Hi Rich,
Small numbers are common here, especially this winter. Here are some dances
that have worked well for me:
LONGWAYS - even cpls
DoSiThree - Linda Leslie (3 - 5 cpls)
Snowball - Martin Hayes (3 - 4 cpls)
Waves of Tory, or Ted's Dip & Dive (Triplet #3) - Ted Sanella (3 - 6
cpls)
Cumberland Reel (3 - 6 cpls)
Weave the Top (3-7 cpls) (variation of "Over the Top")
OXO dances (3-6 cpls) (single cpls use Hand Turns instead of
Circle/Star)
Microchase* (3 cpls) (easier version of Anne Fallon's Microchasmic)
MIXERS - even cpls
Lucky Six (3+ cpls) (Lucky Seven if 5, 7, or more cpls)
Two's Out (4+ cpls) (if 4 cpls works better if back to neighbor instead
of back to center) (my favorite of the many Easy Circle Mixers)
Cabot School Mixer (4+ cpls)
Sheehana's Reel* (3 - 4 cpls) (variation of Roger Whynot's Sheehan's
Reel) (a little crowded with 3 cpls but it works)
Three Track (3 cpl)* (variation of Three Stop which I miscalled but
dancers liked so kept it this way)
Two Track (3 cpl)* (simpler version of Three Track as some dancers got
disoriented with the turns) (many similar dances to these two)
OTHER and ODD Number
Gelding of the Devil (3 cpls, or 2 cpls plus one with ghost) (B variation with
4 cpls, or 3 cpls plus one and ghost -- F&B 2 x, cpls cross & cast as usual)
Sellengers Round (4+, easy to dance with a ghost)
Rufty Tufty (2 cpl) (not particularly easy but OK if the music isn't
too fast) (variation 3-4 cpl longways)
On-the-Fly-Circles* (2, 3, or 4 cpls plus 1, longways mixer) (came up
with this and the following one big snowstorm night when I had 5 and no dances
to suit. Decided to keep them.)
On-the-Fly-Stars* (2, 3, or 4 cpls plus 1, longways mixer)
Raatikko (any number cpls - I haven't done this with small numbers but
it works fine in a line as well as a circle so seems it would be good) (fun
Finnish folk dance)
The Carding (from Dudley Laufman's book) (Quad but easy to include an
extra couple or two or a single even) (Depends on how your folks are with
sashays, my current group have too many knee and hip replacements to enjoy this
one).
* I'll put the instructions in another post for those interested. Others all in
the archives or common.
Big cheers for the small dances!
Sue R. , U.P.M.
