Excuse Me ~ Neal
Excuse Me ~ Neal is an English Country Dance. It was published by John Playford (website) in 1686 in The Dancing Master, 7th ed., London. It was interpreted by John & William Neal, Rich Jackson & George Fogg in 1726 and published in A Choice Collection of Country Dances. It is a proper Duple Minor dance. The minor set lasts 40 bars.
Playford writes:
First man and 1. wo. cross over and pass into the 2. cu. place, then take hands and turn round till the 1. man is in the 2. man's place, and the 1. wo. in the 2. wo. place, the the 2. cu. do this over as the 1. cu. did, the rest doing the same This to the first Strain play'd twice.
Then the 1. man and 2. wo. meet and fall back, and turn S. and the 1. wo. and 2. man meet and fall back, and turn S. This to the second Strain play'd twice.
Then the 1. cu. cast off and go down on the out-side of the 2. cu. and go the whole Figure, the the 1. wo. comes into the 2. wo. place, and the 1. man into the 2. man's place, then the 2. cu. cast off and go the whole Figure of 8 between the 1. cu. till they come into the 3. cu. place, and slip up in the middle till they come to their own places again, the rest do the like This to the third Strain play'd twice.
John and William Neal published their version of the dance in Dublin about 1726. Rich Jackson and George Fogg interpreted that in 1990.
The Neals' choreography is the same as Playford's (except the Neals say "set" where Playford says "meet and fall back"). The tune looks the same to me.
1st cu: cross over & turn both hands in 2d cu: place:
2d cu: ye same & turn both hands in their own place:
1st ma: & 2d wo: sett & turn single:
1st wo: & 2d ma: ye same:
1st cu: cross over into 2d cu: place & half figure wth the 2d cu:
2d cu: whole figure with 1st cu:
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 | 1s cross, go below, as 2s lead up |
| 5-8 | 1s two hand turn once and a half | |
| A2 | 1-4 | 2s cross, go below, as 1s lead up |
| 5-8 | 2s two hand turn once and a half | |
| B1 | 1-4 | 1st corners set and turn single |
| B2 | 1-4 | 2nd corners set and turn single |
| C1 | 1-4 | 1s cross, go below, as 2s lead up |
| 5-8 | 1s half figure 8 up | |
| C2 | 1-8 | 2s full figure eight around the 1s |
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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https://www.upadouble.info/redirect.php?id=ExcuseMe-Neal
The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2023 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.