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@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

Hi Joseph,
              Middlemarch (ECD Waltz time) has Allemandes turning into Orbits.

              Depends whether you want the Orbiters to continue in the same direction, or turn back to go the opposite way. That is a common figure known as Allemande Orbits – you can see it in Sun Skip: https://youtu.be/nIUpxzeh4lw?si=CbRyF79l0S945DZy

            Happy dancing,
                   John

John Sweeney, Dancer, England   john@modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent

From: Joseph Erhard-Hudson via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: 15 May 2024 18:34
To: Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: [Callers] Aurora O’More

This title and concept for a dance burst into my head during the recent auroras.
It ought to have shifting wavy lines, of course, and is there a way to have an orbit around a star? Ooh! A hands across star where a pair spits out and goes outward and into orbit…
Anyway, I don’t have the compositional chops to develop it in a timely way, but I would love to see it exist. If my notion inspires anyone to write it, hooray.
-Joseph
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