The Morris side, when in position for dancing, stands in, or returns to,
the positions as shown hereunder. The only exception to these is the
Ring, as explained below.
POSITION 1 (COLUMN). POSITION 2 (Front).
^ ^
1 2 1> <2
^ ^
3 4 3> <4
^ ^
5 6 5> <6
Thus the six stand in two parallel lines of three each. The top, as the
rule is in dancing, is set towards the music. The angles represent the
dancers: the apex of each angle points as the dancer's face is turned;
the numbers within the angles will be used throughout in describing
movements of individual dancers.
The dancer at the top left-hand corner, No. 1, is _invariably_ the leader
of the side. No figure is completed, and no dance can end, until No. 1
has returned to his place at the top left-hand corner.
It is the duty and privilege of No. 1 to call loudly and clearly the name
of each figure or part of a figure as each falls due for
performance--"Corners," "Chain," "Back-to-back," and so forth, and to
announce the end of the dance by the call of "All in."
In Position 1, or Column, the dancers stand in two files, and all face
the same way.
This is called in the Notation--Column, or Col.
In Position 2, or Front, the dancers are turned inward, and face each
other in pairs.
This is called in the Notation--Front, or Fr.
The change of position, from Column to Front, or _vice versa_, whether
made by jumping or by stepping to measure, is executed invariably thus:--
To change Column to Front the dancers turn inward. Thus, in Position 1,
Nos. 1, 3, and 5 make a half-turn to the right; Nos. 2, 4, and 6 make a
half-turn to the left.
To change Front to Column, in Position 2, Nos. 1, 3, and 5 will make a
half-turn to the left; Nos. 2, 4, and 6 a half-turn to the right.
In changing from Column to Front when the column is reversed--that is,
the dancers having their backs to the music--the half-turns as given
above will be reversed also.
As for the distance to be maintained between individual dancers, whether
in Column or Front, the files (i.e., odd and even numbers) should stand
so far apart that, when arms are extended, the hands of each will overlap
his neighbour's hands.
The distance between the files will vary according to the nature of the
dance. In the Stick and Handkerchief dances, pairs (Nos. 1 and 2, &c.)
stand near enough to clap hands or tap sticks with each other. In the
Corner dances, as will readily be seen from the descriptions and
Notation, the files must be well apart to give plenty of room for the
necessary movements. The right distance will easily be found; roughly,
the side should form a square measuring some twelve feet each way.
In the Notation, the term "Partners" is used to denote the pairs as they
stand fronting or abreast, Nos. 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6.
The term "Opposites" is used in referring to couples when they must
change places, or re-change, as in Corners and Capers, Nos. 1 and 6, 2
and 5, 3 and 4. The latter couple, the centres, it will be noticed, will
have both terms applied to them, according as the movement described is
Corners or Capers, or another, such as hand-striking.
In some dances, as, for instance, in "Bean-setting," the side forms a
ring, and many dances end in this formation. Instructions for this, as
and where it occurs, will be found in the Notation, and will be marked
under Formation, thus:--Ring.