And finally, the following Saturday, what was to turn out to be the last dance event of the year – the Big Caper show along with the Outside Capering Crew at the Haddenham Festival. Overall this was probably one of the best Big Caper shows the teams have ever done, really showing the benefit of the afternoon rehearsal immediately beforehand, as for the most part the show was fresh in everyone’s memory. This meant in particular that the joint dances, the interplay between the two sides, and all the changeovers between dances, worked pretty well as planned throughout. Of course, there were some unscripted challenges along the way, not least during the sword dance when Jameson’s calf muscle seized up, just as Jerry’s had done at the same point in the same event a couple of years earlier. Though he got through the dance, he was unable to take part in the subsequent ones, causing some hasty replanning. But great credit to Alun and Will B for covering during the jig sequence in the jig medley, and Tim for stepping into Goblins – both without any rehearsing. Jameson did eventually limp out for the finale, which also went extremely well again, with all leapfrogs perfectly synchronised and executed. Of course though this wasn’t the end of the challenge for the evening as we were left one short for the Men in Black spot during the Oyster Band ceilidh – until Bob stepped faultlessly into Jameson’s place despite never having danced it for real before. A fabulous performance from him/her and all the side – and one which left Hugh Rippon, caller for the evening, rather lost for words.
