Sir Roger de Coverley is one of the oldest known surviving country dances. In the 19th Century it was the traditional final dance at a ball. and survived as a popular folk dance at private parties at Christmas time into the next century. The name is thought to be a corruption of 'Roger the Cavalier' and as a ballroom dance dates back to at least Charles the Second. As 'The Haymaker' it is known from centuries earlier in Ireland and in Scotland as 'The Maltman'. The older versions included a Serpentine figure or the derivative Strip the Willow. It was danced to the 9-8 signature tune of Sir Roger de Coverley in the ballroom but as a folk dance, more generally to 6-8 jigs and there is such a signature tune - 'Haymakers Jig' which is nursery rhyme style sounding a little like Round and Round the Mulberry Bush. The dance lasted well into the 1920s and the Old Time Dance revival of the 1930s in Australia.
Video footage by dancers and friends of Bush Dance & Music Club of Bendigo, directed by Peter Ellis at Sedgwick, Victoria Australia, October 2014.
8 фев 2015
