Solomon Levi

Formation: Square of four couples with any gender combination. With a little creativity the figure can be modified to allow five or six couples to participate in a circular formation.
Music: “Solomon Levi”, Lloyd Shaw 501/502 or LS E-24. This music repeats after 48 beats.
Note: The Lloyd Shaw version is sung with the tune as shown here rather than pre-cued. The Dosado may be replaced by a Swing if desired.

Download RTF file: Solomon Levi

Prompts:

    1-8  First Couple Separate,
              Go round the outside Track;
  9-16   Pass you partner over there,
              And pass her coming back;
17-24   Bow to your corner,
              With your partner Dosado;
25-32   Then take your partner’s hands,
              And Promenade the hall;
33-40   Hey, Solomon Levi, la, la, la, la, la;
41-48   Oh, Solomon Levi, la, la, la, la, la;

Repeat the figure:
      2) For Second Couple
      3) For Third Couple
      4) For Fourth Couple
      5) For Two Head Couples
      6) For Two Side Couples
      7) For All Four Couples

Description:
    1-8   The dancers in the couple standing nearest the front of the hall turn their backs on each other and then separately walk forward around the outside of the square.
  9-16   When they meet on the far side, they pass each other right-shoulder to right-shoulder. They continue walking around the square passing right shoulders again at home.
17-24   All dancers Bow to their Corner, then turn and Dosado with their partner (Pass right-shoulders, slide sideways back-to-back, then back up passing left-shoulders).
25-32   Complete the Dosado then all partners take Promenade handhold (shake right hands and join left hands underneath).
33-48   All four couples Promenade (go counter-clockwise) around the square back to their home.

Usage: This is an excellent introduction to dancing in squares. Emphasize the right shoulder Passing Rule and warn the dancers that this will become increasingly important.

Using Solomon Levi with 64-count Music:

If using the “Separate around the outside track” idea with music phrased in 64-beats, add All Eight Forward and Back at the end of the sequence. The original timing is tight for new dancers, so that will probably be enough to fill up the 64 beats.

This page from http://dances.callerlab.org (CALLERLAB Dance Resource)