Table of Contents

0-9

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
26 Years in 32 Bars		Rachel McDonald 2026		Triple Minor

A

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Any Which Way Any Which Way Alice M. Allen ~2016 4 Couple Longways permutation: 2413 Any Which Way ~ 3 Couple Alice M. Allen ~2016 3 Couple Longways permutation: 231

B

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
The Bees of Maggieknockater		John Drewry 1977	Colin Hume	4 Couple Longways permutation: 2341
Ben the Sailor		George McFarren 1808 Regency Dances		Triple Minor

C

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Catalina Express		Doris Fisher ~2016		Square
Chuck's Strathspey		Frank Wu 2013		Triple Minor

F

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Farewell to Auchterarder		Bill Hamilton 1967		Square
The Four Branches		Bill Hartung ~2016		4 Couple Longways permutation: 2341

I

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Ian Powrie's Farewell to Auchterarder		Bill Hamilton 1967		Square

L

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
The Library of Birmingham		Kenneth J Reid 2015		4 Couple Longways permutation: 3142

P

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Le Palindrome		Anonymous ~2022		Circle as many as will

S

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Santa Monica Rag		Los Angeles Branch Demonstraion Team ~2016		4 Couple Longways permutation: 2413

T

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Tuolumne Tournée		Shirley Saturensky 1994		4 Couple Longways permutation: 2413

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.

Three Couple Promenade Round

Bars: 8.

In Scottish Country dance the dancers start the figure in the center of the set, in promenade hold with partner, facing up. While in English dance you tend to start from the sidelines and quickly move into that position. Dancers move up, pivot round to face the men's line, move across, pivot to face down, move down to the bottom, pivot to face the women's line, move into the center, pivot to face up, and dance up to original places, and retire to the sidelines.

Variants

The (R)SCDS introduced both two and four couple longways promenades in Book 18. Leith Country Dance, and Longwise Eightsome Reel.

History

Sharp uses a three couple promenade in his interpretation of Adson's Saraband, Playford, 1651. But I'm not sure he is right to do so. Playford says:

First cu. lead down between the rest, come with a compass to your places, the rest following

Which sounds rather different to me.

The concept of "promenading" came over from France with Cotillions.

Thomas Hurst, in his The Cotillons Made PLAIN and EASY, 1769, (page 9), defines promenading:

TWELFTH CHANGE, The Promenade, or Walk.

Every Gentleman takes his Partner by the Left-Hand; and putting his Right-Hand round her Waist; in this Manner they follow each other all round in a great Ring, and finish in their proper Places.

Note, this is not the modern skaters' hold promenade

I think Wilson may be the first to suggest joining hands in front, in his The Quadrille and Cotillion Panorama:

6.—PROMENADE, THE GREAT

All the four couples cross hands with their partners, and move round in a circle to places.

But these are all in a square set. The first examples (that I can find) in a longways set occurred in 1776, and both Thompson and Skillern published dances which used this figure.

In the US, Saltator, 1802, specifies a three couple promenade in his dance College Hornpipe: each promenade their own partners round. While Howe, 1862, uses a 2 couple promenade in Whipple's Hornpipe.

In (R)SCDS Book 11, both the source descriptions of Glasgow Flourish (one by Anderson, and one by Wallace) contain three couple promenades, but the (R)SCDS replaced it with a lead down and up. However the next time the figure occurred (in Fidget, Book 16) it is translated unchanged.

This website is copyright © 2021-2026 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.