The Wild Goose Chase ~ The Running Set

Chase the Goose ~ Kentucky Square Dances The Wild Goose Chase ~ The Running Set Newport Quadrille ~ Ford Grapevine Twist ~ Standard

The Wild Goose Chase ~ The Running Set is an Appalachian Circle Dance. It was published by Cecil Sharp & Maud Karpeles in 1918 in The Country Dance Book (Part 5). It is a Square dance. It is a multipart dance. The minor set lasts 360 bars.

The Kentucky Running Set is the name Sharp gave to a style of dancing he found in the Southern Appalachians when he visited in 1917. The locals called the dances square dances even though they were often danced in large circles. Sharp, however, describes squares, and this is an attempt to follow his description.

Sharp mentions that these dances are always called: Normally, the caller recites certain prescribed verbal phrases, a mixture of prose and doggerel rhyme that, in the course of time, has become stereotyped. Sharp provides an appendix with the calls used at one of the dances he saw. Sadly I don't understand the calls he gives.

This style of dance begins with a common introduction:

Each time a new figure is called, it begins with a "Grand Promenade." Sharp defines this as: partner two hand turn, corner two hand turn, promenade with partner half round, reverse direction (turn inward, without releasing hands), promenade back, partner two hand turn, corner two hand turn, partner promenade all the way around.

Then starts the first figure: the first couple moves right to the 2nd couple and does some figure with them. Then they move on to the next couple (3s) and do the same figure. Then on to the last couple and do the same figure. Then they do a do-si with that couple and promenade home.

Most of the time the "Little Promenade" comes between repetions of the figure.

Then the 2nd couple repeats the whole thing, starting with the 3rd couple.

Another "Little Promenade"

Then the 3rd couple.

Another "Little Promenade"

And finally the last couple.

At this point they would do the grand promenade again, and the 1st couple would start with a new figure, and so forth.

Sharp adds a paragraph at the end of Appendix B where he mentions that in one dance he watched the progression was slightly different: the second couple would start as soon as the 1st couple reached the fourth (rather than waiting until the 1st couple had finished with the fourth and were home). This is exactly the progression that Ida Levin describes in her Kentucky Square Dances book (and is topologically the same as the progression used in longways duple minor sets from 1650 to 1850).

Sharp writes that the "Little Promenade" consists of:

Men turn their partners half-way round (four steps), turn their contraries half-way round (four steps), rejoin their partners, cross hands, and move once round the circle, with them, counter-clockwise to places, men on the inside (i.e. on the left of their partners).

The main figure for this dance is:

First man, taking his partner's left hand in his right and leading her behind him, passes between second man and second woman, turns to his left and moves, counter-clockwise, round the second woman.

First man, still leading his partner behind him, moves in front of, and a step or two beyond, second man, casts back, making a half-turn to his right, passes between second man and second woman, turns to his right clockwise, round second man, and then goes hands-four with the second couple; while the second man, as the 1st couple passes by him, breaks away, moves clockwise round his partner to his place, timing his movements so that he shall reach his station just as the four-ring is being formed.

Releasing his left hand, first man breaks away from second woman and, followed by bis partner and the second couple, passes between third man and third woman and repeats the same movements with the third couple that he had previously done with the second (the third man doing as the second man did), concluding with hands-six with the third couple.

Releasing his left hand, first man breaks away from third woman, and followed by his partner and second and third couples, passes between fourth man and fourth woman and once again repeats the same movements concluding with hands-eight with the fourth couple.

Upon the conclusion of the hands-eight, the first man, breaking away from the fourth woman, casts back, making half a turn to his left, and, leading the other seven dancers behind him, moves round in a circle (back to centre), counter-clockwise to his place.

First man casts back, making half a turn to his right, and leads the other dancers round in a circle (faces to centre), counter-clockwise to places.

During the performance of this figure each dancer must be careful to follow exactly in the track of the dancer in front.

Lovett in Good Morning calls this figure a "Grapevine Twist" and uses it in Newport Quadrille. Lloyd Shaw also calls it "Grapevine Twist" and uses it in Grapevine Twist.

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.

Intro
 
1-6Introduction: Circle left
7-8Partner two hand turn
9-10Corner two hand turn
11-16Promenade partner home
17-20Heads circle four
21-28Do-si
29-34Left hand turn and promenade home
35-38Sides circle four
39-46Do-si
47-52Left hand turn and promenade home
Grand Promenade
 
1-4Grand Promenade: Partner two hand turn
5-8Corner two hand turn
9-12Promenade half round
13-16Turn inward to face back and promenade home
17-20Partner two hand turn
21-24Corner two hand turn
25-32Promenade once around
Figure
 
1-1$1 gent leads his partner to the right
2-4Go between the outside couple, loop left around the $2 lady
5-8Cross in front of the gent and cast right to come back between the outside couple
9-11Go between them again, looping right around the $2 gent's place, meanwhile $2 gent follows behind $1 lady back to place
12-14Circle four
15-15$1 gent drop his left hand and lead the line of four to the %3
16-18Left around the lady
19-23In front of the gent and cast back
24-26Loop around the $3 gent's place as he follows the $2 lady back to his place
27-29Circle six
30-30$1 gent drop his left hand and lead the line of six to the %4
31-33Left around the lady
34-38In front of the gent and cast back
39-41Loop around the $4 gent's place as he follows the $3 lady back to his place
42-46Circle eight
47-51$1 gent drop his left hand and cast left, leading the circle counter-clockwise (with his back to middle)
52-57$1 gent cast right, leading the circle clockwise again back to places
Little Promenade
 
1-4Little Promenade: Partner two hand turn
5-8Corner two hand turn
9-16Promenade once around
Figure
Little Promenade
Figure
Little Promenade
Figure

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 is out of copyright in the US, but I'm not sure of other jurisdictions. 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
Creative Commons License 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.