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Snakes and Ladders
Author: Brian Scowcroft Formation: Longways, duple
Difficulty: 1
Style: English
| A1: | 1st man leads the two women twice (at least) around the 2nd man (anticlockwise). |
| A2: | 2nd man leads the 2 women around the first man as in A1 (clockwise). |
| B1: | Whole poussette, 1st man pushing to start. |
| B2: | Face other couple. 1s arch, 2s pass under. 2s arch, 1s come back up the arch, without turning round. 1s arch, 2s pass under again. |
Brian Scowcroft's notes to this dance:
"Longways dances are the most difficult to explain to beginners. I often use "Snakes and Ladders" at Barn Dances: in this dance the progression is easy and I just make sure people know that if they fall off the end of the dance they must wait out for once through the dance and someone will come to them. I don't explain about the fact that they change numbers (2nd couple reaching the top of the set rejoin as a 1st couple) as this seems to come naturally (usually!!).
I recently met Roger Watson and confessed to pinching his dance and changing it. He told me that he wrote the dance with the express purpose of helping new dancers to learn about longways dance progressions - how about giving it a try at your next Barn Dance."
Music: 32-bar hornpipes
Thumbnail: 1st M leads both W lead round 2nd M, then 2nd M leads them round 1st M; poussettes, arches.