Bay Area Caller Tom Thoreau made up a dance that I've used lots at beginner level dances: Barbarella Becket A1 Petronella Balance x 2 A2 Petronella Balance x 2 B1 Partner Balance & Swing B2 Right & Left through; Circle half, slide left to next couple And, it is dedicated to Jane Fonda... An aside (which I might have said before) I still find it funny when callers announce, "as in Petronella," or "as in Rory O'More." I look around the room and see almost no one who has a clue as to what Petronella or Rory O'More is. Sometimes even the caller doesn't know--or barely knows... I recommend saying something like "a move from a wonderful old dance called Petronella." ~erik hoffman oakland, ca On 12/13/2015 7:33 PM, Bill Baritompa via Callers wrote:

Hi All, Hey, like Michael F., I think it's good to use few words. And, when calling, I rarely, if ever, call "Petronella." Much more likely to say, "Balance Now... Spin to the right!" I also think it's great to acknowledge where dances came from. Thus, when teaching, I like mentioning the move came from an old dance, and even letting people know that they'd be lucky to dance it. To Ron's point of the dance being spin then balance, I'm not so worried about using the word Petronella to indicate the way most (if not all) modern dances use the figure. I trust when people dance Petronella, whether as in the sort of modern version of holding hands in a ring, or as only active couples dancing it as described in Beth Tolman & Ralph Page's, "The Country Dance Book," or in the Scottish Country Dance style. I trust that any dancer with even a vague interest will see the connection if they get to try it in one of the older verions. Meanwhile, I still suggest saying something like, "a move stolen from an old dance called Petronella..." ~erik hoffman On 12/15/2015 11:09 AM, Bill Olson via Callers wrote: