Photo at LEAF by Forrest Oliphant

Appendix E

TWENTY CONTEMPORARY CONTRA DANCES

The following twenty dances were mentioned as active in the repertoires of my informants. Larry Jennings, compiler of Zesty Contras, has put these dances into a consistent notation for me. He explains his notation as follows:

The notation complies with [the] usual practice for contemporary dances: unless otherwise specified, instructions to partners apply to all partners, not just to the actives; "right and left through" and "ladies chain" are eight-count "half" figures, not the 16-count full figures assumed in some notation. A "shadow" is a dancer, other than your partner, with whom you interact in the same way, change after change. In general, for the dances given, the apportionment of the action into eight-count and four-count subphrases should be obvious and is not explicitly indicated. (Jennings 1992)

"Brimmer and May Reel" by Dan Pearl
Duple and improper

A1 Swing neighbor. Right and left through.
A2 Actives balance and swing.
B1 Go down four in line, actives in the center. Actives California twirl and give free (handy) hand to neighbor. Mirror allemande neighbor twice around.
B2 Go up as couples, actives leading, inactives improper; actives cast around the inactives, who continue well up and turn in, changing hands to face down. Circle left one-half and pass through along the set.

Pearl now prefers the following alternate version:

A1 Swing neighbor.
A2 Right and left through. Actives swing.

(Jennings 1983:38)1


 

"Centrifugal Hey" by Gene Hubert
Duple and improper

A1 Allemande right neighbor once-and-three-quarters. Men allemande left once-and-one-half.
A2 Hey, starting with partners passing right shoulders.
B1 Swing partner.
B2 Right and left through. Circle left three-quarters and pass through along the set.

(Hubert 1986:1)

"The First Fling of Fall" by Al Olson
Duple and improper

A1 Ladies chain along the set. Dosido partner (along).
A2 As a couple with your neighbor: dosido around the pair containing your partner,going once-and-one-half around. Turn to face partner.
B1 Balance and swing partner.
B2 Circle left once around. Allemande right partner three-quarters; women allemande left one-half and all face up and down, adjusting for the unusual extra separation from partner compared to the usual separation at the start of a ladies chain.

(Olson 1992:8)

 

"Jed's Reel" by Penn Fix
Duple and improper

A1 Dosido neighbor. Women dosido.
A2 Men: balance; dosido; allemande right once-and-one-half.
B1 Balance and swing partner.
B2 Half promenade. Circle left three-quarters and pass through along the set.

(Jennings 1983:51)


"Mary Cay's Reel" by David Kaynor
Becket formation

A1 Circle left three-quarters. Pass neighbor right shoulder (i.e., pass through along the set). Allemande left the next neighbor once around.
A2 Balance and swing the original neighbor.
B1 In long lines go forward and back. Women allemande right three-quarters to a new woman. Those new women allemande left three-quarters while the men slide left two short steps.
B2 Balance and swing partner.

(Word of mouth from David Kaynor)

 

"More for Your Neighbor" by Al Olson
Duple and improper

A1 Circle left once around. Allemande right neighbor once-and-one-half to long waves.
A2 Balance (to right and to left); slide right past neighbor. Balance in new wave (to left and to right); slide left past neighbor.
B1 Allemande right neighbor once around; three-quarter hey, starting with the men passing left shoulders.
B2 Swing partner. Ladies chain.

(Jennings 1983:56)

Olson now prefers a Becket formation alternate of Roger Diggle's:

A1 Shift left one position along the set to new couple. Circle left three-quarters. Allemande right that new neighbor once-and-one-half to long waves.
A2 As above.
B1 As above.
B2 Swing partner and face across.

 

"The Rendezvous" by Dan Pearl
Duple and improper

A1 Swing (same) neighbor.
A2 In long lines go forward and back. Women dosido once-and-one-half.
B1 Balance and swing partner.
B2 Circle left once around. Dropping handhold with those neighbors, couples shift left one position along the set; circle left three-quarters with new neighbors.

(Jennings 1983:61)


"The Reunion" by Gene Hubert
Becket formation; Double progression

A1 Ladies chain on the left diagonal. Ladies chain straight across to shadow.
A2 Hey with shadow and the pair across, starting with the women passing right shoulders. (Your partner is in another hey.)
B1 Balance and swing partner.
B2 With the couple now across (originally on the left diagonal), circle left three-quarters and pass through along the set. Circle right three-quarters with new couple.

(Hubert 1986:8)

 

"Roll in the Hey" by Roger Diggle
Duple and improper

A1 Circle left once around. Swing neighbor.
A2 Circle left three-quarters. Swing partner.
B1 In long lines go forward and back. Ladies chain.
B2 Hey, starting with women passing right shoulders.

(Word of mouth)

 

"Scout House Reel" by Ted Sannella
Duple and improper

A1 Go down four in line, actives in the center. Turn individually. Return and form a circle.
A2 Circle left once around. Ladies chain.
B1 Women dosido once-and-one-half. Swing neighbor.
B2 In long lines go forward and back. Actives swing and face down.

(Sannella 1982:108)

 

"Shades of Shadrack" by Gene Hubert
Duple and improper

A1 Balance and swing neighbor.
A2 Circle left once around. Dosido neighbor once-and-one-quarter to a wave across, men in the center, actives facing up.
B1 Balance. Men allemande left one-half. Swing partner.
B2 Right and left through. Ladies chain.

(Hubert 1986:18)

 


"Shadrack's Delight" by Tony Parkes
Duple and improper

A1 Dosido neighbor once-and-one-quarter to a wave across, women in the center, actives facing down. Balance. Allemande right neighbor one-half.
A2 Balance. Men allemande left one-half. Swing partner and face down.
B1 Go down four in line. Turn as couples. Return. Hand cast off.
B2 Right and left through. Ladies chain.

(Parkes 1988:36)

 

"Southern Swing" by Steve Zakon
Duple and improper

A1 Balance and swing neighbor.
A2 Ladies chain. Half hey, starting with the women passing right shoulders.
B1 Balance and swing partner.
B2 Women allemande right once around. Allemande left partner one-half. Men allemande right one-half. Allemande left neighbor once-and-three-quarters.

(Word of mouth)

 

"Summer of '84" by Gene Hubert and Steve Schnur
Duple and improper

A1 In long lines go forward and back. Men pass by right hands. Allemande left partner almost once around to a wave across, men in center, actives facing up.
A2 Balance. Advance to take a similar position in a different wave (with shadow and previous neighbor). Balance. Allemande left shadow.
B1 Balance and swing partner.
B2 Right and left through. Ladies chain.

Schnur now prefers this variation:

B2 Men turn halfway by the left, give right hand to neighbor, and balance and swing neighbor.

(Hubert 1986:22)


"Symmetrical Force" by Fred Feild
Duple and improper

A1 Mirror dosido neighbor, starting with actives moving to center. Allemande neighbor with handy hand, twice around.
A2 Actives swing.
B1 Go down four in line. Never letting go of hands, the actives back under their joined hands while the ends turn in to face up. As the foursome goes up in that cozy line, the inactives join their free hands behind the actives, make an arch, and pull that arch over the actives to form a four-leaf clover.
B2 Maintaining the four-leaf clover, "circle" left once around. Inactives again lift the arch and pull the actives through; actives unwind; inactives send the actives under the arch to next couple.

(Jennings 1983:66)

 

"The Third Time's the Charm" by Roger Diggle
Becket formation

A1 Star right once around. Allemande left shadow twice around.
A2 Right-hand balance partner; pull by partner; pull by neighbor across the set with left hand. Repeat that.
B1 Balance and swing partner.
B2 Circle left once around. Dosido neighbor (across the set) and shift left one position along the set to the next couple.

(Word of mouth)

 

"Triskaidekaphobia" by Kirston Koths
Duple and improper

A1 Balance and swing neighbor.
A2 Men allemande left once-and-one-half. Swing partner.
B1 Go down four in line. Never letting go of hands, the center pair back under their joined hands while the ends turn in to face up. As that cozy line goes up, the ends join free hands, make an arch, and pull it over the center pair.
B2 Maintaining that four-leaf clover, "circle" left once-and-one-quarter. Partners, using their already joined hands, California twirl and face in their direction of progression; pass through along.

(Word of mouth)


"Winter Wedding" by Steve Zakon
Duple and improper

A1 Allemande left neighbor once-and-one-half. Ladies chain.
A2 Women cross passing right shoulders; counterclockwise gypsy neighbor. Women allemande right once-and-one-half.
B1 Balance and swing partner.
B2 Circle left three-quarters. Swing neighbor.

(Word of mouth)

 

"With Thanks to the Dean" by Steve Zakon
Duple and improper; Double progression

A1 Allemande left neighbor once-and-one-half. Ladies chain.
A2 Women allemande right once around. Swing partner.
B1 Circle left once around. Dropping handhold with neighbors, shift left one position; circle left three-quarters with new neighbors.
B2 Dosido that new neighbor. Allemande right same neighbor once-and-one-half.

(Word of mouth)

 

"The Women's Wall" by Al Olson
Duple and proper

A1 Actives go down the outside, below two couples and meet in the center. Actives go up the center and cast off.
A2 Actives turn contra corners.
B1 Balance and swing the first contra corner turned in A2 and face the women's wall (the side of the hall faced by the men's line).
B2 Allemande left second contra corner three-quarters; actives balance partner. Actives swing and face up.

(Jennings 1983:72)


NOTE:

1Citations below the dance notations indicate my source for each dance. The specific wordings of the notations here are Larry Jennings', and may not correspond word for word with the source cited, although the dance sequences are identical.

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