Thanks for all the great ideas, already!  I heard that the recipient  
(living, for those who wanted to know!) likes flowing dances, so I  
think I've found/received a couple of good candidates.
I appreciate it!
Joy
Joy wrote:
  I'm calling a contra dance this weekend, and had a
request for a
 "birthday dance" to honor somebody's birthday. I can't think of any
 contra dances that reference birthdays. Any suggestions or ideas?
 The crowd is likely to include a significant number of beginners   
mixed
  into a mid-to-high level crowd. They are not amenable
to anything
 too far outside a modern regular contra, although it might depend on
 the ratio of challenge: satisfaction.