[Callers] Variation or Original Composition - A Question of Semantics

[Isaac Banner via Callers]

Hey all,

A question I've been mulling over for several months now is where the line
blurs from "a variation of" to "a dance based on" to "a dance of my own"
when writing contras.

*For example:*
Last Hey (First Hey var.) - Paul Balliet and *maybe* Isaac Banner in a way?
Becket, CW
A1:  (8) Circle left 3/4
   (4) Rings balance
   (4) Pass through u/d
A2:  (8) Ladies alle. left 1.5x
   (4) Short waves balance
   (4) Partner alle. right 3/4
B1: (16) Ladies pass left, hey for 4
B2: (16) Partner balance/swing

In this case, I took First Hey, shifted it off by a phrase, and changed
what had then become the A2. I've called it at four or five dances out in
the northwest now, and I've waffled back and forth between calling it "a
variation of..." or "a dance of mine, based on..." and I'm still not sure
on which I want to use.

I'll admit I'm still fairly new to this list, but at least in the several
months I've been following conversations here it seems fairly regular that
I see someone put out a dance, asking if it exists, only to get several
responses of "Oh, yes, I wrote that but with 8/16/32 counts different." I
always feel like it must be exciting, in a way, to know that you and
another caller both put together the same ideas, but I also would guess
that it must be a little disheartening, in a way, to know that your
newfound baby isn't quite yours and yours alone...heck, Newton and Leibniz
both developed Calculus and 300 years later even that can't seem to be
settled.

Over the last few years I've heard callers talk about when they consider a
dance to be a unique sequence and the majority opinion seems to be if a
full phrase is unique between the two, but I'm not sure that's always a
hard and fast rule...

Anyways, I've been *very* curious what other people have to say on the
topic. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Isaac Banner
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Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Robert Green via Callers]

I put it in an English country dance to "Lisa, Lisa"' , a Tango vals by Larry 
Unger. The dance is A Lean Tango.

Easy enough to teach as " Hands across star, Ladies ( or gents) backing up.)

Sent from my iPad

> On Oct 2, 2017, at 2:17 PM, Dugan Murphy via Callers 
>  wrote:
> 
> Hi, Bill,
> 
> I'm pretty sure Cary Ravitz first developed the figure we call "gypsy star.." 
>  I know three of his dances which use the figure.  "Woven Waves" and "Gypsy 
> Star" were both written in May 1999.  "Gypsy Waves" was written in 2013.
> 
> I haven't seen it in many other dances.  Ryan Smith and I helped Stacey Lang 
> write a dance with the figure called "The Fault in Our Stars."  See 
> http://www.twirlyshirts.com/dances/by-ryan/the-fault-in-our-stars/
> 
> Dugan Murphy
> Portland, Maine
> dugan at duganmurphy.com
> www.DuganMurphy.com
> www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com
> www.NufSed.consulting
> 
>> On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 4:29 PM, Bill Olson  wrote:
>> Dugan and all, I don't know if Cary Ravitz actually "invented" the Gypsy 
>> Star but he wrote a dance entitled that and a lot of others that include it. 
>> Dugan, you're sort of Cary's protégé, right?, so you must know the dance. 
>> This is the same figure, correct??
>> 
>> 
>> bill
>> 
> 
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Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Dugan Murphy via Callers]

Hi, Bill,

I'm pretty sure Cary Ravitz first developed the figure we call "gypsy
star."  I know three of his dances which use the figure.  "Woven Waves" and
"Gypsy Star" were both written in May 1999.  "Gypsy Waves" was written in
2013.

I haven't seen it in many other dances.  Ryan Smith and I helped Stacey
Lang write a dance with the figure called "The Fault in Our Stars."  See
http://www.twirlyshirts.com/dances/by-ryan/the-fault-in-our-stars/

Dugan Murphy
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy.com
www.DuganMurphy.com
www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com
www.NufSed.consulting

On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 4:29 PM, Bill Olson  wrote:

> Dugan and all, I don't know if Cary Ravitz actually "invented" the Gypsy
> Star but he wrote a dance entitled that and a lot of others that include
> it. Dugan, you're sort of Cary's protégé, right?, so you must know the
> dance. This is the same figure, correct??
>
>
> bill
>
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Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Angela DeCarlis via Callers]

I'm pretty happy with the choreography, generally.  I think adding a Gents'
chain would serve to make the dance less accessible, and that wasn't my
goal in writing it.

I recently picked up a dance by Don Veino that has an English figure in it,
too. I think the figure is called Hole in the Wall? That's another figure
I'd love to see plopped into more contra choreography for easy/intermediate
dances!

On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 6:34 PM, Alexandra Deis-Lauby 
wrote:

> If you find experienced folks do those moves faster, you could swap the
> ladies chain/dosido for a gents chain and do si do and make the facing star
> 1 1/4. I think that would make it clockwise becket.  Amble on west?
>
> Thanks for working to fix that problem. I often wish my box had dances
> with a pousette, or a ricochet, or a mad robin that had no other non-survey
> figure and also had some built in recovery time.
>
> Alex
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Oct 2, 2017, at 5:50 PM, Angela DeCarlis via Callers <
> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Thanks all! I have a video uploading to YouTube now of the dance's debut
> from last night, I'll post it here when it's done. You'll see that the
> dancers are using up the music for both the poussette and the star, at
> least in this crowd. Maybe it would be different for other (more advanced?)
> crowds, but I encouraged everyone to take their time, and it seemed to work
> out pretty well!
>
> While I like the dance of Ryan's, Maia, a big part of why I wrote this
> dance was because I was struggling to find a contra dance that included a
> pousette and *didn't* included any challenging figures (mad robins,
> ricochet hey, etc). I thought about including a walk-around before the
> partner swing, but the connection is already there, so I decided to just go
> old-school and let the dancers swing their partners for the full 16 beats.
>
> Angela
>
> On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:36 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers <
> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> Your dance doesn't look familiar to me (for whatever that's
>> worth)--though I agree with Dugan's point that experienced dancers will
>> take fewer that 8 counts to do that pousette and fewer than 8 counts to
>> turn the star 3/4 (probably a lot fewer!), so it will potentially be a
>> very, very long swing. If you care, you could potentially get around that
>> by doing a walk-around and swing to eat up that extra time. Or just leave
>> it and let the dancers sort it out!
>>
>> Agreeing with Dugan yet again, I've been calling that figure a "facing
>> star", which seems to work well and be descriptive.
>>
>> And if you're itching for a dance with pousettes and facing stars, I
>> premiered this one of Ryan Carollo's at YDW this weekend and folks seemed
>> to dig it:
>>
>> *Trip to Saratoga** by Ryan Carollo* || improper
>>
>> *A1:* half pousette w/ P (gents pull)
>> facing star 1¼ (gents fwd)
>>
>> *A2:* P walk-around & swing
>>
>> *B1:* half hey (gents by L), ladies ricochet
>> N swing
>>
>> *B2:* long lines & gents roll N
>> half pousette w/ P (ladies lead)
>>
>> Ladies be proactive to catch P's hand in B2. B2 pousette should be
>> leisurely or ppl arrive at A1 early.
>>
>> On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:09 PM, Bill Olson via Callers <
>> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Mac, Well "Gypsy Star" and "Gypsy Waves" are two other Ravitz dances
>>> that have the interwoven long wavy lines and the "Gypsy Star", not sure if
>>> there are more. Probably.. But as long as you brought it up, the problem I
>>> found that most dancers had with the figures was NOT the Gypsy Star but
>>> rather the woven waves which, to many, were a little too "intimate" for
>>> comfort..  Just my observation from admittedly a pretty small sample..
>>>
>>>
>>> bill
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> *From:* Callers  on behalf of
>>> Mac Mckeever via Callers 
>>> *Sent:* Monday, October 2, 2017 8:53 PM
>>> *To:* Dugan Murphy; callers
>>>
>>> *Subject:* Re: [Callers] New Dance?
>>>
>>> Cary's dance is Woven Waves.  I really liked it and called it several
>>> times - and I hav also danced it on several occasions
>>>
>>> I stopped calling it because I was not getting good feedback on the star
>>> figure from the dancers.
>>>
>>> Mac McKeever
>>>
>>> St Louis
>>>
>>>
>>> On Monday, October 2, 2017, 3:30:07 PM CDT, Bill Olson via Callers <
>>> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Dugan and all, I don't know if Cary Ravitz actually "invented" the Gypsy
>>> Star but he wrote a dance entitled that and a lot of others that include
>>> it. Dugan, you're sort of Cary's protégé, right?, so you must know the
>>> dance. This is the same figure, correct??
>>>
>>>
>>> bill
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> *From:* Callers  on behalf of
>>> Dugan Murphy via Callers 
>>> *Sent:* Monday, 

Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Alexandra Deis-Lauby via Callers]

If you find experienced folks do those moves faster, you could swap the ladies 
chain/dosido for a gents chain and do si do and make the facing star 1 1/4. I 
think that would make it clockwise becket.  Amble on west?

Thanks for working to fix that problem. I often wish my box had dances with a 
pousette, or a ricochet, or a mad robin that had no other non-survey figure and 
also had some built in recovery time. 

Alex

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 2, 2017, at 5:50 PM, Angela DeCarlis via Callers 
>  wrote:
> 
> Thanks all! I have a video uploading to YouTube now of the dance's debut from 
> last night, I'll post it here when it's done. You'll see that the dancers are 
> using up the music for both the poussette and the star, at least in this 
> crowd. Maybe it would be different for other (more advanced?) crowds, but I 
> encouraged everyone to take their time, and it seemed to work out pretty well!
> 
> While I like the dance of Ryan's, Maia, a big part of why I wrote this dance 
> was because I was struggling to find a contra dance that included a pousette 
> and *didn't* included any challenging figures (mad robins, ricochet hey, 
> etc). I thought about including a walk-around before the partner swing, but 
> the connection is already there, so I decided to just go old-school and let 
> the dancers swing their partners for the full 16 beats.
> 
> Angela
> 
>> On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:36 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers 
>>  wrote:
>> Your dance doesn't look familiar to me (for whatever that's worth)--though I 
>> agree with Dugan's point that experienced dancers will take fewer that 8 
>> counts to do that pousette and fewer than 8 counts to turn the star 3/4 
>> (probably a lot fewer!), so it will potentially be a very, very long swing. 
>> If you care, you could potentially get around that by doing a walk-around 
>> and swing to eat up that extra time. Or just leave it and let the dancers 
>> sort it out!
>> 
>> Agreeing with Dugan yet again, I've been calling that figure a "facing 
>> star", which seems to work well and be descriptive.
>> 
>> And if you're itching for a dance with pousettes and facing stars, I 
>> premiered this one of Ryan Carollo's at YDW this weekend and folks seemed to 
>> dig it:
>> Trip to Saratoga by Ryan Carollo || improper
>> A1: half pousette w/ P (gents pull)
>> facing star 1¼ (gents fwd)
>> A2: P walk-around & swing
>> B1: half hey (gents by L), ladies ricochet
>> N swing
>> B2: long lines & gents roll N
>> half pousette w/ P (ladies lead)
>> Ladies be proactive to catch P's hand in B2. B2 pousette should be leisurely 
>> or ppl arrive at A1 early.
>> 
>>> On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:09 PM, Bill Olson via Callers 
>>>  wrote:
>>> Mac, Well "Gypsy Star" and "Gypsy Waves" are two other Ravitz dances that 
>>> have the interwoven long wavy lines and the "Gypsy Star", not sure if there 
>>> are more. Probably.. But as long as you brought it up, the problem I found 
>>> that most dancers had with the figures was NOT the Gypsy Star but rather 
>>> the woven waves which, to many, were a little too "intimate" for comfort..  
>>> Just my observation from admittedly a pretty small sample..
>>> 
>>> 
>>> bill
>>> 
>>> 
>>> From: Callers  on behalf of Mac 
>>> Mckeever via Callers 
>>> Sent: Monday, October 2, 2017 8:53 PM
>>> To: Dugan Murphy; callers
>>> 
>>> Subject: Re: [Callers] New Dance?
>>>  
>>> Cary's dance is Woven Waves.  I really liked it and called it several times 
>>> - and I hav also danced it on several occasions
>>> 
>>> I stopped calling it because I was not getting good feedback on the star 
>>> figure from the dancers.
>>> 
>>> Mac McKeever
>>> 
>>> St Louis
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Monday, October 2, 2017, 3:30:07 PM CDT, Bill Olson via Callers 
>>>  wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Dugan and all, I don't know if Cary Ravitz actually "invented" the Gypsy 
>>> Star but he wrote a dance entitled that and a lot of others that include 
>>> it. Dugan, you're sort of Cary's protégé, right?, so you must know the 
>>> dance. This is the same figure, correct??
>>> 
>>> 
>>> bill
>>> 
>>> 
>>> From: Callers  on behalf of Dugan 
>>> Murphy via Callers 
>>> Sent: Monday, October 2, 2017 8:16 PM
>>> To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
>>> Subject: Re: [Callers] New Dance?
>>>  
>>> Hi, Angela,
>>> 
>>> I've been calling the figure a "facing star," when I bother naming it at 
>>> all while teaching or prompting it.
>>> 
>>> Also, nice dance, though I suspect that since experienced dancers tend to 
>>> take fewer than eight beats to do half poussettes and 3/4 stars, I suspect 
>>> that dancers may end up swinging for as many as 20 beats.
>>> 
>>> Dugan Murphy
>>> Portland, Maine
>>> dugan at duganmurphy.com
>>> 
>>> DUGAN MURPHY

Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Angela DeCarlis via Callers]

And here's the video!

You'll see that several dancers have "too much" time during the swing, but
also that everyone is starting the swing right on the B2, not earlier. Most
dancers are enjoying the swing for the full 16 beats, several stop
automatically after they've swung for 12.

Another note: this is at BIDA, where we've recently switched to the terms
Larks and Ravens.  The difference between who was dancing in which role
before the switch and a few months after is absolutely astounding to me
(and so wonderful!), though if you're not used to analyzing choreography
from a gender-free video, it could look a bit baffling! Just know that
there are many folks dancing in roles which don't align with the
traditional Gents and Ladies.

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/3br0WlZGyq0

On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:50 PM, Angela DeCarlis 
wrote:

> Thanks all! I have a video uploading to YouTube now of the dance's debut
> from last night, I'll post it here when it's done. You'll see that the
> dancers are using up the music for both the poussette and the star, at
> least in this crowd. Maybe it would be different for other (more advanced?)
> crowds, but I encouraged everyone to take their time, and it seemed to work
> out pretty well!
>
> While I like the dance of Ryan's, Maia, a big part of why I wrote this
> dance was because I was struggling to find a contra dance that included a
> pousette and *didn't* included any challenging figures (mad robins,
> ricochet hey, etc). I thought about including a walk-around before the
> partner swing, but the connection is already there, so I decided to just go
> old-school and let the dancers swing their partners for the full 16 beats.
>
> Angela
>
> On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:36 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers <
> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> Your dance doesn't look familiar to me (for whatever that's
>> worth)--though I agree with Dugan's point that experienced dancers will
>> take fewer that 8 counts to do that pousette and fewer than 8 counts to
>> turn the star 3/4 (probably a lot fewer!), so it will potentially be a
>> very, very long swing. If you care, you could potentially get around that
>> by doing a walk-around and swing to eat up that extra time. Or just leave
>> it and let the dancers sort it out!
>>
>> Agreeing with Dugan yet again, I've been calling that figure a "facing
>> star", which seems to work well and be descriptive.
>>
>> And if you're itching for a dance with pousettes and facing stars, I
>> premiered this one of Ryan Carollo's at YDW this weekend and folks seemed
>> to dig it:
>>
>> *Trip to Saratoga** by Ryan Carollo* || improper
>>
>> *A1:* half pousette w/ P (gents pull)
>> facing star 1¼ (gents fwd)
>>
>> *A2:* P walk-around & swing
>>
>> *B1:* half hey (gents by L), ladies ricochet
>> N swing
>>
>> *B2:* long lines & gents roll N
>> half pousette w/ P (ladies lead)
>>
>> Ladies be proactive to catch P's hand in B2. B2 pousette should be
>> leisurely or ppl arrive at A1 early.
>>
>> On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:09 PM, Bill Olson via Callers <
>> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Mac, Well "Gypsy Star" and "Gypsy Waves" are two other Ravitz dances
>>> that have the interwoven long wavy lines and the "Gypsy Star", not sure if
>>> there are more. Probably.. But as long as you brought it up, the problem I
>>> found that most dancers had with the figures was NOT the Gypsy Star but
>>> rather the woven waves which, to many, were a little too "intimate" for
>>> comfort..  Just my observation from admittedly a pretty small sample..
>>>
>>>
>>> bill
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> *From:* Callers  on behalf of
>>> Mac Mckeever via Callers 
>>> *Sent:* Monday, October 2, 2017 8:53 PM
>>> *To:* Dugan Murphy; callers
>>>
>>> *Subject:* Re: [Callers] New Dance?
>>>
>>> Cary's dance is Woven Waves.  I really liked it and called it several
>>> times - and I hav also danced it on several occasions
>>>
>>> I stopped calling it because I was not getting good feedback on the star
>>> figure from the dancers.
>>>
>>> Mac McKeever
>>>
>>> St Louis
>>>
>>>
>>> On Monday, October 2, 2017, 3:30:07 PM CDT, Bill Olson via Callers <
>>> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Dugan and all, I don't know if Cary Ravitz actually "invented" the Gypsy
>>> Star but he wrote a dance entitled that and a lot of others that include
>>> it. Dugan, you're sort of Cary's protégé, right?, so you must know the
>>> dance. This is the same figure, correct??
>>>
>>>
>>> bill
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> *From:* Callers  on behalf of
>>> Dugan Murphy via Callers 
>>> *Sent:* Monday, October 2, 2017 8:16 PM
>>> *To:* callers@lists.sharedweight.net
>>> *Subject:* Re: [Callers] New Dance?
>>>
>>> Hi, Angela,
>>>
>>> I've been calling the figure a "facing star," when I bother 

Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Angela DeCarlis via Callers]

Thanks all! I have a video uploading to YouTube now of the dance's debut
from last night, I'll post it here when it's done. You'll see that the
dancers are using up the music for both the poussette and the star, at
least in this crowd. Maybe it would be different for other (more advanced?)
crowds, but I encouraged everyone to take their time, and it seemed to work
out pretty well!

While I like the dance of Ryan's, Maia, a big part of why I wrote this
dance was because I was struggling to find a contra dance that included a
pousette and *didn't* included any challenging figures (mad robins,
ricochet hey, etc). I thought about including a walk-around before the
partner swing, but the connection is already there, so I decided to just go
old-school and let the dancers swing their partners for the full 16 beats.

Angela

On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:36 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers <
callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Your dance doesn't look familiar to me (for whatever that's worth)--though
> I agree with Dugan's point that experienced dancers will take fewer that 8
> counts to do that pousette and fewer than 8 counts to turn the star 3/4
> (probably a lot fewer!), so it will potentially be a very, very long swing.
> If you care, you could potentially get around that by doing a walk-around
> and swing to eat up that extra time. Or just leave it and let the dancers
> sort it out!
>
> Agreeing with Dugan yet again, I've been calling that figure a "facing
> star", which seems to work well and be descriptive.
>
> And if you're itching for a dance with pousettes and facing stars, I
> premiered this one of Ryan Carollo's at YDW this weekend and folks seemed
> to dig it:
>
> *Trip to Saratoga** by Ryan Carollo* || improper
>
> *A1:* half pousette w/ P (gents pull)
> facing star 1¼ (gents fwd)
>
> *A2:* P walk-around & swing
>
> *B1:* half hey (gents by L), ladies ricochet
> N swing
>
> *B2:* long lines & gents roll N
> half pousette w/ P (ladies lead)
>
> Ladies be proactive to catch P's hand in B2. B2 pousette should be
> leisurely or ppl arrive at A1 early.
>
> On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:09 PM, Bill Olson via Callers <
> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> Mac, Well "Gypsy Star" and "Gypsy Waves" are two other Ravitz dances that
>> have the interwoven long wavy lines and the "Gypsy Star", not sure if there
>> are more. Probably.. But as long as you brought it up, the problem I found
>> that most dancers had with the figures was NOT the Gypsy Star but rather
>> the woven waves which, to many, were a little too "intimate" for comfort..
>> Just my observation from admittedly a pretty small sample..
>>
>>
>> bill
>>
>>
>> --
>> *From:* Callers  on behalf of
>> Mac Mckeever via Callers 
>> *Sent:* Monday, October 2, 2017 8:53 PM
>> *To:* Dugan Murphy; callers
>>
>> *Subject:* Re: [Callers] New Dance?
>>
>> Cary's dance is Woven Waves.  I really liked it and called it several
>> times - and I hav also danced it on several occasions
>>
>> I stopped calling it because I was not getting good feedback on the star
>> figure from the dancers.
>>
>> Mac McKeever
>>
>> St Louis
>>
>>
>> On Monday, October 2, 2017, 3:30:07 PM CDT, Bill Olson via Callers <
>> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Dugan and all, I don't know if Cary Ravitz actually "invented" the Gypsy
>> Star but he wrote a dance entitled that and a lot of others that include
>> it. Dugan, you're sort of Cary's protégé, right?, so you must know the
>> dance. This is the same figure, correct??
>>
>>
>> bill
>>
>>
>> --
>> *From:* Callers  on behalf of
>> Dugan Murphy via Callers 
>> *Sent:* Monday, October 2, 2017 8:16 PM
>> *To:* callers@lists.sharedweight.net
>> *Subject:* Re: [Callers] New Dance?
>>
>> Hi, Angela,
>>
>> I've been calling the figure a "facing star," when I bother naming it at
>> all while teaching or prompting it.
>>
>> Also, nice dance, though I suspect that since experienced dancers tend to
>> take fewer than eight beats to do half poussettes and 3/4 stars, I suspect
>> that dancers may end up swinging for as many as 20 beats.
>>
>> Dugan Murphy
>> Portland, Maine
>> dugan at duganmurphy.com
>>
>> 
>> DUGAN MURPHY 
>> duganmurphy.com
>> Dugan Murphy is a nationally known contra dance caller, co-organizer of
>> Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine Storyteller, and a non-profit
>> consultant. He's based in ...
>>
>>
>> 
>> DUGAN MURPHY 
>> duganmurphy.com
>> Dugan Murphy is a nationally known contra dance caller, co-organizer of
>> Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine Storyteller, and a non-profit
>> consultant. He's based in ...
>>
>>
>>
>> www.DuganMurphy.com
>>
>> 
>> DUGAN MURPHY 

[Callers] a (new) Gypsy Star dance

[Bill Olson via Callers]

OK then... Here's a gypsy star dance where the star doesn't start in interwoven 
long waves. From a dance choreography workshop. Been waiting for me to wrap my 
brain around it and publish it for a year and a half now.. It actually works 
and is easier to dance than it might appear at first glance. It has a figure 
that Peter Johnson had dreamed up and had been sitting on for a while.. Guess 
then *I* sat on it. Not sure if anyone else of the authors published it any 
where. If so, I didn't see it..  - bill


Stellar Gypsy   Becket


by: Bill Olson, Peter Johnson, Riley Geistman, Sam Smith, Ray Jantzen, Laura 
Garchar, Patricia Danscen, Anthony Risenhoover, Peter Koza, Tina Fields, Hamish 
?


A1 promenade 3/4*, Swing new N (on ladies' home side)

A2 1/2 R, W 1/2 chain (to partner)

B1 LLF, Arch to Gypsy Star** (facing partner, move Star 1/2 way)

B2 Gypsy and Sw Partner (on home side)


*Promenade 3/4 is just continuing a normal promenade another 1/4 position so 
dancers are across from partner


**Arch to Gypsy Star (concept was presented by Peter Johnson): Make Arch, walk 
forward, Ladies walk through arches.. when hands are all together, women take 
Left hands across and Men take Right hands across to form the Gypsy Star 
(women's hands under, men's hand over). Looking partner in the eye women sort 
of "draw" the men half way around the star. (the women are actually doing a do 
sa do pattern with each other here)


written at a dance choreography workshop at Stellar Days and Nights dance 
weekend in Colorado, Feb 2016

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Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Maia McCormick via Callers]

Your dance doesn't look familiar to me (for whatever that's worth)--though
I agree with Dugan's point that experienced dancers will take fewer that 8
counts to do that pousette and fewer than 8 counts to turn the star 3/4
(probably a lot fewer!), so it will potentially be a very, very long swing.
If you care, you could potentially get around that by doing a walk-around
and swing to eat up that extra time. Or just leave it and let the dancers
sort it out!

Agreeing with Dugan yet again, I've been calling that figure a "facing
star", which seems to work well and be descriptive.

And if you're itching for a dance with pousettes and facing stars, I
premiered this one of Ryan Carollo's at YDW this weekend and folks seemed
to dig it:

*Trip to Saratoga** by Ryan Carollo* || improper

*A1:* half pousette w/ P (gents pull)
facing star 1¼ (gents fwd)

*A2:* P walk-around & swing

*B1:* half hey (gents by L), ladies ricochet
N swing

*B2:* long lines & gents roll N
half pousette w/ P (ladies lead)

Ladies be proactive to catch P's hand in B2. B2 pousette should be
leisurely or ppl arrive at A1 early.

On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:09 PM, Bill Olson via Callers <
callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Mac, Well "Gypsy Star" and "Gypsy Waves" are two other Ravitz dances that
> have the interwoven long wavy lines and the "Gypsy Star", not sure if there
> are more. Probably.. But as long as you brought it up, the problem I found
> that most dancers had with the figures was NOT the Gypsy Star but rather
> the woven waves which, to many, were a little too "intimate" for comfort..
> Just my observation from admittedly a pretty small sample..
>
>
> bill
>
>
> --
> *From:* Callers  on behalf of Mac
> Mckeever via Callers 
> *Sent:* Monday, October 2, 2017 8:53 PM
> *To:* Dugan Murphy; callers
>
> *Subject:* Re: [Callers] New Dance?
>
> Cary's dance is Woven Waves.  I really liked it and called it several
> times - and I hav also danced it on several occasions
>
> I stopped calling it because I was not getting good feedback on the star
> figure from the dancers.
>
> Mac McKeever
>
> St Louis
>
>
> On Monday, October 2, 2017, 3:30:07 PM CDT, Bill Olson via Callers <
> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>
> Dugan and all, I don't know if Cary Ravitz actually "invented" the Gypsy
> Star but he wrote a dance entitled that and a lot of others that include
> it. Dugan, you're sort of Cary's protégé, right?, so you must know the
> dance. This is the same figure, correct??
>
>
> bill
>
>
> --
> *From:* Callers  on behalf of
> Dugan Murphy via Callers 
> *Sent:* Monday, October 2, 2017 8:16 PM
> *To:* callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> *Subject:* Re: [Callers] New Dance?
>
> Hi, Angela,
>
> I've been calling the figure a "facing star," when I bother naming it at
> all while teaching or prompting it.
>
> Also, nice dance, though I suspect that since experienced dancers tend to
> take fewer than eight beats to do half poussettes and 3/4 stars, I suspect
> that dancers may end up swinging for as many as 20 beats.
>
> Dugan Murphy
> Portland, Maine
> dugan at duganmurphy.com
>
> 
> DUGAN MURPHY 
> duganmurphy.com
> Dugan Murphy is a nationally known contra dance caller, co-organizer of
> Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine Storyteller, and a non-profit
> consultant. He's based in ...
>
>
> 
> DUGAN MURPHY 
> duganmurphy.com
> Dugan Murphy is a nationally known contra dance caller, co-organizer of
> Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine Storyteller, and a non-profit
> consultant. He's based in ...
>
>
>
> www.DuganMurphy.com
>
> 
> DUGAN MURPHY 
> www.duganmurphy.com
> Dugan Murphy is a nationally known contra dance caller, co-organizer of
> Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine Storyteller, and a non-profit
> consultant. He's based in ...
>
>
> www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com
>
> 
> Portland Intown Contra Dance 
> www.portlandintowncontradance.com
> Portland Intown Contra Dance is a weekly Thursday contra dance to live
> music in town Portland, Maine that is delightful, welcoming to all humans,
> and a heck of a lot ...
>
>
> www.NufSed.consulting
>
> 
> NUF SED 
> www.nufsed.consulting
> Nuf Sed is a Portland, Maine based communications & consulting boutique.
> We offer services like branding, marketing, public relations, online
> communications ...
>
>
>
>
> Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2017 14:03:37 -0400
> From: Angela DeCarlis 
> To: callers  >
> Subject: 

Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Mac Mckeever via Callers]

Cary's dance is Woven Waves.  I really liked it and called it several times - 
and I hav also danced it on several occasions
I stopped calling it because I was not getting good feedback on the star figure 
from the dancers.
Mac McKeever
St Louis
 

On Monday, October 2, 2017, 3:30:07 PM CDT, Bill Olson via Callers 
 wrote:  
 
 
Dugan and all, I don't know if Cary Ravitz actually "invented" the Gypsy Star 
but he wrote a dance entitled that and a lot of others that include it. Dugan, 
you're sort of Cary's protégé, right?, so you must know the dance. This is the 
same figure, correct??




bill



From: Callers  on behalf of Dugan 
Murphy via Callers 
Sent: Monday, October 2, 2017 8:16 PM
To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] New Dance? Hi, Angela,
I've been calling the figure a "facing star," when I bother naming it at all 
while teaching or prompting it.

Also, nice dance, though I suspect that since experienced dancers tend to take 
fewer than eight beats to do half poussettes and 3/4 stars, I suspect that 
dancers may end up swinging for as many as 20 beats.
Dugan MurphyPortland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy.com


|  | DUGAN MURPHYduganmurphy.comDugan Murphy is a nationally known contra dance 
caller, co-organizer of Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine Storyteller, and 
a non-profit consultant. He's based in ... |





www.DuganMurphy.com


|  | DUGAN MURPHYwww.duganmurphy.comDugan Murphy is a nationally known contra 
dance caller, co-organizer of Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine 
Storyteller, and a non-profit consultant. He's based in ... |




www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com


|  | Portland Intown Contra Dancewww.portlandintowncontradance.comPortland 
Intown Contra Dance is a weekly Thursday contra dance to live music in town 
Portland, Maine that is delightful, welcoming to all humans, and a heck of a 
lot ... |




www.NufSed.consulting


|  | NUF SEDwww.nufsed.consultingNuf Sed is a Portland, Maine based 
communications & consulting boutique. We offer services like branding, 
marketing, public relations, online communications ... |







Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2017 14:03:37 -0400
From: Angela DeCarlis 
To: callers 
Subject: [Callers] New Dance?
Message-ID:
        
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hey y'all!

After a lovely weekend of both Contra and English at Youth Dance Weekend, I
had an itch for programming some English-inspired choreography at BIDA last
night. Since I didn't have a dance with the figures I wanted, I whipped one
together on the drive home, tested it in the driveway, and debuted it last
night. Success!

Now the question, of course, is whether or not someone already wrote it!

-===-

Amble On East
Becket CCW

A1: Long Lines Forward & Back
      Ladies Chain Across (to Neighbor)
A2: Ladies Dosido 1x
      Neighbor Swing
B1: Give & Take, Gents draw Partner into 1/2 Poussette CCW
      With NEXT, Gypsy Star* 3/4 (Ladies backing up)
B2: Partner (Long) Swing

-===-

*Do we have a new name for this figure yet? I called it Gypsy Star in the
walkthrough once or twice before realizing I should maybe figure something
else out, and the phrase "Special Star" actually escaped my mouth, to the
absolute delight of some of the dancers.  During the dance itself, I just
called "Star."
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Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
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Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/

Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Bill Olson via Callers]

Dugan and all, I don't know if Cary Ravitz actually "invented" the Gypsy Star 
but he wrote a dance entitled that and a lot of others that include it. Dugan, 
you're sort of Cary's protégé, right?, so you must know the dance. This is the 
same figure, correct??


bill



From: Callers  on behalf of Dugan 
Murphy via Callers 
Sent: Monday, October 2, 2017 8:16 PM
To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] New Dance?

Hi, Angela,

I've been calling the figure a "facing star," when I bother naming it at all 
while teaching or prompting it.

Also, nice dance, though I suspect that since experienced dancers tend to take 
fewer than eight beats to do half poussettes and 3/4 stars, I suspect that 
dancers may end up swinging for as many as 20 beats.

Dugan Murphy
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy.com

[http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5704775b40261d846362291c/t/58768185e3df289e722ccf3b/1484161417591/Dugan+at+Flurry+72dpi.jpg?format=1000w]

DUGAN MURPHY
duganmurphy.com
Dugan Murphy is a nationally known contra dance caller, co-organizer of 
Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine Storyteller, and a non-profit consultant. 
He's based in ...



www.DuganMurphy.com

[http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5704775b40261d846362291c/t/58768185e3df289e722ccf3b/1484161417591/Dugan+at+Flurry+72dpi.jpg?format=1000w]

DUGAN MURPHY
www.duganmurphy.com
Dugan Murphy is a nationally known contra dance caller, co-organizer of 
Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine Storyteller, and a non-profit consultant. 
He's based in ...


www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com

[http://static1.squarespace.com/static/56fd74b4f8baf36325fc0a8b/t/5880e5c1893fc0b8b8ba4188/1484842435392/PICDcalendaricon.png?format=1000w]

Portland Intown Contra Dance
www.portlandintowncontradance.com
Portland Intown Contra Dance is a weekly Thursday contra dance to live music in 
town Portland, Maine that is delightful, welcoming to all humans, and a heck of 
a lot ...


www.NufSed.consulting

[http://static1.squarespace.com/static/556761a4e4b0d2240a3cb56a/t/5588b94ae4b087a1e0945a74/1435023719006/NUF+SED+Fb+Icon.png?format=1000w]

NUF SED
www.nufsed.consulting
Nuf Sed is a Portland, Maine based communications & consulting boutique. We 
offer services like branding, marketing, public relations, online 
communications ...




Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2017 14:03:37 -0400
From: Angela DeCarlis >
To: callers 
>
Subject: [Callers] New Dance?
Message-ID:

>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hey y'all!

After a lovely weekend of both Contra and English at Youth Dance Weekend, I
had an itch for programming some English-inspired choreography at BIDA last
night. Since I didn't have a dance with the figures I wanted, I whipped one
together on the drive home, tested it in the driveway, and debuted it last
night. Success!

Now the question, of course, is whether or not someone already wrote it!

-===-

Amble On East
Becket CCW

A1: Long Lines Forward & Back
  Ladies Chain Across (to Neighbor)
A2: Ladies Dosido 1x
  Neighbor Swing
B1: Give & Take, Gents draw Partner into 1/2 Poussette CCW
  With NEXT, Gypsy Star* 3/4 (Ladies backing up)
B2: Partner (Long) Swing

-===-

*Do we have a new name for this figure yet? I called it Gypsy Star in the
walkthrough once or twice before realizing I should maybe figure something
else out, and the phrase "Special Star" actually escaped my mouth, to the
absolute delight of some of the dancers.  During the dance itself, I just
called "Star."
___
List Name:  Callers mailing list
List Address:  Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/

Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Dugan Murphy via Callers]

Hi, Angela,

I've been calling the figure a "facing star," when I bother naming it at
all while teaching or prompting it.

Also, nice dance, though I suspect that since experienced dancers tend to
take fewer than eight beats to do half poussettes and 3/4 stars, I suspect
that dancers may end up swinging for as many as 20 beats.

Dugan Murphy
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy.com
www.DuganMurphy.com
www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com
www.NufSed.consulting


> Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2017 14:03:37 -0400
> From: Angela DeCarlis 
> To: callers 
> Subject: [Callers] New Dance?
> Message-ID:
>  gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hey y'all!
>
> After a lovely weekend of both Contra and English at Youth Dance Weekend, I
> had an itch for programming some English-inspired choreography at BIDA last
> night. Since I didn't have a dance with the figures I wanted, I whipped one
> together on the drive home, tested it in the driveway, and debuted it last
> night. Success!
>
> Now the question, of course, is whether or not someone already wrote it!
>
> -===-
>
> Amble On East
> Becket CCW
>
> A1: Long Lines Forward & Back
>   Ladies Chain Across (to Neighbor)
> A2: Ladies Dosido 1x
>   Neighbor Swing
> B1: Give & Take, Gents draw Partner into 1/2 Poussette CCW
>   With NEXT, Gypsy Star* 3/4 (Ladies backing up)
> B2: Partner (Long) Swing
>
> -===-
>
> *Do we have a new name for this figure yet? I called it Gypsy Star in the
> walkthrough once or twice before realizing I should maybe figure something
> else out, and the phrase "Special Star" actually escaped my mouth, to the
> absolute delight of some of the dancers.  During the dance itself, I just
> called "Star."
___
List Name:  Callers mailing list
List Address:  Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/

Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Dale Wilson via Callers]

Don said:  Privately I call them stub-toe stars

If this were Facebook I'd be clicking on that Laughing Out Loud icon.
This s the only move in contra where I actually lost a partner.  She was
walking backward and tripped over the person behind her and they both went
down,.

Dale  (who is slightly sorry for diverting this thread.)

On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 1:12 PM, Don Veino via Callers <
callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Privately I call them stub-toe stars & in public I use Wavy Star.
>
> -Don
>
> On Oct 2, 2017 2:03 PM, "Angela DeCarlis via Callers" <
> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> Hey y'all!
>>
>> After a lovely weekend of both Contra and English at Youth Dance Weekend,
>> I had an itch for programming some English-inspired choreography at BIDA
>> last night. Since I didn't have a dance with the figures I wanted, I
>> whipped one together on the drive home, tested it in the driveway, and
>> debuted it last night. Success!
>>
>> Now the question, of course, is whether or not someone already wrote it!
>>
>> -===-
>>
>> Amble On East
>> Becket CCW
>>
>> A1: Long Lines Forward & Back
>>   Ladies Chain Across (to Neighbor)
>> A2: Ladies Dosido 1x
>>   Neighbor Swing
>> B1: Give & Take, Gents draw Partner into 1/2 Poussette CCW
>>   With NEXT, Gypsy Star* 3/4 (Ladies backing up)
>> B2: Partner (Long) Swing
>>
>> -===-
>>
>> *Do we have a new name for this figure yet? I called it Gypsy Star in the
>> walkthrough once or twice before realizing I should maybe figure something
>> else out, and the phrase "Special Star" actually escaped my mouth, to the
>> absolute delight of some of the dancers.  During the dance itself, I just
>> called "Star."
>>
>> ___
>> List Name:  Callers mailing list
>> List Address:  Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
>> Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
>>
>>
> ___
> List Name:  Callers mailing list
> List Address:  Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
>
>


-- 
There are only two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation,
naming things, and off-by-one errors.
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Re: [Callers] New Dance?

[Don Veino via Callers]

Privately I call them stub-toe stars & in public I use Wavy Star.

-Don

On Oct 2, 2017 2:03 PM, "Angela DeCarlis via Callers" <
callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Hey y'all!
>
> After a lovely weekend of both Contra and English at Youth Dance Weekend,
> I had an itch for programming some English-inspired choreography at BIDA
> last night. Since I didn't have a dance with the figures I wanted, I
> whipped one together on the drive home, tested it in the driveway, and
> debuted it last night. Success!
>
> Now the question, of course, is whether or not someone already wrote it!
>
> -===-
>
> Amble On East
> Becket CCW
>
> A1: Long Lines Forward & Back
>   Ladies Chain Across (to Neighbor)
> A2: Ladies Dosido 1x
>   Neighbor Swing
> B1: Give & Take, Gents draw Partner into 1/2 Poussette CCW
>   With NEXT, Gypsy Star* 3/4 (Ladies backing up)
> B2: Partner (Long) Swing
>
> -===-
>
> *Do we have a new name for this figure yet? I called it Gypsy Star in the
> walkthrough once or twice before realizing I should maybe figure something
> else out, and the phrase "Special Star" actually escaped my mouth, to the
> absolute delight of some of the dancers.  During the dance itself, I just
> called "Star."
>
> ___
> List Name:  Callers mailing list
> List Address:  Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
>
>
___
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Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/

[Callers] New Dance?

[Angela DeCarlis via Callers]

Hey y'all!

After a lovely weekend of both Contra and English at Youth Dance Weekend, I
had an itch for programming some English-inspired choreography at BIDA last
night. Since I didn't have a dance with the figures I wanted, I whipped one
together on the drive home, tested it in the driveway, and debuted it last
night. Success!

Now the question, of course, is whether or not someone already wrote it!

-===-

Amble On East
Becket CCW

A1: Long Lines Forward & Back
  Ladies Chain Across (to Neighbor)
A2: Ladies Dosido 1x
  Neighbor Swing
B1: Give & Take, Gents draw Partner into 1/2 Poussette CCW
  With NEXT, Gypsy Star* 3/4 (Ladies backing up)
B2: Partner (Long) Swing

-===-

*Do we have a new name for this figure yet? I called it Gypsy Star in the
walkthrough once or twice before realizing I should maybe figure something
else out, and the phrase "Special Star" actually escaped my mouth, to the
absolute delight of some of the dancers.  During the dance itself, I just
called "Star."
___
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Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/