I recently attended a modern English country dance evening and happened to dance what in modern tradition is known "The Bishop", done to the tune "Miss Dolland's Delight". As can be deduced from the title of this post, I would phrase that differently, but I'll get to that later on.
I play a little private game at modern dance events of trying to guess the decade of those dances that are based on historical sources and then figure out what (if anything) has been done to modernize them beyond removing the historical steps in favor of walking. "The Bishop" was easy to guess as 1770s (it turns out to be from 1778). It was also very easy for me to spot the three biggest modifications to it.
Ready to play?
Here are the directions for the modern dance:
A1 1st Man cast to middle place, set to & turn 3rd Woman with 2 hands, finishing in middle place
A2 1st Woman the same with 3rd Man
B1 1st Couple gate up through 2nd Couple as 3rd Couple gypsy clockwise, then circle hands 6 L half way round
B2 1st Couple gate up through 3rd Couple as 2nd Couple gypsy clockwise, then circle hands 6 L half way round
It may be easier to visualize these figures with the help of a video. Here's one that's well-made and shows the modern figures clearly. The music is "Miss Dolland's Delight".
Can you pick out the three big modernizations aside from everyone just walking through it?
It's easy, right?
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