I lead an annual dance for 200+ 18-year olds in a hall with terrible
acoustics. Been doing it for 15+ years. If they all whispered at the same
time, it would sound like a roar in that room. I can only do the most
basic stuff most of the time...simple circles, longways with lots of
sashaying, an easy folk dance. But I experiment every now and then, which
lead me to come up with the following dances which, for the most part,
worked. Am I stealing them from somebody? (I like to give credit where
credit is due.)
They call their dance "Swat the Flea". I searched for a long time for a
very easy dance that had a Swat the Flea and finally wrote this one --
BOX'NSWAT (Circle)
A1 Women into the middle and back; Gents into the middle & back
A2 All make a quarter turn to the right and walk single file to the right
B1 Women turn back to face partner -- all shake R hands with Partner & Box
the Gnat; change hands, Balance & Swat the Flea
B2 DSD Partner; Allemande R w/partner 1-1/2 to progress (women end facing
into the center ready to go F&B)
Since contra dances are almost impossible to teach to a loud, boisterous,
energetic bunch of 18-year olds who have never heard of or seen a contra
dance, I decided to give this a whirl -- and it worked -- mostly! It would
probably be better with a smaller more sedate crowd.
GREASE & GLUE (Contra formation -- Gender free -- all you need is a partner)
A1 Couple 1 split Couple 2, return to places; Couple 1 DSD
A2 Couple 2 split Couple 1, return to places; Couple 2 DSD
B1 Star R; Star L (w/hands)
B2 Couples face each other -- Couples DSD 1-1/2 ending back-to-back,
facing next couple
As an aside -- how do you quiet a room with terrible acoustics full of loud
people? Thanks!
--
*Looking forward,Linda S. Mrosko*
*102 Mitchell Drive*
*Temple, Texas 76501*
*(903) 292-3713 (Cell)*
*(903) 603-9955 (Skype)*
*contradancetx.com <http://www.contradancetx.com>*
*www.zazzle.com/fuzzycozy* <http://www.zazzle.com/fuzzycozy*> (Dance
buttons, t-shirts, & more)*
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