WS 12/2/25

user: Thomas Begley

Table of Contents

  1. Airpants, Bradley Smith pass through by Lisa Greenleaf
  2. Spring Fever by Tony Parkes
  3. Minimum Fuss, Maximum Fun by Dean Snipes

    Easy Box Circulate
  4. Cranky Ingenuity by Bill Olson
  5. Balance and Cross by Rick Mohr
  6. Everybody Dance by Jim Hemphill

  7. Waltz
  8. Train Delay by Maia McCormick
  9. Rockin' Robin by Rick Mohr
  10. Violet Ice by Maia McCormick

    alt Rockin robin
  11. You Can Get There From Here by Linda Leslie

    Savior
  12. Becky's Brouhaha by Rhiannon Giddens
  13. Mad Robin Landing by Will Mentor
  14. Mad Orbin by Jacqui Grennan
  15. Amy's Harmonium by Cary Ravitz

    Alt Mad Orbin


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Airpants, Bradley Smith pass through

by: Lisa Greenleaf

introduces moves: swing, long lines, allemande, circle, balance the ring, pass through

formation: improper

A1 16
neighbors balance & swing
A2 8
long lines forward & back
8
ladles allemande right 1½
B1 16
partners balance & swing
B2 8
circle left 3 places
4
balance the ring
4
pass through to new neighbors ⁋

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.

Spring Fever

by: Tony Parkes

introduces moves: star, promenade, chain

formation: improper

A1 8
long lines forward & back ⁋
8
neighbors swing
A2 8
gentlespoons allemande left 1½
8
partners swing
B1 8
circle left 4 places
8
star left 4 places
B2 8
partners promenade
8
ladles chain to neighbor

Bob Isaacs notes: Tony Parkes of Massachusetts has long been one of America’s best callers of contras and squares, and this glossary dance is a fine way to start an evening.

Minimum Fuss, Maximum Fun

by: Dean Snipes

Easy Box Circulate

introduces moves: box the gnat, box circulate

formation: improper

A1 8
neighbors right hand balance & box the gnat
8
balance & box circulate - gentlespoons cross while ladles loop right
A2 8
balance & box circulate - ladles cross while gentlespoons loop right
8
neighbors swing
B1 8
gentlespoons allemande left 1½
8
partners swing
B2 8
ladles chain
8
star left 4 places ⁋

Cranky Ingenuity

by: Bill Olson

introduces moves: do si do, California twirl

formation: improper

A1 8
circle left 4 places
8
neighbors do si do once as couples
A2 8
neighbors do si do once
8
neighbors swing
B1 8
gentlespoons allemande left 1½
8
partners swing
B2 8
circle left 3 places
4
balance the ring
4
partners California twirl ⁋

B2 Circle L 3/4 (8), Balance the ring (4), Calif Twir
Bill Olson notes: The A part of this dance came from Vermont fiddler, Amy Cann. The rest kind of came together before a Concord (MA) Scouthouse gig on Feb 23, 2004. I used this easy dance to start off the evening that night. It is dedicated to my good friends from the venerable Boston area band, Yankee Ingenuity: Peter Barnes (who always enjoys a good pun), Mary Lea, Jack O'Conner and Cal Howard.

Balance and Cross

by: Rick Mohr

introduces moves: pass by, down the hall, up the hall, hey

formation: improper

A1 4
balance the ring
2
gentlespoons pass by right shoulders
10
partners swing, end facing down in lines of four
A2 8
down the hall and turn as a couple
8
up the hall and bend into a ring
B1 4
balance the ring
2
ladles pass by right shoulders
10
neighbors swing
B2 8
long lines forward & back
8
ladles start a half hey - rights in center, lefts on ends - and look for next neighbors ⁋

Rick notes, "A straightforward dance with good symmetry and timing."

Sometimes, that's all you have to say.

Everybody Dance

by: Jim Hemphill

introduces moves: meltdown swing, arch & dive

formation: improper

A1 16
neighbors balance & swing
A2 8
long lines forward & back
8
star right 3 places
B1 16
partners meltdown swing
B2 8
circle left 3 places
4
balance the ring
4
twos arch ones dive ⁋

Can be called without role terms (but still requires that the neighbor swing ends in the progressed position).

Waltz

Train Delay

by: Maia McCormick

introduces moves: slide along set

formation: Becket

Shadow is next to you.

A1 2
slide left along set ⁋
6
circle left 3 places
8
neighbors swing
A2 8
ladles chain
8
star left 4 places
B1 8
shadows right hand balance & box the gnat
8
shadows do si do 1½
B2 16
partners balance & swing

In the second half of B1, pull by R at the start of the do-si-do for some extra momentum.

Written on a stuck train to Princeton, NJ, late 2014, and first called March 2015 in Silver Spring, MD.

Rockin' Robin

by: Rick Mohr

introduces moves: pull by dancers, custom, zig zag

formation: improper

fast reels

A1 8
circle right 4 places
6
neighbors allemande left once
2
gentlespoons pull by right
A2 16
hey, partners passing left shoulders to start
B1 16
partners balance & swing
B2 10
circle left 5 places to original place
6
zig left zag right ⁋

Rick Mohr notes: This is a very fun dance, especially with fast reels.

It helps to alert the gentlespoons to pull by at the end of the phrase in A1. Otherwise some will delay until the beginning of A2, making them late for the balance in B1. This can be reinforced during the dance by calling "gentlespoons right hand pull by" early by a beat or two.

The "Zig-Zag" in B2 is most satisfying if dancers emphasize the sideways left/right motion rather than the forward motion which gets them past their neighbors. There's plenty of time, so encourage them to go a good distance out of the set in the Zig. The idea is to let the momentum from the circle left propel into the Zig left, and then let the momentum from the Zag right lead directly into the circle right with the next couple.

For Robin Kynoch, a fine tinwhistle player from Framingham, Massachusetts. You might not think it possible to "rock" on the whistle, but Robin does.

Originally posted to: http://rickmohr.net/contra/dances.asp#RockinRobin

Violet Ice

by: Maia McCormick

alt Rockin robin

introduces moves: poussette, mad robin, custom

formation: Becket

A1 8
circle left 3 places
8
half poussette - gentlespoons pull partners back then left
A2 8
mad robin, gentlespoons in front (around N)
8
gentlespoons start a hey - lefts in center, rights on ends - until partners meet the second time
B1 16
partners meltdown swing
B2 8
circle left 4 places
4
partners two-hand turn and open to face across
4
partners slide L along the set to meet new neighbors ⁋

IGNORE THE A1 COUNTS AS LISTED HERE: timing in the A is mushy and moves bleed across phrases. Both the mad ladle and the poussette take about 6 counts, so the mad ladle starts a little before A2, and the 5/8 hey finishes just about at the end of the A2. Encourage dancers to follow the movement rather than trying to fit it into the music (i.e. DON'T do the English dance thing of trying to make the moves fill the phrase), and use B1 to get everyone back together.

This dance allows for almost constant eye contact with partner. (If you do the hey facing your P, you do in fact get basically constant eye contact, but please don't teach this, or you'll have everyone doing it and ppl will all run into each other. The sufficiently experienced dancers will figure it out on their own!) Inspired by Will Mentor's "Lavender Snow", premiered at LCFD Spring Dance Camp 2018. The two-hand turn in B2 was a later addition, suggested by Shoshana Silverman (fall 2022).

You Can Get There From Here

by: Linda Leslie

Savior

introduces moves: Rory O'More, form an ocean wave, custom

formation: improper

Dance starts in short wavy lines: from improper formation, neighbors take right hands, ladles take left in the center.

A1 8
balance & Rory O'More right
8
balance & Rory O'More left
A2 16
neighbors balance & swing
B1 8
circle left 3 places
8
partners swing
B2 8
circle left 3 places and walk forward
4
form an ocean wave & balance - ladles by left hands and neighbors by right hands -forward and back
4
walk forward to ⁋
0
form an ocean wave - ladles by left hands and neighbors by right hands

Becky's Brouhaha

by: Rhiannon Giddens

formation: improper

A1 8
neighbors right hand balance & box the gnat
2
neighbors pull by right to prev neighbors
6
prev neighbors allemande left once - return to current neighbors
A2 16
neighbors balance & swing
B1 8
circle left 3 places
8
partners swing
B2 8
ladles chain
8
star left 4 places - reach right hand to next neighbors ⁋

Mad Robin Landing

by: Will Mentor

introduces moves: custom, form long waves

formation: improper

A1 16
neighbors balance & swing
A2 6
mad robin, gentlespoons in front
2
gentlespoons walk across the set while ladles step left, partners take right hands
0
form long waves - ladles face in, gentlespoons face out
8
balance & box circulate - ladles cross while gentlespoons loop right
B1 8
balance & box circulate - gentlespoons cross while ladles loop right
8
partners swing
B2 8
ladles chain
8
star left 4 places ⁋

Mad Orbin

by: Jacqui Grennan

introduces moves: allemande orbit, give & take

formation: improper

A1 8
neighbors right hand balance & box the gnat
8
mad robin, gentlespoons in front
A2 8
gentlespoons allemande left 1½ around while the ladles orbit clockwise ½ around
8
neighbors swing
B1 4
balance the ring
4
ladles take partners
8
partners swing
B2 6
circle left 3 places
2
pass through ⁋
8
next neighbors do si do once

The title is a play on words. Robin + Orbit = Orbin

Amy's Harmonium

by: Cary Ravitz

Alt Mad Orbin

introduces moves: roll away

formation: Becket ccw

A1 4
long lines forward
4
gentlespoons roll away partners with a half sashay
8
gentlespoons allemande right 1½
A2 16
neighbors balance & swing
B1 8
ladles chain
8
circle left 3 places and pass through up and down to a new couple
B2 8
ladles allemande left once around while the gentlespoons orbit clockwise ½ around
8
partners swing

http://dancevideos.childgrove.org/contra/contra-modern/477-amy-s-harmonium-by-cary-ravita-ccw-becket