I love the dip-and-dive teaching strategy. Totally borrowing that!

I have sometimes adapted Wizards Walk to make it a Mad-Robin-esque figure, facing your partner across the set, to eliminate the challenge of walking backwards on the reverse:

1s step forward (close to P) & slide sideways down the middle while 2s slide up the outside.

1s step back (kinda like back into long lines) while 2s step forward and everyone slide the SAME direction, past future Ns (1s slide down the outside, 2s slide up the middle)

Reverse:

2s step back into long lines while 1s step forward (close to P). 1s slide back UP the middle while 2s slide DOWN the outside.

1s step back into long lines while 2s step forward. 1s slide UP the outside, 2s slide DOWN the middle).

It has the same oscillation; you're just sliding sideways instead of facing up or down and walking forward for the first 2 passes and backward for the reverse passes. There's less crashing into others.

On Sun, Oct 26, 2025 at 11:35 AM Steve Pike via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

For those not familiar with a mirror hey for three [per Jonathan S], but familiar with the square dance "Dip & Dive" figure, the W/Lizard Walk piece can be taught as a "Dip and Dive past two" then same thing but in reverse. Then all that, but without hands, and upright!

"Here's what your feet will do, we'll teach it with hands first, then without, but make sure your feet learn this:
Keep your partner's hand facing this way - up or down - the whole time.
2s arch, 1s dive, all forward to the next.
1s arch, 2s dive, all forward then stop. Now back up:
2s arch, 1s back under/2s back over,
1s arch, 2s back under.

"Let go of your partner, let your feet do the same thing but without arches and dipping and diving:
1s split the 2s, all forward.
2s split the next, 1s on the outside..
Back up, 1s inside split the 2s,
then 2s inside split the next 1s."

Or something like that. Credit to Carol Ormand.

Steve Pike
Milwaukee, WI

That's your feet pattern: do the same thing without your partner's hand.
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