Small Petronella

August 30th, 2006
dancing
This was a little while ago but I didn't remember to write about it then. At the last thursday dance I was at in Concord (8/17) they called a dance with a variant of the Petronella turn. Each person, with only their neighbor (on the side of the set) repeatedly balances and spins one place to the right. So the hands four goes from a square to a line to a square to a line. Instead of doing the last of the turns, the balance was followed by a box-the-gnat and half a hey. The figure was not introduced as a kind of petronella.

Usually there is scattered and unsynchronized clapping after spins during the walk through. This time there was no clapping. I took this to mean people didn't take it to be a petronella turn, and instead were thinking of it differently somehow.

During the first few times through the dance, there was no clapping at all. Then, perhaps four times through, there started to be some clapping. The clapping built over the next few times, to a point about half of what you usually get on petronellas. Then it seemed to diminish some as more people started swinging their neighbor instead of doing the balance and turn (the dance had no neighbor swing).

Anyways, it was very interesting to be watching.

Comment via: substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

On Apologizing To Kids

Everyone is so weird about apologizing to children.

via Thing of Things August 25, 2025

Against the Teapot Hold in Contra Dancing

The teapot hold is the most dangerous common contra dancing figure, so I’ve been avoiding it. The teapot hold, sometimes called a "courtesy turn hold,” requires one dancer to connect with their hand behind their back. When I realized I could avoid put…

via Emma Azelborn August 25, 2025

Little Puppy

She's very little and she likes to do stuff with me. She also likes to bark around and run around and jump around. She also likes to go to places with me and that's all I have.

via Nora Wise's Blog Posts August 23, 2025

more     (via openring)