Dance Choreography – David Mandelberg

Hey, Student Union

David Mandelberg — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:26:05 +0000

This post was migrated from a collection of contra dances I wrote. The post date is mostly accurate, but the post time is not.

Difficulty: medium
Comment: If I remember correctly, I wrote this dance while waiting to get Brandeis Contra Dancers recognized by the Student Union.
Position: improper
Progression: single

Choreography

A1

8 beats: gents allemande left once around

8 beats: pick up neighbor for a star promenade and butterfly whirl

A2

8 beats: ladies chain

8 beats: star left ¾ and gents turn around

B1

16 beats: balance and swing neighbor

B2

16 beats: gents pass left for a hey for four over and back

Flirting Confusion

David Mandelberg — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:57:03 +0000

This post was migrated from a collection of contra dances I wrote. The post date is mostly accurate, but the post time is not.

Difficulty: hard
Position: improper
Progression: single

Choreography

A1

4 beats: balance the ring

4 beats: flirt-and-go

8 beats: swing neighbor

A2

8 beats: right and left through

8 beats: long lines forward and back

B1

16 beats: gents cross the set to swing partner

B2

8 beats: balance the ring and petronella

8 beats: circle left once around and pass through

Hands

David Mandelberg — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:28:43 +0000

This post was migrated from a collection of contra dances I wrote. The post date is mostly accurate, but the post time is not.

Difficulty: medium
Position: improper
Progression: single

Choreography

A1

12 beats: allemande neighbor left 1½

4 beats: ladies allemande right ½

A2

4 beats: partner allemande left ½

12 beats: ladies balance and swing, then backup towards partner

B1

16 beats: gents balance and swing

B2

2 beats: pull by partner right

2 beats: ladies pull by left

8 beats: allemande neighbor right once around into long wavy lines with the ladies facing out

4 beats: balance long lines

Kaylee Digraph

David Mandelberg — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:08:33 +0000

This post was migrated from a collection of contra dances I wrote. The post date is mostly accurate, but the post time is not.

Difficulty: easy
Position: improper
Progression: single

Choreography

A1

8 beats: do-si-do neighbor

8 beats: swing neighbor

A2

8 beats: circle left ¾

8 beats: swing partner, ending facing down

B1

16 beats: lines of 4 down the hall, turn alone, come back up, and bend to a circle

B2

8 beats: circle left once around

8 beats: star left ¾

Sashay, Don’t Walk

David Mandelberg — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:21:54 +0000

This post was migrated from a collection of contra dances I wrote. The post date is mostly accurate, but the post time is not.

Difficulty: easy
Position: improper
Progression: single

Choreography

A1

16 beats: 1s sashay down the center of the set and back up

A2

16 beats: neighbor balance and swing

B1

16 beats: 2s sashay up the center of the set and back down

B2

8 beats: neighbor handy-hand allemande about once around

8 beats: 2s swing in the center, then backup to make room for 1s

A Bit Boring

David Mandelberg — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:57:46 +0000

This post was migrated from a collection of contra dances I wrote. The post date is mostly accurate, but the post time is not.

Difficulty: easy
Comment: I wrote this dance and made a note that I found it a bit boring. One of my friends thought the note was the title of the dance, and we had a good laugh. After that, I knew what the title had to be.
Position: improper
Progression: single

Choreography

A1

16 beats: 1s balance and swing

A2

8 beats: lines down the ball, turn alone

8 beats: lines back up, bend

B1

8 beats: ladies do-si-do

8 beats: neighbor swing

B2

8 beats: circle left once around

8 beats: 1s do-si-do across the set

Continuous and Mostly Differentiable

David Mandelberg — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:57:25 +0000

This post was migrated from a collection of contra dances I wrote. The post date is mostly accurate, but the post time is not.

Difficulty: medium
Position: improper
Progression: single

Choreography

A1

8 beats: star left ¾

8 beats: partner allemande left once around

A2

16 beats: ladies chain over and back

B1

8 beats: ladies do-si-do

8 beats: partner swing

B2

8 beats: long lines forward and back, gents roll away partner with a half sashay on the way back

8 beats: star right 1¼

Leah Price and the Impala: A Bängala Dance

David Mandelberg — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 03:15:43 +0000

This post was migrated from a collection of contra dances I wrote. The post date is mostly accurate, but the post time is not.

Difficulty: hard
Comment: I wrote this for an English Literature project on Barbara Kingsolver’s novel The Poisonwood Bible. The choreography is meant to resemble a hunt in which Leah Price kills an impala, but Gbenye thinks it was his kill before Nelson proves that Leah had killed the animal.; The active lady is Leah, the active gent is Nelson, the inactive gent is the impala, and the inactive lady is Gbenye.
Position: proper
Progression: single

Choreography

A1

16 beats: active lady and inactive gent gypsy and meltdown into a swing in the center, ending facing down

A2

16 beats: active lady and inactive gent down the center, turn alone, and come back

B1

4 beats: cast around with partner

12 beats: active lady and inactive gent push off in center and return to swing partner

B2

8 beats: ½ ladies’ chain

4 beats: roll the ladies away with a half sashay

4 beats: inactives California twirl

Devastated Newbie 2

David Mandelberg — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 11:49:25 +0000

This post was migrated from a collection of contra dances I wrote. The post date is mostly accurate, but the post time is not.

Difficulty: extreme
Comment: Every progression the women move two and the men move one, so assuming you’re not at the end of the major set, you end up in a completely new set of four every time.
Position: improper
Progression: mixed single (for men) and double (for women)

Choreography

A1

16 beats: swing neighbor

A2

8 beats: women cross the set and gypsy partner

8 beats: ½ hey, starting with men passing left shoulders

B1

16 beats: balance and swing person on left (men) or right (women) NB: this is your new partner

B2

8 beats: circle left ¾ and California twirl partner to face new people

8 beats: balance and pull by new person

Flying Juggernaut

David Mandelberg — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 14:26:25 +0000

This post was migrated from a collection of contra dances I wrote. The post date is mostly accurate, but the post time is not.

Difficulty: hard
Comment: This dance can require a lot of upper body strength because of the flying figures.
Position: improper
Progression: single

Choreography

A1

4 beats: balance ring

12 beats: 4 person swing left with hands behind the backs: men lock hands with each other and women lock hands with each other; women fly: men lift their arms once some speed is built up and the women stay in the air; end in opposite place, as if it was a circle left 1½

A2

2 beats: women go forward and form a wavy line in the center

2 beats: #1 women jump, #2 women support

2 beats: #2 women jump, #1 women support

2 beats: women go back

8 beats: men do the same

B1

4 beats: balance ring

12 beats: 4 person swing left, men flying, ending as if it were a 1½ turn

B2

4 beats: balance ring

8 beats: petronella twice

4 beats: California twirl; end facing new neighbors