The dance is about dancing with your eyes, even when merely stepping up and down.
Gazing Into her Bold Eyes.
At lunch with two Scottish Dance teachers, Sheena MacQueen and Bruce Herbold, who both emphasize the social aspects of dancing in their teaching, James was unable to resist this pun when Sheena and Bruce made eye contact across the table. This tune was inspired by that moment.
Eyes on the Prize
After Bruce devised a dance for “Gazing into Her Bold Eyes,” James wrote this to fit with the first tune, allowing a transition out of the unusual harmonic structures into a more standard modality. Light and cheerful, the mood shifts away from the more dangerous flirtation of the first tune.
Curve in the Dark
James wrote this tune the summer after graduating from high school. It brings back memories of hot summer nights in Livermore when friends were a few minutes’ walk away, and the anticipation of something new and unknown loomed in the future.