GOODY GOODY

January 2010, phase V foxtrot to a Della Reese song downloadable as a mp3

History

I have had this song for a long time, awaiting its turn. The music lends itself to the American style foxtrot, with an easy QQS open work part. The "meat" is phase IV foxtrot, with only a few popular phase V figures (Natural Weave, Top Spin, Natural Hover Cross and Back Lilt). The song tells a story and the choreo, I hope, illustrates that story. It is festival material, with enough to teach to fill an hour or so without dawdling, but nothing hard so that all can leave with a good feeling.

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ABBA DABBA HONEYMOON

January 2010, phase II+1 Two-Step to a funny song by the Chenille Sisters, available on an album or downloadable as a mp3

History

I am a strong defender of the Two Step as a rhythm that pertains not only to Round Dancing but also to Choreographed Ballroom Dancing, just like tango or foxtrot. Because traditionally the Two-Step has been used as the entry rhythm for square dancers into round dancing, it is regarded as a "Beginner's rhythm" and Roundalab implicitly endorsed this image by placing almost all the figures of two-step in Phases I and II. Choreographers have reinforced the idea by mostly writing two-step dances for the class or to be cued "between square dance tips", using either country music or music played by small bands with little contrast and uninspiring arrangements... not music that would be used by the ballroom dancers. The two-step deserves better than that. We write two-step dances that are not always danceable to cues, dances that should be interesting no matter how many years you have been dancing. This one uses plain standard phase II figures but the music has interesting changes of tempi that have been exploited. Although we don't have much hope of ever changing the way the two-step is regarded, we are still hoping that one day some of its nobility will be returned, as when dances like Roses for Elizabeth and Spaghetti Rag were written.

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ALFIE

February 2010, phase III+2 Cha Cha and Merengue to a relatively recent song (2006) by Lily Allen, downloadable as a mp3

History

It's just a modern song with a strong beat and we tried to keep the choreo simple. A secret: if you replace the Arm Slide with Side Stairs 8 and step-cue the Merengue Basic and Glide, you can do away with the merengue altogether and consider it as a Cha Cha III+1 that can be danced to cues. Wink, wink.

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A SHOT IN THE DARK

March 2010, phase IV+2 foxtrot and jive to a Mancini piece of music available as a CD, or as a MP3 or as a 45 RPM vinyl.

History

This music is the theme of a movie by the same name, one of the Pink Panther comedies with Peter Sellers and Elke Sommer. The dance is interesting for phase IV dancers starting to venture into phase V. The new figures for such dancers are the Check and Weave which they'll have a chance to dance 4 times and the Hover Cross Ending which they'll dance twice. Learning the Hover Cross Ending first is a good way to facilitate the introduction the Natural Hover Cross soon after. At phase IV, they are given the opportunity to thoroughly review the difference between a Quick Diamond 4 and a Weave Ending.

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SHIFTWORK

April 2010, phase IV rumba to a country song by Kenny Chesney. The MP3 can be downloaded from Amazon.com for $.99.

History

I chanced upon this song as I was updating my Line Dancing database. Sure enough it has the very strong beat and the country flavor which are typical of the songs often used in Line Dancing. We wrote a simple phase IV rumba to it, no "plus", straightforward phase III and IV figures but... be careful anyway. ;-)

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April 2010 - 2 TWO-STEPS FOR GRADUATION NIGHT

YODELING COWHAND

2-step phase II+1+1 to a true country song by Wylie and the Wild West, downloadable from various sites.

History

I am not a fan of the genre but if I am going to listen to cowboys singing, I like them to be real cowboys and Wylie comes close to the genuine article. The unphased figure in the dance is a Reverse Scissors to Banjo, in which the man crosses behind and the lady crosses in front, nothing more exotic than that.

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MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

2-step phase II+1 to a different piece of music by Chicks on Speed, downloadable from Walmart.

History

Lots of drums and little melody in this piece which is more "spoken" than "sung". I am not expecting that many will like this one but I do. Ideal for those students that have difficulty hearing the beat. Can't miss it here. I had fun writing the dance as an exercise on Quicks and Slows.

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LITTLE BOXES

Waltz II+1+1 or III+1 to a song which can be recorded from a Web page

History

I became acquainted with the song because it is the opening music used in the TV show WEEDS. I thought the song had been created for the series and it is only recently that I realized that the song dates from the early 60s, written by Malvina Reynolds as she was driving South from San Francisco and passed Daly, a place where the houses look like little boxes on the hill side. The first choreo (III+1) was inspired by a discussion that was taking place in the RAL email forum about the teaching of Slip Pivot. Then we reflected that with a title like that, there HAD to be a phase II dance with many boxes to the tune and so created a second routine, phase II+1+1.

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June 2010 - TWO SUMMER DANCES FOR YOUR CRUISES AND BEACH PARTIES

EL BURRO EN LA PLAYA

Cha cha IV+1 to an old Sydney Thompson song which may be hard to find - Just ask us.

History

It's an upbeat tune that make you feel like dancing barefoot in the sand. The title means The Donkey on the Beach. When I started writing the dance, I was determined to keep it at the III level but... there was this spot in the music screaming for a Double Cuban. That's why it's a IV+1, otherwise mostly phase III figures.

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SOLENZARA

Rumba III+2 to a very nice instrumental piece played by Claude Ciari, downloadable from several Internet sites

History

This time, my resolve to keep this holiday dance at the III level was undisturbed. Solenzara is the name of a village on the French island of Corsica, a beautiful sea resort. The music is just guitar, no vocals and it evokes lazy chairs and cocktails around the swimming pool, long dresses and tuxedoes, shrimp appetizers and the breeze from the sea.

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DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE

Quickstep and Single Swing IV+1 meet in a Belgo-Japonese round (Doi/Woodruff) available as a CD or a MP3 single track download.

History

I had put away, some time ago, this wonderful piece of Dixieland music with the firm intention of writing a round to it some day. Then I noticed that Daisuke and Tamae Doi had written a quickstep III to music with the same title. It was a much shorter and different rendition but I did like the choreo and, as you probably know by now, I am totally against writing 2nd, 3rd or 4th round to the same tune, a wasteful competition between choreographers which is not in the interest of the community. So I wrote to Daisuke and asked to borrow his quickstep choreo. He readily agreed and I then worked on an Intro, Part C and Ending that would fit around his Parts A and B. I like the result and I hope you do too.

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THAT'S RIGHT!

August 2010 - Foxtrot V+1+1 to a piece of music that may be downloaded from the Casa Musica Site

History

This round has a theme: the Natural Hover Cross. The "Dance" goes thru twice and the main 30 measures of the dance include the standard Hover Cross as well as two variations: the Continuous Hover Cross and the Checked Continuous Hover Cross. A great way to learn these figures thoroughly. Nothing else distracts from the goal, as the only other phase V figure is a Double Reverse Spin. The music is easy going, relaxed, a little lazy even and vocals are definitely not a distraction either, "That's Right" being pretty much the only lyrics. :-)

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