November 2005
English country dance by Joseph Pimentel
longways, duple minor, proper
tune “Baptist Johnson” also known as “Planxty Johnson” by Turlough O'Carolan, 110 bpm, 6/8, C major
Recording:beautyberry-goldcrest.mp3.zip
A1 1-4 1st Corners set, turn sg 5-8 1s cross R and go below, 2s move up on bars 7-8 9-12 Men (in 1st Corner places) R-hd turn lx A2 1-4 2nd Women (in 2 Corner places) set, turn sg 5-8 2s cross R and go below, 1s move up on bars 7-8 9-12 2nd Corners (in 1st Corner places) R-hd turn 1x B 1-2 Face P, take inside hand with N: fall back 3-4 Slow set L and honor 5-8 P back-to-back 9-10 Star R 1/2-way 11-12 Turn sg over L-sh 13-16 Star L lx
Pimental's Teaching Notes
While these are all familiar figures, the tune structure and the sequence of the figures are unusual, making the dance more challenging than it first seems. The A figures seem symmetric, but are not, and so can feel disorienting, especially for the 2s. While the 1s each set, turn single, and right-hand turn once, W2 sets and turns single twice, and M2 right-hand turns twice.
Background
Dedicated to one of my favorite fiddlers and favorite people Daron Douglas, whose beautiful energy never fails to make me happy. Beautyberry is a cool plant native to the American south. We had lots of it in our Houston garden to attract birds, and Daron has it in her garden in New Orleans, too. Daron's enthusiasm for gardening in Zone Nine is celebrated in Dave Wiesler's tune of that name, recorded on The Goldcrest Collection CD as a good match for my contra dance, “Hotpoint Special,” p. 8.