Canadian Barn Dance

Hello Folkies!

Not one of mine today, but the first ceilidh dance I ever learnt to call.  Mostly because it was about the simplest one I could find.  Today's dance is called The Canadian Barn Dance (or, sometimes, the Highland Barn Dance) (32-bar Jig, Reel or Polka)

This is one of those amalgamation circle/couple dances of which there seem to be a whole lot.  It is probably one of the simplest dances out there, as it consists of a handful of steps, repeat ad nausea (or at least, until you are nauseous).

Forming up
Very simple to get started; tell everyone to find a partner, and then to stand in a circle around the room in a promenade hold [Gents on the left facing anticlockwise around the circle, gents with right hands behind the ladies back, ladies with left behind the gents back, remaining hands clasped in front.  Or whatever version of a promenade hold you fancy.  I'm not fussed].  That's it.  Make sure there is a fairly even spacing around the circle so as to avoid bunching an toe-treading.

The Dance
This dance has a repeating theme, which I think of in terms of; 1 - 2 - 3 - STOMP.  That is the point to stress to people, as it is the main focus of the dance.  So the first step, couples walk forward for three steps (Right foot first, but that's not that vital...) and then STOMP, followed by three steps back and then STOMP.  Couples then split, so that the men head into the middle of the circle and women head away from it, for three steps and then STOMP, and then back to your partner (1, 2, 3, STOMP).  When they get back to the partner, it's going into a waltz (or at least, waltzish) hold, pointing anti-clockwise around the room,  then, three steps to the pointy end (STOMP) and three steps to the blunt end (STOMP).  Then there are two options;

1. Couples polka to the end of the phrase
2. Couples polka for four, then stomp for four

Both are easy enough to do, so it's entirely up to you how you manage the end of that.  You'll notice my diagram says polka then stomp.

Potential Problems
this is a ludicrously simple dance, so I wouldn't anticipate too many problems.   As with any circle dance, there is the potential for clumping, but once the dance is in full swing this is difficult (and pointless) to combat.  Most people will sort this out for themselves.

Tips
I like to explain that the STOMP is kind of like a reset button, as every time you STOMP you either go back the way you came or start a new figure.  Because it is so simple, it's a good dance to get everyone back in after a half-time break, and a good dance to really ramp up the speed of.  I've always wanted to have the guts to ramp up a dance until no one can do it, and this is a good candidate for that.  Know your audience though, not everyone is going to want to have their shortcomings pointed out so publicly.

Music
I've called this to Star of the County Down (in 4) which works quite nicely.  You could use pretty much any tune you wanted to be honest, it's not dependent on a specific time signature.  Polkas also work well (a band I call for play Peg Ryan's and John Ryan's together for it)