Contra dances by Yoyo Zhou

Often, when we pull across by the right hand, if we hold on too long, it leads to ladies turning over their right shoulder, which is bad for e.g. a right and left thru. But in this dance, it's good flow for the ladies to keep turning right into the N swing.

Teaching notes:

• B2 needs to be zippy. After the star 3 places, we've come to original place.

The title refers to a physics joke about combining theory and practice, and it alludes to the broken heys in this dance.

Teaching notes:

• In the promenade across in A2, end facing the couple that was on the left diagonal.
• In the long lines in B2, be sure to face those neighbors you just swung. The hey is with them, but the new neighbors are on the right diagonal.
• Out of each ricochet hey, everyone is looking for someone outside the foursome they were doing the hey with.

For Chris Page, who enjoyed the working title "untitled mad robin gate dance".

Written as I was listening to Jaige Trudel's uplifting jig, Sunny Windows, in an airport with blinding sunlight, overlooking the Min Mountains in shadow.

For Kristin Seibert. In Scottish dancing, heys are called reels.

Teaching notes:

• Ask ladies to remember the lady they chained with; that is the one with whom they begin the second half hey by passing left.
• There's usually extra time; dancers may arrive a bit early for the B2 balance.

For Jim Saxe. The B1 is as in David Kaynor's Mary Cay's Reel, but left-handed, for the gents.

For Ruth Gorrin, for the "Yoyo writes you a dance" auction at American Week 2014. Notes:

• The starting formation has the 2s improper, rather than the 1s. From the ends, the lady should come in in front of the gent.
• The partner allemande right in A2 is any amount, but half or once around seems to fit the timing best. You and your partner can choose who does the allemande left and who does the orbit. But be careful; there is a temptation to take too long and be late to the next figure.
• The single file promenade to right shoulder turn is an elegant transition here.

Your next neighbor is next to you after the neighbor swing, but you meet on the other side. Cross over when waiting out at the ends (gents on the left, ladies on the right).

For Margaret Pigman. After the neighbor swing, note that N2 (next neighbor) is next to you. Gents don't go anywhere, but ladies are soon going to reach N2. The timing in A2 is tight.

Commissioned by Jim Van Velzer for his wife Diana.

Inspired by a discussion from Luke Donforth on teaching the ladies chain. There's a common chain - allemande right - swing sequence done with partners; less often, with neighbors. It's helpful to have the first ladies chain of an evening be with neighbors.

For a non-Becket version, have dancers start improper, swing their neighbor, and start the dance at B1.

To start the walkthru, have gents walk forward into a long wave.

Good Stuff

Named for Pure Ingredient Cafe at Google, close to the location of the Google contra.

Note the two consecutive do si dos add up to make an elongated do si do; there is no weaving.

This is suitable for one of the first dances of the evening, but the up the hall into gents allemande is suprising for experienced dancers. An alternative is to turn alone, come back, roll away the N lady, gents allemande.

So named because it was written on a Caltrain.

The star promenade to give-and-take transition was inspired by Lisa Gets Cozy. I wanted to find a way to star promenade without gents allemanding left 1+1/2, as they always do.

A recombination of Pedal Pushers, Harmony Supper Line, and Sweet Music. One of those dances that you're sure somebody has already written.

* To do a "thread the needle", the couple on the left makes an arch, and the rightmost person leads the way through the arch as the arch moves forward, keeping all hands connected. The line ends up in the same order but facing the opposite way. It's like a CA twirl, but with two extra people on the right.

Originally written a Dixie twirl, but it seems much easier with a thread-the-needle.

Three L's made this dance: Luke Donforth, who inspired it; Laurel Thomas, who called it; and Linda Leslie, who wanted to know what it was called.

This also came out of the ladies chain - allemande right - swing discussion, but it isn't the same level of easy teaching dance.

Invented and called at the Portuguese Hall in Newcastle.

Called at a larks and ravens session during Foggy Moon in Carmel.

Derivative Stuff

A left-right inverse of Fairport Harbor by Paul Balliet. There are several things to watch out for; one is that the first promenade is not the regular promenade direction. The scoop is also interesting: couples turn clockwise halfway to face backwards, then ladies turn over their right shoulder to face forwards again. Demos might help.

A variant of the Green-Eyed Girl by Jim Kitch, which seemed like it had a nice flowing signature figure without good flow around it. (If you call the Green-Eyed Girl, I'll suggest this as a replacement.) The right shoulder turn 1+1/2 is a Jim Kitch-esque forgery.

The B section is from Balance to my Lou by Becky Hill. This was my best attempt to add a neighbor swing. It's still a dance in which you don't see your partner as much as your shadow, though.

This is just a recombination of Linda Leslie's Winter Storm and Bob Isaacs's Early Evening Rollaway (itself a variant of Tom Hinds's Early Evening Jig). It goes to show that nothing really is original.

This is derived from a conversation with Lindsey Dono about her dance Mesmerize Me, but it has a new interesting B part. In B1, you come in from the ends crossed over (ladies on the left).

The hey is similar to Erik Weberg's Joyride (and Victor Skowronski's Companions). In teaching, after the progression to new neighbors, the ladies should take a step left (out of the set) to set up for the hey, which is really 5 passes (5/8 of a full hey).

I adapted parts of this from Lisa Sievert's Mood Ring, itself based on Sue Rosen's Mood Swings, with even more stealing from Joseph Pimentel's Flapjack Express. (Joseph calls the A1 figure a "traveling ..."). Although I wrote this down as a becket, it's easier to teach as an improper dance starting at A2, so that one knows one's direction of progression.

Named as an homage to the many "24th of" box circulate dances. Turns out to be most similar to The 24th, Once More by Tom Lehmann.

After basing this somewhat on Rollin' and Tumblin' by Cis Hinkle, I found it pretty similar to Mama Loo's Reel by Gene Hubert.

Complex Stuff

The inspiration for this dance comes from Carol Ormand's choreography workshop at American Week and Patrick Morris's Hallucination Jig. And arguably Dean Snipes's Our House. A possible alternative is to balance the waves a third time at B2, then walk forward to P swing.

Teaching notes:

• After the right and left thru, have gents identify the gent from the same minor set and ladies identify the next lady (on the right diagonal) as their allemande buddy. All of the succeeding allemandes are with that same buddy - gents by the left, ladies by the right.
• At A1, new neighbors may appear slightly on the right diagonal.
• Individuals progress separately at the ends. Be alert.

Named for the fruit we picked in Grass Valley and brought to the potluck table at Fall Has Sprung in 2012. Some inspiration from Sue Rosen's Apples and Chocolate.

Teaching notes:

• At B1, identify N2 (beyond N1). Step past N1, then rotate right 1/4 to face up/down and take left hands with N2.

The mirror hey has the gent 1/lady 2 column passing by the left, turning by the right shoulder, and the lady 1/gent 2 column passing by the right, turning by the left shoulder.

The ladies chain is to the neighbor that you eventually balance and swing. Notice that ladies follow their partners through the stars, and the stars are very short, so gents need to stay alert. When one isn't active in a star, one should just stay in place.

For Victoria Rose, commissioned from the CDSS auction by John Seto.

As with most 4 face 4s, you end up progressing to the diagonally opposite position. Identify this as where you'll eventually meet your partner.

Your neighbor is the one opposite you in the line of 4. After circling left 3/4, you're in a line of 4 across the set with neighbor (your partner is in the other line of 4); for teaching, take hands in this wave across to identify the end position for the hey (as well as the people to dance the hey with).

Radical Stuff

• The balance is a cross between a ring balance (4) and up-to-the-middle-and-back (8), 3 steps in, 3 steps out, but it's important to give weight for the petronella spin.
• A1 is ideally suited for 12, especially since the 1/2 hey is actually 3/8. It's just like the A part of Lisa Greenleaf's Gypsy Moon.

To identify next partners, after the star left, face your partner, then look to the person on the left diagonal.

As with scatter mixers of this sort, dancers want to make their circles absurdly big, which means the star left is rushed. Fortunately it really doesn't matter whom you end up with.

There are elements from both Jim Kitch's Green-Eyed Girl and Joseph Pimentel's Little Green Heron, but recast into 6 instead of 8. The pull by sequence in the A part can tend to end up on the diagonal, but it feels better to be straight across. The balance is in for 3, out for 3; during the out, ladies tug their partner to their side.

This dance takes inspiration from English country dance and square dance. The title alludes to both sets of dancers dancing the gent round two, lady cut thru in turn. (That figure ends with that gent and lady trading places with each other.)

"1/2 hey for 3 for 4" is a new figure based on the 1/2 hey for 3 from ECD (or 1/2 reel of 3 from SCD). In it, the 1s (2s) trace the path of a 1/2 figure 8 around their right diagonal corner, while the 2s (1s) pass that person by left shoulder, then pass partner by the right shoulder. 1s (2s) encounter a shadow from another couple but pass them by the right, so they don't really interact. Everyone ends in their partner's place.

This dance alternates between the 1s and 2s being active. The right diagonal corner is the 1st corner in the 1st hey and the 2nd corner in the 2nd hey, but it's easier to teach as just "your right diagonal corner".

For teaching, I suggest: have only the actives walk the 1/2 figure 8, then have them go back to place, then have everyone do the first 1/2 hey for 3 for 4, and then do the second 1/2 hey for 3 for 4.

Named for Sharon Green's house, where this dance was tested.

Experimental Stuff

Note the first pass thru to a wave begins with the lady on the left and gent on the right, so gents end up in the middle of the short wavy line.