Distinctive dances

My best dances with a signature move or point of interest. These are all contras you could call at an intermediate dance evening, but some are on the high end of complexity for that.

Oxbow

Hey to hey progression

Point R shoulder to your N (larks facing out, robins facing in).

A1: Half hey (new robins L, larks looping R). N swing.

A2: Circle L ¾. P dosido.

B1: P balance and swing.

B2: Chain. Half hey (robins R).

For the progression, emphasise the new robins looking at each other and the larks looping. I ask the band for driving tunes which have a different feel in the A and B parts.

One ring to rule them all

High-energy petronella dance with a whole-set petronella

Becket CCW

A1: Whole-set ring balance and petronella. Ring of 4 (with P) balance and petronella.

A2: N balance and swing.

B1: Larks alm L 1 ½. P R-hand balance and box the gnat.

B2: Half hey (P R). P swing.

The dance starts with the progression, so you may want to do an extra whole-set petronella at the start of the first walk through so everyone’s in.

Sheffield spooklights

Petronella pass thru into flowy hey

A1: N right shoulder round ½. Half hey (Larks L). N swing.

A2: Circle L ¾. P swing.

B1: Balance and petronella x2.

B2: Balance and petronella. Balance and pass thru L with petronella spin.

Ocean crossing

Exploring pass thru to a wave and swing thru

Indecent (!)

A1: Lines f/b. Chain.

A2: Pass thru to a wave, swing thru. Walk forward to new waves, swing thru.

B1: P meltdown swing.

B2: Pass thru to a wave, swing thru. N swing.

Ghost ships

Flowy eggbeater allemandes

A1: N meltdown swing.

A2: Circle L ¾. P swing.

B1: LLFB. Chain.

B2: Star L cross-hold, larks catching R with next lark in the last quarter and letting go. Alm (robins R, larks L).

Wants flowy dreamy tunes.

The eggbeater allemandes should be wide and slow and stately, and ideally it’s 8 steps to complete the star (but larks have swapped hands by then), 8 steps for the allemande, but I’ve not found a great way to teach that consistently. I’ve had positive and negative reviews of this dance, often from the same event.

Refracted boyfriend

Mirror allemandes

Indecent (!)

A1: N mirror alm 1+1/2 (1s split 2s). 2s swing.

A2: N mirror alm 1+1/2 (2s split 1s). 1s swing.

B1: Lines down the hall. 1s cross and N swing.

B2: Lines up the hall. 1s cast to new N and mirror dosido (1s split new 2s).

‘1s cross’ is a sort of half California twirl, but it works much better if you emphasise giving weight and hurling your P into the swing.

Orbital Collision

Orbits and ricochets

A1: Lines f/b. Robins alm L 1 ¼ while larks orbit ½.

A2: Robins ricochet off N, P swing.

B1: ½ hey (larks L). Larks alm L 1 ¼ while robins orbit ½.

B2: Larks ricochet off P, N swing.

I found Casey Caison's Ricochet Swing while looking for material for a ricochets workshop; this is a take on that where both allemandes are L.

The butterfly bounce

Double star promenade

Becket

A1: Slice L. 𝄋 Pass thru, P twirl.

A2: Lines f/b. Robins alm R 1 ½.

B1: N star promenade. Butterfly whirl. Swing.

B2: Larks alm L 1 ½. P star promenade, butterfly whirl. Look L.

This dance has got a lot of good feedback. Most people don't notice there's no P swing, and those who do didn't seem to care much.