Tie the Knot – An English country dance
This longways English country dance is called Tie the Knot. My husband Alex Bradley and I wrote it together in honor of our 20th wedding anniversary, which we celebrated on May 22, 2024. The tune is Bells in Watertown, written by Dave Wiesler in honor of the wedding of Hanneke Cassel and Mike Block in 2014. Enormous thanks to Dave for letting us use this wonderful tune.
I learned long ago that I’m a terrible liar, so I just don’t do it… which can make presents as surprises difficult, lol. So when I first thought to write a dance for my 20th anniversary to surprise my husband Alex with, it immediately became untenable. I wanted it to be something he liked, so I felt I needed to ask him questions about it. Plus, I often run my dances-in-progress by him, and I respect, and perhaps rely on, his opinion. So rather than try to sneak around and keep it from him, I thought it might be better for us to write one together. He was excited about the idea.
I was a little worried about how the process would go. When I’ve choreographed in class group situations, I tended to take a step back and let others do more, and then I’ll tweak a bit or make suggestions. In some ways I did a similar thing here. I’ve written so many dances on my own already that I wanted Alex to take more of a lead so it was something he wanted. And of course it could have been something we could argue about or disagree. I’m delighted to say the process was wonderful and smooth, and felt like a clear and balanced collaboration.
That said, I also had a thought for the unique first figure — which I kinda stole from something two of my friends had done at a recent dance. We were doing a dance with a chase figure and my friends Lindsay Verbil and Jeffrey Spero were turning around each other and “dolphining” it: switching the leader as they went around (like a dolphin hey). It looked very cool and fun. I told Alex about it and we started playing with the idea to the music.
We had spent some time listening to different tunes, going through old tracks from our vintage dance days to see if there was anything there we wanted to work with, something that had personal meaning to us while also matching the vibe and energy we wanted. While there were a few possibilities — and who knows, some of those tunes may show up in future dances of mine — I also knew I had several tunes left over from the batch of 10 that Dave Wiesler sent me when I first started writing dances in 2018 (along with Drunkard’s Walk and Inkling’s Romp). Bells in Watertown was one of them. From the first time I heard it, I knew I wanted to do something with it, but I hadn’t gotten around to it yet — fortunately. We immediately sensed the wedding feel to it, though not yet knowing that it was written for a wedding. So naturally, it was the perfect tune.
Alex and I have had several laughs about that first figure — and it may not be worth explaining why, because it’s so full of personal knowledge and pop culture insidery goodness, but I’m going to explain it anyway. 🙂 We weren’t sure what to call that first figure, and toyed with the idea of calling it “the Dexter,” basically because I stole it from something Jeff and Lindsay did at a dance. The television series “Dexter” (which I adore), about the vigilante serial killer who only goes after bad guys, is written by the novelist Jeff Lindsay! (Same spelling of Lindsay and everything!) And the more we thought about the figure, the more it could seem like Dexter wrapping his victims up in saran wrap. Morbid, I know, but darkly funny, just like the show.
Anyway, we ultimately decided that “tie the knot” was a better name for that figure. (Who’da thunk.) While we were still struggling to find a title for the dance, hoping to find something that captured everything we wanted the title to say while still being personally meaningful for us, we tested the dance at the Open Mic session I facilitated at Hey Days in June 2024, and folks in the class (including Melissa Running and David Macemon, among others) suggested we use Tie the Knot as the name of the dance. Brilliant! Silly that we didn’t think of it ourselves.
Incidentally, Melissa loved the dance when she tested it, and she immediately took it with her to Pinewoods English Week a few weeks later. She taught it at her advanced ECD class and people really enjoyed it. Hooray! Thanks Melissa!
And Alex once again made the fancy titles, as he did with The Green Light.
Tie the Knot
An English Country Dance by Renée Camus & Alex Bradley
© April 15, 2024
Tune: Bells in Watertown, by Dave Wiesler, 2014
Duple-minor longways
Intermediate
AABB (8,8)
A major
6/8 (dotted quarter = ~109)
| A1 | 1-8 | Tie the Knot: Partners facing, 1st corners advance a double as 2nd corners fall back a double, then set. Partners dance a R-shoulder round (about 3/4), then with 1st corners leading, chase into progressed place on original side. |
| A2 | 1-8 | Repeat A1 from new places (new 1st corners moving forward as new 2nd corners fall back). End at home. |
| B1 | 1-2 | 1s lead down the center WHILE 2s dance up the outside. |
| 3-4 | 1s twirl to swap WHILE 2s approach and make an arch with inside hands, facing down. | |
| 5-6 | 1s lead back up under the 2s’ arch, and… | |
| 7-8 | 1s cast down to 2nd place WHILE 2s twirl to swap. End progressed and crossed over, facing partner across. | |
| B2 | 1-4 | Three changes of a circular hey (no hands), starting with partner. |
| 5-8 | All set on the diagonal (in place), then L-hand star halfway. |
Teaching Notes:
- A1 and A2: Partners dance straight out as if starting a poussette without hands. Then the setting step leaves partners offset, leading into the R-shoulder round.
- Twirl to Swap: Trade places with your partner by one person making an arch and the other turning under it (you may decide who does which).
Renée Camus and Alex Bradley wrote this dance together in honor of our 20th wedding anniversary, May 22, 2024. We’re so honored to use this beautiful tune by Dave Wiesler, who has played many holiday dances at our ballroom in Maryland. Thanks to Dave for his kind permission to use this tune. ❤
“The tune was written to celebrate the wedding of Hanneke Cassel and Mike Block, January 4, 2014, in Watertown, MA. There were no actual bells.” — Dave Wiesler
See more of my English country dance choreographies.