SHOE THE DONKEY

This dance was taught by Bill and Margaret Winnett of the Sydney Irish Ceili Dancers at the inaugural Holbrook Folk Dance Festival (NSW, Australia) in October 1999. Another source is Tom Quinn's "Irish Dances".

FORMATION

This is a dance for couples using Irish Mazurka music and stepping. The Irish Mazurka step uses an up movement with the leading foot.

THE DANCE

Advance along line of dance	Open waltz hold with partner facing along line of dance, weight on inside foot and outside foot raised - hop-step-step hop-step-step hop-step-step and turn (step in inside foot turning toward partner, then stamp outside foot continuing turn to face against line of dance while changing to a reversed open waltz hold against line of dance).	4 bars
Advance against line of dance	Reversed open waltz hold, weight on inside foot and outside foot raised - hop-step-step hop-step-step hop-step-step and turn	4 bars
Repeat advances	Advance along line of dance and turn + Advance against line of dance and turn	8 bars
Singles and turn	Open waltz hold with partner facing along line of dance, weight on inside foot and outside foot raised - hop-step-step and turn to face against line of dance + hop-step-step and turn to face along line of dance + repeat 3 more times	16 bars
Repeat dance	Repeat for as many repetitions as the music dictates...	32 bars

REFERENCE

Quinn, Tom (1997). Irish Dancing. HarperCollins: Glasgow. 399.

Updated: 13 October 2001