Set for Spring
longways, duple minor, proper, English country dance by Joseph Pimentel
tune by Dave Wiesler, 108 bpm, 2/2, D minor Barnes 3
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnm4k9h5Dvc

A1 1-4 Up a double and back / Side R / Arm R

A2 1-4 Up a double and back / Side R / Arm R

B1 1-4 1st Corners set and turn single
   5-8 1st Corners lead a chevron, thus:
   5-6 1st Corners pass R into each other's places and face out of the set
        while 2nd Corners stand still
   7-8 1st Corners back up to cross the set into N's places
       while 2nd Corners cast R into N's places

B2 1-8 Repeat B1 with 2nd Corners leading from 1st Corner places
  9-12 Half-poussette (CW, 1st Corners moving forward to start)

Teaching Notes
 

A. These are the typical USA verse figures Up a double, Siding, and Arming, and
they alternate each time through the dance. The first time through is Up a
double and back, the second time through is Siding, the third time through is
Arming, and then this sequence repeats for as long as you run the dance. Which
figure comes next poses extra memory load for dancers; attentive callers will
be ready to help, but judicious assistance will help them become better
dancers. I suggest ending the dance when it feels best rather than focusing on
a final round where having everyone in the dance coincides with Arming.

 
B. The greatest challenge in this portion will be in bars 5-6 for those who
wait while the others initiate the chevron.

 B2 9-12. The musical tag for the final poussette should not challenge dancers,
but callers should be attentive to the subtlety of the phrasing to prompt it
well. It might also help the musicians for you to suggest they think of these
final bars as a tag.


Background
This dance and tune were debuted at and celebrate the Set for Spring weekend of
English country dance in Houston TX in March 2015. This great event moves each
year among the great dance communities of Austin, Dallas, Houston, and Oklahoma
City. Early spring in Teklahoma coincides with wildflowers blooming -- most
notably Texas bluebonnets -- and also when dance friends further north most
appreciate an escape from winter. You can see the debut dancing here.

The figures were inspired by another of Dave's tunes which unbeknownst to me
was already claimed. So I explained what I had in mind and Dave wrote this tune
on the plane on the way to Houston.