The Playford Plod
E.M. Rushton
someone referred to the Playford Plod, and I thought we would be inundated
with letters from indignant Playford enthusiasts! Maybe I'm the only one
:-).
Plod surely suggests slow and boring. Well, I'm not going to argue about
whether Playford and Playford style dances are boring, because it's a
matter of taste, and anyway, the great variety of sets, figures and moves
speak for themselves, and so do the wonderful tunes.
No, I'm going to attack the notion that Playford dances are slow. Well,
some are, of course, and you can certainly plod through Sion House, Well
Hall, Hunsdon House and many other lovely dances if you really want to!
In our smallish club, we dance mainly to recordings, and I have a list of
metronome markings for each of the dances we do regularly. Out of over
100 dances, only one third are slower than 120 steps/minute. 120 is
about the normal speed for a contra dance, right? And that makes two thirds
of our dances that go faster than contras! Many of the others are
much faster, and (bother) I've left my list at home, but speeds of 126 or
128 are quite common. Moreover, Cecil Sharp specified a "running step"
for (for example) Step Stately, and added that this is a "very theatrical
dance", and that it should be danced with verve.
I was interested when I looked in my copy of "The Playford Ball" to see
that most of the speeds given for the tunes were slower than the ones on
our recordings. The Playford Ball is an American publication, and I have
heard (enormous generalisation coming up) that American English
Country Dance clubs dance Playford more slowly than we do over here.
So, if you find you are Plodding to Playford, here is my solution - wind
up your musicians to make them go faster! Or, for the dances that are meant
to be slower and more graceful, put some spring in your step, take more room
for the dance, and enjoy the change of pace from the faster dances.
By the way, I remember that the person who sent that post was talking about
Irish Set Dancing. Just out of interest, what speeds do you generally use?
Emma
Alan Winston - SSRL Admin Cmptg Mgr
em...@cus.cam.ac.uk (E.M. Rushton) writes:
>I can't believe no-one else has picked up this gauntlet. A few days ago,
>someone referred to the Playford Plod, and I thought we would be inundated
>with letters from indignant Playford enthusiasts! Maybe I'm the only one
>:-).
>Plod surely suggests slow and boring. Well, I'm not going to argue about
>whether Playford and Playford style dances are boring, because it's a
>matter of taste, and anyway, the great variety of sets, figures and moves
>speak for themselves, and so do the wonderful tunes.
You bet. I'll add also that it seems to me that ECD offers a greater variety
of moods or emotional textures than do contras. Can anyone identify, for
example, a wistful contra dance? (There are a couple of English dances that do
give me this feeling, notably "The Bonny Bonny Broom.")
>I was interested when I looked in my copy of "The Playford Ball" to see
>that most of the speeds given for the tunes were slower than the ones on
>our recordings. The Playford Ball is an American publication, and I have
>heard (enormous generalisation coming up) that American English
>Country Dance clubs dance Playford more slowly than we do over here.
But remember, "The Playford Ball" is an American publication, and so uses the
shorter American minute -- those slower beat counts are actually faster than
British once you do the conversion.
Seriously, though, I've heard "the Playford Plod" used by Brits to refer to a
flat and lifeless style of walking the dances, most recently by Colin Hume at
Mendocino English camp last week. It's not how you're _supposed_ to do it. I
have also heard repeatedly, even from Chris Brady, that American Playford style
is more sweeping, more up on the ball of the foot, has better flow, than much
English Playford dancing today. Don't know if they were just trying to make us
feel good, of course.)
-- Alan
===============================================================================
Alan Winston --- WIN...@SSRL750.BITNET or WIN...@SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 415/926-3056
Physical mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 69, PO BOX 4349, STANFORD, CA 94309-0210
===============================================================================
Lee Thompson-Herbert
E.M. Rushton <em...@cus.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>I can't believe no-one else has picked up this gauntlet. A few days ago,
>someone referred to the Playford Plod, and I thought we would be inundated
>with letters from indignant Playford enthusiasts! Maybe I'm the only one
>:-).
MWAhahahAHHAhahHHAHAhahAHah. I was wonder if I was going to get flamed
for that comment. Took you long enough. ;}
[...]
>about the normal speed for a contra dance, right? And that makes two thirds
>of our dances that go faster than contras! Many of the others are
>much faster, and (bother) I've left my list at home, but speeds of 126 or
>128 are quite common. Moreover, Cecil Sharp specified a "running step"
>for (for example) Step Stately, and added that this is a "very theatrical
>dance", and that it should be danced with verve.
You're missing the point that I normally do irish step dancing. I don't
particularly like contras much either. The "running step" is another
source of boredom for me. Now, if a _contra_ dancer wants to bash
Playford, you've got a valid point.
>[...]
>So, if you find you are Plodding to Playford, here is my solution - wind
>up your musicians to make them go faster! Or, for the dances that are meant
>to be slower and more graceful, put some spring in your step, take more room
>for the dance, and enjoy the change of pace from the faster dances.
>By the way, I remember that the person who sent that post was talking about
>Irish Set Dancing. Just out of interest, what speeds do you generally use?
Depends on the musicians that night. But many people dislike very slow
reels because of the great strength it requires to put lift into the dance.
Since I _do_ dance slow reels, it's not the tempo that's the problem.
I just don't like the dances much...nor the step. If I want to do something
different, I'll go do morris or ballroom. >shrug<
--
Lee M.Thompson-Herbert l...@crl.com
Chaos Monger Annoy the Scientologists, l...@soda.berkeley.edu
and Read alt.religion.scientology!
Jill-of-all-Trades Member, Knights of Xenu (1995) KD6WUR
C J Brady
necessarily Playford since there were other such publishers) is WONDERFUL
to participate in and to watch. This is especially when the music is
supplied with equal flair such as from 'Bare Necessities'. There is real
grace, elegance, flirtation, and style in the American interpretation of
such dances and music. I refuse out of principal to go to similar dances
in England where the 'Playford Plod' not only applies to the style of
dancing but also frequently to the style of music!!
The 'Playford Plod' is the apt style of interpretation as taught by the
early years of EFDSS. In the early English 'folk' dance revival
(1920-40's) the country dances revived by Sharp were regarded as
something serious and precious and only to be savoured delicately with
due decorum in a society where flirtatious behaviour was regarded as
being totally out of place. One visiting folk dance team from Sweden
decribed the dances as 'lifeless little ballets' or something like that.
But dancing it most certainly was not.
A great deal of research has since gone into re-interpreting many of the
historic English country dance styles as described and taught by the
dancing masters of the 17/18/19'th centuries. For a start up until the
mid-Victorian era (mid-1800's) the English had a reputation for
laviscious behavior and rowdyness in the ballroon. Prints by Hogarth and
the Illustrated London News show prime examples of this!! Also too many
of the dancing masters, such as Weaver and Wilson, during the 18'th and
19'th centuries, frequently wrote long published essays about the
declining standards of dancing and behaviour both in the ballroom and in
contemporary society in general. Experts in the historic styles are the
Nonesuch group, look out for their publications in the "Nonsuch Early
Dance" series, edited by Peggy Dixon and published by Eglington
Productions, Junella McKay, 97 Queensborough Gardens, Glasgow G12 9RY.
The introduction and most of the extensive notes of some of them have
been researched and written acknowledged world authorities in early dance
Chris and Ellis Rogers.
The style of 'dancing' as taught by EFDSS in the early days, and dare I
say it even today, was and is nothing remotely like the original historic
styles. Nor alas is the present style anything like the old traditional
styles where the dances were frequently stepped (or 'battered') a la the
Irish sets.
The English might not 'plod' so much but they still do a hell of a lot of
walking in their 'dancing'. Interestingly it takes an English country
dancer about a year to learn to dance the newly revived traditional Irish
sets, because these are: danced in time to the music, require everyone to
be in the right place at the right time, are rarely called and therefore
everyone has to know the figures, and they frequently involve a
considerable amount of stepping.
But another difference between the two traditions is that at an Irish set
dance everyone is out to help everyone else and making mistakes is no big
issue. It is sad that the same cannot always be said at an English dance.
I remember I took a new girlfriend to an English country dance in the
South (of England) a few years ago. I was hoping to enthuse her with the
joy of such dancing. However she was made to feel so unwelcome by the
more experienced dancers because she was obviously fairly new to such
dancing that she ended up in tears and we had to leave early. I have
never experienced such an episode at an Irish set dance.
Chris Brady
Martin Kiff, Computing Services, NPL
> .... everyone is out to help everyone else and making mistakes is no big
> issue. It is sad that the same cannot always be said at an English dance.
Hope I haven't cut too much of the original posting but there's dances and
dances... (and English Ceilidhs :-)
> I remember I took a new girlfriend to an English country dance in the
> South (of England) a few years ago. I was hoping to enthuse her with the
> joy of such dancing. But....
If it was a band and group you already knew then that was unfortunate..
I find however that there is _such_ a wide spread of styles (and approaches
to dance) at Englishfolkdances (whateverthatmeans) that just turning up
can lead to surprises.
My story along these lines is travelling to dance to Junction 24 - a
band I knew of as an inventive and uplifting band - at what turned out to
be a dance club. We stopped off at the pub on the way and carried in beer,
the local dance group were drinking tea. The band played with their usual
fervour to a dance floor with half the people walking the dances and
half hot and sweaty. It's not to say that both halves weren't decidely
enjoying the evening although, perhaps once or twice I caught a glimpse of
apprehension on the face of a particularly diminuitive 60 year old as a
somewhat hot ceilidh dancer approached her for a swing.... She swang,
very nicely, and proceeded on to cooler partners :-)
Since then Junction 24 have labelled their dances as Junction 24 and
Junction 24 in dance mode :-)
Regards,
Martin Kiff
English Ceilidh info under http://www.ess.npl.co.uk/~mgk/dance/
m...@newton.npl.co.uk
David Pritchard
In article <DC2HC...@cix.compulink.co.uk>,
cbr...@cix.compulink.co.uk ("C J Brady") writes:
>But another difference between the two traditions is that at an Irish
>set
>dance everyone is out to help everyone else and making mistakes is no
>big
>issue. It is sad that the same cannot always be said at an English
>dance.
>I remember I took a new girlfriend to an English country dance in the
>>South (of England) a few years ago. I was hoping to enthuse her with
>the
>joy of such dancing. However she was made to feel so unwelcome by the
>>more experienced dancers because she was obviously fairly new to
>such
>dancing that she ended up in tears and we had to leave early. I have
>>never experienced such an episode at an Irish set dance.
>
Unfortunately, I have had such an experience. After a (Connie Ryan?)
Workshop in London, we stayed on for the dance in the evening. The
attitudes of some dancers towards us made us feel distinctly unwelcome.
We spent most of the evening listening to the band instead. It is
probably a complete coincidence, but I have never been to a dance with
that particular partner since - although we have turned up at the same
place independently and are still on speaking terms.
This episode WAS at Cecil Sharp however.
--
Dr David J. Pritchard
Electronics and Computer Science tel +44 1703 592722
University of Southampton fax +44 1703 593045
Southampton SO17 1BJ
Toby Koosman
remarked on the wonder that the same people can walk so much faster on Monday
night (contra) than on Sunday. If I play at 120 they complain that it's much
too fast. I'd say the range is about 100-110. I believe this is on the slow
side for American Playford, though.
I've learned to set the tempo by watching people during the walkthrough. The
good dancers in particular will walk at the pace they're most comfortable
dancing.
Toby Koosman
Knoxville, Tennessee USA
tkoo...@utkux.utk.edu
http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/~tkoosman/
Paul J. Stamler
: I play for the local "English Country" (Playford) dance, and I've often
: night (contra) than on Sunday. If I play at 120 they complain that it's much
: too fast. I'd say the range is about 100-110. I believe this is on the slow
: side for American Playford, though.
: I've learned to set the tempo by watching people during the walkthrough. The
: good dancers in particular will walk at the pace they're most comfortable
: dancing.
My experience in playing for English dances is similar, but I have a
general impression that this is regional. In my experience, people in the
east dance Playford dances much more quickly than in the midwest (I'm in
St. Louis). In other words, precisely the opposite of contra, where the
New England people think we're a bunch of speed demons!
Peace.
Paul