On Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 1:30 PM,<richgoss(a)comcast.net> wrote: I called it last night and it worked with my revised instructions, but the "widespread moment of confusion" was still there -- I'd say it was verging on a moment of total chaos. There were three people stars. There were six people stars. There were people starring themselves. I kept calling through the entire dance -- with particular emphasis on the swing after the star. Fortunately the dancers seem to find that a lot more fun than I expected them to (what do I know?) I got several unsolicited positive comments from the crowd. I think they were intentionally playing with the chaos. This one's going into my repertoire to be called when the time is right. Dale

This is how I've always taught/called this dance--partners allmd only one time, spot your shadow and join them in a star left--and it works very well for the reasons Richard mentioned. Bree Kalb Carrboro, NC -----Original Message----- From: Richard Green Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 9:07 PM To: 'Caller's discussion list' Subject: Re: [Callers] Happy as a Warm Pig in Cold Mud I just danced (but have never called) this dance last weekend at our local dance.  At the end of the A2 the call was for the gents to face out instead of in.  I am not sure if this was intentional or not, but it not only worked fine, I liked it better than the original, which I assume is the version in Katy's original post.  I think the dance works fine either way, as long as all the dancers are doing the same thing, but the calls need to be tweaked a little. I preferred the shorter allemande ending with the Gents facing out because, at the end of the partner allemande, there was a widespread moment of confusion as people struggled to remember to turn away from their partner and find their shadow for the LH star.  This caused the star to be consistently late, and the Partner Swing to be short.  It seems like this delay would have been worse if we had continued the partner allemande another half way around. If the dance is done this way, I would change the A2 calls as follows: A2 Men allemande L once and a half Partner Allemande R a little more than once around until the men face out and the ladies face in, look away from your partner to find your shadow on your left For the B1 I might say something like: B1 With your shadow and another couple make a LH Star.  You are in a different star from your partner.  Star once around until you meet your partner coming out of a different star and swing your partner. A little much to say as a calls, but okay for the walk through. A couple of other notes: You don't reach across to your shadow; they are next to you when you do the star. Also, in this variation of the dance, while you are waiting out you are obliged to participate in the LH star.  If you cross over before the star, you won't be next to your shadow for the star, although it all works out in the end.  I don't think that is the case in the original version. It should be noted that there were a fair number of beginners, but the moment of confusion going into the left hand star seemed to affect more than just the beginners; in fact, to me it was part of the fun of the dance. Richard Green Wayne, Maine -----Original Message----- From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of kheine(a)twcny.rr.com Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 12:56 PM To: callers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: [Callers] Happy as a Warm Pig in Cold Mud Have any of you ever called this dance by Mike Boerschig? It's been in my box for years, and I've never called it because I haven't been sure about who should go to which star. It was published one way in Midwest Folklore (see below), but the two YouTube videos I've seen of it have a shorter partner allemande, ending with the first woman and second man (i.e., second corners) starring above, while the second woman and the first man (first corners) star below. If you've called this and have an opinion about how it's best danced, or if you've found it challenging to teach, I'd love to hear what you have to say about it! --Katy Heine HAPPY AS A WARM PIG IN COLD MUD by Mike Boerschig dpl imp A1 Neighbor balance and swing A2 Men allemande left once and a half allemande right partner once and three quarters so men are facing in, women out B1 Star left away from partner, 1st corners star up, 2nd down; reaching across to shadow in star swing partner B2 Circle left three quarters balance in that circle, California twirl partner to face next couple _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

Interesting discussion, looks like a fun dance, but what temperature is the pig? I have a dance card with a cold pig and warm mud! The title on the you tube video title has a warm pig, but the title frame in the video has a cold pig. I suppose the pig would be happy either way. Cheers, Bill _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers