Here's how I learned: "Everybody promenade the usual way, two-by-two around the room - now stop where you are." "Starting from this point right in front of me (gesture to where head couple of center set usually stands for contras), you're going to count off in pairs of couples and take hands four in this big ring. "Half of you can just stay facing the usual promenade direction - you're 1s" "Half of you will need to turn as a couple and face the 'wrong' direction - you're 2's". It links the role of 1s/2s to the familiar line-of-direction we use for promenading and coupledancing -- who feels most "normal", and who feels as if they're accommodating/supporting. On 2/4/23, Winston, Alan P. via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

Glad you like it! For what it's worth, at a ONS I often do a scatter mixer that's basically half of "Haste to the Wedding" - Circle L, circle R Star R star L everybody bow, promenade and find someone else for a little, then turn the scatter promenade into the big ring and go from there. On 2/4/23, Winston, Alan P. <winston(a)slac.stanford.edu> wrote:

There is a specific old dance bearing the name "Sicilian Circle".  You can find it in, for instance, this 1857 instruction book from the Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/musdi.094/  The name has come to imply the formation and general pattern. On 2/4/2023 3:49 PM, Joe Harrington via Contra Callers wrote:

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Very helpful, especially the tip about promenading into the proper formation. I noticed no one has responded yet to the question about whether a large number of contra dances could be run as Sicilian circles. I'd be curious to hear what others say, but my instinct is that it would maybe be problematic. The curvature of the format would seem to make heys and other figures more challenging to execute - the spacing between minor sets might also be impacted in that formation. So, for instance, when doing a sequence like "alle right N1 1/2x along the side then alle left next N 1x", the distance between N #1 and N#2 might easily be greater than in a regular contra. Anyway, this is just an initial gut reaction - let's see what the hive mind thinks. As for "barnburner" dances, that's a broad term, and there are so many to choose from. How about, as a starting bid, "From Here to Infinity" by Bob Isaacs... Chuck ________________________________ From: Jonathan Sivier via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> Sent: Saturday, February 4, 2023 11:18 PM To: New Contra Callers List <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> Subject: [Callers] Re: Sicilian Circle question It appears that in that book the dance formation is given as a longways, duple, improper set. Not the circle of couple facing couple that we typically connect to the Sicilian circle formation. The dance just before it is the Spanish Dance and gives as the formation, "The first couple at the head of the room, with their backs to the wall; the next couple facing the first; the third couple with their backs to the second; the fourth couple facing the third; and all the rest are formed in the same manner, every two couples facing each other, without regard to numbers." Then it says, "As each couple arrives at the end of the room, they must turn round and wait for the next couple to meet them, the gentlemen being careful to have their ladies always on the right hand. This seems to be describing a longways dance instead of a circle. Under Sicilian Circle it says, "This dance is formed precisely the same as the Spanish Dance," so that would seem to be a longways dance as well. I think I have read that Spanish Dance was also used in the 19th century as the generic name for the circle of couples facing each other. So were these dances described somewhere with the circle formation, or was that just something that someone did at one point and it stuck? Jonathan On 2/4/2023 4:52 PM, David Harding via Contra Callers wrote: _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net

Hi, I always treat the dancers facing counter-clockwise as the active dancers who get to do everything first, so they could be considered the #1s. I believe this is a common convention. Promenades are usually done counter-clockwise, which is also the normal Line of Dance for ballroom dances and free-style waltzes, so it is natural to think of CCW as the primary direction. Many traditional dances end with a Swing & Change where the two couples have to dance around each other swinging or polkaing (or Poussetting if you go back further). I believe that the EFDSS issued a directive in the 1950s stating that the direction should always be counter-clockwise, in order to avoid crashes which had been occurring! Again CCW is the norm. One of the early references to the Sicilian Circle formation is in "The Modern Dancing Master" by G.M.S. Chivers (1822): http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/EFDS4802-CircassianCircle.html Only one minor set is active initially, then the dance propagates in both direction so that eventually, when everyone has joined in it looks like a modern Sicilian Circle. The term "Circassian Circle" obviously lost out to the more popular term "Sicilian Circle", in much the same way that the term "Rifleman Formation" lost out to the term "Becket Formation" - the Americans won the marketing campaign! http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/EFDS4911-Rifleman.html As it say in a Scottish publication: "The most extravagant novelty was the Chivonian circle invented by Chivers himself which consisted of the four couple sets of La Tempête arranged around the room like the trio sets of Dashing White Sergeant. These new formations tended to have rather exotic names such as Mescolanzes, Spanish Dances, or Swedish dances. These were merely names, of course, and in particular, the Circassian circle has nothing whatever to do with Circassia." There are challenges with doing many contras in a Sicilian Circle. Long Line Forward & Back and Tidal Waves are obvious challenges. When choreographing Sicilian Circles we often have the action (e.g. Ladies' Chain, Right & Left Through) around the circle, rather than across the set. As a contrast, try to get some modern contra dancers to dance this: http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/EFDS7703-CelebrationSpecial.html - The dancers tend to swing to the side of the set rather than finishing facing up and down! But, yes, you could do many contra dances in a Sicilian Circle, as long as you check them carefully for spacing and orientation problems first. There are Becket Sicilians, but the dancers need to make sure they stay in their own inner or outer circle as they progress! Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent