<pedantry>
Strip-the-willow is two moves:
Single strip: Actives alternate turning right elbow with each other and
one of them turning left elbow with inactives on partner's side. (In
the eponymous dance, also called "Drops of Brandy", lady turns all the
gents going down the gent's side; gent turns all the ladies going up the
ladies' side.)
Double strip: Actives alternate turning right elbow with each other and
each of them turning left elbow with inactives on their partner's side.
(In the eponymous dance, this follows the single strip, and that's all
there is.)
The move shows up in some versions of Roger de Coverley / Virginia Reel
but not all (in the SF Bay Area, Dickens Fair, Gaskell Ball, and PEERS
use "lace the boot" (actives cross and go down the outside one place,
repeat to bottom)). In "Orcadian Strip the Willow", it's nothing but
double strips starting every 16 bars from the top of a long line. It
certainly shows up in other ceilidh and barn dances.
You'd think "strip the willow" would be "peel the bark from the willow";
I don't have an explanation for the name.
</pedantry>
-- Alan
