Picking Up Sticks

Last updated
Picking Up Sticks
Classification
GenreEnglish Country Dance
FormationLongways for six
Difficultyeasy
Tempobrisk
Characterlively
Key D minor
EraPlayford
Choreography
Choreographer John Playford
Year1651
Published in The Dancing Master, 1st edition
Music
TitleLavena
Collector Cecil Sharp
Year1909
Published inCountry Dance Tunes

Picking Up Sticks is an English country dance for three couples in a line, recorded by John Playford in 1651.

Contents

Tune

Picking Up Sticks

[1]

This is NOT the tune for Picking Up Sticks. This tune is called Lavena (also from 1651) and Cecil Sharp substituted the tune at the beginning of the 20th century.

Steps

reconstructed by Greg Lindahl [2]

BarSteps
1 8Forward and back a double, and again.
1 2First man changes with second woman, passing right shoulders and going back to back,
3 4first man changes with third man,
5 8Take hands with person across from you, all forward and back a double.
1 4First woman changes with second man, and then third woman,
5 8Forward and back a double.
1 16Repeat changes and forward/back from new positions; note that

throughout this sequence, half of the time you will be dancing with someone of the same gender.

1 16Repeat changes a third time from new positions, ending up where

you started the dance

1 8Siding.
1 4Couple 3 crosses and skips once around the entire set, while

Couple 1 sashays down to 2nd position, while Couple 2 steps back and up to 1st position, then

5 8Couple 2 sashays back to place, while

Couple 1 steps back and up to place.

1 8Repeat with Couple 1 going 'around the world' and couples

2 and 3 changing places, starting with Couple 2 sashaying down.

1 8Arming.
1 24Men sheepskin hey.
1 24Women sheepskin hey.

External sources

References

  1. Barnes, Peter (2009). The Barnes Book of English Country Dance Tunes (2nd ed.). Greenfield, Massachusetts: Canis Publishing. p. 19.
  2. Lindahl, Greg. "Picking Up Sticks". SCA Dance Cheat Sheets. Retrieved 12 November 2016.