Ding, Dong, the Witch Is Dead

Duple improper                                                                                     October 24, 2000

A1    Women do-si-do (or gypsy or allemande right as well)
        Women swing (unisex style or Galway swing)

A2    Men allemande right 1 ½ 
        Men Galway swing* 

B1    Balance and swing your partner

B2    Half a hey, women start right shoulder (Alternate: right and left through)
        Women chain across


* Men's Galway swing is done with a hold that provides some personal space. The men maintain the right allemande hold, and they cup the other man's right elbow with their left hand, this makes for a very strong and stable, tetrahedron-like hold and a powerful swing. This swing also appears in Smog Check.

This contra was written for a Halloween dance. The “Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead” riff from “The Wizard of Oz” is fun to throw into a tune if the band knows it. Originally written with the women’s role doing a unisex swing, but why should the men’s role have all the fun? You are at liberty to have both roles do the same swing. Women’s role allemande right is a little more odd from the position it is starting in though. 

One I wrote.


On Oct 12, 2017, at 7:38 AM, Maia McCormick via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

Devil's Backbone? Wizard's Walk? (Okay, I no longer have an objective sense of how Halloween-y this one is because it was the tradition at my school's contradance that we'd close out the Halloween contra with this one, with the band and the dancers competing to see who could go faster... it was a good time!)

On Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 10:34 AM, Bob Peterson via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
There’s this no-swing dance, which I got from https://www.cambridgefolk.org.uk/contra/dances/devils_dream.html

The Devil's Dream

Traditional

Improper Contra

A1

  • 1s face down and lead down the centre while the 2s face up and go up the outside
  • all turn alone and lead back to give neighbour nearest hand and half turn neighbour

A2

  • 1s facing down the outside and 2s up the middle: lead up or down again
    • you promenade in the same direction both times
  • all turn alone and lead back to give left hands to neighbour

B1

  • turn neighbour into a full ladies chain across

B2

  • half promenade neighbour across set
  • half right and left back
In CDM6 and 500 Zesty Contras

Note that this dance has no swing; however it is probably the most popular contra in English dance clubs.


\Bob

On Oct 12, 2017, at 09:16, Rich Sbardella via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

Hello Friends,
I need some Halloween themed dances.  Any suggestions?
Rich Sbardella
Stafford, CT
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