Dance The Cooper's Crown 17393

10 bar phrases

The dance name is intended as reminder that it is made up of 10-bar phrases, just like The Wee Cooper o’ Fife. The crown was a coin valued at five shillings and so is an allusion to this as a five-couple dance.

(Dance Notes by the deviser, Reuben Freemantle)

The music for this dance must be in 10-bar phrases, as in The Wee Cooper o’ Fife and The Cooper’s Wife (Mitchell); the music for Trinity Tensome or any other, more conventional 5-couple, 5 x 40 bar dance would be totally unsuitable. Until a suitable recording is available, use a 4 x 40 bar set of The Wee Cooper o’ Fife and restart after once through.

As a dancer, since these are 10-bar phrases, do not panic on bar 7 of the phrase when finding oneself still far from the end position.

1–8 3s 5s do not step up.

9–10 Cover in the turns.

11–30 Take hands with partner at every opportunity in these mirror reels to help with covering. These reels of five start with the dancers all evenly spaced; each dancer should follow the dancer immediately ahead and should be exactly two bars behind, throughout.

11–20 The following instructions apply to the Mn’s reel; since these are mirror reels, the Ls’ dance with left and right, clockwise and anticlockwise, interchanged. To start, 2M 4M, on the inside, face up and to the left, 1M, half a place above his original place on the side line, and 3M 5M, on the outside, face down and to the left.

11–12 1M2M 3M4M pass giving right shoulder WHILE 5M dance round the anticlockwise loop at the bottom, finishing 1M in 3M’s position at the start of bar 11, 3M in 5M’s, 5M in 4M’s, 4M in 2M’s, 2M in 1M’s.

13–20 All repeat bars 11–12 four times from their new positions, finishing as at the start of bar 11.

21–30 All repeat bars 11–20 with 1s crossing down to opposite sides to start.

31–32 Slow turns with covering.