[Callers] Re: Aurora O’More

Love the title, Joseph!!! I wrote a dance in 2016 with similar celestial themes and figures for my friend and longtime contra, ECD, and waltz dancer Dr. Bernard Whiting. He was one of the leading scientists responsible for the historic first observation of Gravitational Waves. This dance describes the process of that observation, with two black holes (the Gents) first orbiting and then colliding (swinging). The resulting "Wave" made in the fabric of spacetime (largely represented by the Ladies' interweaving trajectory) travels through space, and is observed here on Earth (for a Partner Swing). *Dr. Whiting's Delight* 2016, Angela DeCarlis Becket R, Intermediate (harder for the caller than for the dancers!) A1: Circle L 3/4 N Swing A2: Long Lines Forward, Gents Rollaway Neighbor on way Back 1/2 Hey (Begins Gents by Right) B1: Gents Right Shoulder 'Round and Cross-hand-grip Swing [1] While Ladies Orbit CCW All the way around [2] B2: Gents keep Right, take Left with Neighbor in Short Wave, all facing Direction of Progression [3] Balance Wave Forward & Back All walk forward, New gents pass by Right [4] Partner Swing [1] The Gents' Cross-hand Swing often begins with a Right Allemande grip, before the left hand grip and buzz-step are incorporated. When done correctly, this swing will be comfortable and safe for the Gents, and will also transition effortlessly into taking hands in the short wave across. [2] Taking the time to teach the ladies to pass adjacent orbiting ladies by the Left, Olympic Rings Style, does a lot to make this part of the dance more interesting for them. [3] It's super useful to outline direction of progression for the dancers at the beginning of the walk-through [4] I used to call this as a short "Hook" Right Allemande when I led it, but Lisa Greenleaf advised me to modify it so as to not involve hands. Either way, It's easy for folks to autopilot in this part of the dance and expect to form a new wave, when it's really more like a swing through. I also just recently wrote a dance with an interesting star figure that I'll look forward to sharing later this summer, after I've had a chance to call it at BIDA on July 7. Happy writing, all! Angela On Wed, May 15, 2024 at 2:04 PM John Sweeney via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: