Christ-Church Bells in Oxon #2
Christ-Church Bells in Oxon #2 is an English Country Dance. It was published by Playford (John Young) (website) in 1721 in The Dancing Master, Vol. the first, 17th ed.. It was interpreted by Douglas & Helen Kennedy in 1929 and published in Country Dance Book, New Series. It is a proper Duple Minor dance. The minor set lasts 32 bars.
The first Man Sett to the 2. Woman and turn single, then turn her with both hands Then the 1. Woman do the same to the 2. Man Then the 1. Man change place with the 2. Woman and the 1. Woman with the 2. Man, and go quite round and clap as they go, the all four Sett down and clap five or six times quickly, and all four jump up, and Right and Left half round into the 2. cu's place.
After Walsh republished many Playford dances, John Young reissued some of them with new choreographies but the old name and tune. There's an earlier choreography with this name, originally published in 1679.
The animation plays at 120 counts per minute normally, but the first time through the set the dance will often be slowed down so people can learn the moves more readily. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color, however the border of each dancer indicates what role they currently play so the border color may change each time through the minor set.
| A1 | 1-4 | M1 set to W2 and turn single |
| 5-8 | 1st corners two hand turn | |
| A2 | 1-4 | W1 set to M2 and turn single |
| 5-8 | 2nd corners two hand turn | |
| B | 1-4 | 1st corners change, 2nd corners change |
| 5-8 | Single file circle clockwise, clapping on each step | |
| 9-10 | Face down, set forward, and clap 6 times | |
| 11-12 | Face up, step forward and jump | |
| 13-16 | Face neighbor, three changes of a circular hey (no hands) |
If you find what you believe to be a mistake in this animation, please leave a comment on youtube explaining what you believe to be wrong. If I agree with you I shall do my best to fix it.
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The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is copyright © 1929 by Douglas & Helen Kennedy. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2021 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This website is copyright © 2021,2022,2023,2024 by George W. Williams V
My work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Most of the dances have more restrictive licensing, see my notes on copyright, the individual dance pages should mention when some rights are waived.