Durham 7/17

Chris Weiler notes:
Written at the Down East Country Dance Festival in Topsham, ME on March 28th, 2009 during the rehearsal period for the Festival Orchestra. Called later that afternoon during the Festival Orchestra slot in the main hall. Named for my host's new kitten (Earl of Grey was his full name) and the baby flying squirrel that he thought would be a better snack than playmate.

This was another case of creating a dance to fit the need. The title of the session was "Well Balanced Contras" and the tune sets had been chosen. I needed a dance with a <u>Rory O'More</u> style <u>balance</u> in the B1 to fit the music and the rest of the session and did not have one in my repertoire.

http://caller.chrisweiler.ws/dances.htm#earlsquirrel

• Left Colonnade: ones join left hands to make an arch and hold that arch for the entire figure. Ladles trade positions by left-shoulder pass through with ladle two going under the arch (and the arch moves!). Gentlespoons trade by left shoulders with gentlespoon two going under the arch. Ladles trade back by left shoulders; gentlespoons trade back by left shoulders. Each trade has 4 beats of music, so there's no need to rush.

Variation by Seth Tepfer

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.

Dancers waiting out need to stand the wrong way (ladle on the left) to come back in on the second mad robin). This is the second dance that I wrote at Holiday World on August 6, 2025, while waiting in line for The Voyage. The name comes from the portion of track on The Voyage that is back in the woods and extremely twisted, called "the spaghetti bowl" by coaster enthusiasts.

For the ricochets, instruct dancers to put up two hands and push off of each other. The mad robins in this dance will have eye contact with different neighbors as you progress, which I thought would be fun. A friend of mine named the dance as a joke, saying I hope this dance works and doesn't go "Off the Rails".

/+ 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.”

Based on Paul Balliet's First Hey, shifted and with one phrase changed. Offers an opening that works much better with a barn-burner of a tune, with a runaway B section. Manages the energy throughout the sequence better than Paul's original dance, in my opinion. At the very least it offers a distinctly more driving and chunky feel compared to the original.

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."