English Gay Gordons
Also known as La Chapelloise, Progressive Gay Gordons, All American Promenade, T'Smidje, etc.Formation: Big circle, Couple behind couple all facing anticlockwise, men on the inside.
Difficulty: 1
Style: English
| A: | Ballroom direction, inside hand, 4 steps forwards; turn in and change hands, 4 steps backwards. Four forwards, turn, 4 steps backwards. |
| B: | Balance together, apart; pass the lady across. Balance together, apart; make arch, lady turns under, man steps forward and left to receive new lady. |
I get down and dance this with the crowd. When I say "4 steps backwards", most of them go forwards and there is general chaos. Then I say loudly "backwards"! This always gets a laugh.
I like to do it with marches first, starting with "Scotland the Brave" but not running it for too long. Then I say "You're doing this really well - how about a few more turns without me calling it?" and we repeat it to Scottish jigs. In the link you'll see the French version - much faster and interminable!
Make sure you tell the men to move in and to the left in the progression, ready to give right hand to their new partner.
I have also danced almost this version in Denmark, but slower. There are many stories about the dance's origin. See the Wikipedia link. See also Gay_Gordons.
Music: I've put together three Scottish marches in reel time and one in jig time
You can create an MP3 recording from this if you need to, though there's no introduction or ending - it goes through the dance 14 times.
Thumbnail: Forward, pivot, backwards; repeat other way. Balance, twirl, balance, under the arch.