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The Spinster
Reel, 48 bars
For two men, three women; in sets of seven people
| 1-8
| 1st and 2nd men advance and retire diagonally down for two bars. 1st woman
dances up and above 1st man to end facing down the line of the men. 2nd
woman dances up and between 1st and 2nd men, ending facing up. 3rd woman
dances up and below 2nd man, ending facing up.
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| 9-16
| Women clap, dance a left shoulder reel for three around the men.
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| 17-20
| Women dance diagonally up and cast to original places.
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| 21-24
| Men advance and retire.
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| 25-28
| 3rd woman begins her cloverleaf meanwhile figure by dancing up the
middle of the dance while the 1's and 2's set to begin modified rights and
lefts. She casts off to the women's side one place while the 1's and 2's
cross by the right.
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| 29-32
| 3rd woman dances across the dance to the men's side between 1st and 2nd
place while 1st and 2nd couples set. She casts up one place while the women
cross by the left and the men cross by the left, continuing the modified
rights and lefts.
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| 33-36
| 3rd woman dances down the dance while the 1's and 2's set. She casts up
the men's side one place while the 1's and 2's cross by the right.
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| 37-40
| 3rd woman dances across the dance to the women's side between 1st and
2nd place while the 1st and 2nd couples set. She casts down one place to
her original place while the women cross by the left and the men cross by
the left to original places.
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| 41-44
| The men dance up and across the dance, looping around their partners and
returning to place.
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| 45-48
| The men turn once and a half by the right while first 3rd and 2nd women
cross by the right and then 3rd and 1st women cross by the left, progressing
the dance.
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Notes
The man furthest down the set (initially the man standing
opposite 4th woman) must pay attention and be ready to step up or down as
needed on the last bars of the dance.
Specifically, he steps down on the odd-numbered iterations of the dance and
up on the even-numbered iterations.
The easiest thing to do is to watch the dance and do what is "right". As
exactly two men are needed for each iteration of the dance, it will always
be clear what the last man should do.
As in normal Scottish dances, after a woman has danced the dance through
twice, she needs to step to the bottom to allow the lower-most woman into
the dance.
Bars 25-40 look confusing but aren't. The first woman is doing a
cloverleaf starting by dancing up the dance and casting to her right on the
women's side and the other two couples set, cross with partner by the right,
set, cross with neighbor by the left, set, cross with partner by the right,
set, cross with neighbor by the left.
This dance was written during a long drive back from the Monterey
Aquarium to Sunnyvale, CA when I turned to the driver of the car and
commented that "The Spinster" was a good name for one of the Odd Dances.
At the start of the dance, all the dancers are "single." In the first
figure, the men are trying to get the attention of the women. The women
respond, and dance a reel around the men "scoping them out", at it were.
The women leave, and the men advance towards and retire from their chosen
partners. Then third woman dances a solitary meanwhile figure while the 1's
and 2's dance with their new-found mates. The dance ends with the men
having a bachelor party on their side of the dance while 3rd woman bids
farewell to the other women and tries her luck somewhere else.
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