I was recently thinking about star to star transitions. There are lots of great dances that go star 1x to opposite hand star 1x (such as Lisa Greenleaf's "Poetry in Motion", Robert Cromartie's "Al's Safeway Produce", Linda Leslie's "Burlington Spirit"...); and then there are the star -> same hand star dances (Mike Richardson's "Star Trek", my "Voyager", Dugan Murphey's "The Next Generation"...)

Are there dances that use star just half way -> with next, opposite hand star 1/2 way? I'm envisioning something with a bit of a zig-zag feel, but that could be done in crowded dance halls where you don't want folks swooping out laterally (like John Coffman's "Boys of Urbana"), but more connected than a single file promenade snake like Cary Ravitz's "March of the Coffee Zombies".

Are there already dances out there like this?

Switchback Stars
Improper, single progression
A1
With #1 Neighbors, Left Hand star 1/2x
With #2 Neighbors, Right Hand star 1/2
With #3 Neighbor, left shoulder gyre 1x
A2
With #2 Neighbor, right shoulder gyre and swing (now current neighbors)
B1
Circle Left 3/4
Partner Swing
B2
Ladies chain across to neighbor
Long Lines forward and back

If so, how do they handle the timing?

And for that dance (assuming it doesn't already exist), would you prefer it as written above, or shifted to put the progression in B2?

Switchback Stars + 16B
Improper, single progression
A1
With Neighbor, right shoulder gyre and swing
A2
Circle Left 3/4
Partner Swing
B1
Ladies chain across to neighbor
Long Lines forward and back
B2
With #1 Neighbors, Left Hand star 1/2x
With #2 Neighbors, Right Hand star 1/2
With #3 Neighbor, left shoulder gyre 1x
come back to Neighbor #2, now current neighbor

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