Wedding Day Celebration

This tune and dance were written by team member Jeff Bigler as a wedding present for Sue Jick and Dan Groher, two of the founders of Middlesex Morris.

The dance was written in the style of Bledington. Middlesex Morris has subsequently adapted it to Fieldtown. [Composer's note: I think it works better as a Bledington dance--the style matches better. E.g., note the lack of a catch-step in the tune. Also, I prefer the tune in A major, but have deferred to the G-D melodion and whistle players...]

Chorus:

Sticking sequence and half hey; repeat.

First Chorus ("capers")
4 plain capers. The stick is raised up in the air on the first one, and clashed tips-butts-tips (forehand-backhand-forehand) on the remaining three. Perform this sequence twice, followed by a half-hey. Repeat.
Second Chorus ("short tosses")
One plain caper, then stand in place. The sticking is the same as the first time, but toss the stick to your partner in place of the second clash. (i.e., clash (tips, forehand), toss across, clash (tips, forehand).) Perform this sequence twice, followed by a half-hey. Repeat.
Third and Fourth Chorus ("long tosses")
There are no capers in this chorus--the entire chorus is done standing in place. Think of a 4 beat sequence, where each beat is where a caper was in the "capers" chorus. Here's the breakdown by beat:
  1. First corners toss to each other. Second corners clash with middles.
  2. Second corners toss to each other. First corners clash with middles.
  3. Middles toss to each other. Tops and bottoms clash across (tips, forehand)
  4. Everyone clashes across. (Tips. Tops and bottoms backhand; middles forehand.)

Perform this sequence twice, followed by a half-hey. Repeat.

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Last modified: 1996/02/23 19:10:52 by jcb@mit.edu