The Whirligig

The Whirligig is an English Country Dance. It was published by John Playford (website) in 1651 in The English Dancing Master, London. It was interpreted by Cecil Sharp (website) in 1916 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 4). Found in The Playford Assembly. It is a proper 3 Couple Longways dance. It is a USA dance. The minor set lasts 240 bars. It is in the key: D Major.

Playford writes:
Lead up all a D. forwards and back That again The middle Cu. go up between the first, cast off, and come to your places again, then cross over between them like the figure of 8. to your places Then as much with the last cu. Cast off, all do thus.

Sides all That again The 2. man arms the first Wo. and they three go the S. Hey, while the 1. Wo. turns the last man, and do the like with them That again, the 2 Cu. changing their ends Cast off, all do this

Sides all That again First 4 cast and come to your places, then take right hands across and go round to your places As much with the last Cu. Cast off: All do this change.

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.

Up a double
 
A11-4Up a double and back
5-8Up a double, back (again)
Part 1 repeats 3 times
 
B11-42s lead up through 1s and cast back to places
5-82s half figure 8 up through 1s then quickly cross to change places
B21-42s lead down through 3s and cast back to places
5-82s half figure 8 down through 3s then quickly cross to change places
A21-4Grand cast: 1s cast to bottom followed by 2s+3s
5-81s stay at bottom, 2s lead to top, 3s to middle
Siding
 
A11-4Sharp siding
5-8That again
Part 2 repeats 3 times
 
B11-4M2/W1, W2/M3 arm right
5-8M2 hey with 1s, W2 with 3s, M2 start left with M1, W2 left with W3, 2s end improper
B21-4W2/W1, M2/M3 arm right
5-8W2 hey with 1s, M2 with 3s, W2 start left with M1, M2 left with W3, 2s end proper
A21-8Grand cast
Arming
 
A11-4Arm right
5-8Arm left
Part 3 repeats 3 times
 
B11-42s lead up cast down as 1s cast down lead up
5-81s+2s right hands across
B21-42s lead down cast up as 3s cast up lead down
5-82s+3s right hands across
A21-8Grand cast

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=TheWhirligig

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The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2020 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This website is copyright © 2021,2022,2023,2024 by George W. Williams V
Creative Commons License My work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Most of the dances have more restrictive licensing, see my notes on copyright, the individual dance pages should mention when some rights are waived.