Dear Alison, > Is the momentum from cast off proper really any different from a ladies chain into long lines forward and back?
No. It's just that instead of starting across, as in a courtesty turn, with a 180 degree assisted turn, with a cast off the assisted turn starts with the actuve couple facing up and the turn is more like 270 degrees, three quarters of the way around, to end facing across. Zesty Contras does, indeed, appear to be available from CDSS: http://www.cdss.org/sales/american_dance.html#books and scroll down to Jennings. Along with 500 dances in his unique transcription style, Larry includees many provocative essays that are in many ways even more valuable than the dances. Same thing goes for Give-and-Take, the more recent sequel which was written in part because Larry's sense of what constituted a "zesty" contra had changed over time. "Zesty Contras" actually includes dances without a partner swing-- gasp! Rory O'More balances for all in contempory contras work because they're done in two lines, one on each side of the set, rather than one line down the center. There's simply not enough room to put all the dancers into one line. (Think of normal spacing along a contra line, and now put twice as many people into it.) MORE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR Al Olson duple improper contra A1 Circle left; allemande right neighbor 1-1/2 to a long wave A2 All balance right, then left, then slde right past your neighbor (the Rory O'More balances) For new wave, balance left, right, and slide left past that same neighbor B1 Allemande right neighbor once around (just 4 counts!), men start hey for four across the set, going 3/4 of the way B2 All swing partner; ladies chain I was on autopilot when I suggested this and credited it to Roger Diggle. It'sbecause the versin I usually call is Roger's variation of Al's dance, which Al liked even better than his original composition. MORE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR Roger Diggle variation of dance by Al Olson Becket formation A1 Circle left 3/4, allemande right with your neighbor 1-1/2 into long waves (men facing in, women out) A2 Rory O'More balances B1 Allemande right once around, men start hey for four across the set B2 Continue the hey (until you meet partner), swing partner, slide left along the set to the next couple And if that's not enough, Al Olson also came up with... MORE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR #2, which is published in Give-and-Take... Hope this helps... David Millstone Lebanon, NH
