Issue 775: Circassian "Big" Circle: looking for the source

New issue submitted

Assigned changed to “EricFerguson” (previously “None”)
Disposition changed to “Needs help” (previously “New”)

No reply in many years! Could someone of the Edinburgh RSCDS team or Newcastle organisers please help us find the original dance source? Thanks

I posted a question in the Scottish Country Dance teachers’ group on FB.

Okay. I got various answers. The Edinburgh Branch just let me know that they used a “variation” of this dance for their display, but seem to have worked from online sources. Some others say that they came across variations for the standard “Circassian Circle” in other countries. Andrew Timmins has a website that explains a bit further: https://www.libraryofdance.org/dances/circassian-circle/
If this info is correct, “Circassian (Big) Circle” is indeed rather modern and totally unrelated to the 19th century dance of the same name. It is in fact a totally different dance. It is most unlikely to find any original source or deviser for it. It may just have been “around” and been collected somewhere. I wouldn’t put any more effort into research.

Disposition changed to “Fixed” (previously “Needs help”)

Many thanks Viktor for that useful search. The web page made by Andrew Timmins is impressive, and gives all the information we need. I have written “Extra Info” texts that include a link to that page for both the SCDDB “Circassian Circle” dances. The SCDDB has no need for further research. Fixed

Just one more, Eric.
https://www.dancilla.com/wiki/index.php/Circassian_Circle
Quite interesting. Both dances seem to have been collected by Maud Karpeles (kind of the “Miss Milligan” to English Dances) in Northumberland. This might be the source why they got their similar names, although they seem to have been collected as “Circassian Circle” and “The Big Circle” originally.
On Facebook, Margaret Lambourne directs us as follows: “A description is to be found in a book called the Community Dances Manual Books 1-7 and it was collected by Maud Karpeles in Northumberland. This book is available from the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent’s Park Rd, London NW1 7AY.”

Thanks Viktor. I have added all the relevant information into the “Extra Info” for both these dances. Let’s see if more information turns up.

The strong link to English Country Dancing may explain why the videos show so much walking steps, for instance in the “Advance to centre and retire” figure.

I am astonished at a dance having two parts with totally different set shapes (double and single circles) and different music types. I wonder if the two dances were not just demonstrated one after the other, and that Maud Karpeles misunderstood this as a 2-part dance. Cheers, Eric