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mark12_30 · 05-24-2003, 07:24 PM

Poppy pushed a stray lock away from her face. "A new dance?" she asked. "Is it easy or hard?"

Lindo conisdered the question, and thought, "Well, most of the ones I know start out easy, and then you can make them as difficult as you want to. The Running River is like that. Why don't we try it next?"

"The Running River, " Nuru echoed. "All right; how does it go?"

"The dancers form a line. The dancer at the top of the line faces downward; he is The Leaf. All others face upward; they are The River. The Leaf weaves and spins his way down to the end of the River. There are three patterns; you can touch hands or not, and if dancers come back around below The Leaf, then it takes The Leaf longer to get to the bottom of the river."

"Hmmm. Weaving and spinning down the line--is it like Strip The Willow?" Amanaduial asked.

"A little, only The Leaf never goes upriver. If you want to lengthen The Leaf's journey downriver, then other dancers in The River have to circle below The Leaf."

"You're going to show us how it works, I hope, " Poppy said.

"I think we have enough people. We'll start out walking til you all have the patterns. Come on, " Lindo headed back up to the dance floor. "Poppy, would you be the first Leaf? When you get to the end of the River, then the dancer at the top of the River becomes the next Leaf." He gestured through the first weaving pattern. "Offer your hand to each dancer you pass, alternating your left and right hands."

"Like a Grand Chain, " Amanaduial said.

"Yes, only in the first phase they stay still. When that's easy, add a swing around each person. When that's easy, add a turn in between. When that's easy, dancers in the river can start circling below and lengthening The Leaf's journey."

"Are any of these written down?" Telmerie asked, furrowing her brow as Poppy wove in and out. Amanaduial followed, then Telmerie, then Nurumaiel, then Lindo.

"That's a good thought," Lindo said. "I wonder what the next music will be? The musicians seem to be on break." Lindo shot the band a raised eyebrow, and they guzzled from their mugs and took up their instruments again.

The lutes and fiddles and flutes and hand-drums now sounded out a pulsing rhythm, but the tune was a little jarring and the beat was rather fast. Telmerie and Amanaduial grinned at each other. "White Stripes!"

[ May 28, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

05-24-2003, 07:24 PM	#151
mark12_30 Stormdancer of Doom Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars Posts: 4,407	Poppy pushed a stray lock away from her face. "A new dance?" she asked. "Is it easy or hard?" Lindo conisdered the question, and thought, "Well, most of the ones I know start out easy, and then you can make them as difficult as you want to. The Running River is like that. Why don't we try it next?" "The Running River, " Nuru echoed. "All right; how does it go?" "The dancers form a line. The dancer at the top of the line faces downward; he is The Leaf. All others face upward; they are The River. The Leaf weaves and spins his way down to the end of the River. There are three patterns; you can touch hands or not, and if dancers come back around below The Leaf, then it takes The Leaf longer to get to the bottom of the river." "Hmmm. Weaving and spinning down the line--is it like Strip The Willow?" Amanaduial asked. "A little, only The Leaf never goes upriver. If you want to lengthen The Leaf's journey downriver, then other dancers in The River have to circle below The Leaf." "You're going to show us how it works, I hope, " Poppy said. "I think we have enough people. We'll start out walking til you all have the patterns. Come on, " Lindo headed back up to the dance floor. "Poppy, would you be the first Leaf? When you get to the end of the River, then the dancer at the top of the River becomes the next Leaf." He gestured through the first weaving pattern. "Offer your hand to each dancer you pass, alternating your left and right hands." "Like a Grand Chain, " Amanaduial said. "Yes, only in the first phase they stay still. When that's easy, add a swing around each person. When that's easy, add a turn in between. When that's easy, dancers in the river can start circling below and lengthening The Leaf's journey." "Are any of these written down?" Telmerie asked, furrowing her brow as Poppy wove in and out. Amanaduial followed, then Telmerie, then Nurumaiel, then Lindo. "That's a good thought," Lindo said. "I wonder what the next music will be? The musicians seem to be on break." Lindo shot the band a raised eyebrow, and they guzzled from their mugs and took up their instruments again. The lutes and fiddles and flutes and hand-drums now sounded out a pulsing rhythm, but the tune was a little jarring and the beat was rather fast. Telmerie and Amanaduial grinned at each other. "White Stripes!" [ May 28, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ] __________________ ...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve.