First danced in a slightly different form 13/3/2026 at Sheffield Ceilidhsoc, having written it that day; this version from 20/3/2026 after a bit of tweaking.
Ceilidhsoc's ceilidhs have been staunchly gender-free for many years. Strip the willow dances are designed to enable the active people to dance with all the people of the opposite sex, but If you're doing a strip the willow without referencing gender, that starts to feel really arbitrary, and is especially confusing if you're in a square set, where for reasons that are not then readily apparent you need to ignore certain people in the square! This dance is designed to let you do what most people really want to do in such situations, which is to just dance with everyone.
Named in honour of Sarah Eykyn, who sadly died 12/3/2026. Fearless instigator of many folk happenings in Sheffield, including Mr. Fox, which was her main project when I knew her, hence the name.
Number pairs as follows (pairs are diagonally across set from each other – not normal square couple numbering):
1s: Head people on left
2s: Head people on right
3s: Side people on left
4s: Side people on right
| A1 | All join hands in a circle and go into the centre and out 1s go forward to meet and back |
| A2, B1, B2 | 1s strip the square: Arm right in centre with each other Arm left with partner (2s) Arm right in centre with each other again just under once Arm left with the next person anticlockwise around the set (3s) Continue pattern, going round one person anticlockwise each time: centre, 4s, centre, (other) 2s, centre, 3s, centre, 4s (1s have now danced with everyone else) |
| C1 | 1s arm right in middle once more and swing partner |
| C2 | All promenade with partner around the set |
Repeat for 2s, 3s, 4s (and probably go around again to give everyone a second go). When dancing for 2s and 4s, after going into the centre the first time, the next arm left will be with their partner, then their corner, etc. Although as long as they active pair are clear who they're going to, the precise order isn't critical!