If a crowd has never seen a ricochet hey before, I might start with something that only has one ricochet. I wrote one a little while ago, and dancers around here seem to enjoy it.
What's to Doubt? Improper A1 Neighbor balance and swing, end facing across A2 Mad robin (Men go in and right, Women go back and Left; Men go back and Left, Women go in and Right) Men start 1/2 hey by Left shoulder B1 Men 1/2 hey by left, Women ricochet back into Partner swing B2 Men Allemande Left 1x while women orbit clockwise (L) 1/2 Neighbor Allemande R 1 3x4 to next Neighbor The hey broken over the A2/B1 helps mark it as something different for the dancers. I think a ricochet hey is one of those places where a demo is worth doing. Having a flexible but defined endpoint like a partner swing helps, but I'd still be inclined to show it. If I were try describe it just in writing/speaking to someone who knew a hey but not a ricochet, I'd say (for this dance) "It's a full hey for the men split over the A2/B1 transition. It's a half hey for the women, and then they come in, put both hands up palms out, and push off each other (twirling optional) to go back to the same side of the set they were on after the first half of the hey. Their partner can meld in after the ricochet for a very nice swing transition (which works better if the women don't back out at a wide angle from the line of the hey)." I'd appreciate hearing a more succinct way to teach it, as that seems a lot of verbage. Another dance with a ricochet is Nathaniel Jack's Dead Cat Bounce Duple Imp. A1 16 Neighbor Bal + Swing A2 4 Men Al L ½ 4 Partner Al right 1ce 8 Men start ½ hay L, women ricochet (push off the hands of the other woman to move back and to the right) B1 8 Circle left ¾ 8 Partner Swing B2 8 LL F+B 8 Women Gypsy R 1½ to new neighbors Which I've seen and danced at dance weekends, where the caller just had to say "men 1/2 hey, women ricochet". On Mon, Dec 6, 2010 at 9:47 PM, Paul Wilde > I'm also curious as to how other's might walk this through. Do the dancers > starting the hey each time have to make a wide loop while their partners > are > "pushing back"? > _____________________ > My experience with ricochets is that a wide loop is not required. You can have two people ricochet (twice) during a normal dance without interrupting the flow of the dance or changing the flow pattern for the other dancers. -- Luke Donev http://www.lukedonev.com [email protected]
