Our director Piper Call introduced us on 2022-02-09 to the Ballyvourney Jig set, a very lively dance that we intend to master—some day! To start, we were more concerned about learning the steps, whether in proper order, or not.
The Ballyvourney Jig set (as it is meant to be danced)
This set, because of its short figures and the fact that tops and sides
alternate throughout the dance, is normally danced without a break between
the figures. As these Notes are intended for those learning the set, I have
described each Figure separately.
First Figure – Swing Your Own (Slides)
88 bars
1
Top couples: House around each other, with waltz hold, the 1st step being danced slightly anti-clockwise before beginning the house on the second step.
8 bars
Square the house: couples slide 1,
2, 123 towards the couple on the R, make a ¼ turn clockwise and slide 1, 2, 123 towards the couple
opposite their own place and house back home.
8 bars
Swing partners,
with ceili hold.
8 bars
Slide and change: partners take waltz hold
and slide towards the centre 1, 2, 123 and back, 2, 123 (4 bars) and house across
to the opposite place (4 bars). They then repeat this movement back home.
16 bars
2
Side couples now dance 1.
40 bars
Second Figure -Swing Opposites (Slides)
104 bars
1
Top couples: House and square.
16 bars
Gents cross
to the opposite lady (2 steps) and swing.
8 bars
Gents dance backand swing partners.
8 bars
Slide and change.
16 bars
2
Side couples now dance 1.
48 bars
Third Figure -Double Swing Four (Slides)
104 bars
1
Top couples: House and square.
16 bars
Double swing four: both couples join hands behind each other’s backs and swing clockwise, falling back to place on the last 2 bars.
16 bars
Slide and change.
16 bars
2
Side couples now dance 1.
48 bars
Fourth Figure -Swing all Round (Slides)
136 bars
1
Top couples: House and square.
16 bars
Gents swing the lady on the L for 8
bars, move on and swing the next lady and so on to swing their own partners
in place to finish.
32 bars
Slide and change.
16 bars
2
Side couples now dance 1.
64 bars
Fifth Figure -The Chain (Slides)
112 bars
1
Top coupleshouse and square.
16 bars
2
Half chain: All face partners and, taking R arm, dance
½ turn around each other to face in the opposite direction. All chain L arm,
R arm etc. to meet partners in the opposite place and take ceili hold.
8 bars
3
Swing.
8 bars
4
Full slide: all couples slide to the centre and back and
half house around into their own place. They repeat this movement back to the
place opposite their own.
16 bars
5
Side coupleshouse and square.
16 bars
6
Half chain. Swing. Full slide.
32 bars
7
House around.
8 bars
Our first brave effort to imitate the steps of the Ballyvourney Jig set.
Piper & Cyd rehearsed their McGuiggan Jiggin’ on 9 Feb 2022
