Mad Robin

Bars: 4.

A mad robin is like a neighbor back-to-back except that instead of facing your neighbor you face your partner (and gaze into his/her lovely eyes).

Sometimes one couple does the figure around an other, who are stationary, and sometimes both couples do it (this used to be called a double mad robin).

History

The modern version of Mad Robin, at least as used in Contra Dancing, has the two partners staring into each other's eyes. So they are always facing their partners. But that's not what Playford says:

The 1. wo. cast up above the 2. man and slip down the middle, the 1. man go up between, and then cast off below and turn hands

When someone casts, they turn to face out of the set. If you look at Sharp's interpretation of the dance:

B1

1-4

First woman moves up the middle and casts down to the second place; while the first man casts up and moves down the middle into the second place.

Again someone is casting (Sharp has reversed to order with the man casting and the woman moving up, don't know why), so again partners are not facing.

The movement of the modern figure is described in "The Saucy Sailor", from Maggot Pie, 1932; but they don't name it "Mad Robin", nor do they suggest staring into your opposite's eyes.

Jim Kitch, in his dance "The Lover's Knot", 1993 describes the figure and in a note says which is similar to the end of Mad Robin. This wording suggests that he might be inventing the modern figure there.

Some dances which (probably) use this figure

• Dances for which I have animations

Note: This list may be incorrect or incomplete.

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