Chris Page says " So it's up to you. But this is a general principle -- I regularly modify dances, sometimes as a general change, and sometimes to help the dance fit into the program, like avoiding too many circle lefts. Or cut swings shorter because it's hotter. Or..."
I am not sure that I agree with this. When I modify a dance that someone else has written (and named) I will usually either give it a new name, or at least give it it's original name with a modifier (eg #2) and announce that it is based on whatever the original dance was. Otherwise, lets say I write a dance, lets call it "Alterations!" (I added the ! as there is already a dance called Alterations). It goes as follows: Neighbor balance and swing Ladies chain across and back Long lines forward and back twice Star right and left Person A sees this, writes it down and goes to use it. However, It's a bit hot that night so they substitute Neighbor dosido and swing, so now we have Neighbor dosido and swing Ladies chain across and back Long lines forward and back twice Star right and left Person B sees this, writes it down and goes to use it. However, there are a lot of beginners that night so they substitute circle left and right for the ladies chains, so now we have Neighbor dosido and swing Circle left and right Long lines forward and back twice Star right and left Person C sees this, writes it down and goes to use it. However, they have already had a lot of dances with lines forward and back that night so they substitute square throughs for the lines forward and back, so now we have Neighbor dosido and swing Circle left and right Square through there and back Star right and left Person D sees this, writes it down and goes to use it. However, there is lots of space that night and they don't like having a dance with no partner swing so they substitute dosido and swing your partner for the stars, so now we have Neighbor dosido and swing Circle left and right Square through there and back Partner dosido and swing (end facing up/down) There is now nothing left of the original dance, yet it is *still* called Alterations! by Michael Barraclough! What do others think? Michael Barraclough http://www.michaelbarraclough.com
