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