Wilmington 3/7/26

http://chrispagecontra.awardspace.us/dances/dlist2.htm#grand-right-and-left-mixer

[1] A left shoulder do-si-do.
[2] Face away from corner, give right hand to current partner to start the grand right and left.
[3] This is where lost couples can come in, hopefully in a completely different section of the room where they may have more experienced same-sex shadows in front of them..

A forgiving way to teach grand right and left in circle mixer form. I expect someone else has already written this dance.

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.

Bob Fab notes: While it does not have waves at the sides, it has them in the middle so you can use it when the hall is too short for everyone to be in the same waves.

It is an excellent dance for incorporating a large group of beginners, because you hardly ever are without someone in your hand, and the storyline is nice.

a request was made on the Contra Callers facebook group for any easy dances with balances halfway through both A1 and A2. Yoyo wrote this and commented it on the Facebook thread on October 23, 2019.

Original published in RosenHill Collection 2005. Available at https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=2ahUKEwjh-ZCcz6reAhUKXa0KHb-qA_sQFjACegQICBAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Faptsg.org%2FDance%2Feasy_dances.rtf&usg=AOvVaw1iKx8xkRMJlMTgwuoBnYep

/+ along the set is still within the minor set. After the chain you're on the same side of the set as your partner.

Martha Wild notes: I usually call the whole A2 sequence “orbit”. This dance requires space along the lines for the chain up and down. I like the half square through into ladles chain up and down transition - bit of a surprise at first.

This dance was written in honor of the late great physicist Richard Feynman, who taught at Cal Tech. There were only two questions on his Quantum Mechanics final exam - the first was “Consider hydrogen.” Of course, if you really look at this dance, perhaps it should be called “Consider Helium” or at least consider helium without the neutrons.... But that is hard on helium, so after a brief attempt at fusion (after building up spin energy in the do-si-do and allemande right), the combined orbits undergo fission and we’re back to hydrogen atoms in balance and swing your partner. By the way, the second question was “Do something elegant.”

Intended to make a left-hand chain feel good, to be accessible to new dancers, and to have flow that facilitates positional calling. Tested at Dance, Music and Spice Week (Camp Cavell 2019), where dancer Ruth Scodel said that it reminded her why she fell in love with contra dancing.