23 Apr
2025
23 Apr
'25
3:49 p.m.
Hi,
See answers in line below.
BTW, thanks for the compliment in the other recent thread - I did notice. 😉
-Don
On Wed, Apr 23, 2025, 8:39 AM Angela DeCarlis <aedecarlis(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Functionally and spatially it worked fine.
It's just really challenging, as
any misstep by anyone can break it for the others and your place in the hey
alternates (automatically) between facing in and out with each cycle.
I hope someday to get to dance it myself! 😁
> Ang
> On Tue, Apr 22, 2025, 8:39 PM Don Veino via
Contra Callers <
> contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>> Hi,
> >> I've been holding off sharing
dances I've not yet called but I've written
>> a boatload of 4F4s. So here's a few of differing difficulty and status:
> >> PokéCon (Gotta Swing ‘em All) DRAFT -
4F4 - Don Veino 20181206
> >> A1 G&T to Opp GNT/LRK, Opp Swing
(face center)
> >> A2 GNT/LRK LHStar 1/2x, TB Swing (look
Up/DN to Neighbor)
> >> B1 G&T to Neighbor GNT/LRK [ALT:
LDY/RBN Allemande Right 1+1/2x or Cir.
>> LT 3/4x], Neighbor Swing
> >> B2 LDY/RBN RHStar 1/2x, Partner Swing,
face progression
> >
>> This should be a not very hard yet swing happy dance! Walked through with
>> friends but not yet called IIRC (hence "DRAFT" status).
> >
>> *Hey, Let's Take a Cruise - 4F4 - Don Veino 20250324*
> >> A1 G&T to OPP GNT/LRK, Opposite
SWING
>> A2 PASS THE OCEAN up/down, WAVE/4 BAL; GNT/LRK ORBIT the Oval 2PL *WHILE*
>> LDY/RBN facing in PASS RT for a same role 1/2 HEY across
>> B1 RH to same OPP in WAVE/4 BAL, SWING THRU (Opp RT 1/2x, GNT/LRK LT
>> 1/2x); LDY/RBN ORBIT the Oval 2PL
>> *WHILE* GNT/LRK facing in PASS RT for a same role 1/2 HEY across (and as
>> you approach your PNR...)
>> B2 PASS PNR RT to WEAVE the RING of 8 1/2x; PNR SWING, face next
> >> I penned several 4F4s in 2016 with a
single role doing a hey for 4 in the
>> center while others orbit the major set (oval/racetrack circulate) theme,
>> but recently hit on how to give everyone the chance to hey and orbit in a
>> single/ non-alternating 32 bar sequence as here. Called it for the first
>> time at the April 2025 Concord Scout House challenging benefit dance. Works
>> fine but blew some minds! It was great to hear folks laughing and cheering
>> once they got it. Where some seemed to go wrong was when they were in the
>> center hey group but the person facing out at the start of the move (if
>> they looped right instead of left...?). There's no forgiveness for recovery
>> anywhere - I prepped folks to bail to their diagonally opposite end spot to
>> try again next round. Sadly, no video of this one.
> >> There's a variation of this where
everyone simply circulates on the
>> outside or inside tracks (vs. the inside heys). I prefer the hey approach
>> as it handles the timing difference between the inside and outside
>> circulate track distances, but concede it's "harder".
> >> One more, well proven, in the lineage
of all the "Pie" dances: "All the
>> Pies"
>> https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=18611
> >> -Don
> >
>> On Sat, Mar 22, 2025 at 1:37 AM Maia McCormick via Contra Callers <
>> contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >>> What it says on the tin—I want more
four-face-fours in my collection
>>> (not least because I’m calling a session of them at NEFFA 😅), drop your
>>> favorites here! Accepting recommendations of any difficulty level.
>> >>> Thanks
all!
>>> - Maia (Brooklyn, NY)
>> >>> --
>>> Maia McCormick (she/her)
>>> 917.279.8194
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>>> To unsubscribe send an email to
>>> contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>> >>
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>
Okay, "Hey, Let's Take a Cruise" is
blowing *my* mind, too. I'm wondering
about space, though: in a typical 4x4, the eight dancers usually occupy the
lengthwise space of a regular hands-four, just double-wide. It looks like
this dance requires twice that space, both for the orbit and for the
longways short waves.
The lines/4 and waves/4 set the dimensions in a practical sense, across and
up/down respectively. I would definitely not try this in a packed hall but
it fit in a relatively normal amount of space. At the Scout House we had
two lines of 4F4 with (I'm guessing) 5-6 minor sets in each and there was
plenty of room left.
Even if you line everybody up with lots of room, is
getting close enough
to the next neighbors ever awkward timing-wise? If your hall has a slight
incline (we all know the halls I'm talking about haha), do some minor sets
get too cramped to maneuver?
One thing I definitely cautioned people against was joining with adjacent
minor sets in the waves/4, both due to the confusion opportunity and the
space concerns. Definitely not for a tight crowd.
But ohhh I want this same-role hey and oval orbit to
work!! Is it meant to
be a bastard square dance?
That's a new term to me but if I get the gist, it is an unusual 4F4. For
instance, when I was refreshing people on the basic properties of a 4F4 and
mentioning how trail buddies work, I said in this dance you might think of
them as more "trail acquaintances" than buddies, as they were someone you
would hang around but really not interact with much.
...or did it work fine just the way it is?