Mover and Shaker

By Rick Mohr; October 2017

Contra, Becket (right) Caller's Box

Level: Intermediate

A1:

Circle left (8)

Ladies chain (to neighbor) (8)

A2:

Half hey (ladies pass right shoulders to start) (8)

Swing next neighbor (8)

B1:

Pass through to a wave (ladies take left hands, neighbors take right) (4)

Balance the wave right (4)

"Rory O'Mohr" slide or spin right (4)

Balance the wave left (4)

B2:

"Rory O'Mohr" slide or spin left—ladies all the way across to partner (4)

(Balance and) swing partner (12)

A fun all-moving dance, half dynamic "Mover" and half balancey "Shaker".

To help dancers circle far enough in A1 I say in the walkthrough "Circle left, all the way around—further than you think—and ladies chain across to your neighbor."

To help with the A2 hey-to-swing progression, in the walkthrough have dancers spot their next neighbor after the A1 ladies chain (3 people away; gents look right and ladies look left). Then say "You're about to swing that new neighbor, on the other side of the set". Now walk the half hey—3 changes, with gents progressing after passing right in the center and ladies progressing after looping left at the sides.

Hats off to Bob Isaacs for the satisfying "neighbor Rory O'Mohr into partner swing" sequence, from his dance "Leap of Faith". Here, shifting the balance phrasing opens up space for the "mover" sequence and progression.

Bob points out that the B2 balance is optional—partners can add it or not as they choose. Some like grounding themselves with the balance while others like navigating the transition from spin to swing.

(In this video the A1 circle is replaced by long lines forward and back.)

Video: Susan Petrick & Free Raisins at Corvallis Contradance Weekend 2018, Corvallis OR (posted by Bob Green):