Weird dances
This is a very mixed bag. It's mostly dances I've written for a purpose, often for a workshop exploring a specific theme, or as an exercise experimenting with a theme. They've all been tested unless specified, and worked for their context. Seeing if any of them work for your context is an exercise I leave to you.
Ambi/swapping contras
Mostly written for positional dancing workshops about learning how to dance without knowing what role you are, by using non-role references for getting into swings (it’s usually “new N outside hand”, “allemande > inside hand”, “circle > connected hand”, where the specified hand is the pointy end).
I like to teach that technique through dances that swap your role as part of the dance.
Some dances other than these that I’ve found useful to adapt:
Carol Ormond’s Kinematic Vorticity, with a dixie turn after lines down the hall. The whole dance is very connected, and both swings are from circle. A good intro to the concept.
Bob Isaac’s Cure for the Claps, with all swings outside-hand. Flows really nicely, demonstrates how you can easily adapt a normal contra on the fly.
Cis Hinkle’s Rocket City Romp with the swing the other way, as an example of a dance that I’d argue is improved by building a partner role-swap in (the hands work better for the balance, and everyone gets a turn in the middle).
My dance The Great Chain Robbery, as a playful high-energy dance once people have got the principles. Allemande left as much as you want.
Because of the balance of things
To allow me to introduce all the most common role-free references in a sensible order.
A1: Pass thru across, pass thru up and down. 𝄋 N outside-hand swing.
A2: Lefts alm 1 ½. P inside-hand swing
B1: Lines down the hall. Turn alone. Come back. Bend.
B2: Circle L ¾. N swing.
The Melting Pot
Simple role-swapping dance.
A1: N outside hand balance and swing.
A2: Lefts alm 1 ½. P swing.
B1: LLFB. Chain.
B2: Star L. Pull past N L. Next N dosido.
Role with it
This is to break dancers out of roles. It makes absolutely no sense—is incomprehensible—when you’re thinking in role terms.
A1: 1s lead down, turn as a couple, come back, cast around your N
A2: Next N outside hand balance & swing
B1: Lefts alm left 1+1/2. Inside hand P swing.
B2: Chain across. LLFB.
(Next time, 2s lead up)
Psyche and psychopomp
Smooth, flowy. Both swings from a circle left.
Becket
A1: Circle left ¾. N swing.
A2: Long lines forward and back. Chain across.
B1: Circle right ¾. 1-handed ½ pousette round next neighbours.
B2: Circle left ¾. Partner swing.
The timing is loose enough that I wonder if a slipjig would work better. But for the purpose I wrote it for, I prefer Kinematic Vorticity with a dixie turn.
Shadow play
A role-swapping game. Try to swing all 4 potential shadows (for an extra challenge, swing all 4 successively)
A1: Outside hand N balance and swing.
A2: Slide L. Circle L ¾. Shadow swing.
B1: Half hey (lefts pass left). Outside hand P swing.
B2: Chain across. Half hey (rights pass right).
Teaching: From becket, join hands in an oval. The person next to you, the person next to them, the person next to your partner and the person on the far side of them are your potential shadows. Then go back to improper.
Crooked tunes
Sometimes musicians send me weird-length tunes they want to play for contra.
To Elzik’s Farewell
A1: N balance and swing.
A2: LLFB. Chain.
B1: Balance and petronella x2.
C1: P balance and swing.
C2: Whole hey (larks left, then larks ricochet)
To Chinquapin Hunting
Becket CCW
A1: Circle L ¾. P California twirl.
A2: Circle R ¾. N California twirl (not Jersey twirl!)
B: Balance and petronella x2.
C: With N, zig R. Rollaway (robins roll L>R). Zag L. P swing.
To Reel du Forgeron
Becket
A1: Circle L ¾. P rollaway (larks roll L>R). N swing.
A2: P R-hand balance. Square thru 2. New N dosido. Robins pull past L.
Bs: Hey. P swing.
This can be done to a straight tune into Forgeron, in which case the first tune wants a P balance and swing.
To Texas, Newcastle
Short waves, R to N
A1: Balance and slide R. Balance and slide L. Robins pull past L.
A2: ¾ hey (P R). N swing.
B1: Circle L ¾. P swing.
B2: Circle L ¾. Pass thru, next N alm R 1 ¼.
To Ralph’s 2 3 5 (untested)
A1: Hey on the side (N R, next N L shoulder round, N R, previous N L shoulder round).
A2: N meltdown swing.
B1: Slice L. Chain.
B2: LLFB. Half hey (robins R).
B3: P swing.
B4: Circle L ¾. Balance the ring and pass thru R. (You are now progressed)
C1: Balance, petronella, pass thru L up-and-down. x2
C2: Repeat C1.
If you have to clap, clap after the pass thrus.
End effects: Lots. In the As and Bs, the ’out’ couple are still dancing basically the entire time. If you’ve just progressed out at the start of the petronellas, it’s helpful to turn around and dance with everyone else. Other than that, dance all the petronellas with ghosts.
Between-set interactions
Other dances I've used for this include Seth Tepfer’s Pam’s Ultra-New Super-Improved Snake Oil Formula #9, Chris Page’s 111, Chris Page's Diamonds are for NEFFA, and some of my squantras.
Star wars variation
A1: Star R. N swing.
A2: Chain to P, with extra ½ turn. Outside of your set, star L.
B1: With current N, star R. P swing.
B2: Chain. Star L.
Variation of a Pete Foster dance. I was worried that it would be too repetitive and turn into mush, but that didn’t seem to be a problem.
Spin cycle
A1: Robins alm R ~1 ¼. Meanwhile, larks outside the set alm R ~1 ¾. P alm L 1 ¼ (finish larks facing in).
A2: Larks dosido (meanwhile, robins outside the set dosido). P swing.
B1: Circle L ¾. N swing.
B2: Whole hey (robins R).
The mitre saw
Contra corners between sets
A1: Robins gate P ¼ to face new Ns. 𝄋 N swing.
A2: Circle L ¾. On L diagonal, half hey (robins R). Couples without a L diagonal, swap places with P. Robins face in and give R hand, larks face out and give R hand if you can (otherwise, face in).
B1: Turn contra corners.
B2: Alm R 1 ½. P swing. Finish sawtooth, next Ns slightly R.
Prompted by Jeff Kaufman’s Equal Corners, this is a version which increases complexity in exchange for a satisfying partner swing to finish, but I think the best solution might be to just take a simple dance like Alternating Corners or Twirly Corners and have the inactives turn around. This dance does have nice flow, though, and is surprisingly recoverable for a dance of this complexity.
Devil's Elbows
Other dances I've used for this workshop are my Devil's Elbow Triplet, William Watson's Devil's Backbone, Luke Donforth's Devil Went Down To Georgia and (getting more tenuous) my St Hilda's Serpent and Luke Donforth's Leave Them Hanging.
Delphiniums and devilry
Flowy, duple minor devil’s elbow
A1: N alm L 1+1/2. Devil’s elbow (robins pass R).
A2: N meltdown swing.
B1: Larks half hey, robins ricochet. P swing.
B2: Circle L ¾. N alm R 1+1/2.
Devil's elbow is larks follow behind N, robins pass R with each other, R with P, loop R to where their P started the figure.
I think this has potential as an interesting contra for a standard intermediate dance, but I'm still figuring out how to teach the devil's elbow.
The Devil’s Chiropractor
Luke Donforth’s Devil’s Scoliosis with a different (but no less impractical) de-scrambling. Very challenging
6-face-6
A1: Lines FB. Corner swing. Keep connected to your corner, larks make two left-hand stars of three.
A2: Star promenade L 1 1/6. Active couples lead a devil’s elbow promenade.
B1: Robins star R 2 places while middle larks alm L ½. P star promenade ½ (end robins R, middle larks L), and middles an extra quarter.
B2: Middles pass thru with the end couple you’re facing. All P swing.
Colonnades
Waldorf Colonnade slip jig
I think colonnades work well to slip jigs, so a very slight re-writing of a Moose Flores and Devin J Pohly dance
Slip jig or 3:2 hornpipe
A1: Star R ¾. P alm R. 1s keep hands held.
A2: Colonnade (larks R, robins R, larks R, robins R).
B1: P meltdown swing.
B2: Chain. Square thru.
The sycamore tree
Progressive colonnades
4-face-4.
A1: Lines FB. Robins chain.
A2: Colonnade: Robins R. Larks R. Middle 4: Larks R. Robins R. Meanwhile ends P alm R. (Arches can go in only one direction)
B1: As A2.
B2: Robins pass R, P meltdown swing.
In workshops, this has worked well as a medley from a normal tune into a slipjig (if I've already done a slipjig colonnade to prepare everyone). You can also put it to a smooth ECD reel, and it makes I think a better modern ECD than it does a contra.
Ricochets
*Dances I wrote for a ricochet workshop (along with Orbital Collision). As a break from ricochets, I also included a slice-based medley including my dance The First Step Beyond and Yoyo Zhou's Pizza Shop; the other dances from that medley included below for lack of anywhere better to put them.
Colliderscope
From 4-face-4, make a ring of 8
A1: Into the middle and out, P rollaway. Into the middle and out, corner rollaway.
A2: Same corner balance and swing. Finish square.
B1: Intersecting ricochet heys (Robins star R halfway, pass L, 4 larks ricochet, 4 robins ricochet, 4 larks star R slightly more than halfway while robins finish their hey/orbit a bit).
B2: P balance and swing.
The 4-person ricochets are with a palm-to-palm ring of 4. I taught 4 robins chain, then intersecting hey, then intersecting ricochet hey.
Slice medley dance #2:
Becket
A1: Slice L. R/L thru.
A2: Slice L. Chain.
B1: Half hey (robins R). Look away from this 4, N swing.
B2: Circle ¾. P swing.
Slice medley dance #3:
Becket
A1: Slice L. Chain.
A2: Slice L. Chain.
B1: Balance and petronella, N swing.
B2: Balance and petronella, P swing.
Left-hand chain
I sometimes think about what would be different if modern contra had somehow arisen from first principles rather than from gendered dancing. I don’t think there’s actually that much, but swing > left-hand-chain > hey > meltdown swing would definitely be a common sequence.
Strange whole and new into simplicity
Alternate-universe Simplicity Swing
A1: N balance and swing.
A2: Larks L-hand chain. Half hey (larks L).
B1: P meltdown swing.
B2: Circle L ¾. Pass thru. New N dosido.
Whirlwind
There’s lots of Becket dances where the B2 partner swing is a culmination, this is an attempt at that for a neighbour swing
A1: Larks alm L 1 ½ (Robins shift R). P swing.
A2: Mad robin. Half hey (larks L)
B1: Larks left-hand chain. Half hey (larks L).
B2: N meltdown swing.
Mescolanza organza
Intersecting heys
From 4-face-4, hold hands in a ring and identify your diagonally opposite couple
A1: Into the middle and out, robins rolling P away with a ½ sashay. 4 robins left-hand chain.
A2: 4 robins pass L for intersecting diagonal half heys. N swing.
B1: 4 larks left-hand chain. 4 larks pass L for intersecting diagonal half heys.
B2: P meltdown swing.
Squantras and staggered progressions
Squantras (term coined by Lisa Heywood, Andrew Swaine and Grace Jackson) are dances in a line of squares; 1-dimensional grid squares; longways sets where the minor set is a square.
Staggered progression is my term for 4-face-4s or squantras where the end result of one time through the sequence is that either heads or sides have progressed to a new 8, and that original heads are now sides and vice versa.
I'm still in a very experimental phase with this formation, so this section contains some untested and frankly dubious dances, to give more examples. If you write a staggered progression dance and it works well, let me know.
Many of these dances have reverse progressions or worse—you cannot assume the progression will do anything intuitive.
The Unmixer
Probably the best introduction to the formation I’ve written
From squantra, sides chain
A1: Heads circle L ½. Heads pass thru 2 (R with opposite, then R with next to change squares, or with P at the ends). Corner dosido.
A2: R to corner, grand chain.
B1: Corner balance and swing.
B2: Into the middle and out. Swing the next.
The OXO tower
From squantra, sides chain.
A1: Sides f/b. Heads cross with your opposite. Sides R/L. Heads turn L and orbit ½.
A2: Sides R/L. Heads with next heads circle L (or P twirl on ends). Sides star L. Heads balance and pass thru.
B1: Corner balance and swing.
B2: Into the middle and out. Swing the next.
In the A parts, the sides are with the music, the head part is across the phrases.
Notes on further research into the anomaly (untested)
From squantra, sides chain
A1: Circle L ½. Heads turn alone and circle R, while sides R/L.
A2: Balance and petronella. Balance and petronella. Turn around.
B1: Corner balance and swing.
B2: Into the middle and out. Swing the next.
Named for Andrew Swaine’s Filing Anomaly.
After the B1 swing, the easiest way to figure out where the squares were might be for the sides to join hands with P?
Warp travel (untested)
Staggered squantra. Intersecting heys.
From squantra, heads chain. Squares should be aligned, but with a decent gap between them.
A1: Balance and swing your corner. Finish facing on the diagonal.
A2: Whole hey on the diagonal (robins pass R).
B1: Alm R 1+1/2 the next person round your square. 4 changes of a hey straight up and down/across (larks L). The up/down hey is one long hey all the way down the set (if you’re facing another square in the set, pass L with the person who’s facing you from that square).
B2: Meltdown swing the person you’re currently right-shoulders with. Finish facing into your current square.
Tablet weaving (untested)
A simplified regression of Warp Travel, written to build up to it
From squantra, heads chain.
A1: Balance and swing your corner. Finish facing on the diagonal.
A2: 4 robins chain across and lazy chain back (star R ½, corner alm L ¾).
B1: Alm R 1 ½ the next person round your square. Waves of 2 balance, box circulate.
B2: Waves of 2 balance, box circulate. Swing the person you're currently right-shoulders with. Finish facing into your current square.
Lucky 6 (untested)
From 4-face-4, the person on the right of each line runs around to join the other end of their own line, and the lines re-align.
A1: Face up/down. Balance R. Square thru. Middle 4 square thru (P R). Between sets, square thru.
A2: Corner balance R, 6 changes of a grand chain.
B1: Balance and swing the next.
B2: Balance and swing the next. (Sides finish with a slow twirl)
Have decent gaps between the sets; after the A1 try to end up in a square.
Other formations
Triassic Redheads
Sometimes at 1am you ask yourself “Would Jurassic Redheads work for a trio?”
Trio
A1: In your own long line, pass N R, L-shoulder with next N. Pass N R, L-shoulder with previous N (finish where you started).
A2: N alm R ½. Circulate one place round set of 6. Ends inside-hand P swing (do not swap sides). Middles symmetrical N swing; swap sides finishing on your home side facing your Ps.
B1: Middles and people on the right chain across and back (allemande L in the middle instead of courtesy turn). Finish where you started.
B2: People who chained pass R for 4 changes of a hey. Face direction of travel and dosido new N.
Apart from the obvious credit to Carol Ormand’s Jurassic Redheads, this dance is also inspired by Jacob Steel’s Triwizard Tournament and Andrew Swaine’s Magpies.
For the hey, count a change when people meet shoulder-to-shoulder.