Charlotte's Web

Tune: Charlotte's Web by Char Morgan (2009) Set: 6 dancers; 32“ (long) sticks; skipping (single steps) Source: Red Herring / Jeff Bigler, Rickland Powell & Rex Powell (2011) Chorus: 1. first triangles alternate toss (counterclockwise) and dib while second corners alternate dib & clash (all-in). 2. First triangle clash through (advance one spot in triangle) 3. second triangle clash through (advance one spot in triangle) 4. Everyone spins to advance one spot around circle. Repeat. (All spins over left (non-stick) shoulder.) Figures: , , , ,

Detailed Description

Chorus

The first part of the chorus is done in “triangles”. The “first triangle” is dancers #1, #4 and #5. The “second triangle” is dancers #2, #3, and #6.

Beats 1-2: On beat 1, first triangles toss in a triangle. #1 tosses to #5, #5 tosses to #4, and #4 tosses to #1. Second triangles reach behind themselves and clash with the ground on beat 1. Beats 3-4: First triangles clash behind themselves on the ground (beat 3) while second triangles clash with each other in a “basket” (also beat 3) Beats 5-6: same as beats 1-2. Beats 7-8: same as beats 3-4. Beats 9-10: First triangles pass through the center with a clash on beat 9, ending up one place clockwise around the triangle. I.e., #1 ends up in #4's place, #4 ends up in #5's place, and #5 ends up in #1's place. Beats 11-12: Second corners pass through the center with a clash on beat 11, ending up one place clockwise around the triangle. I.e., #2 ends up in #6's place, #6 ends up in #3's place, and #3 ends up in #2's place. Beats 13-16: everyone spins twice over their “teflon” (“non-stick” or left) shoulder to advance one place clockwise around the circle.

At this point, everyone has done the equivalent of a corner crossing.

Repeat the chorus, noting that the old first triangles are now second triangles, and the old second triangles are now first triangles.

At the end of the repeat, the dancers are back in their original places.

Figures

Asterisk On

Dancers start from in the audience, beyond their corner's place. Music starts. Usually on beat 5 (though this may vary depending on the space), dancers start moving. Beats 5-12: Dancers dance through the middle of the set, everyone passing right shoulders with their partner as they pass through the center to their “regular” place. (The trick is to “yield” to dancers coming from your left and “cut off” dancers coming from your right.)

Once the dancers are “in place”, they form a “basket” with their sticks:

Beat 13: first corners clash & hold (keep their sticks together after the clash) Beat 14: second corners clash, adding their sticks to the first corners' sticks Beat 15: middles clash, adding their sticks to everyone else's Beat 16: everyone pulls their stick out of the “basket”

There and Back

Beats 1-2: first corners clash (beat 1) and cross. Everyone else dances in place. Beats 3-4: second corners clash (beat 3) and cross. Everyone else dances in place. Beats 5-6: middles clash (beat 5) and cross. First corners turn around. Second corners dance in place. Beats 7-8: first corners clash and cross to home. Second corners turn around. Middles dance in place. Beats 9-10: second corners clash and cross to home. Middles turn around. First corners dance in place. Beats 11-12: middles clash and cross to home. Everyone else dances in place. Now everyone is back in their original place to form the “basket”:

Beat 13: first corners clash & hold (keep their sticks together after the clash) Beat 14: second corners clash, adding their sticks to the first corners' sticks Beat 15: middles clash, adding their sticks to everyone else's Beat 16: everyone pulls their stick out of the “basket”

Grand Right & Left

The figure starts with #1, #4 and #5 facing counter-clockwise, and #2, #3 and #6 facing clockwise. This means the figure starts with #1 facing #3, #2 facing #4, and #5 facing #6. The dancers dance around the circle, clashing on the odd-numbered beats. Beats 1-2: Dancers pass right shoulders with a clash (beat 1) and continue to the next person. Beats 3-4: Dancers clash (beat 3) and pass the next dancer by the left shoulder and continue. Beats 5-12: Continue passing alternate shoulders, with clashes on the odd-numbered beats.

Beat 13: first corners clash & hold (keep their sticks together after the clash) Beat 14: second corners clash, adding their sticks to the first corners' sticks Beat 15: middles clash, adding their sticks to everyone else's Beat 16: everyone pulls their stick out of the “basket”

Egg Beaters

The figure starts with the first corners facing everyone else in their line. I.e., #1 faces down while #3 and #5 face up. Meanwhile, #6 faces up while #2 and #4 face down. Beats 1-12: The dancer coming down from the top on the odd side or up from the bottom on the even side is the active dancer. The two dancers coming up from the bottom on the odd side and the two coming down from the top on the even side are the inactive dancers. The active dancer clashes with the two inactive dancers as he passes. When the active dancer gets to the end, he becomes an inactive dancer and goes back the other direction. When the inactive dancer gets to the end, he becomes an active dancer and goes back the other direction.

There is a clash on every beat, and there are always one active dancer and two inactive dancers on each side.

After beat 12, the dancers once again form the basket with their sticks:

Beat 13: first corners clash & hold (keep their sticks together after the clash) Beat 14: second corners clash, adding their sticks to the first corners' sticks Beat 15: middles clash, adding their sticks to everyone else's Beat 16: everyone pulls their stick out of the “basket”

Wake Up & Off

Beat 1: Dancer #1 clashes with #3. Beat 2: #3 “wakes up” and turns around while #1 clashes with #5. Beat 3: #1 clashes with #6 and #3 clashes with #5. Beat 4: #5 “wakes up” and turns around. #1 clashes with #4. #3 clashes with #6. Beat 5: #1 clashes with #2. #3 clashes with #4. #5 clashes with #6. Beat 6: #6 wakes up and turns around. #1 dances off. #3 clashes with #2. #5 clashes with #4. Beat 7: #3 dances off. #5 clashes with #2. #6 clashes with #4. Beat 8: #4 “wakes up” and turns around. #5 dances off. #6 clashes with #2. Beat 9: #6 dances off. #4 clashes with #2. Beat 10: #4 dances off. #2 “wakes up” and follows. Beats 11-16: The dancers continue dancing off into the audience.

Video

Tune