I wrote this one (after some discussions with Chris Page about disorientation at the finish of an earlier version), and it works pretty well.
Diving Ducks Redux 4 face 4
A1 Lines forward and back
Dip and dive around the square*
A2 Continue the dip and dive
Women chain up and down the set
B1 Across the set, women allemande right 1 1/2 times^
Swing neighbor
B2 Men star left 1/2 way
Swing partner
*On the dip and dive, facing up and down, the couple on the right dives, and the couple on the left arches with the people they are facing. After the first dip and dive all face across the set and if you dove you arch and vv.
Continue the dip and dive back to place. It is easier to think of it as if you are just dipping and diving around a circle, not straight up and down and straight across.
^ The allemande is always done by the women in the same line.
FBL/DIP//CHW/ARW/SWN/STLM/SWP/
Below is one of mine from a similar series - the one of those I've called so far. I'm going to test the other [B1 variation] shown here next time I get a chance.
On your other questions, Lynne Ackerson's Coconut Cream Pie is a fave as it's interesting yet bulletproof with mixed crowds (and I use it so much, I wrote another dance leveraged from it to have some variation - Boston Cream Pie). I also share your fondness for Rick's dance so I swapped bits of Up All Night to generate one to pair for an alternating dance - Insomniac's Delight (Gents Left Star, Grand L & R, See Saw).
Oceans 4 (DRAFT) - 4 Face 4 - Don Veino 20161204
Note this dance never converts to a square formation. Tune suggestion: Thomas Shrug's March.
A1
Give & Take (Up/Down), Gent take Neighbor Lady back and Swing
A2
(4,4) Pass the Ocean (Up/Down), Wave Balance Fwd/Back
[NOTE all Gents are on outside oval facing clockwise, Ladies are inside facing CCW]
(8) Simultaneously:
Ladies in center (across) Half Hey (Ladies facing center start passing Right)
*WHILE*
Gents Circulate 2 Places (wrap around ends) [I TEACH/CALL THIS AS AN ORBIT 1/2 to stay with more typical contra language for dancers]
[Form similar Ocean Waves aligned up/down with Right Hand to same G&T Neighbor]
B1
Wave Balance Right (toward N) & Left, Neighbor Box the Gnat
[Not yet tested variation: Balance Fwd/Back, N Allemande Rt 1/2x]
Gents Allemande Left 1+1/2 (to P)
B2
Partner Balance & Swing, end facing progression
First called at the Monday Contras dance in Concord, MA on Dec. 19, 2016
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