Turquoise Waltz

Source: Composed by John Sweeney
Formation: Longways; Improper

A1 Face Neighbours: Forward (2) & Back (2)
Ladies Left Shoulder Gypsy but finishing facing Partner in a diagonal line of four: Celtic Hey:
Start a Hey by passing Partner by Right Shoulder into Ladies Orbit 1/4 CW WHILE Men Left Shoulder Gypsy 3/4
A2 Start Hey by passing Partner by Right Shoulder into Men Orbit 1/4 CW WHILE Ladies Left Shoulder Gypsy 3/4
Partner Two Hand Turn - finish with couples having changed places (now #1s Proper, #2s Improper)
B1 Ladies Two Hand Turn Half Way; All Four Circle Left Half Way
Men Two Hand Turn Half Way; All Four Circle Left Half Way
B2 Ladies Lasso the Man - should be Home
Balance the Ring; Pass Through to New Neighbours

Music:
Any 32 bar Waltz

Notes:
I started working on a 16 bar waltz-time dance to go with Anna Patton's Blue Egg Waltz, but the dance became too long and complicated so it turned into Turquoise!

I took the Celtic Hey from Kathy Anderson's The Tropical Gentleman. Make sure you do the two Hey-starts on different diagonals so that you finish progressed (B1 takes you home again). Warn the dancers that the move only starts as a normal Hey and quickly becomes something else - you lose interest in each dancer very quickly as you catch sight of the next one. The timing is fairly fluid, just keep moving and it should flow beautifully. B1 should also be a continuous flow.

You can see the Celtic Hey in this video. Good examples are at 1:46 and 2:16 (don't look at the first time through!). Note: the men in this video are moving to make a line of four across the room; that means that the second Hey is up and down the room so that it gets very crowded. When I learnt Kathy's dance I was taught that the Heys started on diagonals - that way there is much less crowding. So emphasise to the men that when the ladies are doing their Gypsy the men should stand still, or even move slightly to the left to make nice diagonal lines. At the end of the Celtic Hey the men should have changed places with each other, then the Two Hand Turn is once and a bit to finish facing your current neighbours up and down the set.

If you are a Modern Western Square Dancer you should find the Celtic Hey easy as it is two Spin The Tops, without hands!

Lasso the Man: The lady stands still and raises her left hand and the man walks forwards all the way around her. (This is known as a (Mountain) Dosido - though it was usually the man who lassoed the lady - having the lady doing the lassoing makes a lot more sense as the man is usually taller!)

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