Letter: Notes from Master Niall McKennett

[ This article appeared in volume 2 of the Letter of Dance. ]

1) I would like to offer a variation on Ballo del Fiore (published in the sixth issue of the Letter of Dance [and in the first Book of Dance - Ed]) which we taught at an event last year. I started the dance alone, with a bouquet of 32 flowers, which had been divided into eight bundles of four. After I had danced with my chosen partner, I gave half of the bouquet to her. This we repeated with new partners. At the end of 5 repetitions of the music, we finished with 32 dancers each with a flower. The bundles of four flowers each allowed us to divide the bouquet in half quickly, with only one small rubber band to remove.

As an experiment, the dance was not walked though ahead of time. With only the barest talk through, we began with one couple who knew the dance demonstrating it to the others. As each of the "experienced" dancers found a new partner, they "taught" it to that partner. By the last repetition of the dance, I didn't even have to call the pattern anymore.

2) Copies of the proceedings from the Dance Masters Workshop and Exchange held at Pennsic XIX are still available. If you wish to get a copy of the workshop proceedings (except for Ballo del Fiore which is published in the sixth issue of the Letter of Dance), send a SASE with two stamps ($.55 postage) to: Ken Reed. 2941 Fairmont Street. Falls Church, VA 22042.