Big Circles

Formation: all stand side by side in a circle facing in, woman on right of her partner.

Most circles are mixers and before starting each turn of the dance it's usually helpful to mark your neighbour (person beside you on other side from partner), who in most cases will be your next partner. In some of them it's also helpful to mark the person of opposite sex who is beyond your partner (I shall call this person "partner+1") or maybe the person of opposite sex beyond your neighbour (who I shall call "neighbour+1").

Alabama Jubilee

Circle mixer. Difficulty: 2

• A1: All move into the middle 4 steps and out 4 steps, twice.
• A2: Allemande left with neighbour; do-si-do partner and move on, passing right shoulders and holding out right hand.
• B1: Allemande right with the hand coming towards you, who is your partner+1, ending facing back towards partner; swing partner, ending facing round the circle.
• B2: Promenade 8 steps round the circle, men moving on to new partner on the last few steps to reform circle facing in.

Music: 32 bar jigs/reels

Blaydon Races

Difficulty: 1

• A1: All move into the middle 4 steps and out 4 steps, twice.
• A2: Take ballroom hold and chassay 2 steps into the middle and 2 out; again.
• B1: Promenade 8 steps round the circle, men moving on to new partner on the last few steps.
• B2: Balance and swing with new partner; end with woman on right of man to reform circle facing in.

Music: Own tune.

Chanctonbury Ring

Dick Playll

Circle mixer. Difficulty: 1

• A1: circle left and right
• A2: Into the middle and back, twice
• B1: all balance twice and woman roll past to other side of man on their right. repeat
• B2: With new partner chassay 2 steps into the middle, 2 steps back out. Swing.

32-bar jigs

The above is the version I have encountered. I received a message to say that Dick Playll' original version was:

• A1: long circle left (NOT right as well)
• A2: Into the middle and back, ONCE
• B1: Balance in line and men pass left hand woman to their right, under the man's arm
• B2: With new partner chassay 2 steps into the middle, 2 steps back out. Swing.

The dance was written as a thank-you to Chanctonbury Ring Morris Men. "Tradition says, if you run around Chanctonbury Ring seven times on May Eve, the Devil will come out and grant whatever you wish". A later version had circle RIGHT in A1, because the tradition was to run round the ring widdershins. Also, "The forward and back is supposed to symbolise chasing the devil up to the top of the hill, and and Dick introduced a gradual swinging forward and upwards of the arms as you dance in, with a "whoop" leading to a crescendo on reaching the middle."

Thanks to Peter Chadbund for this info.

Cincinnati Reel

Circle mixer. Difficulty: 1 (Very easy)

Start with men in one circle facing partners in an outer circle

• A1: Do-si-do partner; LH turn your left-hand neighbour once round.
• A2: Do-si-do partner; LH turn your right-hand neighbour once round.
• B1: Staying with the person you just turned, balance twice and swing. (Progression.)
• B2: Promenade.

 32-bar marches

Circassian Circle

Circle mixer. Difficulty: 1

• A1: Into the middle 4 steps and out 4 steps, twice.
• A2: Women go into middle, clap, and come back out; men do the same, turning to face partner as they come out.
• B1: All swing with partner, ending facing round the dance.
• B2: Promenade 8 steps anticlockwise.

If you want to make the dance progressive, in B2 tell the men to pass on to woman in front at end of promenade.

Music: 32 bar jigs/reels

Circle Waltz

Circle mixer. Difficulty: 1

Big circle OR small circles of 4 or 5. Note - waltz time.

• A: Take hands round the circle and balance in and out; women let go of partner's hand and move forward and round to the right one place (men stepping back) to reform the circle. Do all this four times.
• B: The 4th person is your new partner. Take inside hands (or both), sway in, sway back, sway in and turn all the way round. Do the same again outwards - sway out, sway in, sway out and turn. Ballroom hold: chassay 2 steps in and 2 out. Waltz on round circle, then reform the circle and start again

Music: 32-bar waltzes

Honeywell Circle

Alan Wilson. Difficulty: 1

• A1: All circle left 8 steps and right 8 steps.
• A2: Take ballroom hold and chassay 2 steps in, clap 3 times; chassay 2 steps out, clap 3 times
• B1: Arm right with partner once round; arm left with neighbour one and a half times. This is your new partner.
• B2: Balance and swing that person.

Music: 32-bar jigs / reels

Lucky Seven version 1

Circle mixer. Difficulty: 1 This is the really easy version (see next).

• A1: All circle left for 16 steps. (Caller may have to count these aloud at first.)
• A2: All into middle for 4 steps and back out; repeat.
• B: Grand chain:

  i.e. everyone face partner, take right hands count ONE and go past, hold out left hand to next person count TWO and go past, etc. All the men go anticlockwise; all the women go clockwise. So you're going the opposite way to your partner. Resist the temptation to turn back the other way after the first handshake!

  Swing the seventh person. When dancers get the feel of it, try calling for passing 8 people, 9 etc ......

For use with real novices who need gentle introduction. Start the music slowly because some people have trouble with the grand chain at first - they get past their partner OK but then they turn round and follow him/her. Tell the dancer that if they find themselves short of a partner to swing not to worry, but just to go into the middle and wave - someone suitable should also be lost, so they can get together and reinsert themselves into the circle. At first the band may have to adjust things by putting in an extra A or B strain, but it doesn't really matter if the phrasing goes wrong.

Lucky Seven version 2

Circle mixer. Difficulty: 1 This is the slightly harder version (see previous).

• A1: 4 steps in out; twice.
• A2: do-si-do neighbour (not partner); do-si-do partner.
• B as above.

Music: 32-bar jigs/reels.

If this is their first grand chain you need to explain it very carefully and point out that all the men go the same way and all the women go the same way.

Maggie Mixer

Circle mixer. Difficulty: 2

Becky McClain?

Start as couples facing anti-clockwise

• A1: Holding inside hands go forward 8 steps; take ballroom hold and chassay 2 steps on, then 2 back
• A2: Turn and walk back 8 steps (now clockwise); chassay 2 steps on, then 2 back
• B1: Counter-marching. ALL TURN LEFT to face partner and march 8 steps in the direction you're facing. (Men and women will be going opposite ways: men anti-clockwise, women clockwise). All turn round and march back to partner.
• B2: Do-si-do partner; ALL LOOK LEFT and swing person on L diagonal who becomes new partner.

Music: 32 bar marches

Novices find it hard to remember to turn left in B1 - explain very carefully

Moving Along

Ray Dawson

Circle mixer. Difficulty: 1

• A1: take hands, go into middle and back, twice.
• A2: bars 1-4: RH turn partner, pass partner and
  bars 5-8: LH turn next person. Pass that person and
• B1: bars 1-4: 2-hand turn next person. Pass that person and
  bars 5-8: do-si-do with next person. Pass that person and
• B2: swing the next.

32-bar reels. Gets you round the circle pretty fast!

Reel of Ballymore

Leslie Haworth

Circle mixer. Difficulty: 2

• A1: All into middle for 4 steps and back out; repeat
• A2: Promenade partner 8 steps anti-clockwise; all turn back and men move on and promenade their neighbour who is now the woman in front, 8 steps clockwise. This is your new partner. (Women have moved one place on, men have moved one place back.) End the promenade with partners facing - men facing out, women facing in.

  Facing your new partner, the person beside him/her on your diagonal left is your left-person and the person the other side is your right-person. (The left-person is your old partner.) Now going to do allemandes with these three people, walking in a little figure-of-eight track.

• B1: Go past your partner giving right hands to face your right-person. Turn your right-person halfway with the left hand to face your partner. Go past your partner giving right hands to face your left-person. Turn your left-person halfway with the left hand to face your partner.
• B2: Long swing with (new) partner. (Or balance and swing if preferred.)

Music: N x 32-bar (jigs good because long swing)

CAREFUL ON THIS - explaining B1 is tricky.

In B1, the previous edition said that the right-person was turned with the right hand, instead of the left hand.

Sibyl's Roundabout

Les Wooton, published in English Dance and Song Spring 1972

Circle mixer. Difficulty: 2

• A1: All go into the middle 4 steps and out; all go in again, men stay (but turn round, in 4 steps) and women fall back in 4 steps.
• A2: Do si do partner; chassay 2 steps on your own (i.e. not holding partner) to your own left, then chassay 2 steps to your right (note that men and women go opposite ways).
• B1: Give left hand to partner and right hand to neighbour to make a wavy circle with men facing out and balance forward and back; allemande left 1/2 with person in your left hand (your partner), to make another wave with men facing in and balance forward and back. Allemande right 1/2 with person in your right hand (your partner+1 -- note this person) and pass by them briefly to meet someone coming your way (your partner+2).
• B2: Allemande left with the one coming towards you all the way round; go back to the one you noted (new partner) and swing.

Music: 32-bar reels

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Last updated 10 June, 2002