Thady You Gander
Formation: Proper Contra lines of four couples (Gents on prompter’s right, Ladies on prompter’s left).
Music: (Special 80 beat music) “Thady You Gander” on LS E-15 or Folkcraft 1167
Download RTF file: Thady You Gander
Prompts:
Intro or
73-80 – – – -; First couple down the center;
1-8 – – – -; Cross, come up the outside;
9-16 – – – -; The Lady leads the Gents around;
17-24 – – – -; – – – -;
25-32 – – – -; The Gent leads the Ladies around;
33-40 – – – -; – – – -;
41-48 – – – -; First Couple Reel the Set;
49-56 (partner right in center; left to opposite sex in second couple);
57-64 (partner right in center; left to third couple);
65-72 (partner right in center; left to fourth couple);
73-80 (partner right to home line); New head couple down the center;
Description:
1-8 The couple nearest the prompter face away and walk between the lines with inside hands joined.
9-16 At the foot the lady crosses in front of the gent and they separately proceed up the outside of the opposite line back to the head of the set.
17-32 The lady joins onto the end of the 3-gent line, everyone in this line joins hands and then the lady leads the line Single File around the outside of the opposite line and back to the start.
33-48 The gents joins onto the end of the 3-lady line, everyone in this line joins hands and then the gent leads the line Single File around the outside of the opposite line and back to the start.
49-80 The head couple reels the line to the foot of the set and then steps back into the home line and becomes the last couples at the foot of the set.
Reel: The active couple does a Right Arm Turn in the center of the set and then a Left Arm Turn with the person of the opposite sex immediately below. The active couple then does a Right Arm Turn with the partner again. The action is continued by doing a Left Arm Turn with each person in the line followed by a Right Arm Turn with the partner. The inactive dancers should reach for the active dancers as they complete their Right Arm Turns in the center of the set.
Choreography: Traditional New England dance
Source: Printed in Dancing For Busy People, page 153
Usage: This is a nice variation on the Virginia Reel. Although the reel takes some explanation, it always seems to be a favorite call.
This page from http://dances.callerlab.org (CALLERLAB Dance Resource).