Signa
(Bulgaria)
[Full notes] [Summary notes] [Other dances & the source code]
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Formation
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Circle. W-hold
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Pronunciation
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"Seeg Nar" with both syllables emphasised and with a glottal stop separating them.
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Dance Structure
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AAAA-BBBB-CCCC AAAA-BBB-CCCC AA-BB-CC AA-BB-C.
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Music Structure
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4 counts/bar, 4 bar phrases.
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Music Speed
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150 counts/min accelerating slightly.
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Source
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Sally Fletcher in Ipswich, who learnt it from Yves Moreau in London in 2000.
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Disclaimer:
Mistakes are quite likely in the notes and no guarantees are made as to accuracy. There may be other versions of the same dance or other dances with the same name. Music may differ, particularly in speed, introduction and duration, between performers. The division into parts, bars & counts might not be standard. These notes of the dance are freely distributable (under GPL or CC-by-sa) in so much as the note's author's contribution but the choreography and/or collection were by other people and so their copyright might apply to the dance itself. Better than using notes, go to a dance class where it is taught.
A dance with (mostly) small but energetic steps done to infectiously enthusiastic brass music. It does not move around much so less physically able dancers are not excluded as they can do it less energetic and/or miss bits out.
The complicated bit is for the leader, remembering when change part. Of course traditionally it would be called by the leader improvising (or just stick to one part!).However Yves did teach it with a sequence for convenience & that turns out to be confusing, for reasons I will cover later. However the simple solution is: The melody changes after each 2 phrases so change the part when the melody changes, but not necessarily every time.
The sequence given by Yves (at least in his London 2000 course) was to do 4 of each part (i.e. change every end melody change), do that again, do 2 of each part and do that again, but the music ends before the last Part C. That gives AAAA-BBBB-CCCC AAAA-BBBB-CCCC AA-BB-CC AA-BB-C. However that does not actually fit the music! When dancing it that way a leader feels they have miscounted about half way through & has to correct, but followers don't notice. On analysing the music phrase by phrase, I found that is because the repeat of phrase number (excluding introduction) 17 was missing! The musicians had played around with variations there. Hence the actual sequence was AAAA-BBBB-CCCC AAAA-BBB-CCCC AA-BB-CC AA-BB-C.
As it is a longer than standard dance, at 4:15 min, I sometimes use a shortened version. Cutting out phrases number (excluding introduction) 15 to 26 inclusive worked neatly reducing the length to 3:00 min, removing the complication of the non-repeated phrase 17 and neatly making the sequence AAAA-BBBB-CCCC AA-BB-CC AA-BB-C.
Style: Small low flat steps (except where otherwise stated) with slightly bent knees.
Introduction
Summary:
8 bars
Two phrases (8 bars) to get ready.
Part A
Summary:
(R side, L across infront) x 3, (close, lift) x3, (L side, R across infront), (close, lift).
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Start
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Facing centre. Weight on L foot.
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1
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1
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R to the side.
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2
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L across infront on heel with turning foot to point slightly R.
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3-4
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Repeat counts 1-2 (R side, L across). (L foot is briskly returned to pointing forwards by swivelling on the heel whilst stepping onto R on count 3.)
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2
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1-2
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Repeat bar 1 counts 3-4 (R side, L across).
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3
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R close.
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4
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L lift infront across R foot. (It is a low lift with the L foot only raised about 15 cm above the floor.)
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3
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1-2
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Repeat bar 2 counts 3-4 on opposite feet (L close, R lift).
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3-4
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Repeat bar 2 counts 3-4 on original feet (R close, L lift).
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4
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1-2
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Repeat bar 1 counts 3-4 on opposite feet (L side, R across infront).
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3-4
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Repeat bar 3 counts 1-2 (L close, R lift).
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(An alternative staccato styling (used by some dancers in Balkanplus, London, UK) for the side & across steps like bar 1 counts 1-2 is to rise up onto the balls of the feet with the heels well off the ground and straightening knees during the side step (do sharply so as to allow a brief pause in the raised position) and sharply drop back to normal height (heels on the ground and knees bent) in the following step across. This is not the original authentic styling but I quite like it.)
Part B
Summary:
2 Triple Steps in. 4 Slipbacks out. (R close, L back bike lift), mirror. Step-replace R backwards & forwards.
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Start
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Facing centre. Weight on L foot.
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1
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1&2
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R forwards onto heel, L close, R forwards (i.e. R Triple Step in).
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3&4
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Repeat counts 1-2 on opposite feet (L Triple Step in).
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2
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1
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R backwards flicking L foot slightly forwards at floor level turning the L heel inwards (a bit like a football passing kick, this is called a Slipback in Cotswold Morris dancing).
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2
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Repeat count 1 on opposite feet (L Slipback).
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3-4
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Repeat counts 1-2 (R & L Slipbacks making 4 Slipbacks in total).
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3
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1
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R close.
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2
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L lift circling forwards, up, back & down (a back-bicycling lift).
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3-4
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Repeat counts 1-2 on opposite feet (L close, R back-bicycling lift).
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4
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1
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Pause.
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&
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R backwards onto flat foot with foot turned out 45 deg cw.
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2
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L in place (so it replacing weight almost immediately after the step backwards).
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&
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Pause.
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3-4&
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Repeat counts 1-2 but with R going forwards (syncopated R forwards & replace weight) and with R foot pointing towards the centre of the circle not turned out.
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Part C
Summary:
Hop L with R touching side, across, side, across. Mirror. 2 Scissors. 3 bicycling lifts.
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Start
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Facing centre. Weight on L foot.
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1
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1
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L hop touching R foot toes to floor to the side infront.
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2
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L hop touching R foot toes to across infront.
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3-4
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Repeat counts 1-2 (L hops touching R infront to side & across).
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2
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Repeat bar 1 on opposite feet (4 R hops touching L infront to side, across, side, across). This needs the first hop to really be a small leap close onto the R foot because the previous step ended on the L foot.
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3
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1
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Leap onto L in place sliding R foot forwards (a Scissor step).
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2
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Repeat count 1 on opposite feet (Scissor step sliding R back to place & L forwards).
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3
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L close.
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4
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R lift circling up, forwards, down & back (a bicycling lift).
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4
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1-2
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Repeat bar 3 counts 1-2 but on the opposite feet (R close, L bicycling lift).
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3-4
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Repeat bar 3 counts 1-2 (L close, R bicycling lift, making 3 steps & bicycling lifts in total).
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