next?’
• Corners and first couple don’t hold on too long (as the active couple will be misdirected)
• Don’t make the turns too small (as the active couple will be misdirected). So don’t pull yourself too close to the other person in a 4 bar turn as you need to be free for the next place.

Rod Downey
4 June 2020