I wrote this up as a blog post <https://chromamine.com/2024/11/set-and-link-contras/>, but I also thought this list would appreciate it and have interesting thoughts to share.
It occurred to me recently that I don’t think there are any contra dances that feature a set and link figure. This is a figure from Scottish Country Dancing which follows this sequence (assuming becket formation for this write up):
1. Couples face the other couple across the set, taking convenient hands with their partner along the side
2. All balance right and left (4 beats)
3. All turn over their right shoulder as they trade places along the side of the set with the robins going through the middle and larks going round the outside (4 beats)
It could be thought of as a petronella twirl for two or, perhaps, as a mad robin halfway with twirling. If none of those descriptions work for you, there’s also a video of the figure in action <https://youtu.be/hI-ebAspZzY?si=gkIDl8WmCzFc5HO4&t=16>. (Note the video is to a leisurely Scottish strathspey, but it can be done to a jig or reel at contra tempo just fine.)
I decided to write a couple:
*Set And Link Contra*
Harris Lapiroff
Becket CCW
A1
Set and link (trading with partner)
Balance the ring
Petronella twirl
A2
Neighbor balance and swing
B1
Set and link (trading with neighbor)
Balance the ring
Petronella twirl
B2
Partner balance and swing
Note A1: Each time through after the first, the set and link should start with a big balance to the right to progress to new neighbors
And a slightly more complex, but still accessible, one:
*Broken Link*
Harris Lapiroff
Duple Improper
A1
Neighbor balance and swing
A2
Set and link (trading with neighbor)
Robins alle L 1½
B1
Partner right shoulder round
Partner swing
B2
Circle left 3
Pass through up and down
Next neighbor DSD
Note: Can also be done in becket by starting with B2, skipping the pass through, and changing to a slide left progression at the end.
I danced these through with a few dancers in a living room and they worked. I was worried the “Set And Link Contra” wasn’t appropriate for any crowd, being too simple and repetitive for an experienced dance but too tricky for beginners. Some of my test dancers agreed, but others thought that it was satisfying enough to dance to work – which I could see maybe working for a late evening brain-off-dance-trance vibe.
A few open questions I have about these dances:
- In “Set And Link Contra,” is the big balance right to progress satisfying or awkward? We didn’t have enough dancers to test the progression. A different option might be to make it Becket CW and slide left, then balance back to the right. (I suspect slide right, balance right would feel too muddy.)
- The balance right and then left sequence isn’t natural to contra dancers. Is there a way to lead into it that makes it more natural? (Notably: a couple of my test dancers had done at least a little Scottish and they both liked it, but one dancer who had only done contra found it awkward.)
- Alternatively is there a different way of doing that balances that would be more at home in a contra? I think balancing together and away wouldn’t give good momentum into turning over the right shoulder, but perhaps balancing in and out in a ring would work?
- In “Broken Link,” I’m still not sure if the set and link into a robins left hand allemande sequence feels good. When I tested it myself it felt flowy in a weaving sort of way, but some of my test dancers reported it was awkward. We didn’t take time to workshop it to see if the flow felt better once the set and link was more familiar.
My complaint about Sicilian circles (as a dancer) is you only dance with half the hall unless you find neighbors that you can switch directions with.
Ben W
ABQ, NM
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jan 27, 2025, at 6:04 AM, John Sweeney via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Claire,
> You can see the Zia formation at https://contrafusion.co.uk/Formations.html#other if you scroll down a bit. It is a square with contra lines radiating from the sides. There are some example dances there as well.
>
> I set Sicilian Circles up by getting the dancers to make a Circle, then tell one couple to face another couple and work around the circle telling each couple which way to face. Experienced dancers will see what is happening and quickly start sorting themselves out.
>
> Happy dancing,
> John
>
> John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
> http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
> _______________________________________________
> Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Re: [Callers] Re: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2025 14:57:10 +0000
From: Mo Waddington <mjw(a)mowaddington.plus.com>
To: Ben Werner <benknobi89(a)gmail.com>
Yes I also dance at a club with 20 -24 dancers each week. You start
meeting the same couples. But (ceilidh) dances like lucky 7 or circle
waltz are worse, you might only dance with 2 or 3 partners.
On 27/01/2025 14:28, Ben Werner via Contra Callers wrote:
> My complaint about Sicilian circles (as a dancer) is you only dance
> with half the hall unless you find neighbors that you can switch
> directions with.
>
> Ben W
> ABQ, NM
>
> Sent from my iPhone
Many good contras where you leave the minor set aren’t too hard, but have
challenging end effects. One could eliminate the end effects using a
Sicilian circle. I haven't tried it, but wonder whether disorientation from
the curved set would offset the advantages.
If you’ve actually tried it, how did it go?
Rick
(...ignoring for the moment that Sicilian circles don't fit every hall or
size of group...)
Hi all,
A contra I used to call reasonably often 10-15 years ago popped into my
head the other day. I can't find it in my cards, which makes me think the
reason I stopped calling it is that I lost the card. Can someone ID it, and
tell me what the B2 is? (I'm gonna guess R&L through, circle 3/4, pass
through, but there are lots of possibilities.)
duple improper
A1 Current neighbors right hand star; previous neighbors left hand star
A2 Dosido current neighbor 1-1/4 to wavy lines; balance wave; allemande R
1/2; allemande L 1/2
B1 Balance and swing partner
B2 ??
David
St. Paul, MN
I haven't been a contra caller for many years, but last night I dreamt I
was at a dance and the caller did not show up. There were no other callers
in attendance. So I got up there wondering what dances I knew by heart. I
think I knew how A Nice Combination went. Then I woke up and thought about
it some more. I decided that every dance venue should keep a dance program,
with instructions, somewhere.
Gary in Santa Barbara
Hello, all. I am mentoring a wanna-be caller who took notes when she first
went to dances 40 years ago and wants to try one of those dances. She
thinks it went like the following. Can anyone identify it? Thanks!!
*A-1 Neighbor balance and swing (16)A-2 Circle left (8)
Partners do-si-do (8)B One's swing in center (end up where you
started!) (8)*
* Chain over and back (16) Star Right - around to NEW
neighbor (8)*
--
www.huntandallison.nethttp://thsmaritime.com/www.centralhallcommons.org
AI is invading our lives, but can sometimes be useful — for example,
ChatGPT is pretty good at reformatting contra dances!
In Philly we have mostly multi-caller evenings, where the coordinator gets
dance submissions from many callers (in many formats), creates a program,
and sends out the result. Sometimes the program looks like a fruit salad of
formats, but (OCD?) I like everything to be concise and uniform.
See example below, where ChatGPT unifies dances in 4 formats — Callers Box,
one posted here, my website, and Bob Isaacs’ format. It took a few tries to
refine the instructions (and I only tried this one output format), but in
the end it’s a pretty amazing result from minimal instructions in plain
English.
Rick
=========================
My Instructions to ChatGPT
=========================
Please reformat the contra dances below as follows:
Format dance headers as e.g. “Title (Author) Formation”
If formation is omitted, use “Duple Improper”
Format part names as e.g. “A1: ”.
Eliminate beat counts for figures (like “8”).
Put a part’s figures on one line, separated by commas, no period or spaces
at the end.
And this is important — format as plain text, do not format as markdown.
Centrifugal Hey
by Gene Hubert
Permission: full License: CC-BY-NC
FormationBase: Duple Minor
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#duple-minor>
- Improper
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#improper>
Progression: Single
Figures:
A1
(8) Neighbor allemande
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#allemande>
right
1 & 3/4
(8) Men <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#men>
allemande
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#allemande> left
1 & 1/2
A2
(16) Hey
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#hey>
(PR;WL;NR;ML;PR;WL;NR;ML)
B1
(16) Partner swing
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#swing>
B2
(8) Right and left through
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#right-and-le…>
with
partner
(6) Circle left
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#circle-left-…>
3/4
(2) Pass through
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#pass-through>
along
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#across-along>
(NR)
Stars are Aligned
by Lisa Sieverts
BECKET, CCW
1.
LH Star
2.
RH Star
3.
P Do Si Do (on side)
4.
P Swing
5.
Whole Set Oval Left
6.
Whole set Oval Right
7.
F&B
8.
LH Star, on to the next, partners moving along the line
*Trip to Trillium* Bob Isaacs Becket-L
A1. 8 Circle L ¾
8 w/Partner weave the line past
two (1)
A2. 8 w/N3 square through three
8 N2 swing
B1. 8 Robins chain to partner
8 ½ hey (RR, N2L, LR, -)
B2. 4,12 Partner balance, swing
Fluidity
By Rick Mohr; September 2017
Contra, BecketCaller's Box
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=18477>
Level: Easy/Intermediate
A1:
3/4 Hey *(larks pass left shoulders to start)* (12)
Robins allemande left (4)
A2:
Gypsy and swing neighbor (16)
B1:
Right and left through (8)
Circle right (8)
B2:
*(With next couple)* Circle left 3/4 (6)
Swing partner (10)
=========================
Output from ChatGPT
=========================
Centrifugal Hey (Gene Hubert) Duple Improper
A1: Neighbor allemande right 1 & 3/4, men allemande left 1 & 1/2
A2: Hey (PR, WL, NR, ML, PR, WL, NR, ML)
B1: Partner swing
B2: Right and left through with partner, circle left 3/4, pass through
along (NR)
Stars are Aligned (Lisa Sieverts) Becket CCW
A1: Left-hand star, right-hand star
A2: Partner do-si-do, partner swing
B1: Whole set oval left, whole set oval right
B2: Forward and back, left-hand star on to the next, partners moving along
the line
Trip to Trillium (Bob Isaacs) Becket Left
A1: Circle left 3/4, with partner weave the line past two
A2: With N3 square through three, N2 swing
B1: Robins chain to partner, half hey (RR, N2L, LR)
B2: Partner balance, swing
Fluidity (Rick Mohr; September 2017) Becket
A1: Three-quarter hey (larks pass left shoulders to start), robins
allemande left
A2: Gypsy and swing neighbor
B1: Right and left through, circle right
B2: With next couple circle left 3/4, swing partner
Hello,
I've got a circle mixer that I collected 15-20 years ago. The caller may
have been Becky Hill, maybe not. It's for a 32-bar waltz. I'm searching for
the title and author.
Starts with a ring of couples all facing the center:
A1 Balance forward & back, roll away (ladies/robins moving in front from
Left to Right), Repeat
A2 Repeat twice more
B1 As couples, face center connected by usual hands (gents/larks right,
ladies/robins left). Balance while turning away back (together), then
(letting go) turn symmetrically away to face out and take other hands.
Balance away and together, turn symmetrically away to face each other
B2 Take the ballroom position, take two waltz steps (step, close, step,
close) into circle, then two steps out, then free waltz four waltz steps,
ending by unfolding to reform a circle.
Thanks for whatever help you can provide!
Jerome Grisanti
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
"Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power
and magic in it." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
