Bolingey Furry danced by Tan Ha Dowr for COrnwall Heritage Trust’s COrnish DAnce in Schools project.
Bolingey is a small village on the outskirts of Perranporth. This furry dance was written in 1994 by Laura White, one of the group members, to commemorate the village and its annual fair. The dance is popular for social dances as it allows for improvisation in the second part of the dance, i.e. adding further verses.
Couples in a procession, two by two, holding inside hands, lady on the man’s right ‘One, two, three, hop’ step throughout. The dance has a basic’chorus’ which is the procession, and three separate ‘verses’ marked ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ below:
Bars
1- 7 Dance seven ‘One, two, three hop’ steps forward in a procession.
8 Turn to face your partner.
A 9-12 Lady turns under the man’s arm, man turns under the lady’s arm (continuing to use ‘one,two, three, hop’ step).
13-16 Swing your partner
The whole dance is repeated with bars 9-12 varying as follows:
B 9-12 Rock and Roll:Take two hands with your partner. Dance one step towards the left (your partner’s right) and one step to return to place. Repeat to the right.
C 9-12 Use four steps to do-si-do with your partner.