First of May

hook: petronellas into star, star loop figures

by: Deanna Rubin

formation: improper

A dance to evoke a combination of May pole and "outdoor dancing starts today". I couldn't find a dance called "First of May" so I wrote it for the May 1st 2018 contra I was calling at.

A1 8
balance & petronella
8
balance & petronella
A2 8
star left - hands across - 4 places
8
Ladles keep left hands to allemande left 1.5 MEANWHILE the gentlespoons push off and loop over their own right shoulder +
B1 4
partners gyre once
12
partners swing
B2 8
circle left 3 places
4
balance the ring
4
partners California twirl ⁋

It helps to tell people not to clap after the second petronella and to use their momentum to spin into the star left.

I call the second half of A2 by saying "Gentlespoons loop, ladles allemande once and a half". Also, it is important to note, that part is 8 counts long, so the gentlespoons should take a long circular walk, similar to the ends of a hey, coming back in to meet their partner when they finish the inner allemande. However, the worst case is that they stand around looking silly for a few counts waiting for their partner instead, so it's not that big a deal. Usually I step in to demonstrate what I mean during the walkthrough.

+(see John Coffman dances for explanation/video)

I don't know where star loops come from originally but I found them while calling some John Coffman dances like Captain Kirk's Halibut and Personality Plus.

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