East Acton Stick Dance
The first record of the East Acton Stick Dance was on the TV show Hancock’s Half Hour, back in the 1950s, danced by the fictitious Cheam Morris from Railway Cuttings. The name was doubtless intended as a joke, but whatever its origins, it’s a great little dance and one of our favourites.
Copied from the dancing of Old Star Morris, with the occasional tweak by Anonymous Morris.
The Music
The Dance
Printer friendly dance instructions.
Form a line of three across, facing the band. The dancers are ‘Right’, ‘Middle’ and ‘Left’. This dance looks good with several parallel lines of three.
Sticks should be held in the middle throughout the dance.
General rules of thumb apply: right foot forward first, single step throughout unless otherwise stated.
Stick rests on right shoulder when not otherwise in use.
Chorus (AA)
| Count | Moves |
|---|---|
| 1–16 | Four steps forward and four back. Use big steps. Repeat. |
| 1–4 | Middle dancer does tips and butts with the dancer on his Right. |
| 5–8 | Middle dancer turns right and does tips and butts with the dancer on his Left. |
| 9–16 | Middle dancer passes right shoulders with Left dancer to start a three man hey. Go through hey once and end up back in place. |
Short Arm Turn (B)
| Count | Moves |
|---|---|
| 1–8 | Middle and Left dancers swap their sticks to the left hand and grip right arms just below the elbow to turn twice. |
| 9–16 | Middle swaps stick back to right hand and grips left arms with Right dancer for two turns. End back in place. |
Chorus (AA)
Back to Back (B)
| Count | Moves |
|---|---|
| 1–8 | Middle does a large circular back to back with Left, passing right shoulders. |
| 9–16 | Middle does a large circular back to back with Right, passing left shoulders. |
Chorus (AA)
Three Man Stars (B)
| Count | Moves |
|---|---|
| 1–8 | Swap sticks to left hand. Right hand star holding the wrist of the person in front, with sticks held out vertically. |
| 9–16 | Swap sticks to right hand. Left hand star. |
Chorus (AA)
Stick Star (B)
| Count | Moves |
|---|---|
| 1–8 | Right hand star with sticks held vertically upright in the centre. |
| 9–16 | Middle leads dance off, sticks held high in the air. |