Lexington, KY 2025-01-04

Cascades

introduces moves: meltdown swing, allemande, swing, down the hall, up the hall, circle, balance the ring, California twirl

formation: improper

A1	16	neighbors meltdown swing
A2	8	gentlespoons allemande left 1½
	8	partners swing
B1	8	down the hall and turn as a couple
	8	up the hall and bend into a ring
B2	8	circle left 3 places
	4	balance the ring
	4	partners California twirl ⁋

Dance Symmetry A

by: Cary Ravitz

introduces moves: right left through, chain, star

formation: Becket ccw

A1	8	right left through
	8	ladles chain
A2	8	star left 4 places ⁋
	8	next neighbors swing
B1	8	gentlespoons chain
	8	star right 4 places
B2	16	partners meltdown swing

A Dance for Dan

by: Bill Olson

introduces moves: long lines, box the gnat, hey

formation: improper

A1	8	long lines forward & back
	8	ladles allemande left 1½
A2	8	partners right hand balance & box the gnat
	8	partners start a half hey - rights on ends, lefts in center
B1	16	partners balance & swing
B2	8	gentlespoons allemande left 1½
	8	neighbors swing ⁋

Spin Break

by: Claire Takemori

introduces moves: balance, petronella, give & take, pass through

formation: improper

Short wave, Neighbor by RH, Ladles by LH in middle

A1	4	balance wave
	12	neighbors swing
A2	8	balance & petronella
	8	balance & petronella
B1	4	balance the ring
	12	ladles give & take partners, Swing
B2	8	circle left 3 places, reform short wave
	4	balance wave ⁋
	4	pass through,walk forward to new wave

Spin off of Spring Break, Tom Lehman, for a super easy, hi-energy dance.

Melanie's Triplet

by: Melanie Axel-Lute

introduces moves: contra corners, custom, do si do

formation: triplet

A1	4	ones down the center past twos and threes
	4	ones up the outsides to end in the twos' place while twos move up to ones' place
	8	long lines forward & back
A2	16	ones contra corners
B1	16	partners balance & swing, all face up the hall
B2	8	invert the set, twos separating followed by ones and threes ⁋
	8	partners do si do once

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

http://dancevideos.childgrove.org/contra/contra-modern/437-butter-by-gene-hubert-becket

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The Baby Rose

by: David Kaynor

formation: improper

A1	16	neighbors balance & swing
A2	8	circle left 3 places
	8	partners do si do once
B1	16	partners balance & swing
B2	8	ladles chain
	8	star left 4 places to new neighbors ⁋

Mange Tak

by: Ron Buchanan

introduces moves: form an ocean wave, pull by dancers

formation: Improper

A1	16	neighbors balance & swing
A2	8	pass through to an ocean wave & balance - ladles by left in the center, neighbors by right on the sides
	2	neighbors allemande right ½
	2	gentlespoons pull by left
	4	partners allemande right ¾ and look for shadows
B1	6	shadows allemande left once
	10	partners swing
B2	8	pass through to an ocean wave & balance - ladles by left in the center, partners by right on the sides
	2	partners allemande right ½
	2	gentlespoons pull by left
	4	neighbors allemande right ¾ and look for next neighbors

Nutella Petronella

by: Bradley Smith

introduces moves: custom

formation: four face four

A1	8	lines of four forward and back
	8	opposites do si do once
A2	0	Ends balance and swing to change places while centers...
	8	balance & petronella
	8	balance & petronella, centers note partners and then...
B1	4	balance the ring
	4	pass through to partners
	8	partners swing and face shadows in Contra lines
B2	8	gentlespoons start a half hey - lefts in center, rights on ends - with shadows ⁋
	8	partners swing and face next neighbors

Rim of the Sky

by: Nicholas Rockstroh

introduces moves: zig zag

formation: Becket cw

Shadow 1 is next to you, shadow 2 is past shadow 1

A1	6	circle left 3 places
	10	neighbors swing
A2	4	balance the ring
	4	partners California twirl and face next neighbors ⁋
	8	circle right 3 places with next neighbors
B1	8	neighbors zig right zag left zig right around two couples to 2nd shadow
	6	2nd shadows allemande left once
	2	1st shadows pull by right
B2	16	partners balance & swing

For those unfamiliar, the California twirl here is a Nevada twirl, which is a California twirl with the opposite hands. The end effects here are doubly screwy. If you're out after the partner swing, the ladles need to go on the left and the gentlespoons on the right. If you're out after the Nevada twirl, you have to immediately switch again to have the ladles on the right and the gentlespoons on the left. Named after The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and a line in Miracle of Sound’s “Sovngarde Song” based on the game.

String of Swings

by: Rick Mohr and Bob Isaacs

formation: improper

Ones step between twos to form short lines facing down

A1	8	down the hall and turn alone
	8	up the hall, ones back to back in the center, face neighbors
A2	16	neighbors start a full hey - lefts on ends, rights in center
B1	8	neighbors allemande left 1½
	8	twos swing
B2	8	neighbors swing
	8	ones swing ⁋

Rick Mohr notes: the sequence of swings can be a thrill, especially if dancers end each of them with their back to the person they're going to swing next and then continue momentum to whirl 180° to the right and immediately into the next swing. (The gentlespoon in particular need extra encouragement to turn right out of each swing.)

Here's how I do that part of the walk-through: 2's—finish your swing facing each other in the center, with your back to your neighbor. 1's be ready to catch them! 2's whirl right, right into a swing with your neighbor. End that swing facing your neighbor, with the 1's back-to-back in the center. 1's—whirl right, right into a swing with your partner.

The neighbor swing in B2 ends in the middle of the phrase, something I usually avoid because dancers are so used to swinging until the end of the phrase. But this dance has always worked well, maybe because the series of short swings is a clear focus.

Thanks to co-author Bob Isaacs for greatly improving the sequence of surrounding figures for the string of swings.

Original at http://rickmohr.net/Contra/DancesBest.asp#StringOfSwings

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