Ducklington

The Ducklington dances DDMM do

Lollipop Man
Nutting Girl

Not done nowadays: Jockey.
Last updated 16 10 19

Last updated 19 10 19

This page is work in progress

General stuff about Ducklington dances

A tradition we don’t dance out these days, but are thinking about resurrecting if time permits for dancing out in 2020
Usual stepping sequence:. double step is normal with hands down and up, but start with hands at head height (which they will be if DS is preceded by F (see below)). After 2 bars of DS hands should be at hip height. Hold them there before next move (usually a F). So, don’t bring them back up at the end of the DS. This ‘hold’ and the ‘hold’ described in the F is a distinctive Ducklington feature (some even give a tiny flick with the hands during the hold)
Usual common figures (cf): See dance descriptions for the figures
Other general info:
OY: Forey:
Forey (F) left, right, right. Left foot on floor, leap off it, then two smaller hops on rt foot, leaving left foot in air ready for next thing. Hands start at waist height, on leap hands go high straight out and up (not at all out to side of body), backs of hands facing forwards, hands come down to head height and hold them there during the 2 hops. May have to use F to turn either to the left or the right.
Sidestep (SS): to right (ssr) or / and left (ssl). Is an open sidestep, with big handkerchief circle/show - leading hand describes big (1.5m + diameter) circle in front of and in the plane of body. If ssr, right hand starts at left hip level, goes up over head to the right and down finishing about knee level. Ssl is reverse of this.
Upright caper (UC): similar to Fieldtown beetle crusher, but starts with l foot in air. Place it firmly under body, tap floor in front of you with rt foot, then leap off right, hands high, right in front of body, land on left foot, switch weight onto right foot, leaving left in air, ready to tap, leap etc on that side. Hands down by side of body (not in balance). They then go straight up on the leap, - no gather, swing to side etc. Keep backs of hands facing forwards to ensure hands go straight up high.
Hey: Normal pattern. 2 bars DS, then 4 single steps. On the DS hands down and up, turn to back into place on the 4 single steps, keeping arms straight down at your sides. At end you may well need to turn either to face in to the set, or to face up the set.

About how DDMM do specific Ducklington dances

Lollipop Man

OY, then FU, FD, (corners and rounds) X3, Hey (Can use ‘show out’ instead of 1 rounds).
OY = F. FU = 2 bars DS, then F to turn out of set. Then 2 bars DS down, F out of the set, to face across ready for Corners. Corners = ssl, ssr, forey, step-jump to land in front of corner partner, then quickly pass to his left, to opposite place on 2 bars DS. Finish with 2 F, turning out of the set, ccw (ie about your left shoulder), to face across. 2nd, 3rd couples come in with a single F. All F at end before Rounds. Then Rounds = cw, 2 bars DS, 2 foreys to turn ccw out of the set, so you face back the way you came. Repeat, using final F to face across in set. After 3 lots of Corners + Rounds, top couple are at bottom of set. The hey therefore is inverted, and the second half of the hey brings the bottom couple up to the top ready for all up, on 4C (hands down and up) rather than F.
Blurry 2009 video
https://youtu.be/4HvP0nQcYpg

Nutting girl

2 X 2 dance: df1, chorus, df2, chorus, df3, chorus then caper up at end of final hey.
Dance starts with top couple F doing a F, then

df1 = 2 bars DS, then 2 F, then 2 bars DS, 2 F (first one up, 2nd to turn out and get out of the set). They then walk down to the bottom position, face into set. Middles, come in with F when tops doing their last F, using it to move up to the top position, do DS etc. Walk back to middle position and face in. 3rd couple same, but on final F, turn quickly, remaining at top, to face into set ready for chorus.
Df2 same, but do ssl, ssr, F, F, ssl, ssr, F, F instead of the DS etc. The bottom couple are at the top now to start the df.
Df3: As df1 but with 2 UC, F, F, 2 UC, F, F.
Chorus, all facing in to set = {2 ssl travelling to left (so odds side move about 1 position up towards the music, evens side move 1 position down away from the music,), then 2 ssr (so get back to place)}. Then half hey (as described in the introduction) ending facing across the set. Repeat everything in {}. Second half hey, ending facing up the set.Final hey end in 4 capers up

Blurry 2009 video https://youtu.be/RBRNM7Aq2yE

Nutting Girl can also be done as a solo jig, in which case the chorus is done on the spot: same stepping sequence, moving l, r for the sidesteps, then on the spot for the 2 bars DS, but then 2 F instead of 4 single steps.