Dances W

THE WYE OAK REEL

80 Bar Reel for 4 Couples in a square set

1- 8: All dance hands around and back

9-16: All dance interlocking reels of 4, giving right shoulder to partner to begin. (Roots going down)

17-20: 1st C and 3rd C, joining nearer hands, dance toward center. 1C dances under arch made by 3C (under the bough of the tree). Both couples divide and cast to sides, joining 2nd and 4th C on the ends. (On bar 20, all are on the sides, 2C and 4C in their own places. 3rd Lady at the top and 1st Man at the bottom of the line with 2nd C, 3rd Man at the top and 1st Lady at bottom with 4th C)
21-24: Hands joined, all advance and retire

25-32: 1st & 3rd C dance toward partners in the center, join nearer hands with partners. Dancing toward their original places, 3C pass under arch made by 1C. As they reach their own sides, partners dance away from each other and cast back to face partner. Turn giving right hands once round to finish in place.

33-48: 2nd & 4th C repeat bars 17-32. Begin with 2nd C passing under arch made by 4th C. On return to place, 4th C pass under arch made by 2nd C. On bar 48, 2nd & 4th C stay facing each other.

49-56: All dance grand chain. After passing last left hand on bar 56, ladies dance toward the center, while men stay facing counterclockwise (No polite turns)

57-60: (The storm) Ladies set to each other (facing person across) in center, then dance right hands across halfway. Meanwhile, men chase halfway around set counterclockwise to meet partners
61-64: All turn partners with left hands 1½ times to change places, men in center, ladies on outside.

65-68: Men set to each other, then dance right hands across halfway as ladies chase halfway round set, counterclockwise, to original places, to meet partners
69-72: All turn partners with left hand once round (or twice if feeling frisky), finishing with ladies on partners’ right facing counterclockwise in promenade hold

73-80: All allemande around and back to place, finishing with ladies in the center facing partners

Devised by Ellen Ternes and Judy Warner.

The Wye Oak was a majestic 400-year-old oak on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The oldest living white oak in America, it was felled by a storm in the summer of 2002.