William Watson's Contra Dance Compositions

I don't often compose dances. So many good ones exist that there's little need to do so. The ones I offer here resulted from either the desire for a simple dance that did something specific (Less is More), a mistaken recollection of an existing dance called by someone else (Dog Branch Reel Variations, Sweet Music Variation), an attempt to eliminate what seemed a glitch in an otherwise wonderful dance (Erik's Second Date), a choreography session in which I was a participant (Fort Flagler Fling, Pinewoods Crossing), or a "cool" move that insisted on a new setting (The Devil's Backbone). Note that I do NOT claim my variations are "better" than the original dances in any absolute sense. They fit my needs in some way. Perhaps they will fit yours.

All compositions © 1998-2024 by William Watson. Permission freely granted to callers for use at dances. Please contact me if you would like to publish any of these dances. I will almost certainly agree.

The Devil's BackboneDog Branch Reel Variation 1Dog Branch Reel Variation 2Erik's Second DateFort Flagler FlingTo Live on MarsMcKenzie RiverMore BrokenPinewoods CrossingShell's RequestSurfing FolklifeSweet Music VariationVenus and Mars Variation

The Devil's Backbone

Formation:Four face four
Difficulty:Advanced
Progression:Single
Music:Flowing or driving 32-bar AABB tunes
A1 (8) Lines of four go foward and back
(8) Ladies chain with the couple you're facing
A2 (8) Left hand star with the same couple
(8) Lead ladies (the lady on the outside in the original line of four)unroll the star, passing the other lead lady in your set of eight by the right, cross the set and form a circle with the original set of four.
B1 (8) Circle left one time around
(8) Neighbor swing
B2 (8) Men allemande left 1 1/2
(8) Partner swing

NOTES: My original explanation of the dance.

I composed the final form of this dance while driving I-10 across Louisiana on my way from my home in Austin, Texas to Florida Rhapsody in December, 1998. I brought it out at a caller's workshop there run by Robert Cromartie. He was so taken by the dance that he called it that evening, with much fanfare. Thanks to this promotion, the dance swept the country in record time. It was called in Boston and Seattle within the month, and seemed to become the "ooh!" dance of 1999. It made its way Down Under to Australia by 2004.
Chris Page has links to several videos in his database entry for this dance, including this amazing one with dancers in fancy formal wear and music at about 125 beats per minute, outside Marseille, France!
Another video shows Seth Tepfer's Walk-though of the dance.

As captured on You Tube at May Madness in Arizona, May 2006. Merri Rudd called the dance, and The Privvy Tippers played (the tune Growling Old Man, Grumbling Old Woman).

Dog Branch Reel Variation 1

Formation:duple, improper contra
Difficulty:Intermediate
Progression:Single
Music:Flowing or driving 32-bar AABB tunes
A1 (4) Lines of Four Go Down the Hall
(4) Centers Arch, and Roll Back-to-Back
(4) Come Back Cozy
(4) Actives Duck to Form a Cloverleaf
A2 (8) "Circle" Left
(8) Neighbor Swing
B1 (8) Promenade Across the Set
(8) Right & Left Through
B2 (8) Long Lines Dance Forward & Back
(8) Actives Swing

A variation of Bob Dalsemer's dance The Dog Branch Reel. I danced the dance in San Francisco to the calling of Leda Shapiro, and goofed around with my partner. We started to "come back cozy", and decided that we liked the transitions better that way. The next day I wrote down this version of the dance, which actually doesn't really resemble the original very closely.

Dog Branch Reel Variation 2

Formation:duple, improper contra
Difficulty:Intermediate
Progression:Single
Music:Flowing or driving 32-bar AABB tunes
B1 (8) Neighbor Do-si-do
(8) Actives Swing
A1 (4) Lines of Four Go Down the Hall
(4) Centers Arch, and Roll Back-to-Back
(4) Come Back Cozy
(4) Actives Duck to Form a Cloverleaf
A2 (8) "Circle" Left
(8) Neighbor Swing
B2 (8) Long Lines Dance Forward & Back
(8) Twos Swing

A variation of Bob Dalsemer's dance The Dog Branch Reel. This one is much closer to the original, and came about after I finally compared the above dance to Bob's.

Erik's Second Date

Formation:Becket contra, Left/CW
Difficulty:Intermediate
Progression:Single
Music:Flowing or driving 32-bar AABB tunes
A1 (8) Circle Left 3/4, Pass Through Along the Set
(8) New Neighbor Swing
A2 (8) Circle Left 3/4
(8) Partner Allemande Right 1 1/2
B1 (16) Men Pass Left to Start a Full Hey for Four
B2 (16) Partner Swing

A variation of Eric's Date on the Bay, by Charlie Fenton. I hadn't realized until pulling together this web page that I'd changed the C to a K in Eric.

Fort Flagler Fling

Formation:Duple, improper contra
Difficulty:Advanced
Progression:Single
Music:Flowing or driving 32-bar AABB tunes
A1 (8) Long Lines Dance Forward & Back
(8) Women Pass Left Shoulders to Gypsy their Partners [1x]
A2 (8) These Four Star by the Right [1x], Face New Folks
(8) New Folks Star Left [1x], Men Reach Right Hands Under and
B1 (8) Shadow Box the Gnat, Pull By
(8) Partner Swing
B2 (8) Circle Left 3/4
(8) Neighbor Swing

NOTES: Composed at Camp Wannadance, 22 March 2003 in the contra dance choreography session run by Rick Mohr. Participants included: Rick Mohr, Ann Mason, Chris Quin-Britnall, Christine Fry (now Appleberry), Jane Srivastava, John Gallagher, John Lawson, Kim Appleberry, Sandy Strand, Steve Sutlief, Vern Tator, Vicky Marron, and William Watson.

To Live on Mars

Formation:Duple, improper contra
Difficulty:Intermediate
Progression:Single
Music:smooth, flowing 32-bar jigs or reels
A1 (8) Neighbor Do-si-Do
(8) Neighbor Swing
A2 (8) Circle Left 3/4, Roll Away Partners (Ladies Left to Right)
(8) Men Allemande Lft 1 1/2 WHILE Women Orbit Clockwise 1/2
B1 (8) Partner Gypsy
(8) Partner Swing
B2 (8) Ladies Chain
Hey Halfway [Ladies Pass Right to Start]

Notes: This dance is a mash-up of the dances To Live is To Dance, composed by Jim Kitch, and Venus and Mars, composed by Martin Sirk. The title is a mash-up of their titles.

McKenzie River

Formation:Duple, improper contra
Difficulty:Intermediate
Progression:Single
Music:32-bar jigs, with bouncy As and smooth Bs
A1 (4) In Long Wavy Lines, Balance Right & Left
(4) Drop Hands, Slide Right
(4) In Long Wavy Lines, Balance Left & Right
(4) Drop Hands, Slide Left
A2 (4) Long Wavy Lines Balance Right & Left
(12) Neighbor Swing
B1 (8) Men Allemande Left 1 1/2
(8) Partner Swing
B2 (8) Ladies Chain
(8) Hey for Four, Halfway

Notes: I was quite taken by the "hey into long wavy lines" transition in another dance (which then transitions into a square circulate), and thought it'd make a good way to get into long Rory O'More waves.
First called May, 2005.

Variation (by Lynn Ackerson)
At the start of the dance, make short wavy lines of four across the set. For the last move, instead of the half-hey-for-four, pass through across the set and cross trails to meet new neighbors.

More Broken

Formation:Duple, improper contra
Difficulty:Intermediate
Progression:Double
Music:bouncy 32-bar jigs or driving 32-bar reels
A1 (4) In Long Wavy Lines, Balance Right & Left
(4) Drop Hands, Slide Right
(8) Next Neighbor Swing
A2 (6) Circle Left 3/4
(2) Pass Partner by Right Shoulder
(8) Shadow Allemande Right 1 1/2 [to Long Waves with Gents facing in]
B1 (4) In Long Wavy Lines, Balance Right & Left
(4) Drop Hands, Slide Right
(8) Partner Swing
B2 (8) Ladies Chain
(8) Left Hand Star [to Long Waves, Right to New Neighbor]

Notes: I wanted a dance with the Balance-Slide-Swing transitions that Renewal by Gene Hubert has, but with long waves, rather than short ones. (Short Waves require more space across, which can be a challenge in some halls.)
The title reflects that this dance features a "Broken" version of the Rory O'More figure.
First called June, 2023.

Pinewoods Crossing

Formation:Duple, improper contra
Difficulty:Intermediate
Progression:Single
Music:32-bar jigs, with bouncy As and smooth Bs
A1 (8) Neighbor Gypsy 1 1/2
(8) Circle Left [1x]
A2 (8) Ladies Chain
(8) Hey Halfway
B1 (4) Partner Balance
(12) Partner Swing
B2 (6) Circle Left 3/4
(2) Neighbor Roll Away with a Half Sashay [Ladies Left to Right]
(8) Pass Through Across the Set, Cross Trails

Notes: Composed at Pinewoods American Week, 29 August 1996, in a contra dance choreography session run by Jim Kitch. Participants included: Jim Kitch, Alan Gedance, Alisa Garman, Diane Brill, Gloria Krusmeyer, Jill Allen, Joe Garman, Mary Devlin, Robert Cromartie, Steve Gester, Sue Rosen, Susie Kendig, and William Watson. As I recall, Sue Rosen was interested in having a dance with a "pass through across and cross trails." Other participants offered up a list of moves. Jim Kitch quickly assembled them into order, lacking only moves for the first half of B2.

Shell's Request

Formation:Duple, improper contra
Difficulty:Intermediate
Progression:Single
Music:32-bar elegant, flowing jigs
A1 (8) New Neighbor Do-si-so
(8) Neighbor Swing
A2 (8) Larks Allemande Left 1 1/2
(8) Partner Allemande Right [once or 1 1/2]
B1 (8) Larks Pass Left to Start a Half Hey for Four
(8) Partner Swing
B2 (8) Robins Chain
(8) Left Hand Star

Notes: Composed in response to a request from caller Shell Stowell, who wanted help finding a dance with this B1/B2 sequence. She should therefore get credit for composing half the dance! The remainder is just glossary moves, setting up the B1 half hey.
The sequence has some similarity to the first 3/4 of Jim's Kitch's dance Second Time Around
Alternative version: A2: Long Lines Dance Forward & Back; Larks Allemande Left 1 1/2; B1: Start Hey passing partner by right.

Surfing Folklife

Formation:Duple, improper contra
Difficulty:Intermediate
Progression:Single
Music:32-bar punctuated jigs or chunky reels
A1 (4) New Neighbor Balance
(12) Neighbor Swing
A2 (8) Broken Hey: Larks Hey Halfway, Robins Ricochet
(8) Partner Swing
B1 (8) Long Lines Dance Forward & Back
(8) Robins Do-si-Do 1 1/2, face out to form long wavy lines
B2 (8) Long Waves Balance, Box Circulate (Larks Cross)
(8) Long Waves Balance, Box Circulate (Robins Cross and progress to next neighbor)

Notes: Adapted from Surfing the Set by Bob Isaacs & Richard Allen Fischer. I wanted to avoid the promenade across the set, and any other moves where all the dancers pass through the middle of the set at the same time. Folklife tends to have very long sets that can get very crowded, both across the hall and up & down. (The hall may have as many as seven sets across, on 8-foot centers, and over 30 minor sets.) The resulting dance shares A1 and B2 with the original, but has substantial differences in A2 and B1.

Sweet Music Variation

Formation:Duple, Becket contra
Difficulty:Intermediate
Progression:Single
Music:32-bar driving reels
A1 (8) Circle Left 3/4, Pass Through Along the Set
(8) New Neighbor Swing
A2 (8) Men Allemande Left 1 1/2, Pick up Partners
(8) Star Promenade with a Butterfly Twirl
B1 (16) Ladies Pass Right to Start a Full Hey for Four
B2 (16) Partner Balance & Swing

Notes: A mistaken recollection of the dance Sweet Music, by Amy Kahn. Called for the first time February, 2002, in Costa Rica.
Note that this is an example of independent creation, as covered by copyright law. Cary Ravitz Composed a dance Heart of Glass in October 2000 with the exact same sequence of moves. His dance was unknown to me at the time I created and called this dance.

Venus and Mars Variation

Formation:Duple, improper contra
Difficulty:Intermediate
Progression:Single
Music:smooth, flowing 32-bar jigs or reels
A1 (8) Neighbor Do-si-Do
(8) Neighbor Swing
A2 (8) Circle Left 3/4, Roll Away Partners (Ladies Left to Right)
(8) Men Allemande Lft 1 1/2 WHILE Women Orbit Clockwise 1/2
B1 (8) Partner Gypsy
(8) Partner Swing
B2 (8) As Couples, Promenade Across the Set
Circle Left 3/4, Pass Through to the Next Neighbors

Notes: This dance is a variation of the dance Venus and Mars, composed by Martin Sirk. I wanted a completely smooth version, without any balances.


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