A Trip to Blenheim

A Trip to Blenheim is an English Country Dance. It was published by Walsh in 1714 in Twenty Four New Country Dances For the Year 1714. It was interpreted by Philippe Callens in 2011 and published in Seasons of Invention. Originally a Triple Minor this version is a proper Duple Minor dance. The minor set lasts 32 bars. The tune is a jig. It is in the key: B# Major. Someone thought this dance was Intermediate.

Callens says he took the dance from The Dancing Maſter, Vol. the Second, 3rd ed. but it actually was published by Walsh in 1714.

Lead to the wall back again, then back to back your Partners the first cu. lead down the middle, and cast up behind the 3^d. cu. into the 2^d. cu. place and turn hands the first man change place with the 2^d. wo. then the 2^d. man with the first wo. the first cu. go the half Figure into their own place, cross over and go the half Figure into the 2^d. cu. place

John Young writes:

Note: Each Strain is to be play'd twice over.

The two first Cu. lead to the Wall and back again, then Back to Back with your Partners Then the first Cu. lead down the Middle, and cast up behind the 3d Cu. into the 2d Cu. Place, then turn Hands Then the first Man change Places with the 2d Wo. and the 2d Man with the first Wo. then the first Cu. go the half Figure into their own Places Then cross over and go the half Figure into the 2d Cu. Place

The animation plays at 120 counts per minute normally, but the first time through the set the dance will often be slowed down so people can learn the moves more readily. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color, however the border of each dancer indicates what role they currently play so the border color may change each time through the minor set.

The dance contains the following figures: hand turn (allemande), cast, lead, figure eight, double figure eight, cross go below, back to back, (and probably others).

If you find what you believe to be a mistake in this animation, please leave a comment on youtube explaining what you believe to be wrong. If I agree with you I shall do my best to fix it.

If you wish to link to this animation please see my comments on the perils of youtube. You may freely link to this page, of course, and that should have no problems, but use one of my redirects when linking to the youtube video itself:
https://www.upadouble.info/redirect.php?id=ATripToBlenheim

The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is copyright © 2011 by Philippe Callens. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2021 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.