I believe the allemandes must be only one-half in the A1 in order to fit the number of beats: A1 (4) Balance (2) P allm right one-half, (2) gents allm left one-half (4) Balance the wave (4) N allm right 3/4 It seems that the ladies who catch left hands at the end of the B2, are the same two ladies from the hey. This makes it single progression; if the ladies go on to new ladies, the dance would then be double progression. Looks like fun! I hope to try it out soon. Linda Leslie On Aug 13, 2011, at 2:31 PM, Laur wrote:

It looks like it is only becket in the sense that dancers begin on the same side. The initial positon appears to be incorrect. Shouldn't it be: "Begin in short waves - ladies take LEFT hands in center - right hand w partner on the side" I think you could get to this position during the walk through by starting in becket formation, then have partners face each other and take R hands. Finally, turn by the R half way. and ladies take L in the center to form wavy lines. Bob Peterson remarked on 8/14/2011 11:20 AM:

I think this is an interesting question! In the same way that an improper contra can start in short waves, and we don't give it a new formation name (or long lines at the sides, etc.), the important piece is that you and your neighbor are on the same side of the contra set. In this dance, you have your partner in your right hand (women actually have left in the center, there is a typo in what is written below), and the both of you are, more or less, on the same side of the contra set, and so, the dance is Becket. Formations refer to a dancer's position in relationship to partner, and neighbors, rather than the first dance movement. Also interesting is that if the dance were to start with a neighbor Balance and Swing, then it would be improper formation: A1 New N B&S A2 Gents Alle L 1 1/2 P Sw B1 Full hey (gents start left) B2 (Form short waves ladies left, partner right) Balance Wave, P Alle R 1/2; Gents Alle L 1/2, give RH to N Balance Wave; N Alle R 3/4 Written as Becket formation, and indicated below, there is the assumption that the couple that stands in the traditional/proper ladies' line is the number 2 couple, and those couples in the traditional/proper gents' line are number 1s. When calling Becket formation dances, I don't usually designate ones or twos; rather I give hints about how each couple gets into starting position, and how they will progress to their next neighbors. For this dance, once couples are in Becket formation, I might say something such as: "women stand back to back in the center (since this is how it will feel when they end the hey), give a right hand to your partner, and a left to the other woman to form a wave". It may be that the choreographer designated the couples in this way, because of the right progression......after one time through the dance, the couples in the traditional ladies' line are out at the top; those in the traditional gents' line are out at the bottom. Linda ps: I wrote this note before seeing Richard's post, and figured I would send it anyway... On Aug 14, 2011, at 11:20 AM, Bob Peterson wrote:

Actually, it seems like that would make it more awkward... The gents would have to get their right hand out from behind their neighbor to allemande, plus a gents alle R into a swing (without a balance) is generally somewhat awkward too (because you have to catch hands and then get the hands behind the back. Finally, having some reversals of motion is generally a good thing -- making it an allemande R would make for a lot of clockwise motion all together, particularly for the gents. Jack On 8/14/2011 2:03 PM, Richard Hart wrote:

are Mavis L McGaugh 510-814-8118 (answering machine-leave message) --- On Sun, 8/14/11, Bob Peterson <bobp(a)ContraCorner.com> wrote: