Noson Ymarfer Pob Nos Lun 8pm - 9:45pm Aelwyd yr Urdd Heol Llanbadarn Aberystwyth

Practice Night Every Monday Night 8pm - 9:45pm Aelwyd yr Urdd Llanbadarn Road Aberystwyth

Part 2 - THE LLANGADFAN DANCES This section is intended as a lecture for the Welsh Folk Dance Society’s Spring Course Llangadfan Workshop at Aberystwyth 9th May 1998. The workshops and lecture are intended to promote better understanding of the dances in demonstrating the theory and standard logic of the various movements of the dances and to breakdown any misapprehensions on the Llangadfan dances. It sets out the three manuscripted dances and Round O in a standard format that that can be used as a standard reference, taken directly from the manuscript without major embellishment. Lumps of Pudding is not described in this section as the AABBCC pattern of the music and the very brief description in the manuscript makes it more challengeable as to the exact structure of the dance. It is, however, fully documented in Part 3. It is not the intention of this document to categorically define the way the dances are to be performed, but to question the way we interpret the dances today and promote debate as to whether Welsh folk dancing and dances are keeping to the tradition of this most detailed description of any of the 17th-18th century Welsh dances. They are some of the most detailed dances available to us and we should aim to be as accurate as possible in our interpretations of the dances. Dance groups and teams should ultimately strive be able to dance the dances according to standard based on the manuscript and intermix with other groups. The Theory And Pattern Of The Dances William Jones says in the manuscript that "They may appear at first very perplexing, but when the theory is once understood they will soon become familiar to persons of tollerable skill & activity" and that "These Dances consist of three Parts besides the Round O. The first is called the Leading or the Man`s Part. The second is called the Tracing & is properly the Woman`s Part: The third we call the Turnings (Tro Llaw) or the Cross Part." There is a logic to the dances and once that is understood the dances become far easier to learn and perform. It is recommended that Roaring Hornpipe is learnt first along with the logic of the dance. For Aly Grogan (and Y Fedle Fawr), only the variations in steps, setting and heys need then be taught and they will quickly fall into place and be able to be danced. Music What is important in reading and understanding the Llangadfan Dances Manuscript is that the music decides the dance. William Jones states in the first page "When two or more Parties set up at once, Complaisance requires that the first Couple that name their Tune, consult their opposite Couples whether such Tune will be agreeable to them?" (my emphasis). It is the tune therefore decides the dance not the othe way round. The Roaring Hornpipe is a 3/2 old hornpipe and it is the tune that is called the Roaring Hornpipe not the dance, as it is with Aly Grogan, Lumps of Pudding, Y Fedle Fawr, Ffarwel Ned Puw etc. There is a tendency to put a secord tune in the middle section of the dance so that is does not become boring for the musicians , the audience or that it is expected, or the done thing etc. With Llangadfan dances the tune is that names the dance and the use of second tunes should not be used as it is not in keeping with the tradition. The music is played three times for each part, AABB for Aly Grogan, AABB for Roaring Hornpipe, and AABBCC for Lumps of Pudding, making nine times in all with Round Os between each part or at end as required. Element of Competition One theme that does come over clearly in the manuscript was that there was an element of competition in performing the dances between different "parties of six". "When two or more Parties set up at once, Complaisance requires that the first Couple that name their Tune, consult their opposite Couples whether such Tune will be agreeable to them? but when that is neglected, all that opponents can claim is to hear the Tune play`d once over, & they may either dance, sit, or assign up their Place to another Couple , and when it comes in their Turn ( as it is always by Rotation) the haughty opponents will certainly be put to their Trumps & if they are fair led or bullied it never fails of extorting a smile or a Sneer, altho` the Plan in all these Dances is much the same, it admits of sufficient Room for a person to exercise his Fancy in a variety of Movements, these which I shall here subjoin, are the most plain & simple of all". This element of light-hearted competition on who could adapt the logic of a dance to fit a tune was obviously part of the social entertainment of the parties meeting. The more devious would look for tunes of different lengths and phasing, and is this how Lumps of Pudding came about by using a popular folk tune of AABBCC (48 bars) from the Beggars Opera? Oh that dance teams today could perform the dances in a similar manner! There is also the interesting statements: "Complaisance requires that the first Couple that name their Tune" and " if they are fair led or bullied it never fails of extorting a smile or a Sneer". Is William Jones implying that the first couple would choose and lead the dance? They obviously have the most work to do ( Man 1 does not stop moving until the 3rd part of the Sidings) and a good Llangadfan set will depend on the ability of the first couple -"fair led", and also that the other couples would be told what to do –"bullied". This is certainly what happens naturally with Parti Dawns Aelwyd Aberystwyth (PDAA) and other groups.   Basic Patterns of Llangadfan Dances Settings William Jones goes to some length to define who sets to whom and when, and it is this that is important in performing the dance. The movements of "setting" will depend on dance and length of music and is performed by each of the two working persons who set to two other persons. Roaring Hornpipe - the dance is a hornpipe and it gives it a distinct flavour. Settings and movements should be performed as walking and step-hop, first by walking 3 steps towards 1st person, 3 hornpipe steps back or move to new position followed by hornpiping the back-to-back with 2nd person, repeat setting to 2nd then back-to-back with 1st. Aly Grogan - set right then left to 1st person, then turn single, repeat to 2nd person. Lumps of Pudding - set right then left to 1st person, turn single, back-to-back with 2nd person, repeat by setting with the 2nd then back-to-back with 1st person. See Part 3 for actual settings for each dance. Position of Dancers in the Set There are no interpretations of how the set was manipulated to achieve the setting and hey between or hey positions. It is obvious that the shape of the set will need to change as the dance progresses. Hey Betweens Defined in manuscript as "after setting with whomsoever". The person doing two setting sequences to two different persons does the Hey Between those two other persons. For instance, if M1 sets to W1 then W2, M1 starts the Hey Between by passing between W1 & W2, around W2 then around W1. Back-to-Back As with the Hey Betweens, if a dance contains back-to-back movement, working person should pass between two other persons in the back-to-back. For instance, after M1 has set to W1, M1 back-to-backs with W2, M1 passing between W1 and W2. After setting to W2, M1 back-to-backs with W1 passing between W1 and W2. Hey on your Own (or Circles of three in the Turnings part) For groups of three, usually the same three people involved in the setting sequences.   Transcriptions Errors There is a transcription error in the manuscript in the Tracings 3rd part between the Roaring Hornpipe - "6 1st W.set etc to the 2d &1st man |­­| 3d M the like with yr 3d.& 2d W." and Aly Grogan   "3 --"-- to yr 2d & 1st M. &c 3d Man the like wth the 2d & 3d W." Here, one can only suggest that the Aly Grogan version is the better setting sequence if a standardised logic applies or is to apply to all of the dances. As the error is in the second part also known as the Woman’s part, using the second (ail) diagonal as in Aly Grogan seems to fit better with the logic of the dances.