[ This article appeared in volume 2 of the Letter of Dance. ]
Heralds in Love is a dance that I recently choreographed. It imitates the style of the English country dances published by John Playford in the 1600s.
The dance starts with a line of four couples, holding hands and facing the "presence":
2 4 6 8
presence | | | |
1 3 5 7
I feel that the dance is prettiest if done Manschaft-style: the first and third couples (dancers 1-2-5-6) "proper" (lord on the left) and the second and fourth couples (dancers 3-4-7-8) "improper" (lady on the left.) As far as I know, this position is not found in Playford. However, the dance works fine with all couples proper, so authenticity mavens need not suffer.
doubles (or siding or arming) right with partner,
set and turn right,
doubles (or siding or arming) left with partner,
set and turn left.
The choruses consist of four-person zigzag heys, first with 1-4-5-8, starting at the ends, then with 2-3-6-7, starting in the middle, and finally with both groups at once.
I have encountered great variation in the way that common English country dance steps are performed in different groups. I do not want to eliminate these quaint "regional differences" (not that there is any danger...) but for the sake of anyone new to ECD, I will review the standard steps.
A "double" is three steps forward or backward, followed by a pause with one foot in the air, for a total of four beats. Thus, a "double right" is right-left-right (pause).
A "set and turn" consists of one sideways step (single) to each side followed by a 360-degree turn in place. Thus, a "set and turn right" is right-together left-together turn-to-the-right (clockwise). In this dance, you only set and turn while facing your partner.
In "siding" you double forward toward your partner, going just past your partner, while turning your head to maintain eye contact. You then double back to your place. When you "side right" you start with your left foot, and couples pass with right shoulders together.
In "arming" you hook elbows with your partner and walk a full circle in eight beats. When you "arm right" you start with your left foot and join right elbows.
The music is in 12/8 time, but I write the steps assuming 4 beats per measure. L = left, R = right, CW = clockwise, CCW = counterclockwise.
| Beat(s) | Action(s) |
|---|---|
| [First verse:] | |
| 1 to 7 | all double R forward and double L back |
| 8 | all drop hands and turn 90 degrees to face partner |
| 9 to 15 | all set and turn R |
| 16 | all turn 90 degrees to face presence and join hands |
| 17 to 23 | all double L forward and double R back |
| 24 | all drop hands and turn 90 degrees to face partner |
| 25 to 31 | all set and turn L |
| 32 | 2, 3, 6, and 7 back apart one step |
| 1 and 4 face each other and extend R hands | |
| 5 and 8 face each other and extend R hands | |
| [First chorus:] | |
| 33 to 63 | 2, 3, 6, and 7 stand by, clapping to the beat, while 1, 4, 5, and 8 do a hey, as follows: |
| 33 to 35 | 1 and 4 change places by their R hands |
| 5 and 8 change places by their R hands | |
| 36 | 1 and 8 face each other and extend L hands |
| 37 to 39 | 1 and 8 change places by their L hands |
| 4 and 5 turn 180 degrees over their L shoulders (CCW) | |
| 40 | 1 and 5 face each other and extend R hands |
| 4 and 8 face each other and extend R hands | |
| 41 to 43 | 1 and 5 change places by their R hands |
| 4 and 8 change places by their R hands | |
| 44 | 4 and 5 face each other and extend L hands |
| 45 to 47 | 4 and 5 change places by their L hands |
| 1 and 8 turn 180 degrees over their L shoulders (CCW) | |
| 48 | 1 and 4 face each other and extend R hands |
| 5 and 8 face each other and extend R hands |
2 6 5 1 presence 8 4 3 7... but it doesn't stop there!]
| 49 to 63 | (like 33-47, except that the participants start from different positions in the line) |
| 64 | all even up the line and face partners |
| [Second verse:] | |
| 65 to 72 | all side R with partner |
| 73 to 80 | all set-and-turn R |
| 81 to 88 | all side L with partner |
| 89 to 95 | all set-and-turn L |
| 96 | 1, 4, 5, and 8 back apart one step |
| 3 and 6 face each other and extend R hands |
| 97 to 127 | 1, 4, 5, and 8 stand, clapping to the beat, while 2, 3, 6, and 7 do a hey, as follows: |
| 97 to 99 | 3 and 6 change places by their R hands |
| 2 and 7 turn over their R shoulders (CW) | |
| 100 | 3 and 7 face each other and extend L hands |
| 2 and 6 face each other and extend L hands |
| 128 | all even up the line and face partners |
| [Third verse:] | |
| 129 to 136 | all arm R with partner |
| 137 to 144 | all set-and-turn R |
| 145 to 152 | all arm L with partner |
| 153 to 159 | all set-and-turn L |
| 160 | 1 and 4 face each other and extend R hands |
| 3 and 6 face each other and extend R hands | |
| 5 and 8 face each other and extend R hands | |
| [Third chorus:] | |
| 161 to 191 | 1, 4, 5, and 8 do a hey while |
| 2, 3, 6, and 7 do a hey, as follows: |
| 161 to 163 | 1 and 4 change places by their R hands |
| 3 and 6 change places by their R hands | |
| 5 and 8 change places by their R hands | |
| 2 and 7 turn over their R shoulders (CW) | |
| 164 | 1 and 8 face each other and extend L hands |
| 3 and 7 face each other and extend L hands | |
| 2 and 6 face each other and extend L hands |
| [Coda:] | |
| 192 | all reverence to (honor) their partners |
One difficult spot may be encountered by 2 and 7 at the beginnings of the second and third choruses. They have just completed a 360 degree turn L, and must go immediately into a 315-degree turn R. Since I have not danced either of these positions, I am not sure how this awkwardness is resolved in practice.
Mistress Keridwen o'r Mynydd Gwyrdd [Now Tangwystl... - Ed] wrote (and named) the music and presented it to me and my wife at our wedding in June of A.S. XXV. (All three of us are heralds in the SCA.) It sounded enough like an ECD tune that, after my honeymoon, I felt compelled to invent one to fit the music.
I have always loved the elegant mathematical regularity of heys. To my mind, the bigger and fancier the hey, the more beautiful the dance. (I have always admired the Sheepskin Hey in Picking of Sticks.) Not surprisingly, the kernel of my dance was an idea I had for a colorful eight-person hey, like the circular Grand Hey in Goddesses. I carefully charted each step on paper and decided this would form the climax of my dance.
I then noticed that the hey was actually two intersecting four-person zigzag heys. It seemed best to build up to the climax by doing each sub-hey separately. This also produced the magical three-part structure common to so many Playford dances. To round out the dance, and fit the general structure of the music, I added verses of doubles, siding, and so on, like those found in If All the World Were Paper.
In July [of 1990], I ran an early draft of the steps past the editor of this Letter and received helpful comments and encouragement. I tried floor-testing the steps at the Collegium Occidentalis revel in late October, but got badly muddled by my notes and decided that the hey would only work with alternate couples starting improper. Later testing proved this to be untrue.
In November, with help from the Province of Southern Shores and Werinbert of Dragon's Crag, the dance made its debut in the Orchesography competition at Mists Fall Investiture.
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Heralds in Love Copyright 1990 Written for Juls and Juturna on the occasion of their wedding Heather Rose Jones June 30, 1990 All Rights Reserved[ The author of the coreography and the author of the music have both agreed to make this work available under the "Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License". Enjoy! -- Gregory ]
Webbed by Gregory Blount of Isenfir (Greg Lindahl) (lindahl@pbm.com)
