Having danced for years, and played for dancing (albeit in California)
perhaps I can help.
First, you do need to see the rant step to understand it. That said,
the easiest way to learn the step is to do it to the rhythm "Potato
chips, potato chips." Yes, I know you call them crisps, but that's
ever so much harder to say. (It can also be done to "The cactus plants
are hard on pants," but that's harder to remember and a bit culturally
. . . outside). If you want to see it, look here:
[1]www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk2u3J-G9YI
As somebody else said, a rant can be danced to a good many styles of
tune. Honestly, most dancing can be done to any style of tune, so long
as it's the correct tempo. All dancers really need is a strong down
beat. (The true Scottish strathspey is one dance that comes to mind
that is actually enhanced by the music. Also Morris).
Never really had a dancer say, "I can't dance this dance to that tune."
Alec MacLean
In a message dated 7/11/2011 6:00:56 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
tim.ro...@btconnect.com writes:
..and from FARNE
http://www.folknortheast.com/learn/social-dance/dance-technique
The single most striking factor which sets Northumbrian traditional
dance aside from those traditional dances known in Southern England,
Scotland and other parts of the British Isles is the number of
dances which feature vigorous stepping throughout, or as their main
feature. The most common step being the rant step, this being found
in such dances as The Morpeth Rant, The Quaker's Wife, The Rifleman,
Roxburgh Castle, Soldier's Joy and The Triumph.
It is not an easy thing to describe dance in text form, there really
is no substitute for watching other dancers and copying what they
do. To learn the rant step you start by doing "Hop, hop, change
(pause), hop, hop, change (pause)". That's two hops on (say) the
right foot, one on the left foot and hold it there, then do the same
starting on the left foot. Make sure you can do that before moving
on to stage two. When it seems to be coming naturally, between the
two hops on the same foot you just tap the ground gently with your
spare foot. So the rhythm becomes "Hop-tap, hop, change (pause),
hop-tap, hop, change (pause)". It is important to note that when
stepping on the spot you're not putting your weight on the front
foot - it just happens to touch the ground. Some people make a big
thing of crossing the front foot over, but really that's not
important. You're bound to lose the step occasionally while you're
learning it, but just drop back to the "hop, hop, change" until
you've got the rhythm back and then try it again. The step can be
varied to make a traveling step and for use in dancing round
figures.
So, come on you guys who play for dances, what's the key to playing
a Rant?
Tim
On 11 Jul 2011, at 13:05, Gibbons, John wrote:
> Why has this rant thread gone so quiet all last week?
>
> What makes a tune sound like a rant, rather than a reel or
hornpipe?
> If I take a (4 in a bar) hornpipe without triplets, speed it up a
bit, but not as much as a reel,
> smooth out the dotting a bit, and emphasise the odd beats at the
expense of the even ones,
> will I get a rant? How essential are those 3-crotchet cadences?
>
> Are there any essential stylistic features that this attempt at a
description misses?
>
>
>
> John
>
>
>
>
> To get on or off this list see list information at
> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
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References
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk2u3J-G9YI
