Tune: Manx White Boys
This is a dance from the tradition: the White Boys were a group of mummers on the Isle of Man and there are records of them performing a sword dance afterwards. If you want to read the script of the play, it’s on the Culture Vannin website.
There is no apparent connection between the play script and the sword dance, though the Doctor is carried off on a sword platform after the dance. (Some historical sword teams managed to weave dance and mumming play together a little, by changes in the script, but the two have separate historical origins and it requires a bit of fudging to make sword dance and play work well together. It’s likely that the reason they were often performed by the same people is simply because they both require swords and were both Christmas customs.)
It’s also possible (probable..) that the historical records of what the Manx Boys dance was actually like were so thin, that Leighton Stowell recreated it from scratch in the 1930’s. Which would rather explain why it’s a sword dance without any over or under the sword moves, as he was morris dancer, not a sword dancer.
If you’d like to know more about the history of the White Boys dance and the research that went into recreating it, then here’s a really interesting article by Colin Messer.This dance is always done to its traditional tune (which was sometimes done as ‘mouth music’ by the dancers. “dah, dah. dud duh” or similarish sounds) Note that the B music has a repeat. Play A and B (including the repeat) alternating for the duration of the dance.
Although there is an ‘official’ version of the dance, the notation still leaves itself open to stylistic choices (because some parts of the original are almost undanceable, especially the lock), and hence there are inevitable variations in how teams perform it.
This is the version that we use: Video of Southern Star performing our interpretation of this dance.
Step: slipping-skip step. (A traditional Manx dance step, think of it as being a bit like a polka, but the hips are always facing forward and the steps are smaller) One left and one right slipping-skip step take a bar of music. In the notation below, one step is two counts, ie four counts per bar.
This is a dance for six people. This dance can also accommodate a mascot/Tommy/doctor weaving in and out of the figures.
It is an easy dance, once you’ve got the hang of the stepping, and most people will be able to handle most positions.
Line up order is 1, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (but don’t fret about it, that just the original ‘morris’ notation creeping in.) Whoever ends up making an arch with number 1 at the top of the set is number 2.
Tommy/mascot/doctor can do whatever they like while the dance is going on. They can go under the arches in whatever direction they please. They can join in Circle, Lock, Wind the Bobbin whenever it suits them. (Note that a child could easily do the under the arches move, but it needs an experienced dancer to slip in and out of the set for the other moves)
Walk On (AB)
1-32 Slip step on in two parallel lines of three dancers each, go once round the room, and end up in position with the two parallel lines perpendicular to the band and everyone facing towards the band.
Arches (AB)
1-4 Numbers 1 and 2 make an arch with their swords, clashing on the first beat. They move the arch backwards over the heads of the other dancers and fall into position at the bottom of the set, on the count of 8 (ie. 4 steps), with swords again on shoulders. The other dancers move forward under the arch, so that a new couple is now at the top of the set.
5-8 The new top couple (6 and 3, if you really want to know), do exactly what the first couple did, falling into position after 4 steps.
9-16 Repeat with the new top couple.
The timing is 4 steps down the outside of the set and 2 steps to go up the middle.
Continue until an A and a B music have passed. You will not end up in the place you started in, but it doesn’t matter. (the original dance fudges the timing so that you end up in place, but it means some of the arch moves have different timing to others and is clunky to dance).
Link the Circle (AB)
1-16 Circle left, starting with swords on shoulders.
17-32 Each dancer in turn, starting with number 1, raises their sword in the air (One step/Two beats) and lowers it down for the next dancer to grasp (One step/2 beats). This finishes with everyone going round in a linked circle.
Wind the Bobbin (AB)
During this move, the shape of the circle should be maintained. The circle can be either static or rotating, but don’t let it get too wide.
Number 1 lets go of the sword in his left hand, and the dancer to his LEFT rests that sword on his shoulder, while making an arch between himself and the next dancer with his own sword. Number 1 leads the other dancers under the arch and back to place.
Now, the next two dancers make the arch, and number 1 leads the dances under the arch and round.
Repeat for each arch.
Each dancer making the arch with their right hand sword will turn right to face clockwise round the circle after the other dancers have gone under the arch. He will NOT go under the arch himself, but will end up with his RH sword resting on his outside (left) shoulder.
Circle (AB)
1-16 Circle clockwise, starting with swords on outside shoulders, adding an emphasis to the step to make it more of a stamp.
Back lock
1-2 Swords go up and down, to end on the inside shoulder.
3-4 Slope swords on shoulder and face towards the centre of the circle.
Keep the circle fairly small in size.
Call
‘Swords go up, and inside shoulder,
Slope your swords, and face right in’
(up, down, slope, turn)
(If a sword lift is going to be done, the smallest dancer should drop out of the set at this point. Just step back and move a little towards the audience.)
Each dancer in turn, starting with number 1 and progressing anti-clockwise raises their sword in the air (1 step/2 beats) and places it horizontally behind the back of the dancer to his right (2 beats). The next dancer along will take the other end of the sword in his left hand. When all dancers are linked in this way, the last dancer in the sequence must pass his right hand inside number 1’s right arm to grip the sword waiting for him.
Now everyone lifts their swords slowly over their heads, crossing right wrist over left (hilt over point), pausing at chin height for everyone to check their hands are outside the star, and then bring the swords down into the centre of the ring to form a lock.
Rose
Number one raises the lock into the air. Everyone else faces clockwise and places their right hand on the left shoulder of the dancer in front, except number one.
If there is no sword lift, then number one leads the dancers round in a circle until he decides to lead them offstage.
If there is a sword lift (which is only safe with metal swords), then the sword lock will be lowered back into the circle. Each dancer will hold their corner, gripping a pair of crossed sword ends together. The lock will pulled open a little bit between squire and the next dancer, so that it is no longer a perfect star. This makes it a more comfortable seat shape.
The smallest dancer then comes and sits on the swords. When they say ‘up’, the lock is raised as high as they are comfortable with. Shoulder height is ideal, but the person being lifted should have the final say.
Carry them around on their throne, milk the audience for all they are worth, then lower the lock and let the dancer get off, and take a bow.Lock and seat (AB) music continues and can end at any apropriate moment.If you have a shorter dancer in the set, then you can do what we did in the video above. This dance is best done with metal swords. Wooden swords may break during the lift. Yes, this is the voice of experience…