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The Corporation
Country Dances, Ancient and Modern

Table of Contents

A B C E H J L M N S T W

A

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Any Which Way
Any Which WayAlice M. Allen ~2016
no music4 Couple Longways permutation: 2413
Any Which Way ~ 3 CoupleAlice M. Allen ~2016
no music3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
The Artful DodsonsRenée Camus 2022
Dave Bartley, Ruthie Dornfeld and Terry Wergeland3 Couple Longways permutation: 231

B

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Bar-a-BarJohn Young 1710
Fried de Metz Herman 1986 Playford Assembly
Bare NecessitiesDuple Minor
Barham Down
Barham Down ~ CookHenry Playford 1701
Tom Cook 1975 Playford Assembly
Colin HumeDuple Minor
Barham Down ~ SimonsHenry Playford 1701
A. Simons ~1990
Colin HumeTriple Minor
Barr a BarrJohn Young 1710
Fried de Metz Herman 1986 Playford Assembly
Bare NecessitiesDuple Minor
Blackheath ~ KlibanHenry Playford 1701
Kalia Kliban 2011
Colin HumeDuple Minor
Bother the FishMelissa Running 2011
no musicDuple Minor

C

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
CapelthwaiteClaudette Sigg 1993
no musicDuple Minor

E

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Emma Turns ThreeGary Roodman 2003
MGM, ReunionThree Face Three

H

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Halsway MannersMary Devlin 2001
Frank Hoppe3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Hamburger Special
Hamburger SpecialPat Shaw 1974
Marjorie Fennessy 1983
no musicDuple Minor
Hamburger Special ~ VerbilPat Shaw 1974
Lindsay Verbil 1983
no musicDuple Minor

J

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
John McAlpinHugh Foss 2007
no musicTriple Minor

L

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Lambs on Green HillDan Seppeler 2011
Bonnie Insull, Susan McNeil, and Robert WinokurDuple Minor
The Lissome LassSharon Green 2016
Odd Sundays Garage BandDuple Minor

M

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
May DaydreamRenée Camus 2026
Choreograffiti
Audrey Jaber, Shira Kammen, and Chip Prince
Circle as many as will
MinnowsMelissa Running 2011
no musicDuple Minor
Miss de Jersey's MemorialPat Shaw 1971
no musicDuple Minor
Mr. B's JigDeresa Kenney ~2016
no musicTriple Minor
Mr. Isaac's Maggot
Mr. Isaac's Maggot ~ HumeHenry Playford 1695
Colin Hume 1996
Bare NecessitiesDuple Minor
Mr. Isaac's Maggot ~ Pat ShawHenry Playford 1695
Pat Shaw 1969
Bare NecessitiesDuple Minor
Mrs. Stewart's JigFrans Ligtmans 1986
no musicTriple Minor

N

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
New MapMargaret & Jeff Bary ~2022
no music3 Couple Longways permutation: 312
NoisettePhilippe Callens 2004
no musicDuple Minor

S

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Step Stately
Step StatelyJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball
Colin Hume3 Couple Longways
Step Stately ~ HumeJohn Playford 1651
Colin Hume 1995
Colin Hume5 Couple Longways
Step Stately ~ PalmerJohn Playford 1651
William Palmer 1987
no music3 Couple Longways

T

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Tango in TorontoColin Hume 2010
Colin HumeDuple Minor
Through the Looking Glass - CamusRenée Camus 2022
Dave Bartley, Ruthie Dornfeld and Terry Wergeland3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Ties of LoveJenny Beer 2018
Frank HoppeDuple Minor
Trip to GreeneGary Roodman 1992
Fast Friends
Bare Necessities
3 Couple Longways permutation: 312

W

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Welcome Back, GeorgeRachel McDonald 2025
no musicTriple Minor
WhirlpoolCara King 2024
no music5 Couple Circle
Number
of dances
Number
of versions
Number
with music
263217

Warning: The figures for each dance is generated programmatically by regular expression matching and may be in error. Also, for old dances, they reflect the figures used by the interpreter which may not match those of the deviser.


Forward and Back

Also known as: Lead In and Fall Back, Advance and Retire, En avant en en arriere.

Bars: 4.

Move in to the middle, and fall back. Usually taking neighbor's hand.

History

Playford was using this as early as 1651, in Cuckolds All A Row: Meet all forward and backe.

Playford tended to say "Lead in and fall back", but in Scotland this figure was called "Advance and Retire" in the Castle Menȝies collection (1749). The French figure En avant en en arriere was used in cotillions and quadrilles and was translated as "Advance and retire" when they arrived in England.

Something very interesting happened in Contra Dancing between 1956 and 1983. In Rickey Holden's The Contra Dance Book, 1956, he uses the call "forward four and back again" (or "forward six" for triple minors), but in Larry Jennings' Zesty Contras, 1982 these two calls have completely vanished and been replaced by "Long lines forward and back".

Somewhere between these two publications the integrity of the minor set ruptured and people reached to take hands with those in other minor sets.

Now Chorus Jig had become a duple minor by Holden's day, so it's contra corners figure reached outside the minor set, but nothing else did. Perhaps it was Becket Reel, 1957 which made people look outside the minor set?

See Also

This website is copyright © 2021-2026 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.