Love the characterization of Smithy Hill! The Ann Arbor English Country Dance community is a big fan of K&E (and I with them). I'd like to add Lee Gugerty's "Clear Lake Contra (Revised)" to the mix. It's a contra for ECD dancers, in my mind--gypsies and orbits, cloverleafing, nestling-- see below. And then there's "Nils's Maggot" by Martha Wild, named for Nils Fredland's raving over it. It's the single best excuse for a handy-hand move I know. Nils's Maggot Martha Wild duple improper A1 1-8 handy-hand allemande (1s going down the center to start) 1-1/2 times 9-16 2s swing in the center A2 1-16 2s as a unit, hey for 3, beginning R shoulder with 1L end 4-in-line facing down B1 1-16 4-in-line down the hall, turn w/ neighbor as a couple, return & bend the lline B2 1-8 2s 1/2 figure-8 down through 1s 5-16 WHILE 1s swing in center, ending w/ handy-hand to new neigh "Clear Lake Contra-Revised" by Lee Gugerty Duple improper A1 1-16 1s gypsy 2x around WHILE 2s cross & cast above, cross again; all end in a line of 4 facing down, 1s in center A2 1-8 4-in-line down the hall, 1s turn away from each other while keeping hands, 2s nestle in behind 9-16 All 4 return up the hall in "close" formation; 1s duck (backwards) and 2s arch into star-swing position B1 1-8 turn the star-swing once to the left (walking step) 9-16 swing your neighbor on the side B2 1-8 R&L through across the set 9-16 half-hey back into progressed places On Sat, Apr 4, 2009 at 12:15 PM, Melanie Axel-Lute wrote: > > Great list, Fae. I'd add Love, Port, & Sherry. > K&E is really all contra moves but is quite a challenge for contra dancers! > Someone (Bruce Hamilton?) calls Smithy Hill a "cocktail lounge contra > dance." > > -- It is not necessary that you leave the house. Remain at your table and listen. Do not even listen, only wait. Do not even wait, be wholly still and alone. The world will present itself to you for its unmasking, it can do no other, in ecstasy it will writhe at your feet. --Franz Kafka, _Aphorisms_ (1918)