Instructions for Hyde Park

by Dani of the Seven Wells

[ This article appeared in volume 1 of the Letter of Dance. ]

[Editor's note: this article is copiously footnoted -- follow the links to footnotes.]

Hyde Park is a non-standard Playford dance which is part of the core repertoire of the Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands (BMDL). It is an enjoyable dance which is fairly easy to teach to beginners.

The instructions for this dance are presented below, in three parts. First, the original Playford instructions are given. Below that, the instructions are repeated in what I hope is a more usable format. Those instructions should be all that is needed for anyone who has ever done the dance. Finally, extensive footnotes on the reconstruction are provided for those unfamiliar with the dance, or for anyone wishing more information about the decisions which were made in reconstructing it.

I. Original Instructions:

Figure 1 is taken directly from The Dancing Master, by John Playford, published in London, 1650/1. [1]

Figure 2 provides the music for the dance, in modern notation.

II. Reconstructed Instructions:

Hyde Park -- Playford, 1651 for a square of four couples. [2]

The music is in 6/8 time.[3]