John Drewry's Dances 

 

John Drewry was born on the 14th of July 1923 in Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.  Sadly, he died on the 18th of June 2014 in Aberdeen.  John was a dancer, RSCDS certificated teacher and dance deviser.  John's legacy includes a collection of dances that number more than 800, which he bequeathed the copyright to Teachers' Association (Canada).

 

In July 2020, we were given the opportunity to do a presentation on the project for the RSCDS Summer Celebration.  The presentation includes some history about John and the scope of the project.  It can be found here.  Once the file has downloaded and opened, click on the "Slide Show" tab at the top and then the "From Beginning" button on the ribbon.

Powerpoint Ribbon Buttons

 

 

Index of John Drewry's Dances  Last updated on March 6, 2021.

 

This index is a work in progress.  To date, we believe we have confirmed the following:

  • Names of all dances that John devised
  • All published sources for each dance

 

If you find that the index is missing any dances or sources, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

 

Although there is a lot of other information included in this index, the following will not be confirmed until a review of each individual dance is completed.  Items still to be confirmed include:

  • Type of dance (reel, jig, strathspey, etc.)
  • Number of bars
  • Number of couples
  • Set shape
  • Year the dance was devised
  • Recommended tunes

 

Once each dance is reviewed for the above, it will be transcribed into a digital format and published as part of the John Drewry Dance Collection.  As each dance becomes available, the index will be updated and the dance instructions will be posted below.

 

 

 If you have any questions about this project, or would like to share some information with us, please don't hesitate to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

 

John Drewry Dance Collection

Leaflet Last Updated Archive Record Last Updated
Abegweit May 22, 2021 Abegweit June 1, 2021
Auld Luckie April 2, 2019 Auld Luckie April 2, 2019
The Blue Toon October 2, 2020 The Blue Toon October 2, 2020
The Bob O'Footdee December 30, 2020 The Bob O'Footdee December 30, 2020
By Candlelight May 21, 2021 By Candlelight May 21, 2021

 

 

 How Can You Help?

 

John’s generosity in leaving TAC the copyright to his dances is very much appreciated. Unfortunately, however, we did not receive a physical copy of each of his dances so, TAC’s collection was virtually non-existent. Thanks to the generosity of our members, our collection is starting to fill out.  Our goal is to have a physical original copy of each of the dances and each of the publications for inclusion in our archive. So, if you have multiple originals (not photocopies) of any of his dances or the publications that his dances appeared in, please consider donating them to the Drewry Project (any extra copies received will be donated to TAC’s Outreach division for inclusion in start-up packages). Originals can be given to any TAC Executive member (who will pass them on) or mailed directly to the team. The mailing address for the Drewry project is:

 

John Drewry Project

C/O Sharon Barker

126 Boulder Creek Court

Langdon, AB, Canada T0J 1X3

 

 

We have managed to obtain at least a photocopy of almost all of John's dances.  We have listed below the dances and publications that we are missing.  If you happen to have any of these, and you don’t have a spare original to send to us, we hope you would consider scanning it and emailing a copy to us. 

 

 

The missing dances are:

  • The Bow River (Modified) – from 1996 – we have a copy of the original from 1986
  • The Briar
  • Ciorsdan Mhor
  • Dix-On Dix-Off
  • Golden Reel
  • Kilchurn Romance
  • Leslie’s Strathspey
  • The Mayflower Jig
  • Roy’s Reel
  • The Sultan’s Delight
  • Twin City Reel

 

 

And the missing publications are:

  • New Dances by John Drewry 2005
  • Edinburgh Fancy Leaflet
  • Dances of an Island Clan – Ann Skipper & Neil Stewart McLeod
  • Ottawa Leaflet
  • 10th Anniversary Book of Dances – RSCDS Peterburgh Branch
  • Summer Collection, Set 1
  • Summer Collection, Set 2
  • Summer Collection, Set 3
  • Summer Collection, Set 4
  • Summer Collection, Set 5
  • Summer Collection, Set 6
  • Summer Collection, Set 7
  • Summer Collection, Set 8
  • Summer Collection, Set 9
  • Summer Collection, Set 10
  • Summer Collection, Set 11
  • Scottish Country Dances Volume 1 – John Drewry
  • Scottish Country Dances Volume 3 – John Drewry
  • Scottish Country Dances Volume 4 – John Drewry
  • Scottish Country Dances Volume 5 – John Drewry
  • Scottish Country Dances Volume 6 – John Drewry
  • Scottish Country Dances Volume 8 – John Drewry
  • Scottish Country Dances Volume 10 – John Drewry
  • Scottish Reels are Fun – Edge Reels
  • Summer Collection 1984
  • Summer Collection 1989

 

Do you have pictures of John?  Do you have a special story or a picture that is specific to one of John’s dances? Do you have a picture of the person or place that a dance was written for?  If so, please consider sharing it with us. We would love to include it in our archive record.