A band wanted to play Mongoose Hop, by Lionel Belasco. Compared to the way it’s played in the video, it needed to be sped up a little (by the end of the piece it was closer to contra tempo) and played ABB—adjusted for those 32 bars. So, I mad up a dance for it:

Mongoose Stomp: a YouTube of the tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RZbxP9nhPs

MONGOOSE STOMP

Improper (Duple Minor)

Erik Hoffman

A1    Neighbor Balance & Swing

A2    Circle Left 3/4;  Partner Swing

B1    Join Hands in a ring and do One Petronella Balance (4) & Twirl (4)

      -- but Twirl into a short Wave across: Women in center, Neighbor in Right --

      Do One Rory O'More Balance: right & left (4), then Slide (or twirl) right,

      -- to put the Men in the center, now Neighbor in Left

B2    Do the second Rory O'More Balance -- Left then Right (4), then slide (or twirl) Left

       Right shoulder Gypsy Neighbor 1-1/4 to progress to next couple

Written for the tune Mongoose Hop, by Lionel Belasco

Request: Please don’t say, “As in Petronella,” or, “As in Rory O’More.” When callers say this I look around and believe most people have no idea what Petronella or Rory O’More are. I say, “the signature move from a wonderful dance, Petronella.” OK, it takes a bit longer, but much more informative. And, sometime someone might ask, “What is the original dance like?” And we might get a few more people interested in the history and evolution of our dance form…

A New Petronella

Improper

Erik Hoffman

A1  Number One Women/Robin: Push Partner through Number Two Couple to join hands in

      a Petronella Diamond (Twos facing across, Number One Man now facing up, and

      below the Twos, Number One Woman now facing down and above the Twos) (4):

      Petronella Balance (4) & Twirl (4),  Petronella Balance (4) and:

A2   Twirl (4), Petronella Balance (4) & Twirl, Petronella Balance (4) and:

      Twos Draw Neighbor to your side and:

B1    Neighbor Swing

B2    Long Lines Forward & Back;  Ones Swing (or All Swing as long as 2s know how to get out of the way.

        NOTE, this swing ends in an older way, backing away from Partner (or who you’re swinging), ending facing partner instead of side by side. It can be very nice, placing each other where they need to be next.

I work with bands who love playing Petronella. I’m a bit of a curmudgeon about Chestnut tunes should be played for their Chestnut dances. I’ve realized that the likelihood that people who found contra dances in the last say, 20 years may never get a chance to dance the Chestnut dances and newer callers may not know what “A Chestnut dance” means. Or maybe they’ve danced the one Chestnut dance, Chorus Jig, that does get called. I miss dancing those dances we regularly danced when I started dancing in 1980, Petronella, Rory O’More, Hull’s Victory, Lamplighters, Lady of the  Lake, and more. C’est la vie. 

So, realizing that Petronella evolved from only the ones, the active, doing the balance & spin to including the inactive to participating in the figure, and Chorus Jig evolving from a triple minor to a duple minor, I’m a Composed an version that evolved to modern standards. A bit presumptuous, I know, but there you have it…

Native American Woman

Becket—10 Bar B Part

Erik Hoffman

A1    Circle Left ¾,  Pass Thru;  New Neighbor Swing

A2    Long Lines Forward  & Back;  Women/Robins Allemande Left 1½

B1    Partner Box the Gnat (4), Pull into a Full Hey, Partners start Right Shoulder (16)

B2    Partner Do Si Do (8);  Partner Swing (12)

Made up for Suzy’s Floozies (which included Suzy Thompson & Maxine Gerber, who wanted to play a tune Indian Squaw, a tune with a 10-bar B part. OK, today I just searched the internet and my library for that tune. The two versions I heard were crooked but not the recording (now lost) Suzy & Maxine sent me. And no luck in my book collection. Must be out there somewhere, anyone?

Erik Hoffman

Oakland, CA

From: Lisa Sieverts via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 9, 2023 6:32 AM
To: Caller's discussion list <callers@sharedweight.net>
Subject: [Callers] Re: Dances Crafted for a Tune

These weren’t composed together but I love them together

Tune: Rainy Night in Montague
Dance: Trip to Lambertville by Steve Zakon-Anderson

Lisa Sieverts
603-762-0235
lisa@lisasieverts.com

On 8 Mar 2023, at 23:01, Don Veino via Contra Callers wrote:

I'm looking for recommendations for contras written to specifically match a
given tune, square or crooked. Obviously, there's singing squares, the
Chestnuts and some well known examples like David Kaynor's Cherokee
Shuffle. I'm looking for other examples of excellent "modern era" dances
perfectly crafted to fit an outstanding or unusual tune - such that it
surpasses the standard "pick the dance, then a suitable tune" approach to
foster dance floor joy.

I've written a few such dances but would love to augment my repertoire with
others.

Thanks,
Don

---

Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net