Re: [Callers] weird contra dances

Below is a dance that Mark Hillegonds contributed to the list a few months ago. I am not sure that Mark would appreciate it being called 'weird', but I sure would appreciate some help with the timing and track in B2. The best I have managed to do is actives pull by (4) and box the gnat with 1st corners (4), I then have 4 beats to pull by with this corner, pass my partner right shoulder to get to 2nd corner for swat the flea (4). A few managed (just) to do it with going straight across from 1st corner to 2nd corner (ie passing left shoulder) but in the end we gave up. Any help would be appreciated. Michael Barraclough http://www.michaelbarraclough.com Hi all, I wrote a dance for someone who loves the feel and momentum changes of Box the Gnat and Swat the Flea. She also loves Contra Corners, so I combined them. I have found it interesting that even though the dancers are following an virtually identical path to contra corners in B2, it sometimes takes some additional teaching and a few more times through the sequence before they become comfortable with where they are supposed to go. It's probably been discussed ad nauseum already, but it's an interesting struggle to keep dances within a certain norm vs. pushing boundaries and asking dancers to think once in a while. Anyway, here is the dance: Rosie the Welder Composed: Mark Hillegonds, May 22, 2007 Formation: Contra, duple minor, improper A1 (16) Actives balance and swing A2 (8) Circle left (8) Neighbor do si do B1 (8) Take right hands with neighbor, balance and box the gnat (8) Take left hands with partner, balance and swat the flea B2 (8) Actives pull by and box the gnat with first corner (8) Pull by with that 1st corner, actives pass by the right shoulder swat the flea with 2nd corner. Pull by 2nd corner to start the dance with the partner balance and swing. Notes: B2 Explain to the dancers that this is just a contra corners with corner twirls instead of allemandes. Mark Hillegonds Ann Arbor, MI mhillego(at)yahoo(dot)com