Louisville, KY 2023-08-21

user: Nicholas Rockstroh

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.

Contra Essentialism

by: Nicholas Rockstroh

introduces moves: long lines, right left through, allemande

formation: improper

Note the hand in which the next neighbor's hand will be held in the long lines

A1 8
long lines forward & back
8
neighbors swing
A2 8
right left through
8
ladles allemande right 1½
B1 16
partners balance & swing
B2 8
gentlespoons allemande left 1½
8
neighbors swing and take hands with next neighbors in long lines

I was taking a course on gender and sexuality at the time I wrote this. The title is a double pun; "Contra is essential" is one meaning, "against cultural/biological essentialism" is another.

Give and Take 1

by: Larry Jennings

introduces moves: hey, meltdown swing, give & take

formation: sawtooth cw

A1 8
circle left 3 places
8
neighbors allemande right 1½
A2 16
gentlespoons start a full hey - lefts in center, rights on ends
B1 16
neighbors meltdown swing
B2 4
gentlespoons give & take partners ⁋
12
partners swing and face next neighbors

While this was originally written as a sawtooth dance and I've listed it here as such, it might be better to teach this as a clockwise becket dance with a slide left at the beginning as dancers have become better at moving back to the posts for the partner swing after the give and take.

Road to Yesterday

by: Nicholas Rockstroh

introduces moves: slice, roll away, petronella

formation: Becket cw

A1 4
slice left ⁋
4
ladles take neighbors
8
neighbors swing
A2 8
ladles chain
8
circle right 4 places
B1 4
gentlespoons roll away partners with a half sashay
8
balance & petronella
8
balance & petronella
12
partners swing

I wrote a dance called “Bridge to Yesterday” which was very similar to this one, but turned out to be excessively clockwise. This is the result of my rewrite of that dance. Note the petronella turns where the spinning figures come before the balances as in the original dance “petronella.” I wanted something using the traditional-style petronella turns since it would enable a spin into a 12-count swing.

Dead Cat Bounce

by: Nathaniel Jack

introduces moves: pull by dancers

formation: improper

A1 16
neighbors balance & swing
A2 2
gentlespoons pull by left
6
partners allemande right once
8
gentlespoons start a half hey - rights in center, lefts on ends - ladles ricochet
B1 8
circle left 3 places
8
partners swing
B2 8
long lines forward & back
8
ladles allemande right 1½ ⁋

waltz

Apples and Caramel

by: Seth Tepfer

introduces moves: Rory O'More, pass through, do si do

formation: improper

Starts in short waves, right hand to neighbors

A1 8
balance & Rory O'More right
8
balance & Rory O'More left
A2 16
neighbors balance & swing
B1 8
ladles allemande right 1½
8
partners swing
B2 6
circle left 3 places
2
pass through ⁋
8
next neighbors do si do 1¼ to short waves

Based on Apples and Chocolate by Sue Rosen

Another Nice Combination

by: Tom Hinds

formation: improper

A1 16
neighbors balance & swing
A2 8
circle left 3 places
2
pass through
6
shadows do si do once
B1 16
partners balance & swing
B2 8
ladles chain
8
star left 4 places ⁋

Nothing Works and We Don't Know Why

by: Yoyo Zhou

formation: improper

A1 16
neighbors balance & swing
A2 6
neighbors promenade with a wide loop left to face shadow
2
neighbors promenade along the set on the right
8
ladles start a half hey - rights in center, lefts on ends - gentlespoons ricochet
B1 16
partners balance & swing
B2 8
long lines forward & back
8
gentlespoons start a half hey - lefts in center, rights on ends - ladles ricochet ⁋

Composed March 18, 2013

Choreographer's notes:

The title refers to a physics joke about combining theory and practice, and it alludes to the broken heys in this dance.
Teaching notes:
* In the promenade across in A2, end facing the couple that was on the left.
* In the long lines in B2, be sure to face those neighbors you just swung. The hey is with them, but the new neighbors are on the right diagonal.
* Out of each ricochet hey, everyone is looking for someone outside the foursome they were doing the hey with.

Fire in Vermont

by: Nicholas Rockstroh

introduces moves: balance the ring, California twirl, 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.

Butter

by: Gene Hubert

introduces moves: slide along set

formation: Becket

A1 2
slide left along set ⁋
6
circle left 3 places
8
neighbors swing
A2 8
long lines forward & back
8
ladles chain
B1 16
ladles start a full hey - rights in center, lefts on ends
B2 16
partners balance & swing