The Severn Bore

Fried Herman dedicated the dance The Severn Bore to the British ECD caller Robert Moir, who, with his wife Hazel, live in the county of Gloucestershire in South West England, comprising part of the Cotswold Hills, the entire Forest of Dean, and part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn. The Severn bore, where the river and the incoming tidal currents meet, is close by. Published in 1991 in Fringe Benefits, the dance is set to a Sarabande (adapted) by Corelli. Fried says of the music, “I feel triple time tunes as having an inexorable drive, like the tide coming in or the current going out. The straight hey is the line where the waters meet. The B part of this tune has some surprises. A bore has surprises too, sometimes.” Please follow the video to the end; it has a surprise as well! Fried was very clear in her teaching of the Severn Bore that she was looking for certain things from her dancers. I am happy to say she would have found them, and more, in the fine dancing in this video from the 2016 Lenox Assembly. To begin with, she wants the 1s to set forward in the A part, not timidly but convincingly and with feeling. In the hands-3, dancers should release hands on bar 7 to open up the set, continue dancing forward, and end home by the close of bar 8, what she calls “spiraling out.” In the lead down in B1, the 1s meet and face down on bar 1 (but don’t move down). The move down starts on the left foot in bar 2. First couple change hands in place on bar 4 and the 2s also dance in place; this allows the couples to do a modified double poussette back up the set with proper spacing. The hey-for-4 represents the turbulent border where the river and ocean meet. Fried specified that it be danced with wide loops and relaxed arms that move with the energy of the hey. It is also important that the 1st couple release left hands after the ½ turn by left in the last two bars, ending in progressed place to start the next round. Finally there are many opportunities for eye contact in this dance. One that I am especially pleased the dancers took advantage of is in B1 bars 7-8, when the 1s are about to end in the middle of the line of 4 for the hey. You’ll see that they make eye contact before turning their attention to neighbor to start the hey right shoulder. You may also notice how nicely the women reorient after their left-shoulder gypsy in B1 to start the hey with a right-shoulder pass. The music for the weekend came courtesy of Cynthia Shaw, keyboard; Eric Martin, violin and viola; and Doug Creighton, flute and melodeon. Bob Mills did sound again this year. I am extremely grateful to this world-class team for their superb musicianship and enduring friendship. –Paul Ross