Here's my program for last night: Big Circle hash (teaches folks to listen <G>) Sanita Hill (sicilian circle) Heads and Sides Ladies Chain -break- Lucky Seven Promenade mixer Heads Arch Kitchen Lancers -break- Virginia Reel into big circle/ball of yarn, etc.
Since private party dances are first and foremost a party, the breaks are longer than at other dances, and the dancing shorter. As I said, they were very happy folks. Note that the only swing I used was an arm swing, though I say "you can swing any way you want to." Here are the four squares: Heads and Sides Heads forward & Back Heads Do-si-do opposite Sides forward and back Sides do-si-do opposite Allemande left corner Do-si-do partner Promenade Ladies Chain (This is unusual, I would usually do Duck for the Oyster at this point in my ONS program, but last night was a great group of adults.) This is done as a quasi-singing call to Grumbling Old Man Growling Old Woman. The music is really, really important for these super simple dances. Head ladies chain over and back Side ladies chain over and back Do-si-do corner Swing corner Promenade to gent's home place Heads Arch - done to hot southern tune with Midwestern patter calling Head couples forward and back Heads forward make an arch Side ladies tunnel through, swing opposite gent Side ladies tunnel back, all swing partner Promenade (repeat with sides starting, then both again with gents tunneling) Kitchen Lancers - well phrased New Englandy tunes First couple promenade inside the square, face out Sides jump in behind the ones into lines. Forward & Back Slide right & left Lady one lead the line of ladies around the line of gents Gent one lead the line of gents around the line of ladies Face partner, lines go BACK and forward Swing partner home to place in square All forward & back twice And of course, half the fun is that the breaks are ad-libbed and no one knows what's coming (including me <G>.) That's why the figures are so simple. In Heads Arch, for instance, I actually used grand right and left because they had learned it in Lucky Seven Promenade. Of course it falls apart the first time I throw it at them in the square, but by that point in the evening they trust me (or I wouldn't be using it) and they know how to get home when they should. The second time I throw it at them, they get it and the "Hey, we did it!" factor is huge! Beth -----Original Message----- From: callers-boun...@sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-boun...@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Delia Clark Which squares did you do? I find that some of my squares fall apart as easily as duple minors with new dancers, but it may just be my calling :-) My stand-bys for less experienced dancers are: Simple Square, Cumberland Square 8 and Redwing. Can you recommend others?!
