Nils Fredland - Bachelor Mill
This dance originated with George Waudby, of Tucson, Arizona, and was adopted by Jimmy Clossin of El Paso, Texas. It is described in more detail in Lee Owens, Advanced Square Dance Figures of the West and Southwest (1950). The dance appears in Bill Litchman's book, Rocky Mountain Caller, and it is one of the dance videos in this collection, from Dare To Be Square, Brasstown, 2011, where it was called by Litchman.
This video was taken at the publication party for "On the Beat with Ralph Sweet in Greenfield, MA. Nils Fredland also called this dance at the 2008 Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, where it was notated as follows in the syllabus:
Two head couples bow and swing
Lead on out to the right of the ring
Circle up four, once around, and the head gents go home alone
Lines of three, up to the middle and back you go,
lonesome gents do a do-si-do
Forward six and the ladies stand pat (side gents back out to place; this leaves four ladies in the center and four gents on the outside)
Head gents… Turn the left-hand lady (corner) with the left hand round,
turn partner by the right with a right hand round
Gents to the center with the left hand round,
go once and a half in the center of the town
Turn the opposite lady by the right hand round,
turn the right-hand lady with a left hand round
Opposite lady again with a right hand round
Two gents to the center with a left-hand turn, go once and a half
Turn your partner by the right with a right hand round,
to your corner by the left, and a right to your own
Grand right and left… (ad lib as desired)
Sequence: Intro; figure as above; repeat starting with the side couples; start with heads, but for the "mill" figure all four gents are active (replacing the left-hand turns 1&1/2; with a left-hand star just halfway); repeat starting with side couples and all four gents again active in the mill.
Tags: Ann Percival, Anna Patton, Bachelor Mill, Corey DiMario, Elixir, Ethan Hazzard-Watkins, Greenfield, Jesse Hazzard-Watkins, Lee Blackwell, Nils Fredland, Owen Morrison
Item Relations
| Item: Tucson Square Dance (1950 article) | is related to | This Item |
| Item: Four Bachelor Boys - Richard Kraus | is related to | This Item |
| Item: Bachelor Mill square dance | is related to | This Item |
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This video was taken at the publication party for "On the Beat with Ralph Sweet in Greenfield, MA. Nils Fredland also called this dance at the 2008 Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, where it was notated as follows in the syllabus:
Two head couples bow and swing
Lead on out to the right of the ring
Circle up four, once around, and the head gents go home alone
Lines of three, up to the middle and back you go,
lonesome gents do a do-si-do
Forward six and the ladies stand pat (side gents back out to place; this leaves four ladies in the center and four gents on the outside)
Head gents… Turn the left-hand lady (corner) with the left hand round,
turn partner by the right with a right hand round
Gents to the center with the left hand round,
go once and a half in the center of the town
Turn the opposite lady by the right hand round,
turn the right-hand lady with a left hand round
Opposite lady again with a right hand round
Two gents to the center with a left-hand turn, go once and a half
Turn your partner by the right with a right hand round,
to your corner by the left, and a right to your own
Grand right and left… (ad lib as desired)
Sequence: Intro; figure as above; repeat starting with the side couples; start with heads, but for the "mill" figure all four gents are active (replacing the left-hand turns 1&1/2; with a left-hand star just halfway); repeat starting with side couples and all four gents again active in the mill.