Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Piobrochead dance in Brigadoon

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Topic: Piobrochead dance in Brigadoon
Posted: 1/03/03 at 10:44am

I am currently choreographing the musical "Brigadoon". I have been having difficulty researching the Piobrochead (the traditional funeral dance) danced by the character of Maggie at the funeral. Can anyone help me out? I need to know if there are specific steps that are involved in the Piobrochead, or if it is more about the music than any specific dance steps. Thanks!

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Posted: 5/21/03 at 10:50pm

Hi Jamie, Like yourself I am having the same problem with the lament in Act 2, after Harry's death - I was a trained dancer and it was bad enough thinking about the "Sword Dance" in Act 1 and keeping the purists happy with the what sword in what hand ???. At the moment I am still in the research stage and auditioning has commenced with rehearsals to commence on 16-Jun-2003. Any help or advise you may be able to give would be greatly appreciated - I plan to use the chorus for the "Gathering of the Clans" making their entrance through the theatre - may-be not original but hopefully will work - have you found that some of dance arrangements just seem endless - example if "I'll go home with Bonnie Jean" - I live in Sydney Australia and this email is genuine - any advise would be greatly appreciated - I'm stuck because all I have is timing at the moment - I have yet to hear the bagpipes - it might seem strange but I can lose the audience with this if it's over the top and if it isn't dramatic enough without boring them to sleep - it's a real dilema - how did your production go - I hope it was a success for all concerned - we have a one set, sort of ruins of a church that is on a hill, that angled is the exterior of Fiona's home ??? (I suppose that this doesn't make the slightest bit of sense, plus we have made Tommy and Jeff golfers on holiday in the present day as the hunting bit with 2 guys was a bit dated and questionable......

The research for this is a lot more than I originally thought when taking this little epic on - I thought it was a dated piece of theatre, that would be simple to put together little did I realise, that if I blow this it will make my dancers suffer for my lack.

Anyway, any assistnace is better than nothing - hope to hear from you soon.

Cheers - John

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Posted: 6/06/03 at 4:20pm

John - Well, I did all the research I could, then realized I was working with mostly non-dancers, so I scrapped all the research and created my own choreography! I found absolutely nothing about the Piobrochead, and our musical director decided to use different bagpipe music than what was provided. Since it was a very difficult peice, I decided to play Maggie myself, and do the dance. I turned it into a sort of ballet, very slow and mournful. Lots of "longing for Harry" type moves, and I did it en pointe. It went over very well - even I was crying as I left the stage every night!
For the Bonnie Jean, I had the chorus exit after the singing was done, and had the rest of it danced by Maggie (myself) and Harry. Since Harry wasn't a dancer, I made most of it fairly simple, and to jazz it up, I would have him just stand there while Maggie danced around him. I used mostly Irish dance steps here, and we cut out a bunch of music.
For the sword dance, our bagpiper actually knew the sword dance, and he gave me a few pointers. Mostly I just made it up to go along with the music and with what the chorus was singing (jump, spin, etc.) We also cut out a bunch of the music here, too.
I must say - I am a trained dancer and choreographer, and have worked on countless shows, however this show in particular was quite challenging! I hope some of this advise helps - if you need more specifics, send me an email. Thanks, Jamie.

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Posted: 11/14/03 at 2:36pm

I just found out I will be choreographing Brigadoon for next spring, and I have also not had any luck with the piobrochead. I am a highland dancer by training, but I guess that this uses more country dance style steps. I would love to hear from anyone with suggestions on this subject. Thanks.

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Author	Message
Guests Guest	Topic: Piobrochead dance in Brigadoon Posted: 1/03/03 at 10:44am
	I am currently choreographing the musical "Brigadoon". I have been having difficulty researching the Piobrochead (the traditional funeral dance) danced by the character of Maggie at the funeral. Can anyone help me out? I need to know if there are specific steps that are involved in the Piobrochead, or if it is more about the music than any specific dance steps. Thanks!

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Guests Guest	Posted: 5/21/03 at 10:50pm
	Hi Jamie, Like yourself I am having the same problem with the lament in Act 2, after Harry's death - I was a trained dancer and it was bad enough thinking about the "Sword Dance" in Act 1 and keeping the purists happy with the what sword in what hand ???. At the moment I am still in the research stage and auditioning has commenced with rehearsals to commence on 16-Jun-2003. Any help or advise you may be able to give would be greatly appreciated - I plan to use the chorus for the "Gathering of the Clans" making their entrance through the theatre - may-be not original but hopefully will work - have you found that some of dance arrangements just seem endless - example if "I'll go home with Bonnie Jean" - I live in Sydney Australia and this email is genuine - any advise would be greatly appreciated - I'm stuck because all I have is timing at the moment - I have yet to hear the bagpipes - it might seem strange but I can lose the audience with this if it's over the top and if it isn't dramatic enough without boring them to sleep - it's a real dilema - how did your production go - I hope it was a success for all concerned - we have a one set, sort of ruins of a church that is on a hill, that angled is the exterior of Fiona's home ??? (I suppose that this doesn't make the slightest bit of sense, plus we have made Tommy and Jeff golfers on holiday in the present day as the hunting bit with 2 guys was a bit dated and questionable...... The research for this is a lot more than I originally thought when taking this little epic on - I thought it was a dated piece of theatre, that would be simple to put together little did I realise, that if I blow this it will make my dancers suffer for my lack. Anyway, any assistnace is better than nothing - hope to hear from you soon. Cheers - John
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Guests Guest	Posted: 6/06/03 at 4:20pm
	John - Well, I did all the research I could, then realized I was working with mostly non-dancers, so I scrapped all the research and created my own choreography! I found absolutely nothing about the Piobrochead, and our musical director decided to use different bagpipe music than what was provided. Since it was a very difficult peice, I decided to play Maggie myself, and do the dance. I turned it into a sort of ballet, very slow and mournful. Lots of "longing for Harry" type moves, and I did it en pointe. It went over very well - even I was crying as I left the stage every night! For the Bonnie Jean, I had the chorus exit after the singing was done, and had the rest of it danced by Maggie (myself) and Harry. Since Harry wasn't a dancer, I made most of it fairly simple, and to jazz it up, I would have him just stand there while Maggie danced around him. I used mostly Irish dance steps here, and we cut out a bunch of music. For the sword dance, our bagpiper actually knew the sword dance, and he gave me a few pointers. Mostly I just made it up to go along with the music and with what the chorus was singing (jump, spin, etc.) We also cut out a bunch of the music here, too. I must say - I am a trained dancer and choreographer, and have worked on countless shows, however this show in particular was quite challenging! I hope some of this advise helps - if you need more specifics, send me an email. Thanks, Jamie.
	IP Logged

Guests Guest	Posted: 11/14/03 at 2:36pm
	I just found out I will be choreographing Brigadoon for next spring, and I have also not had any luck with the piobrochead. I am a highland dancer by training, but I guess that this uses more country dance style steps. I would love to hear from anyone with suggestions on this subject. Thanks.
	IP Logged

Topic: Piobrochead dance in Brigadoon( Topic Closed)