Dance The Selkie Fowk 20361
Also known as “The Seal People” (translation).
Reel · 32 bars · 3 couples · Longwise - 4 (Progression: 213) · Usual number of repetitions: 8
- Devised by
- Deirdre MacCuish Bark (2021)
- Intensity
- 880/844/866/888 = 59% (whole dance)
- Formations
-
- Rights and Lefts (R&L)
- Set in line in twos (SETLIN;2P;)
- Turn Partner and Corners (PCPC)
- Reel of three - across (REEL;ACROSS;R3;)
- Hands round - 6 - L or R (HR;6P)
- Steps
-
- Pas-de-Basque, Skip-Change, Slip-Step
- Recommended Music
- Extra Info
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Along the north and west coasts and islands of Scotland there are many stories …
Along the north and west coasts and islands of Scotland there are many stories and songs telling of the Selkies, (the seal people) who are reputed to be able to shape change from seals into humans. They mix and marry into the local communities but almost always the lure of the sea is too much and they return to their sea homes in the shape of seals. Fowk is the Scottish variant of Folk, especially in Orkney: the word is also to be found in the Yorkshire dictionary of 1887. The last 8 bars shows the sea waves swirling in & pulling the Selkies back into the sea. Bars 9-16 are based on the movement ‘Swing Corners,’ from Thomas Wilson’s 1811 Manual, “Analysis of Country Dancing”.
Table rows with a green background denote recordings starting with one of the recommended tunes and the usual number of repetitions for the dance (8). A yellow background means a recording with one of the recommended tunes but a non-standard number of repetitions. Recordings with a red background use a different tune and possibly a non-standard number of repetitions.
Recordings whose titles are in
| Name | Artist | Album | Media | Trk | Type | Time | Pace | Clip | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Whale's Moo | Muriel Johnstone & Keith Smith | Aye Afloat | CD | 11 | R32 8 | 4:54 | 36.8 |
The Selkie Fowk 3/4L · R32
1–
: 1c+2c 6 bars of R&L | 2c+1c set (2,1,3)
9–
: *Swing Corners* : 1c turn P RH and face 1cnrs | turn 1cnrs LH and face P ; turn P RH and face 2cnrs | turn 2cnrs LH ¾ into lines3 across, 1c facing 3cnrs
17–
: Reels3 across {6}, 1c RSh to 3cnrs | 1c turn P RH ¾ to 2pl (2,1,3)
25–
: *Circle and Swirl* : Circle6 L ; on [29] all dance to centre bringing arms up, pivot R and chase clw to places (2,1,3)
