Greencoats
Ithaca-on-Hemp Tradition (Heartwood Morris)
A dance in the (modern) tradition of Ithaca-on-Hemp (blended with Adderbury) for 4 dancers with 1 long stick each. The music is the folk tune "Rose Tree", arranged for Morris dancing by Peter Hoover.
Dance Notes
Danced in the Hempen Adderbury style. The six figures are: foot up and up, half cross, processional down, processional up, hands round, hey (contradance). Processional up/down are the modified 4 person Hempen versions of the figure, in which the first half is traditional Adderbury, but the 2nd half has the same active couple make a snap turn of their outside shoulder and double step down to form a line with the "gate" couple.
The chorus designates the squire and the corner opposite them as "1" and the anti-squire and opposite corner as "2". The sticking involves turning the stick horizontally, at a slight diagonal, and placing the left hand on the butt of the stick in an overhand grip, while the right hand remains half-way along the stick in its natural underhand grip. Sticking then proceeds with "1s, 2s" where the 1s hit the bottom half of the 2s stick (across the set), and then the reverse, followed by the 1s turning to their right (and the 2s to their left) to repeat the same sticking up/down the set. Then, still facing up/down the set, the sticking proceeds with "tips, 2s", where the 1s clash with the tip of the 2s stick while stepping past them diagonally to the opposite corner, turning towards the 2 they are sticking with. The 2s then clash with the bottom half of the 1s stick, while the 1s take a backwards step into their new position diagonally across from their starting one. Next, the 2s become active and perform the same "tips, 2s", also crossing diagonally, continuing to stick with the same 1. At the end of this pattern, all dancers are diagonally opposite their original position, and the entire pattern then repeats, which returns the dancers to their original position for the next figure.
The dance ends on a final chorus, with differs slightly from the previous ones. In the 2nd repeat of the chorus pattern, instead of the very last "tips, 2s", the 2s stay in place and clash with each other diagonally across the set, followed by the 1s on the final beat. This creates the iconic Ithaca stick dance "bonfire", albeit with only 1 stick instead of the usual 2.
Sheet Music
Download: rose-tree-greencoats-g-major_okKZw0t.abc