Hi Richard, I took the liberty of "adapting" your dance a bit then called it last night at a dance in Elsah, Il. The crowd of about thirty dancers was a fairly even mix of experienced dancers and first or second timers with a wide range of ages (Teens to 80's).
The revised instructions I used were: Make groups of three people--gender doesn't matter. If it doesn't come out even, make one or two groups of two people so everyone gets to dance. Make a big circle holding hands with the people in your group, then turn your group of three together to face right. Like spokes on a wheel. Notice who's closet to the middle of the big circle. That's the INSIDE person. Everybody walk forward (promenade holding hands). Make a circle of three and circle to the right. Circle left. End with the inside person facing both partners. [Note it doesn't matter which way the group as a whole is facing] Inside person with right hand partner: Clap (self); clap (self); Clap both hands with right hand partner; pause a beat. Inside person with left hand partner: Clap(self); clap(self) Clap both hands with left hand partner; pause a beat. Inside person with left hand partner: Allemande right (about 3/4ths) Inside person with right hand partner: Allemand left once. Repeat the allemand's until the caller says "Swing" then inside person swing (or two hand turn, or...) the one they are with.[*] Extra people go to the middle of the circle and mess around with each other (that got a laugh) Mingle; Improvise. When caller says "Promenade" the swinging couples make the spokes of the wheel again and extra people join in as the new inside person. [*] Last time through the caller says "As a group of three, Swing" to end the dance. There was mild confusion particularly at the transition from clapping to allemandeing. There was also a lot of laughing and smiling. I'd say it's a hit. Thanks, Dale On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 4:54 PM, Richard Fischer < [email protected]> wrote: > Actually I've just recently written a dance for threes. It meets only some > of Rickey's criteria, and I haven't yet tried it out on my kids at school, > but I will soon. I'll paste it below, and if you give it a try, I'd love to > hear how it went! > > Richard > > Mixer for Groups of Three > > Tentative Title “Near and Far” > > to the tune Beaumont Rag > > Richard Allen Fischer > > (numbers refer to beats) > > A1 (first time through) Promenade CCW in groups of three (16) > (Note who the inside-track person is.) > > A2 Circle left (8) and circle right (8) in groups of three > End in a spoke-like line with inside-track person facing out of the circle > to their partners, and their two partners facing in towards them > > B1 (Clapping pattern: clap, clap, clap, rest. First two claps with one’s > own hands, last with a partner) > All clap own hands twice, then inside-track person with nearest > partner (4) > All clap own hands twice, then inside-track person with distant > partner (4) > All clap own hands twice, then inside-track person with nearest > partner (4) > Boogie/Clog/Improvise (4) > > B2 Caller says “Choose Near” or “Choose Far.” Inside-track person swings > one partner, and the other partner goes to the center. Folks in the center > are encouraged to improvise on their own and with each other during B2. > > Dance begins again with (and proceeds with) > > A1 Promenade CCW with partner; folks in center join a couple as the > inside-track person. > > Dance ends with > > B2 Caller says “Choose Both!” Swing all three. > > Notes: Some playfulness/dodging/blocking expected with the clapping in > B1. Center dancers are discouraged from rejoining their old group. In my > school setting I would use the calls in B2 to avoid awkwardness about > choosing; in other setting calls might not be needed. Again, in my school > setting, swing can be a two-hand turn, elbow turns, ballroom position > swing, etc. > > > -- *So if you knew what was broken...how long would it take you to fix it?*
