written by Mike Richardson
10/14/95
contradance
duple, improper, longways

part moves beats
A1. Circle L x 1 (8)
Dosido neighbors once and a quarter to form a wave of 4 (women in middle) (8)
A2. Balance the wave twice (forward and back) (8)
Women allemande L once and a half while the men orbit clockwise once around them (8)
B1. Balance and swing partners (on men’s side) (16)
B2. Long lines forward and back (8)
Women allemande R once and a half to progress (8)

Notes

  1. This dance was written on the way to a gig in Yakima, Washington with Julie King, Claude Ginsburg and David Bartley, otherwise known as KGB. After the gig, we planned to stop by a nearby pick-your-own-pepper farm and bring back a bunch of tasty specimens for our respective kitchens, including some spicy habañera peppers. This is probably why I found myself whistling the tune widely known as La Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen on the way to pick up the band. As I drove, I realized that the tune was square and decided that it needed a contradance. By the time I arrived at Julie’s house, I had written this dance.
  2. The tune, by the way, is actually called "El Arreglito", and was written by a Spanish composer named Sebastián Yradier and subsequently borrowed by Bizet for Carmen.
  3. With most bands, callers don’t mess with the set list, and just take what the band gives them. However, KGB is a band with such deep chops that they can play almost anything. So, when I requested “La Habanera” for the dance, they whistled it once or twice and said, “Sure!” Without any rehearsal (other than making sure they were all in the same key), they played it for the dance that night and it worked really well — well enough that they subsequently put it in one of their sets for their Volga Notions album.
  4. Other tunes that have worked well with this dance include Eugene and Willafjord.
  5. In the second half of B2, the women could also dosido once and a half to progress.