Lady in the Dark ~ Sharp
Lady in the Dark ~ Sharp is an English Country Dance. It was published by John Playford (website) in 1657 in The Dancing Master, 3rd ed.. It was interpreted by Cecil Sharp (website) in 1912 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 3). It is a Facing Couples Becket dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a USA dance. The dance lasts 96 bars.
Playford writes:
Meet, turn off S. Men cross over, we. as much That back again Men meet, fall back, arms by their right hands, turn by the left We. the same ·: Sides with the co. Set As much with your own
Meet, each take the co. and fall back with her, then the first Cu. go under the other Cu arms, then the go under yours Meet each with his own and fall back with her, then go under on another's arms forward and back as before Arms as you sided ·:
Right hands to the co. and left to your own, stay in the co. place and set to your own That back again setting to the contrary
The animation plays at 120 counts per minute. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color.
| I.A1 | 1-2 | With partner, in a double |
| 3-4 | Turn single cloverleaf back to places | |
| 5-8 | Men change, women change | |
| I.A2 | 1-2 | Aain, in a double |
| 3-4 | Turn single cloverleaf back to places | |
| 5-8 | Men change, women change | |
| I.A3 | 1-4 | Men arm right |
| 5-8 | Left hand turn opposite | |
| I.A4 | 1-4 | Women arm left |
| 5-8 | Right hand turn opposite | |
| II.A1 | 1-4 | Opposite side right |
| 5-8 | Opposite set and honour | |
| II.A2 | 1-4 | Partner side left |
| 5-8 | Partner set and honour | |
| II.A3 | 1-2 | In a double to meet opposites |
| 3-4 | Take opposites near hand and fall back, up or down | |
| 5-6 | M1+W2 arch, change places with opposites | |
| 7-8 | W1+M2 arch, change places with opposites | |
| II.A4 | 1-2 | Face partner, in a double |
| 3-4 | Fall back with partner | |
| 5-6 | 2s arch, change places with opposites | |
| 7-8 | 1s arch, change places with opposites | |
| III.A1 | 1-4 | Opposite arm right |
| 5-8 | Opposite set and honour | |
| III.A2 | 1-4 | Partner arm left |
| 5-8 | Partner set and honour | |
| III.A3 | 1-4 | Face opposite, two changes of rights and lefts |
| 5-8 | Partner set and honour | |
| III.A4 | 1-4 | Face partner, two changes of rights and lefts |
| 5-8 | Opposite set and honour |
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.
If you wish to link to this animation please see my comments on the perils of youtube. You may freely link to this page, of course, and that should have no problems, but use one of my redirects when linking to the youtube video itself:
https://www.upadouble.info/redirect.php?id=LadyInTheDark
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 © 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.