Picking Up Sticks
 | This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject. (December 2016) |
| This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. (December 2016) |
| Classification | |
|---|---|
| Genre | English Country Dance |
| Formation | Longways for six |
| Difficulty | easy |
| Tempo | brisk |
| Character | lively |
| Key | D minor |
| Era | Playford |
| Choreography | |
| Choreographer | John Playford |
| Year | 1651 |
| Published in | The Dancing Master, 1st edition |
| Music | |
| Title | Lavena |
| Collector | Cecil Sharp |
| Year | 1909 |
| Published in | Country Dance Tunes |
Picking up Sticks is an English country dance for three couples in a line, recorded by John Playford in 1651.
Tune[edit]
![\relative c'' {
\time 6/8
\partial 8
\numericTimeSignature
\key d \minor
d8 |
d4 d8 cis8. [b16 cis8] | d4 d8 a4 a8 |
d4. cis8. [b16 cis8] | d4. a4 bes8 |
bes8. [d16 c8] bes8. [c16 bes8] | a8. [bes16 a8] g8. [f16 e8] |
f8. [g16 a8] g8. [a16 f8] | e4. d4
\bar "|."
}](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/r/c/rcqvrik8vz91mpw0si5ohwl7sjyvmi3/rcqvrik8.png)
This is NOT the tune for Picking up Sticks. This tune is called Lavena (also from 1651) and Cecil Sharp substituted the tune at the beginning of the 20th century.
Steps[edit]
reconstructed by Greg Lindahl [2]
| Bar | Steps |
|---|---|
| 1 – 8 | Forward and back a double, and again. |
| 1 – 2 | First man changes with second woman, passing right shoulders and going back to back, |
| 3 – 4 | first man changes with third man, |
| 5 – 8 | Take hands with person across from you, all forward and back a double. |
| 1 – 4 | First woman changes with second man, and then third woman, |
| 5 – 8 | Forward and back a double. |
| 1 – 16 | Repeat changes and forward/back from new positions; note that
throughout this sequence, half of the time you will be dancing with someone of the same gender. |
| 1 – 16 | Repeat changes a third time from new positions, ending up where
you started the dance |
| 1 – 8 | Siding. |
| 1 – 4 | Couple 3 crosses and skips once around the entire set, while
Couple 1 sashays down to 2nd position, while Couple 2 steps back and up to 1st position, then |
| 5 – 8 | Couple 2 sashays back to place, while
Couple 1 steps back and up to place. |
| 1 – 8 | Repeat with Couple 1 going 'around the world' and couples
2 and 3 changing places, starting with Couple 2 sashaying down. |
| 1 – 8 | Arming. |
| 1 – 24 | Men sheepskin hey. |
| 1 – 24 | Women sheepskin hey. |
External sources[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Barnes, Peter (2009). The Barnes Book of English Country Dance Tunes (2nd ed.). Greenfield, Massachusetts: Canis Publishing. p. 19.
- ^ Lindahl, Greg. "Picking Up Sticks". SCA Dance Cheat Sheets. Retrieved 12 November 2016.