Honor Among Thieves

Formation: Contra Lines with couples 1, 3, 5, etc. active and crossed over. The Active couples will be referred to as 1s, and the Inactive as 2s. Relatively short lines will give everyone an opportunity to be active.
Music: Clear 8 beat phrasing and no faster than 116 beats per minute

Download RTF file: Honor Among Thieves

Prompts:
Intro or
57-64   – – – -; – – Corners Dosado;
    1-8   – – – -; Same ones Right Arm Turn 1 1/4;
  9-16   – – – -; Lady 1 around two and the Gent falls through;
17-24   – – – -; Gent 1 around two and the Lady falls through;
25-32   – – – -; – – Circle Left 3/4;

33-40   – – – -; – – Partners Swing;
41-48   – – – -; Long lines go Forward and Back;
49-56   – – – -; – – Ladies Chain;
57-64   (Cross at the ends) – -, – New Corners Dosado;

Description:
    1-8   Ladies turn to their right and Gents to their left to find their Corner (a new corner each time through). With that corner the dancers do a Dosado.
  9-16   The same dancers Right Arm Turn 1 1/4 around ending with the ladies facing out and the gents facing in.
17-24   The #2 dancers stand on their spot acting as goal posts during the Chase sequence. Once the Chase has begun the #2 lady should turn around to face in and watch the fun. The active (#1) dancers chase each other using small double-time steps (2 per beat). The active lady begins by “running” around gent #2 (the man on her right), straight across the set and around lady #2. The active gent chases his partner across the set and around gent #2, but then cuts between gent #2 and lady #2 turning to his right to take the lead.
25-32   The active gent now leads around gent #2 and across the set around lady #2 into the spot where he began the Chase. The active lady chases him across the set and around gent #2, but then cuts between gent #2 and lady #2 and turns around to her right to end facing in across from her partner. The 1s are now below the 2s.

33-40   The same four dancers all Circle Left 3/4 around ending with the active couple (1s) in the line on the prompter’s left and the inactive couple (2s) in the line on the prompter’s right.
41-48   Original partners Swing ending facing in, lady on the gent’s right.
49-56   Long lines go Forward and Back.
57-64   The same two Ladies Chain across. At the ends lone couples will be neutral for one sequence. While waiting to reenter the action, the lady and gent change sides. 1s become 2s and vice versa.

Choreography by: Penn Fix
Source: CD Journal, March 2007
Author’s Notes about the name: This dance borrowed ideas from a traditional square dance figure and from a contra by Ted Sannella. It then went through two more revisions to reach this form.
Usage: Without proper restraint this can be a bit wild. Emphasize the idea that the chase is a graceful dance action in a pattern, not a race.

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