SCA Dance Cheat Sheets

Hyde Park

Source: Playford (1651), TPB, LoD v1 & v2.

Setting: A square set of four couples.

Version: 1.0

 1- 4  First and third couples forward and back a double,
 5- 8  Second and fourth couples the same.
 9-10  First and third men take partners with both hands, slip into
         center to meet,
11-16  First man and third woman join both hands, slip out between
         the fourth couple, and cast to place. Third man and first
         woman do likewise at the same time.
17-24  Second and fourth couples repeat figure in 9-16.

 1- 8  Repeat bars 1-8 above.
 9-10  Second and fourth couples take both hands with their partner,
         turn halfway, and make an arch,
11-16  First and third couple face their partner, pass by the right
         shoulder to go outside the set, around the arches, go under
         the arches, and return to place, ending improper.
17-18  First and third couples take both hands with their partner,
         turn halfway, and make an arch (these couples are now
         proper again),
19-24  Second and fourth couples do figure in bars 11-16, ending
         proper.

 1- 8  Repeat bars 1-8 above.
 9-16  Men pass in front of their partners, behind the next woman,
         and so on, weaving counter-clockwise around the the circle
         back to place.
17-24  Women weave the circle clockwise, passing in front of their
         partner to start.

Discussion:

This dance is done in a square set; the couple closest to the head of the hall is the first couple, and the other couples are numbered clockwise from the first. Playford's instructions leave out the phrasing within the 8-bar phrases; the subdivisions above are a guess. The slip into the center on bars 9-10 and bars 17-18 in the first chorus has entirely too much time, so dancers are encouraged to finish that figure early and spend more time casting. Sharp added in a balance between partners before the slip, but I haven't seen this done in the SCA. The timing problem is aggravated by the fact that most reconstructions use a slip step for this movement instead of the double that Playford specifies.

The name in the original is ``Hide-Park,'' which The Playford Ball notes was also the name of a play written by Shirley in 1637. Sharp modernized the name.