Country: Thy, Denmark
Formation: set dance
Formation: 2 couples, in a 4 person square set, as many sets as will. NB each pair of couples stays together throughout the dance.
Steps: hopsa, small running steps, slow walking steps
Sheet music: 358:483 (efter Viggo Gade, Thy)
or suite efter Jens P. Thorsteds nodebog (nr 24) in: Jacobsen, Jack & Gitte Thofte Thybal - en spillemandsbog (Folkemusikhus 23). s.l.: Folkekulturværkstedet Broby
gamle Skole, 2007/2008. pp.98-99.
Same tune as Den toppede høne fra Vendsyssel]
Recordings:
Bugge, Kristian De små sorte, efter Karl Skaarup Dæily June tune nr. 21, 2020 [YouTube];
Dansk Folkemindesamling Gammeldans på Snedsted Kro:
Skær i havre,
Thetop,
Pe' Thomsens kæde,
Viborg totur [YouTube];
Foreningen Højbystævnet Høbystævnet 2009 (GO1110) cd 2 track 05;
Kvasir Nye sko track 09;
Lang Linken, de små sorte efter Svend Madsbøll Kærlighedstræet track B4;
Svøbsk Kvartet Bjergtaget (GO0413) track 08;
Skaarup, Karl et al Karl Skaarup - musiker track 13 [YouTube];
Thy Spillemandslaug Thetop track A1.
| Bars | Part | Dance progression |
| |:1-8:| | 1 (a) | All 4 dancers form closed circle and dance 16 running steps CW, ditto CCW. |
| 9-12 | (b) | The 2 W change places, [e.g. passing on the L (R shoulders) and turning CCW into place,] 4 walking steps or 8 running steps. |
| 13-16 | The 2 M change places, [e.g. passing on the R (L shoulders) and turning CW into place,] 4 walking steps or 8 running steps. | |
| 9-16 | All dance R-hand chain, 8 walking steps or 16 running steps. | |
| |:17-24:| | (c) | Both couples take waltz hold and dance 16 hopsa steps, keeping together and moving in LOD around the floor. |
| Parts (b) and (c) are the same in all sequences. | ||
| |:1-8:| | 2 (a) | Couples take waltz or polska hold and dance [CW and/or CCW] on the spot, 16 running steps. |
| |:1-8:| | 3 (a) | Couples take waltz or polska hold and dance [CW and/or CCW] on the spot, 16 running steps. |
| |:1-8:| | 4 (a) | All 4 dancers take R-hand star [with thumb hold] and circle CW, followed by an L-hand star circling CCW. 16 running steps each way. |
| |:1-8:| | 5 (a) | All 4 dancers take front basket and circle CW and CCW, 16 running steps each way. |
| |:1-8:| | 6 (a) | All 4 dancers take back basket [M have arms around W's waists, W have hands on M's shoulders] and circle CW and CCW, 16 running steps each way, |
| |:1-8:| | 7 (a) | All 4 dancers form closed circle and circle CW and CCW, 16 running steps each way. |
| |:1-8:| | The dance finishes with couples in waltz or polska hold dancing [CW and/or CCW] on the spot, 16 running steps. | |
| Tetop is the second of four dances in a suite known as De små sorte and is traditionally preceded by Skære havre and followed by Pe' Thomsens kæde. |
See YouTube videos Krak, Beck og Bugge at Højby 2018 (at 2:09), Bugge, Krak, Beck & Wolf (at 5:07) and Karl Skaarup Four (at 2:13).
Notes:
-- The names of the individual dances which make up the suite show dialectical differences. Versions may also differ in the steps with which they are danced,
and the music to which they are danced in different recordings.
-- A slightly different version Tre små sorte was collected
in Thy in 1933, by W. Bøgh Christensen, office manager, and Svend Clemmensen, master carpenter, at the behest of Foreningen til Forlkedansens Fremme
(F.F.F.). In the third and later editions of the F.F.F. pamphlet Gamle danse fra Mors og Thy, dance descriptions were revised and standardized with
the collaboration of Arne Bech.
Source: Jacobsen, Jack & Gitte Thofte Thybal - en spillemandsbog (Folkemusikhus 23). s.l.: Folkekulturværkstedet Broby gamle Skole, 2007/2008. pp. 97-99.
Translation & description: Laine Ruus, Oakville, 2018-01-10, rev. 2021-10-21.
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