20240518 Herbster Old Gym Devin & Friends

Big circle (no roles yet)
-Practice giving weight. Elasticity in your arms
-Circle left
-Circle right
-Stay right where you are, but form couples. We’re not doing roles yet.

Dosidos
-Dosido 1x, pass through
-Dosido 1x, pass through. “This is the same as a dosido 1.5
-Dosido 1.5 (2x)

Allemande grip and weight demo
-Allemande right 1.5
-With the next, allemande left 1.5
-Repeat each of those with allemande left

Promenade
Demo: join right hands with right, left with left, and flatten out.
Notice how someone is on the inside and someone is on the outside
Take promenade position again

Courtesy turn
DEMO
Counterclockwise
Person on the right goes forward
Person on the left goes backward
Switch sides, try it from here. It will feel different

Swing:
Always clockwise
The only difference is whose hands are where
Swing options:
-2 hand turn
-Ballroom hold
-Frame hand and pointy hand: end with your pointy hand facing into the circle
-Dizziness: look at something on your partner
-Swing your corner, end with pointy hand facing into the circle (repeat)

Balance and swing
-Demo
-Have everyone repeat several times
-Teach first dance (if time allows)
-Point out progression

General pointers
-Anyone can ask anyone to dance
-If you don’t want to dance with someone, you can say “no thank you”
-Reminder about dizziness: look at something on your partner
-If you forget a move: just listen for my voice to tell you the next thing
-“Better never than late.”

If you finish dancing before the music is done, let each couple in turn just sashay down until the music is ready to end.

note in this scatter orientation it doesn't matter where the petro takes you.

Shared in July 2023 in a thread on calling for weddings.


____0_________X___
^___0__^__^__X__^_
|___0___|___|__X__|_
0__ 0__X__0__X__X_


Barn dance dancers have not been quick enough to star right then left, so we've just gone "one direction." See Barn Dance Variation for simpler version.

Patter:
(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8)
ladles to the center and back to the bar, gentlespoons to the center for a right hand star
(1 2 3 4) back by the left don't go too far
(1 2) pass your partner pick up the next for a star promenade
(1 2 3 4) now gentlespoons back out & ladles go in
once and a half &you're gone again (5 6 7 8)
(1 2 3 4) now ladles back out, ladles go in
turn & a half & you're gone again (5 6 7 8)
(1 2 3 4) now break that star, everyone swing
(1 2 3 4) promenade til you get back home

from Wade Pearson, who notes "when you have dancers who are sharp, you can call this 1ce with gentlespoons as the first star, then a 2nd time with ladles as the first star for the opposite star promenade

Via Alan Winston, as I wanted a dance featuring rollaways, but without choreography inaccessible to a room full of first-time dancers.

Alan notes: you might get to your goal with this dance which barely has choreography (La Guaracha, from "Companion to the Ballroom" 1827, here from the Community Dances Manuals):

That A1 is balance and roll away (with gentlespoon not half-sashaying); four times gets everybody home.

For a barn dance where you can't rely on everybody being able to do a traveling waltz, you can easily adapt this in multiple ways;

first off, sub a promenade for the waltz, or sub a circle left and promenade home.

second, you can just make it duple meter if you prefer, and then make it balance and swing and promenade.

Third, you can change it to be roll away with a half sashay, and it's more important to reach your partner than to get home on the rollaways; the promenade takes care of that.

Fourth, change the figure to
1st time: all balance, ladles roll left to right in front of gentlespoons (start crossing neighbor) 4x
2nd time: all balance, gentlespoons roll left to right in front of ladles
(start partner)
(For ONS you might be fine just repeating those two times, but if you're a little ambitious ... 3rd time: all balance, roll left to right 2x, / all balance, gentlespoons roll left to right 2x, meet partner on other side ...

Anyway, it's barely choreography but it gives you roll away practice in square formation without having to do heads or sides.

Linda Leslie notes: Although I don't have the exact time that I wrote this dance, it must predate the first date I called it: 10/22/93 for the Appalachian Mountain Club, Joy Street, Boston. Especially useful for one night stands! Any combination of three. All dancers CAN do this dance, and it really mixes up the dancers. Great for weddings, etc. For these type evenings, I don't talk about #1 or #2 lines of three, or progression: rather I describe "home position". Once we have walked through the dance once, I then point out the couples who have come out at the top and/or bottom, asking them to wait out one time through the dance, turn around, and that this is when "home" changes. Works like a charm.....and the dancers are very happy finding new opposites for each cycle.

Original at http://www.lindalesliecaller.website/very-easy-dances.html

"peel the banana" could be helpful language

Sashay til you're out of music

Original at MAXICRIB, Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle: https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/dance-crib/virginia-reel.html

In this case there are 8 places in the circle, so going 4 places is equivalent to half way.

introduce diagonally across first.

For the partner swing, gentlespoons need to move forward and to the left as your partner approaches.

If not progressing, ladle twirl back to "outside".

alternate B2 is sashay down & back as long lines holding hands (requires more space)

Repeat for side couples, then all four ladles and all four gentlespoons. The transition from star to grand right and left is a challenge for beginning square dancers and provides an opportunity for the "team" to be successful. Introduction and ending are caller's choice.

A variation on the traditional Jefferson And Liberty. Coreographer's notes here: http://www.childgrove.org/index.php/about-dances/dance-writers/bob-green-dances

Start teaching dance at the "slide left along the set". Most of you are facing a new partner, but at the top and the bottom are 'lonesome ones'. Lonesome ones will 'ride the ferry (weave your own line to the top or bottom)

notice which side you're on.

5-7 couples, 6 ideal
learned from Lynn at Breaking Up Thanksgiving 2022, an ideal dance for letting barn dancers practice swings ending on correct side, because there is lots of practice but no harm if it goes wrong.

Bradley Smith Notes: Originally, the last figure of this dance was a neighbor do-si-do 1 1/2, but I usually swap it for the ring balance and pass through to make the progression as simple as possible for inexperienced dancers.

• make sure dancers understand 1s and 2s, and how they change when they're out

Mac notes:
I have a very easy dance that progresses but has worked for beginner groups. It was the only contra I got to work at the [] community dance.

It goes like this (I have never bothered to give it a name or check to see if it already exists)

Make sure they understanding being out one time---once I had couples who were out at the bottom run up to dance with the couple at the top.

Optional: last time
B1) Long lines forward & back, Gentlespoons allemande left 1 1/2
B2) Partners balance & swing

Variation on Cherokee Shuffle
https://contradb.com/dances/509