San Diego, CA

A themed evening based on circle left. And a hot evening for San Diego, so many left after the break. By about 10:15 I was down to eight dancers, and had to shift gears into all squares mode.

Here was my thinking for the circle variants:

1. Ohio River Contra: Circles of three, and an easy dance.

2. Travels With Rick and Kim: Single file circle, also called "circle left without hands."

3. Circle in the New Year: An odd dance, where circles of four open up into one giant circle. It was shaky for a number of reasons -- people wereunfamiliar with Sicilian circle progression, especially when they hadto end the partner swing facing clockwise/counterclockwise. Also, there was an odd couple out, meaning extra chaos when a couple found themselves dancing with nobody, and panicked, swapping roles. Finally, the timing on the B1 of this dance is off. While I like the concept, the dance may well need a rewrite.

4. Two-Hand Turn With Hey: Circles for two opening up into circles for four.

5. Square Peg in a Round Hole: Birdie in the cage, done in contra dance form. This dance used to be up on the web -- it's a shame it's no longer there. The swing for the ones is a bit short, but the twos get a long swing.

6. Bouquet Waltz: The first dance I thought of when planning a circle left evening. I used the version from Ralph Sweet's book, but without the patter. I used a circle/rip and snort break, with a closing circle/swing break, on the theory that was going to be my only square.

7. CDS Reel: Entire set circling. Original version.

8. Roll Play: Circle 1/2 - roll - circle 1/2 - roll. This is my current favorite version of the move that is forgiving, yet has some counterclockwise motion.

9. Medley: Added to the program after I realized I'd left out some of the most basic circle transitions: circle/swing, and circle/pass through. I taught the circle to wave move, then Momma Loo's Reel -- especially the B2/A1 transition. The entry into "Roll in the Hey" went unexpectedly smoothly. On the other hand, the 'women allemand left 1 back to same person' in "Will You Marry Me" had major problems. Though by this point the dancers may have been getting seriously tired.

10. Squares: Emergency addition, and as I've currently a limited repertoire of emergency squares the circle theme started getting weaker. (Had I thought about it, I could have prepped lots of traditional dances like "Grapevine Twist". Oh well.). The first square "Follow the Leader" had an unwinding of the circle. The next square I slapped on the circle/ladies center and gents sashay break. With the final one I was really running out of material, so in desperation I tagged on a break I'd heard before (from Beth Molaro?):

    A1 Circle left 1/2
       Head ladies chain
    A2 Circle left 1/2
       Side ladies chain
    B1 Circle left 1/2
       Grand ladies chain
    B2 Partner promenade 1/2
       Partner swing
    

    Not the best choice with all the ladies chains in the main figure, but it squeaked me through the theme.

11. Skipped: Because I was down to eight dancers, I didn't get to use "Glenside Slide" by Bob Isaacs (shift/circle/shift/circle), David Kaynor's variant of "Progressive Revolutions" by Gene Hubert (circle of two to circle of three to circle of four), and "Leave 'em Hanging" by Luke Donforth (unwinding the circle). And two dances that I really wanted to do never quite fit in the program: "Permeation" by Gene Hubert and "The Connectrix" by Rick Mohr.