LARRY'S BECKET 
by Larry Jennings
Formation: Contra, Becket formation (counterclockwise progression)
Music: Reel de Montreal/Reconciliation
Called by: Larry Jennings

A1- Circle left _ ("till you get straight") [3/4]
    Swing neighbor

A2:  Left hands across star, gents starting and ladies falling in behind the
     neighbor you swung ("till you see your shadow")
     Right hand star back

B1: Allemande left shadow
    "Deal with your partner for 6 seconds" [improvise something]

B2:  Promenade across
     Right and left through on the left diagonal, 
     and face the same couple to begin again


"Till you get straight" means oriented squarely in duple improper formation,
with your neighbor on the side of
the set.

Before teaching the dance, Larry did a characteristically humorous but
thought-provoking introduction. He first called attention to the fact that if
everyone who goes bowling came contra dancing, there would be a lot more contra
dancers. He then proceeded to say, "What can contra dancers learn from bowling?
Well, in bowling you set up the pins between 10 and 12 times exactly the same,
and you throw a ball at them between 12 and 21 times. If you throw the ball
exactly correctly 12 times, it is called a perfect game and everyone cheers.
Well, that's enough of that. Let's walk through the dance." Then we walked
through the figures of the dance. Before starting the music, Larry and Laura
Johannes (assisted by Nancy Raich and John McIntire) did a delicious
demonstration of the B1 part of the dance to illustrate just what could be
meant by "deal with your partner." In each case they did the allemande left as
an introduction but followed it with something different: a gypsy; an exchange
of names; several pieces of repartee focused on Peter Barnes's spectacular
appearance in female costume the previous evening; an allusion to the
possibility of a perfect game in bowling; a question as to what would
constitute a perfect dance; and finally a swing. As Larry returned to the
microphone, he asked again, "What can contra dancers learn from bowlers?" and
encouraged us to try to make this a perfect dance.