THE BUS STOP
duple improper contra 
by Bill Olson 9/12/98
Smooth reels.
 

A1: Neighbors  R/H Bal (4), 
    Box the Gnat (4), 
    (let go and) Star R 3/4 to wave across* 
    (W in center joined by left hand) [M1 Down, W1 up, W2 down, M2 up] (8)

A2: Bal wave (4) 
    W allem L x 1 (4), 
    Partners pass right shoulder to start 1/2 hey (8)

B1: Partner Gypsy and Swing (16)

B2: Partners 1/2 Promenade (8) [across set], [courtesy turn into] 
    Roll to Swap w/ partner** (2), into  
    L/H star x 3/4 (6)

BILL SEZ:
      This dance was written Sept 12, 1998 on the way to call a dance in N.
Yarmouth at the Westcustogo Grange. In March, I had been talking with Carol
Ormand about a dance called by Sue Rosen at the 8th annual Downeast Country
Dance Festival. The dance was "Summer Sunshine" by Paul Balliet. It had a
circle L 3/4 to a wave across and it was a really smooth move that Carol
admitted she wished she had invented. 

*We figured a star to a wave was a cool move too, but she had only seen a star
to a long wave, not a wave across. So this is it. It goes very smoothly, the
women just have to remember to reach left hands across the star, but leave
right  hands joined with partners to form a wave across with the active man
facing down joined by R to active woman, etc.

**In B2, courtesy turn after the 1/2 Promenade then flow into a Rollaway with a
Half Sashay to change places with partner. This has everyone moving in the
correct direction for the L/H star and if the women remember to put their left
hands in immediately there is a nice flow into the star, I think! A possible
alternative would be a Partner Balance and swing in B1, but that makes the
timing a little more critical in A2. 

Anyway, Scrod Pudding played a set of modern reels for this dance at Bowdoinham
town hall on Sept 19: "Don Tremaine's" by Graham Townsend (in D), "Evil Diane"
by Sam Bartlett (in A), and "Bus Stop Reel" (in Am) by Anita Anderson. What a
great mezmerizing set and it worked so well! Since this dance also grew out of
a dance I have been working on since April to commemorate David Kaynor's 50th
birthday, and since David is continually threatening to ride the bus to gig's
in order to be able to carpool with someone to the NEXT gig, that iced it for
me. I figured I had to name the dance... "The Bus Stop", just another stop
along the way........