Page updated 19 April 2007 An attempt for the largest ever ceilidh dance was set for Sunday 1 April, at about 10.30a.m, Central Park, NYC, with the band The Porridge Men calling. This was a part of the events leading up to the Tartan Day Parade on 14 April 2007.
The instructions for Strip the Willow are found in Wikipedia. Strip the willow is a country country or barn dance. It has variations depending upon whether it is being performed as a movement in a larger dance or a complete dance in itself. The form
described here is that commonly used as part of an English barn dance.
The dancers form a longways set (a row of gentlemen facing their partners, a row of ladies). The 'objective' is to move the top couple to the bottom of the set, and usually the other couples move up one position. With two exceptions (at the start and end), the top couple alternate right-handed clockwise half-turn swings with their partner with left-handed anti-clockwise swings with someone else's partner working steadily down the set. At the start and end, a whole turn with your partner is required to get into position. Thus if
the set
is (lower case ladies, upper case gentlemen):
a b c d A B C D the movements are: The sets
can be
as long as the music allows.
Variations include: |