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 Backbone — Dog Branch Reel Variation 1 — Dog Branch Reel Variation 2 — Erik's Second Date — Fort Flagler Fling — To Live on Mars — McKenzie River — More Broken — Pinewoods Crossing — Shell's Request — Surfing Folklife — Sweet Music Variation — Venus and Mars Variation

The Devil's Backbone

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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