| |:1-8:| | 1 (a) | In open circle, all dance 8 waltz steps CW. Turn and repeat CCW. and backwards to place. |
| |:9-16:| | (b) | Right-hand chain, without actually taking hands. Pause on 7th bar, and use 8th bar to curtsey/bow to person you are meeting (if you are 4 couples, this should be the first meeting with your partner), and continue the chain. 16 waltz steps. |
| |:1-8:| | 2 (a) | W form closed circle, dance 8 waltz steps CW, and 8 CCW, finishing in place. |
| |:1-8:| | 3 (a) | M repeat (2 (a)). |
| |:1-8:| | 4 (a) | Dos-á-dos partner, passing R shoulders to start, then reverse dos-á-dos partner, passing L shoulders to start. 8 waltz steps. Then repeat with corner, 8 waltz steps. |
| |:1-8:| | 5 (a) | Modified witch's braid (aka 'witch's fart'): give R hand to partner, L hand to next, waltz all the way round that person -- 4 waltz steps. Then give R hand to partner (now going in opposite direction), L hand to next, all around that person, and return to place -- 4 waltz steps. |
| Part (b) is the same in all above sequences. | ||
| |:1-8:| | 6 (a) | Repeat (1 (a)). |
| |:9-16:| | (b) | Couples dance turning waltz in LOD around the maypole. |
Source: For a performance, the Danish Folk Dancers of Toronto needed a maypole ribbon dance, but descriptions of these are relatively rare, and the ones we found we didn't like. So we made this one up.
Denmark has had a tradition of erecting a maypole (for example, on Avernakø), but whether
or not ribbon dances were done around it is at present unclear to the author.
We used 'vals fra Langeland' to keep it Danish, and because it's a nice waltz.
It has, however, a :1-8::9-16::17-24: structure, so the order of the sequences above
cross over the sections of the music. Any waltz with a total of 12 sections
of music will do. Vals-firetur fra Sydjylland, which has 4 sections, if played through three times, would be ideal.
For additional ideas in winding ribbons around a maypole, see
article in Bittersweet vol. IX(3), Spring 1982.
Choreography and description: Laine Ruus, Oakville, 2012-04-27
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