Sellenger's Round
The Beginning of the World
Sellenger's Round or The Beginning of the World is an English Country Dance. It was published by John Playford (website) in 1657 in The Dancing Master, 4th ed.. It was interpreted by Cecil Sharp (website) in 1916 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 4). Found in The Playford Ball. It is a Circle as many as will dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a USA dance. The dance lasts 120 bars.
Take Hands and go round twice, Back again All set and turn S. that again. Lead all in a D. forward
and back That againTwo singles and a D. back
Set and turn single That againSides all That again
Arms all That againAs before
As before
The tune was published by Playford with the dance, and the music was synthesized by Colin Hume's software.
The animation plays at 116 counts per minute. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color.
| I,V.A | 1-8 | Take hands circle 8 steps left and 8 back |
| II.A | 1-4 | Take hands: forward a double (into center) and back |
| 5-8 | That again | |
| III.A | 1-4 | Partners right shoulder siding |
| 5-8 | Left shoulder siding | |
| IV.A | 1-4 | Partners arm right |
| 5-8 | Arm left | |
| B1 | 1-2 | Set forward (no hands) |
| 3-4 | Fall back a double | |
| 5-8 | Partner set and turn single | |
| B2 | 1-8 | That again: Set forward, fall back, set and turn single |
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.
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 © 2020 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This website is copyright © 2021,2022,2023 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.