user: Nicholas Rockstroh
waltz
introduces moves: custom, turn alone, form long waves, balance, allemande, swing, promenade
formation: circle mixer
| A1 | 8 | ladles to the center and back
|
| 2 | gentlespoons to the center
| |
| 4 | gentlespoons turn alone
| |
| 2 | gentlespoons go back
| |
| A2 | 0 | form long waves - ladles face in, gentlespoons face out
|
| 4 | balance
| |
| 4 | neighbors allemande right once
| |
| 4 | balance
| |
| 4 | partners allemande left once
| |
| B1 | 16 | neighbors balance & swing (this neighbor is your new partner)
|
| B2 | 16 | partners promenade along the set on the right
|
Riffing on La String Bean by Julian Blechner. Changes the direction of progression around the ring and gives an easier target for the transition to a new partner (since it's the person with whom you did an allemande right). See also La Southern Green Bean for a version with Rory O'More slides.
introduces moves: long lines, chain, star
formation: improper
| A1 | 16 | neighbors balance & swing
|
| A2 | 8 | gentlespoons allemande left 1½
|
| 8 | partners swing
| |
| B1 | 8 | long lines forward & back
|
| 8 | ladles chain
| |
| B2 | 8 | neighbors promenade
|
| 8 | star left 4 places ⁋
|
According to The Caller's Box, this dance has never been written. I have a very hard time believing that, hence the name.
After publishing this dance here, Chris Page contacted me to let me know that it is, in fact, extremely similar to Bob Isaacs's dance Easy Street. The difference is that Bob's dance has a right and left through instead of a promenade. I'm still leaving the title, since the sequence with the promenade remains, to the best of my knowledge, unique, which is still surprising to me.
by: Chris Weiler
introduces moves: circle, balance the ring, California twirl, right left through
formation: Becket ccw
| A1 | 8 | circle left 3 places
|
| 4 | balance the ring
| |
| 4 | partners California twirl ⁋
| |
| A2 | 16 | neighbors balance & swing
|
| B1 | 8 | right left through
|
| 8 | ladles allemande right 1½
| |
| B2 | 16 | partners balance & swing
|
Chris's notes:
"Written at the A-1 Diner in Gardiner, ME October 24th, 2008. Called for the first time that same evening at the North Whitefield contra dance. I was looking for a good dance to go either before the break or at the end of the evening. The dance is simple enough for the dancers and lets the band rock with an energetic tune set. Plus it ends with a partner swing without any changes from the caller. Call it in duple improper formation starting with the A2 for a more standard experience."
by: Tony Parkes
introduces moves: down the hall, up the hall, hey, gyre
formation: improper
| A1 | 8 | down the hall and turn alone
|
| 8 | up the hall and end facing neighbor
| |
| A2 | 16 | neighbors start a full hey - rights on ends, lefts in center
|
| B1 | 8 | neighbors gyre once
|
| 8 | neighbors swing, end facing across the set
| |
| B2 | 8 | long lines forward & back
|
| 8 | ones swing, end facing down ⁋
|
by: Tom Hinds
introduces moves: slice, form an ocean wave, pass through, do si do
formation: Becket
| A1 | 8 | slice left and straight back ⁋
|
| 8 | gentlespoons start a half hey - lefts in center, rights on ends
| |
| A2 | 4 | form an ocean wave & balance - gentlespoons by left hands and partners by right hands
|
| 2 | gentlespoons allemande left ½
| |
| 10 | neighbors swing
| |
| B1 | 6 | circle left 3 places
|
| 2 | pass through
| |
| 8 | shadows do si do once
| |
| B2 | 16 | partners balance & swing
|
waltz
by: Chris Page
introduces moves: custom
formation: scatter mixer
| A1 | 4 | balance ring [1]
|
| 4 | turn alone [2]
| |
| 4 | individual scatter promenade ⁋
| |
| 4 | find a new partner
| |
| A2 | 8 | partners gyre once [3] [4]
|
| 8 | partners swing
| |
| B1 | 8 | partners promenade scatter [5]
|
| 8 | join in rings of any number of couples [6]
| |
| B2 | 8 | circle left 4 places
|
| 8 | circle right 4 places
|
http://chrispagecontra.awardspace.us/dances/index.htm#accretion-reel
[1] What ring? The circle at the end of B2. The first time through the dance, skip this part, and begin straight with the individual scatter promenade. (John Sweeney came up with a cool alternate beginning, with everyone in one big circle, before breaking it up into individual pieces. If so, you definitely also want the big circle for the final time through.)
David Millstone writes about a nice modification of this for ONS groups: "Chris's dance calls for folks to balance in and out, and even though I demonstrated that to a group, their inclination was to go into the center in four counts with a whoop! and their arms rising up. Who am I to fight the natural tendency of the dancers? I suspect that this feels more satisfying, and it still gives them 12 beats to say goodbye to their circle and to walk alone to find a new partner."
[2] When I'm calling for ONS (one-night-stand) groups, I'll use "say goodbye" here. Then when they gyre later on, it's "say hello, and go around them, looking at them."
[3] Those allergic to gyres may wish to substitute a do-si-do, or skip it altogether and go straight to the swing. For an ONS group, substitute the swing with a two-allemande, elbow swing, or "whatever you think a swing should be."
[4] For more advanced groups, thegypsycan be with more than one other person. And the swing can be a basket swing.
[5] Last time through the dance, I like to have everyone promenade in one giant circle. Ditto for the final circles.
[6] Here each couple needs to find a few other couples to circle with. Lone couples could always two-allemande each other. James Hutson came up with a nice term for these variable-sized circles -- blobs.The dance I consider my best. Usable both for non-dancing crowds, and with regular contra groups.
I wrote it after attending a contra dance with a number of beginners that kept breaking down over and over and over. On the way back, I thought what would have worked (a dance that intentionally broke down each time), and came up with a dance that I kept refining and simplifying down to this. It was partly also inspired by Ted Sannella's "Ted's Solo Mixer" and the scatter mixer "Set a' Crochet."
The dance's name came from ideas of planetary system formation, where larger and larger chunks of matter spiral inwards from gravity, accreting to form planetisemals, and then planets. The analogy goes bad where everybody separates every thirty seconds, but you could just consider that a periodic supernova event.
After having danced this, the A1/A2 feels sort of like the rush of looking for a partner, though here the commitment's only for 20 seconds. Kind of reminiscent of the cabeceo of tango.
introduces moves: slide along set, custom, dolphin hey, meltdown swing
formation: Becket cw
| A1 | 2 | slide left along set ⁋
|
| 6 | circle left 3 places
| |
| 8 | neighbors swing, end in a line of four facing down
| |
| A2 | 8 | down the hall and turn as a couple
|
| 0 | Alternate: down the hall and turn alone
| |
| 8 | up the hall and ones face second ladle
| |
| B1 | 0 | Alternate: up the hall and twos face first ladle
|
| 16 | dolphin hey - start with ones passing second ladle by right shoulders and do one extra pass to home sides
| |
| B2 | 0 | Alternate: dolphin hey - start with twos passing first ladle by right shoulders and do one extra pass to home sides
|
| 16 | partners meltdown swing
|
This dance holds a special place in my heart. I wrote it to commemorate my time in Louisville, KY when I realized I would be leaving. This was the last dance I called on a Monday night there before moving to Cincinnati, OH. Named after the famous line from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I spent seven years as a native in the Louisville Contra scene and nine in the Louisville folk dance scene in general. It's the place where I found my love of country dance and learned my craft as a caller and choreographer. It is, undoubtedly, one of the best dance scenes in the country, and I look forward to returning as often as possible.
Update: I moved back to Louisville in 2020, so I guess I get to return to dance there every week now.
by: Becky Hill
introduces moves: petronella
formation: improper
| A1 | 16 | neighbors balance & swing
|
| A2 | 8 | gentlespoons allemande left 1½
|
| 8 | partners swing
| |
| B1 | 8 | ladles chain
|
| 8 | balance & petronella
| |
| B2 | 8 | balance & petronella
|
| 8 | star left 4 places ⁋
|
by: Linda Leslie
introduces moves: give & take
formation: Becket
double progression
| A1 | 6 | circle left 3 places
|
| 2 | pass through ⁋
| |
| 8 | neighbors do si do once
| |
| A2 | 16 | neighbors balance & swing
|
| B1 | 8 | long lines forward & back
|
| 8 | next neighbors swing ⁋
| |
| B2 | 4 | gentlespoons give & take partners
|
| 12 | partners swing
|
"Written for Dance Flurry, 2009 and the Band!" - Linda