Last night, I called contras (again) for the second Sunday contra dance for experienced dancers. William DeRagon called the English country dances, since I know nothing about those. The band was Della O’Keefe (keyboards) and Gemma DeRagon (violin).

William started with a lively English country dance, which included skipping and slipping, so I was a trifle out of breath when I got up to call The Emptied Crack by Al Olson (listed here, but the link no longer works). It involves a lot of interaction along the line, all the way to Neighbor #3.

I danced the next English, and then called Mid Winter Gypsy by Bob Dalsemer and finished the first half with Rockin’ Robin by Rick Mohr. The band rocked and the dancers rocked and got into the veer left, veer right movement.

After the break, William called two smooth English dances, and I finished up with two: Caught in the Act by Donna McAllister and Me and My Shadows by David Kirchner. The dancers had fun with both; it was great to watch them ham it up with the chasing action in Caught in the Act. I chose Me and My Shadows to end it up (even though it’s a Becket with a somewhat vague progression) because of the Right and Left Grand along the line; it seemed appropriate to treat it like a “good night right and left grand”.

Note: I didn’t call a square. One person asked about it.