Virginia reel
- noun
- /vərˈdʒɪnɪə rēl/
- US
:
danza Virginia
- At the community fair, everyone joined in for a joyful Virginia reel as the band played lively music.
Examples
-
The children were excited to learn the Virginia reel during their dance class at the local community center.
-
Choose your partners for the Virginia reel!
-
Get your partners for the Virginia reel!" Daniel Bates dashed down the front steps, followed by Carl and Roger.
Fiction book (1993) -
Scarlett had danced the Virginia reel a hundred times or more, but she'd never seen dancing like what happened next at Patricia's birthday party.
Fiction book (1991) -
Staff members were regularly invited and expected to attend parties at the director's residence; there, Shapley, jauntily set out in a derby hat, would lead square dances and Virginia reels.
Academic text (1993) -
During the summer picnic, couples danced the Virginia reel, forming two lines and laughing together.
Synonyms
6
6.1
A lively dance from Scotland or Ireland with quick steps
1
3.3
A traditional group dance where couples face each other in lines and do the same steps to folk music
A country dance with couples in two long lines facing each other
A traditional folk dance where couples stand in sets or lines and do the same steps to music
A lively folk dance with couples in lines doing set steps
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound names a regional variety of a known dance type: combining 'Virginia' (a place) with 'reel' (a traditional group dance) transparently yields 'a reel from Virginia' — i.e. a Virginia dance. This place + dance compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer it refers to a specific dance form.
Etymology
Virginia reel probably got its name when lively 'reel' steps from Britain were mixed with local dancing in Virginia. The word reel shows it is a quick, turning dance and adding Virginia points to its American country style—so the name means a lively country 'dance'.