Bloomington, IN 2019-12-18

user: Nicholas Rockstroh

Table of Contents

  1. Tuesday Night Special by Larry Jennings
  2. Pedal Pushers by Bob Dalsemer
  3. The Reminder by Louise Siddons
  4. Straighten Up and Slide Right by Lindsey Dono
  5. Invertro Flirtilization by Jim Hemphill

  6. BREAK
  7. Midwest Folklore by Orace Johnson

    Medley
  8. Hey in the Barn by Chart Guthrie

    Medley
  9. Heart of Glass by Cary Ravitz

    Medley
  10. Soarin' by Chris Page
  11. Early Rising Robins by Nicholas Rockstroh
  12. Fire in Vermont by Nicholas Rockstroh


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Tuesday Night Special

by: Larry Jennings

introduces moves: swing, circle, promenade, chain, star

formation: improper

A1 16
neighbors balance & swing
A2 6
circle left 3 places
10
partners swing
B1 8
partners promenade
8
ladles chain
B2 8
neighbors promenade
8
star left 4 places to next neighbors

One of the great glossary dances. Simple figures and gentle timing, but not so comprehensive that it leaves you with no options to make the second dance feel distinctive. Definitely a favorite of mine.

Pedal Pushers

by: Bob Dalsemer

introduces moves: allemande, star promenade, butterfly whirl, do si do, balance the ring, pass through, turn alone, custom

formation: improper

A1 8
gentlespoons allemande left 1½
4
star promenade left ½ scooping your partner
4
butterfly whirl
A2 8
ladles do si do once
8
partners swing, form a ring
B1 4
balance the ring
2
pass through across the set to face out
2
turn alone to face around the ring (gentlespoons 90*, ladles 180*) +
8
single file promenade three places
B2 16
neighbors balance & swing ⁋
  • Gentlespoons are facing your partner on the side of the set, ladles you're facing across to face a new neighbor.

The Reminder

by: Louise Siddons

introduces moves: hey, meltdown swing, long lines

formation: duple minor

A1 8
neighbors allemande right 1½
8
gentlespoons chain
A2 16
gentlespoons start a full hey - lefts in center, rights on ends
B1 16
partners meltdown swing
B2 8
long lines forward & back
8
gentlespoons do si do 1½ OR balance and pull by

Intended to make a left-hand chain feel good, to be accessible to new dancers, and to have flow that facilitates positional calling. Tested at Dance, Music and Spice Week (Camp Cavell 2019), where dancer Ruth Scodel said that it reminded her why she fell in love with contra dancing.

Straighten Up and Slide Right

by: Lindsey Dono

introduces moves: mad robin, slide along set

formation: Becket ccw

A1 8
circle left 3 places
8
neighbors swing
A2 8
long lines forward & back
8
ladles chain
B1 6
mad robin, ladles in front (ccw)
8
circle right 4 places
2
slide right along set ⁋
B2 6
gentlespoons allemande left once
10
partners swing

Inspired by a Facebook discussion of the question: “can dancers intuitively slide to the right along the set?” Called at several house parties and Faultline Frolic.

Invertro Flirtilization

by: Jim Hemphill

introduces moves: down the hall, up the hall, custom, California twirl

formation: improper

A1 16
neighbors balance & swing, end in a line of four facing down
A2 8
down the hall and right hand high, left hand low
8
up the hall and bend into a ring
B1 4
Invert the line - ones arch and walk across the set, second ladle brings partner under the arch to the other side
12
partners swing
B2 8
circle left 3 places
4
balance the ring
4
partners California twirl ⁋

BREAK

Midwest Folklore

by: Orace Johnson

Medley

formation: Becket

A1 2
slide left along set ⁋
8
circle left 3 places
8
neighbors do si do once
16
neighbors balance & swing
8
circle left 3 places
8
partners do si do once
16
partners balance & swing

Hey in the Barn

by: Chart Guthrie

Medley

formation: improper

A1 16
neighbors balance & swing
A2 8
ladles chain
8
ladles start a half hey - rights in center, lefts on ends
B1 16
partners balance & swing
B2 8
ladles chain
8
ladles start a half hey - ____ in center, ____ on ends ⁋

Heart of Glass

by: Cary Ravitz

Medley

formation: Becket

A1 6
circle left 3 places
2
pass through ⁋
8
next neighbors swing
A2 8
gentlespoons allemande left 1½, keeping hands, pick up partner
4
star promenade left ½
4
butterfly whirl to face in
B1 16
ladles start a full hey - rights in center, lefts on ends
B2 16
partners balance & swing

Cary Ravitz notes: This dance is an easier version of Through the Looking Glass, or you
might see it as Amy Kahn's Sweet Music with a different progression,
or Steve Zakon-Anderson's Twirling at the Alter with the progression
moved from the hey to the circle, or David Zinkin's Becky's Becket
with a different A2.

http://www.dance.ravitz.us/dance2011.htm#hg

Soarin'

by: Chris Page

introduces moves: allemande orbit, custom

formation: Becket ccw

Identify next neighbors on the right diagonal

A1 8
long lines forward & back
8
ladles chain
A2 6
ladles allemande right once around while the gentlespoons orbit counter clockwise ½ around
4
partners courtesy turn
6
partners promenade and hook to next neighbors ⁋
B1 8
star left - hands across - 3 places
8
gentlespoons allemande left 1½
B2 16
partners meltdown swing

Early Rising Robins

by: Nicholas Rockstroh

introduces moves: revolving door, roll away

formation: indecent

A1 8
mad robin, ladles in front
8
ladles allemande right 1½
A2 16
partners meltdown swing
B1 8
revolving door - gentlespoons take left hands and drop off partners on other side
8
neighbors swing
B2 4
long lines forward
4
ladles roll away neighbors with a half sashay on the way back
8
mad robin, ladles in front, continue with next neighbors ⁋

A revision of the dance written at Summer CDH 2018 for the band Wake Up Robin. The original suffered from a kitchen sink mentality and I think this dance is nicely tightened up comparatively. I'm leaving the original up because it might still be enjoyable in the right circumstances, however I expect this dance will be much friendlier to typical Contra dance circumstances without sacrificing the core of what made the original interesting.

Fire in Vermont

by: Nicholas Rockstroh

introduces moves: petronella, custom

formation: Becket ccw

Couples wait out with gentlespoons on the right and ladles on the left

A1 8
gentlespoons allemande left 1½
8
neighbors swing
A2 4
balance the ring
4
partners California twirl, take hands with next neighbors ⁋
8
balance & petronella
B1 8
balance & petronella
4
balance the ring
4
neighbors California twirl, keep hands and reach back to partners to form a cloverleaf
B2 6
cloverleaf left 3 places
10
partners swing

Notice that the two twirls to swap are done with different hands. This is intentional. The California twirl and reach back to a cloverleaf is inspired, primarily, by several Rick Mohr dances which do the same thing.

The name is a result of a remarkable confluence of events. A friend of mine from Wisconsin, Ceara Herndon, was visiting her sister in Vermont. She sent me a picture of a firepit captioned with the title, which seemed like a good name for a dance. As it turns out, the state flower of Vermont is the Red Clover, which I only learned AFTER writing the dance. On top of all this, there's an old, hitherto unpublished dance of mine called "Fire Flower," which also contains a California twirl and reach back to a cloverleaf.