I second the mention of Gene Hubert’s The Turning Point; it’s one of my favorite modern contras.

 

How about Ted Sannella’s Yankee Reel? I use it as a first exposure to Right and Left Thru (RLT). It ends with Half Promenade and RLT; I explain Half Promenade and then tell the dancers that RLT is a lot like it, except that they’ll “melt” through the opposite couple instead of steering completely around them. They seem to get the courtesy turn better if they’ve just done the same thing at the end of the promenade.

 

Of the 20 or 30 basic moves that occur in most traditional squares and contras, I think RLT is the hardest one for new dancers to comprehend. It’s a compound move: you go straight and then you turn, and you turn in a way you couldn’t have predicted. The most common error, in my experience, is for dancers to do a right-face solo turn after the cross. This is true whether or not they give right hands on the cross. In areas where giving right hands is the norm, it’s important to tell them to let go quickly and not let the handhold force them into turning alone.

 

After 50+ years of teaching, I still haven’t decided whether it’s better to introduce RLT before or after Ladies Chain.

 

Tony Parkes

Billerica, Mass.