Rody's Tune. (Woody 2006)

Rody's Tune This was our first effort using a piece of music created by Woody featuring a fiddle tune with an English Country Dance feel. Developing the dance was a slow process as we were still finding our way with the fusion of styles. We did incorporate `traditional' tribal features such as a chorus line with small group 'feature' sections; we also managed to incorporate a number of English Country Dance formations. From the beginning we had to develop strategies to cope with transitions between the various formations and this was often the hardest part of bringing the dance together.

Our first costumes benefited greatly from the inspirational designs of Anna Teed (Loveday) who also helped chose the fabrics and details. Having a centrally directed plan for our look helped us all feel a bit more confident.

We were somewhat anxious about how the Jewel of Yorkshire audience would receive our efforts. At first there was a rather worrying, stunned silence, but as the dance developed and people began to understand what we were doing they joined in with hand clapping and whoops of approval - ending in thunderous applause, which came as a great relief.

Later in 2006 we presented a cut down version of the dance to the Raqs Britannia audience in Manchester. Given we were a very new troupe we were both flattered and nervous to be invited to dance alongside some of the best UK dancers. It was at this stage we introduced Judy - a garland of artificial ivy and roses - which has accompanied several of our performances.