I really love “Happy as a Cold Pig in Warm Mud by Mike Borshig

Not obviously silly, but much more fun if the dancers allow themselves to be silly


A1 N B&S
A2 gents Alle L 1.5
      P alle r 1.5 (end facing up / down, partners facing in opposite directions)
B1   Walk forward, make a Left Hand Star (in theory with N, Shadow and one other person)  
        LHS 1x 
        P Sw
B2    Circle L 3/4 
         Ring Balance, CA Twirl

This dance is best when people don't take it too seriously.  Secret is not to worry about whether you went the right way for the star -- turn a star all the way around and you'll get back to your partner.  Also works if you and partner both go the same way (and make a 5 person star).  Challenge dancers to make stars with more people.  Come down off the stage and jump into the stars yourself.  :-)

J


On Thu, Feb 1, 2018 at 1:30 PM Robert Green via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Here is a photo of The Wheel from the original Dizzy Dances

Sent from my iPad

On Feb 1, 2018, at 9:27 AM, Bill Olson via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

Rick and Mac and all, I also tried various "fixes" like promenading clockwise but like a lot of  times I have tried to "fix" a dance, it gets clunky and I end up going back to the original. Since the "Wheel" is the most fun with a hall packed with dancers, I have settled on calling it only for large crowds when the original "circle up" has the dancers pretty much pushed up against the walls. Then when they get in promenade position, that all loosens up but during the circle lefts the women's arms are saved.


bill




From: Callers <callers-bounces@lists.sharedweight.net> on behalf of Rick Mohr via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Thursday, February 1, 2018 1:11 PM
To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] Looking for "fun" dances
 
"The Wheel" has been a favorite of mine since 1994. Around here some call it "Wheel of Misfortune" -- hilarious! (i.e. who will the fates deliver unto you for a swing?)

I could never find it in my Gene Hubert books -- apparently because it was published in his first collection "Dizzy Dances" (https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/index/DD1.txt) which I don't have. I never thought that was a problem, since "Dizzy Dances II" is subtitled "Featuring the best of Volume 1 plus...". But now I wonder how many other great dances that Gene didn't consider "the best" are hiding in that book!

I've also long struggled with the "women's arms pulled out of their sockets" problem, and tried a couple fixes that failed spectacularly. Mac, your solution looks brilliant and I'm excited to try it!

Rick

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Jack Mitchell
Durham, NC