The Phoenix

Playford published two dances named The Phoenix, the first was first published in 1670 (in editions 4-10 of the Dancing Master), the second first appeared in 1718 in the third edition of the second volume of the Dancing Master. This is an interpretation of the first dance (for the second see Bolton's work.

Playford writes:

Lead up all a D. forward and back That again	Set and turn S That again
First man go down on the outside of the wo. to the last, the rest following. Take every man a wo. by both hands Put the we. a D. backward and forward	Back all, change places That again
We go down and do as the men did	Back all, change places That again
First cu. cross over and go to the lower end, the 2. cu. following and cross the 3. cu. cross and follow, the 4. not cross, take hands all in a ring Go all round	Set and turn S That again
Turn the co. wo Men hands and go round	We. meet and turn S Men as much
Turn your own We. hands and go round	Men meet and turn S We. as much
Four on each side the S. Hey	Set and turn S That again
As before, four cross and four not cross Lead up, cast off and come to your places	Set and turn S That again

The whole dance should be done at a running step.

In III.A2 Sharp says "All hands-eight, once round", and Playford "Take hands in a ring, Go all round". It would be difficult to do a complete eight person circle in only four bars, even at a running step. Pat Shaw (in Phoenix Rejuvenated) specifies two circle fours at the ends, which seems sensible. On the other hand, the Phoenix only lays one egg, so mythological ornithology suggests that having two circles is impossible.

In Part II the dance will shift toward the woman's wall by a lot. In the animation I adjust for this during the balancing to bring the dancers back to places but this will be difficult in practice.

The tune, The Phoenix, was published by Playford in 1670 with the dance of the same name. Synthesized music by Colin Hume