BACKGROUND INFORMATION Informant
Nominally Mr and Mrs Salmon of Goonhavern in Spring 1978 but all our other informants knew of this dance and it has continued as a living tradition in the school playground. Annie and Reg Salmon described how this dance had been performed0 at Sunday School Treats 70 years earlier. They knew it as the Serpentine walk and saw it as a game rather than a dance, although it was not simply a dance for children. Annie and Reg described the snakes as reaching twenty-five yards long lead by a twenty-five piece (brass) band in some cases. DANCE NOTATIONS Formation
Dancers hold hands in a line to form a snake Step
'One two three hop' furry dance step or brisk walk Movements 1) The 'snake' is led by the band. 2) Large 'S' shapes and bends are formed or the dancers spiral into a 'hub' from which they reverse back outwards so that dancers would pass each other face to face and fairly closely in a counter movement. 3) To finish, the band lead the dancers into a gradually tightening spiral and continue to turn until all dancers are pulled together. Be warned, the dancers on the outer part of this spiral can be pulled along quite fast. TUNE/SONG Any lively march would be suitable for this dance
