Hello all,
Just the other day, I'd proposed a weekend dance session called "My
Hovercraft is full of Eels". The next day I found out that Terry Jones, one
of the founding members of Monty Python, had just died at the age of 77. So
while lying awake in bed, I decided to try to write a contra with something
completely different. Not having one in my box, I went with a contra
corners dance where you don't corner with your partner.
My Hovercraft is Full of Eels
Contra/Becket-CW/Dbl-Prog
A1 -----------
(4) Left Diagonal Long lines forward
(4) Left Diagonal Long lines back (double progression)
(8) Neighbors below (#1 gent and #2 lady) half Figure eight up the set
A2 -----------
(16) Neighbors below turn Contra Corners
B1 -----------
(16) Cornering Neighbors balance and swing in the middle
B2 -----------
(16) Partner balance and swing on home side
A1 could be "Left Diagonal R&L through, straight across R&L through";
but
I'd worry the gent/lark will have a difficult time getting into the contra
corner. You could tweak it to make it eye-casts with partner (a la Money
Musk) to the R&L throughs; but that's adding another wrinkle to an already
oddball dance. The lines has the benefit of an easier shift to single
progression if desired, but I think moving through at a double clip and
strange long lines is more appropriate for the group that brought us the
department of silly walks.
The B1 neighbor swing for half the folks is a great time for the folks
standing out to engage in shenanigans. Two dances of the same role out on
the side could swap with each other, and either swap partners, or make
their partner track them down somewhere in the set.
I'll leave it to someone else to write "Naughty Boy". Rest in Peace Terry
Jones.
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>