Gang -- I think star promenade with a butterfly whirl has the potential to be a satisfying, connected figure, but in my experience it rarely is.
What I want to have happen is that the inside people (usually men) retain their allemande hold including the satisfying allemande amount of weight on that arm, the women the men have an arm around are pulling away with enough weight to feel connected, you get round in time, and the inside people push off from the joined hand to launch a spin for the whirl. When that's happened for me as a dancer, I've really enjoyed it, but it's really rare. Even the last time I danced at the Scout House I got maybe two out of 15 possible on-time pushoffs, and in California I'm lucky if I get one in a whole dance. I presume this doesn't happen because pretty much all four people have to want to make it happen and know how. At the contra I called last night, calling Amy Cann's "Sweet Music" (*great* dance), I tried just hinting at the connected part: "Men allemande left once a half. Keeping that same feeling of connection, scoop up your partner and star promenade. Butterfly whirl and the women use their momentum to start a hey for four ..." Well, they got the sequence fine, but I was watching the floor and there was a fair amount of men not even keeping a hand-hold with each other, much less a connected one. And of course if you don't have that counterbalance on the other end of your arm you can't get around as fast. All that's a long build-up to: Anybody got hints for briefly and effectively teaching a *good* star promenade? (Not just the geography - that's easy enough - but the dynamics that make it satisfying.) Thanks, -- Alan -- =============================================================================== Alan Winston --- wins...@ssrl.slac.stanford.edu Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056 Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025 ===============================================================================
