Here are a couple
        novelty dances I've made up:
        
          Garbology
Erik Hoffman
Odd—Modified Tempest
        Formation
December 1998
A1 Ones
        down center, turn as a Couple, Return, WHILE the twos and threes
        slide up the set
        one Couples place, cast off with (new) same sex two and three
        person
A2 Hey for
        Four, ones start, passing Right shoulder, Couples two and three
        acting as “units”
        latching (arms around each others backs) onto Partners.
B1 Finish
        the hey (it takes longer with “units”), ones cross to Star Left
        (in threes) with
        the opposite Couple (ones without Partners)
B2 All Balance & Swing
        Partners
Formation is a U shaped
        triple minor formation,
        Couple one facing down, Couple two to the Right of Couple one (from the callers
        point of view), facing in, Couple
        three to
        the Left of Couple one, also facing in.  I
        set this up by having both the ones and the twos get Improper,
        then the twos
        and threes circle Left one-quarter, as in Becket formation.
On the first
        walk-through I don't teach the
        progression; I do on the second walk-through.  Note that when couples
        finally
        progress, two couples come out at the same time. 
        Since only one goes in the next time round, at the top I
        have the number two Couple
        go in first, and the number three Couple wait out an extra time.  At the bottom, when the a
        couple comes
        out, they need to wait for a second Couple before entering the
        dance.  I suggest the
        first Couple waiting out become a
        number two, the second a number three. That way, Twos wait out
        twice at the bottom, threes, twice at the top.
This dance was written
        at Camp Harmony, the San
        Francisco Folk Music Club’s annual new years camp.  It was at a workshop where
        I was making up
        “experimental contras.”  I
        was naming them
        for the signs around the hall.  This
        one
        landed on the “Garbology” sign – one discussing the use of
        garbage.  Since this is
        something we should all
        consider, I think it’s well named
            Part of the idea for this came from the beautiful and
        flowing dance, American Summer, by Phillipe Callens.
      
      
        -----------------
      
        The next is designed as a Christmas dance, to go with the tune,
        We Three Kings, played as a straightened out jig. But I think it
        can be fun just as it is:
      
      
    
Follow That Star
Improper
Erik Hoffman
-- ~Erik 510-410-0456 Mobile 510-444-4397 Land-Line