Choreography

*Gay Gordons promenade: (4) promenade for 3 steps, then pivot/turn to face opposite direction. Note, do not change places with partner – dancer is still standing in same place on floor.**  (4) walk backwards 4 steps (still moving line of direction=counter clockwise); (4) walk forwards 3 steps (clockwise) and pivot, (4) walk backwards 4 steps, end by changing handhold from promenade hold to inside hands (Man Right holding Woman Left).

**Any easy way to teach this pivot is to have dancers in promenade position with hands in front (skaters hold). Without letting go of hands, have them turn to face their partner. Then keep turning in same manner to face other directions. You can do this dance just fine with other promenade holds. You’ll just need to teach the pivot differently. Good luck!

Alt B2: (8) LLF&B; (8) Circle left 3/4, pass thru
Alt B2: (8) LLF&B; (8) Ladies Chain

1) End effects are nontrivial. STAY ALERT.
2) This is not a dance for beginners. The leave your minor set, return, then leave and then return to partner demands a certain level of experience and set awareness from the dancers.
3) The timing on the progression is pretty loose. The B, pass through takes 6 counts, and you are left with 2 extra counts. Sure, you can swoop right into a next neighbor gypsy, but that isn’t as satisfying with the music. Alternate B2 version 1 is tighter on timing, but as the possibility of confusion between the star right and the circle left, both 3 places.

4) In A2, use a wrist star for the most satisfying transition to the shadow allemande

5) * ‘other shadow’. If becket, shadow 1 is next to you. ‘other shadow (1, or negative 1, if you prefer)’ is on the other side of your partner.

After ending the circle, face partner to prepare for pousette. While men or women are allemanding in the middle, those standing on the side should step sideways to align with the allemande.

Alt versions:

v1:

Improper, starts in wave, neighbor right hand, ladies left hand

A1: (4) Balance, (4) slide right and walk forward to next wave; (4) Balance, (4) Men allemande right 1x

A2 & B1: as above

B2: (8) long lines forward and back; (8) right and left thru to ocean wave*

*Right and Left thru to an ocean wave: (move taken from Mogens Hansen and Tom Hinds): 8 counts: First half is a Right and left thru as normal (right hand pull by, courtesy turn) then ladies take a step forward, turn to the left and take left hands with another woman and right hands with their neighbor . Men turn right and take hands with their neighbor.

v1.5:

Improper, starts in wave, neighbor right hand, ladies left hand

A1: (4) Balance, (4) slide right; (4) Balance, (4) walk forward, gents allemande right 1x

A2 & B1: as above

B2: (8) promenade across set; (8) circle left 3/4 to wavy line

*line up in becket formation, then have couples take 2 steps to the right, so that the original neighbors are now on L diagonal (still your neighbors, though!). The action in A1, A2, first half of B1 is on that left diagonal.

**Slice and Dice: On the left diagonal dance forward 3 steps, turn (count 4) and face partner, hold inside hands with neighbor (lady on the right). Back up two steps (count 5 & 6), Gents roll lady away with 1/2 sashay (7 &8). The second time, when repeated, you will walk towards partner and face neighbor.The count is “Forward-2-3-turn-back-2-and rollaway.”

At Terpsichore 2011 (Dec 28-1, a fine intergenerational dance camp) I got to dance “Bases Loaded”. Lots of fun, but I thought (a) the novelty figure is repeated 4 times.That is at least 2x too much. (b) no neighbor swing. So I made it a bit zestier. Here is the original:

Bases Loaded

Lydee King Scudder, To Thoreau, Jim Saxe

Formation, becket, left diagonal neighbors (see above *)

A1: Slice and Dice (see above **); repeat Slice and Dice

A2: Repeat Slice and Dice from new positions (left diagonal opposite from starting place); repeat Slice and Dice

B1: Same two ladies chain over; Circle left nearly once (until on original side of set with partner)

B2: Parnter DSD and swing; finish looking on left diagonal for new neighboring couple

On the drive home from Glen Echo to Atlanta one Sunday night/Monday morning, I sleepily said to Andrea that I wanted another awesome end-of-the-evening petronella dance just like Old Time Elixir #2 by Linda Leslie (aka Tica Tica Timing by Dean Snipes) but was different enough that I could call both in the same weekend without incurring the curse of ‘calling the same dance twice in a weekend’. This is the dance she came up with. During the creation process, I would occasionally wake up and say, “Say that part again? I don’t think that it works.”

The “slide left into ladies allemande right” is a particularly flowy touch by Andrea.

The gents allemande into a ring is most satisfying with a nice catch with both hands by all four into the ring.

Andrea says: I have this dream that now and then, dancers will enjoy the sensation of a four person catch in petronellas, which brings the group together instead of each doing their own little thing.  This dance sets that up beautifully by giving them that sensation as the gents back into the ring.  I am going to try to teach it with a whumpf instead of claps.  Maybe everyone can just say : “Huh!” at the right moment to get the need to express themselves out.  It will still be a totally fun dance, even if they do clap, but wouldn’t it be nice to encourage connectedness at the end of a night or event?

I wrote the dance to be an introduction to triple minors that would be interesting, challenging, yet doable for our local dance crowd. As a prep for Money Musk. In retrospect I think the diagonal hey + the [new] triple minor formation might be too much (to be a successful introduction to triple minors). Not to mention the folks who are standing around for the hey (#2 lady + #3 gent) and the 1s B&S.

An alternate would be for the 1s to do a hey for 3 ACROSS the set with the inactive couples – gent go up and pass Gent #2 right shoulder, while lady 1 go down and pass lady #3 right shoulder. But then you’ve got a hey for 3 across which is also new and different for the regular dancers.

*Initially, ladies will allemande 1x. Once dance is going smoothly, most ladies find they have time to allemande right 2x.

Basically an updating of Cary Ravitz dance “Contra Clovers”. I wanted a neighbor swing. I disagree with the ‘complex’ rating he gives this. It’s a pretty accessible dance. Teach it slowly (a demo is helpful) and give a note about gentle turning into the clover, so no one’s rotator cuff’s get torn. His original is at: http://ravitz.us/dance/#cc

His notes about how to get into the clover are helpful:

Keep hands held until it’s time to break the clover. In the initial two leaf clover all four people are in line across the set, women on the inside. The one man and two woman are together, facing up and the two man and one woman are together, facing down. Men’s left hands are behind their neighbor’s back and right hands are across their front. Women’s hands are crossed in front. Everyone is facing counter-clockwise to turn the clover. Then the clover shifts. Women slide back to back and men turn around in place counter-clockwise, with no raised hands. This puts partners together, facing clockwise. As the clover ends, ones are facing down, twos are facing up. Men’s right arms are behind their partner’s back, ready to start a back hold promenade to the next couple. The two leaf clover is an old square dance figure that I borrowed for this dance. I do not know its origin.

Andrea Nettleton wrote a fine dance called “Sailing in Fair Harbor.” I have enjoyed dancing it, but wanted a version that had a neighbor swing, so, as is my wont, created my own version, as above. Andrea suggested the title “Seth Set’s Sail.”. I find her dance very dancable, and worthy of calling in its own right:

Sailing in Fair Harbor

A1 Half Poussette (Ladies pushing first) (8)
Men Allemande R 1 1/2 (8)

A2 Partner Gypsy, and Swing (16)

B1 R&L Through with a Courtesy Turn (8)
Ladies Chain (8)

B2 Hey for Four (Ladies lead in by the R shoulder) (16)
Women finish the Hey, men veer to face partner in the last 4 counts.

Written for Lalah Manly’s 40th birthday party.

I was watching dancers doing “Susie’s Reel.” In that dance, ladies travel from one left hand star to the next along the lines. Sometimes ladies are confused and want to pass right shoulder, weaving in the middle rather than passing left shoulder, staying on their side. I was inspired by the thought – what if there was a dance that deliberately did that? This is an attempt to write that dance.

I love Erik Weberg’s dance with the ‘nella-nella’ called the Wasatch Wiggle but I wanted to nella-nella into my partner’s arms. This is that dance.

This dance requires a 40 bar tune – AABBC; ask the band before planning on using this dance. Preferably a week or two prior so they have some time to prep.

*This dance was originally written by Lou Dow of Southern CA (contradance@charliescoffee.com) and called Shame on Shane (an LA contra dancer, see the book California Twirls for more) . Basically the same dance, if you take out the neighbor balance and 4 counts of the swing and the long lines. In other words, it was a standard 32 bar dance, but had a neighbor swing that ended in the middle of the phrase.

This is my first ever waltz contra! I wrote it to go to my favorite waltz of all time – “One Last Time” by Footloose (David Diguiseppee). “One Last Time” is an AABB waltz, where each part is 16 bars. It will go to any waltz that matches that form, however.

Note that in waltz time the number of bars to do a move is the same number of bars as what it is in a contra. However, we notate contra by the number of steps it takes while we notate waltz by the number of bars. E.G, a Left Hand star in contra = 8 (steps) but in a waltz = 4 (bars).

Come Hither: Like a circle left 1 place, but only hold hands with neighbor. Ladies pull/entice/beckon neighbor around to side of set to swing

Janet Shepherd wrote a fabulous dance “Coming Home from Tohollie” :

A1: Neighbor DSD; Circle left 1x

A2: Ladies roll partner away 1/2 sashay (Left to Right); ladies ‘come hither’ partner; partner swing

B1: Gents allemande left 1.5; neighbor swing

B2: Balance and petronella twirl; Balance and petronella twirl

I love this dance. I call it all the time. Yet, I wanted a come hither with my neighbor instead of partmer. After many attempts, I started with a Gene Hubert base (A1/2 is basically a becket version of Permeation), added a full cup of Janet Shepherd and a dash of Seth to get this dance.

Incidentally, the title was inspired by a tshirt I saw at Gypsy Moon in Indiana by Naresh Keswani. The front says “Love thy Neighbor” and the back says “thy homeless neighbor / thy black neighbor / thy gay neighbor / thy Muslim neighbor / …”. Contact Naresh at Naresh.Kewsani@jefferson.kyschools.us to get one for yourself.

I had a hankering for a dance that gypsied everyone (except partner – I find partner gypsies redundant). I called this Thursday night at Lake City in Seattle, January 31, 2008. People loved the dance. I don’t remember what was the 2nd half of B2. Viable choices would include: Gents allemande left 1.5 to next neighbor; Gents pass left for a broken hey (ladies allemande left in center); [long lines – give and take LADIES take neighbor back for] neighbor swing (again); circle left 3/4 CA twirl (no balance, really tight timing). Which do you like?

For the Friday night of the Dancing Fool dance weekend in Seattle, I wanted a dance like “A Different Way Back” by Larry Jennings where you could say hi to lots of different people. But unlike “ADWB” I didn’t want you to come back! So, as so often happens, I wrote the dance I wanted. The dance as originally called was A1: LL; CL 3/4, pass thru; B2: L A R 1.5; PS, and was a hit.

Oh – the ‘original’:

Title: A Different Way Back

Author: Larry Jennings

Formation: becket

A1: Slide to next couple, Circle left 3/4; Grand Right and left starting with right to New nabe #1 (left to #2, right to #3)

A2: Nabe #4 allemande left 2x to reverse direction, #3 allemande right 1.5

B1: #2 LEFT shoulder gypsy 1.5; #1 nabe swing

B2: circle left 3/4; partner swing

Based on a dance by Peter Bixby “The Flirting Weaver”

I was watching dancers doing “Susie’s Reel.” In that dance, ladies travel from one left hand star to the next along the lines. Sometimes ladies are confused and want to pass right shoulder, weaving in the middle rather than passing left shoulder, staying on their side. I was inspired by the thought – what if there was a dance that deliberately did that? This is an attempt to write that dance.

I love Erik Weberg’s dance with the ‘nella-nella’ called the Wasatch Wiggle but I wanted to nella-nella into my partner’s arms. This is that dance.

This dance requires a 40 bar tune – AABBC; ask the band before planning on using this dance. Preferably a week or two prior so they have some time to prep.

*This dance was originally written by Lou Dow of Southern CA (contradance@charliescoffee.com) and called Shame on Shane (an LA contra dancer, see the book California Twirls for more) . Basically the same dance, if you take out the neighbor balance and 4 counts of the swing and the long lines. In other words, it was a standard 32 bar dance, but had a neighbor swing that ended in the middle of the phrase.

This dance requires a 48 bar tune – AABBCC; ask the band before planning on using this dance. Preferably a week or two prior so they can heat up a couple 48 bar tunes. If you wish, you can chop off the A1/A2 to make a 32 bar dance. However, I feel this loses the neighbor interaction. Written to celebrate Pam Eidson 40th birthday.

The dance works particularly well to “Hangman’s Reel” (aka Reel Du Pendu). Yes, Hangman’s Reel is 48 bars. I promise.

*The dance as originally written had a partner swing in A2. It was a bit confusing for dancers to determine which partner swing they were at, so this was changed to “allemande Right 1.5, end by gents giving a gentle push to hand for lady to twirl to face left diagonal.” This required far too much teaching, so I took it back to two hand turm. I am happiest with this solution; zesty dancers can decide to swing if they are so inclined without my direction. 🙂

There exists a traditional dance called the Apple Pie Quadrille. I think this is it:

A1 Lines forward & back; Centre four dancers star right
A2 All allemande left with partners x 3/2; New centres star right
B1 (Balance and) swing partners
B2 All eight circle left once round
B3 Left hand men break the circle (but hold hands in your line of four)and cast of left to invert the line and lead round the other line to progressed places.

Here is the same dance, but squared off:

A1: Lines F&B; center four dancers star right
A2: Partner B&S
B1: All eight circle left 1x (all the way around)
B2: left hand man break the circle and cast off left to invert the line and lead round the other line to progressed places.

I love the dance, but every time I danced it I was a little disappointed – no neighbor interaction, and the same person leads the cast off/invert every time. So I wrote the dance above to rectify those failings. The dance I REALLY want to write someday gives everyone (ladies and gents) a chance to lead the cast off. 🙂

Although this is a very traditional dance, it has fallen out of commen parlay. Be careful on the ends – lines sometimes go too far on the cast/lead around. Especially when they were already out. It is easier if those out stand pat