May the Serpent Be With You

Source: Composed by John Sweeney
Formation: Double Contra - Mescolanza - Four Facing Four

A1 and A2 are in Fours with the facing couple:

A1	Ladies' Chain (8) Mad Robin - AC - Ladies through the Middle (8)
A2	Half Hey - Ladies start Right Shoulder - Men Ricochet (8) All should be back where they started the dance Balance The Ring x 2 (8) - then focus on being with your neighbour now, not your partner.
B1	Serpentine Hey, Ladies leading their Neighbour Men: 2 x [In Fours Circle Left Half Way (4) (Ladies let go Left Hand early) Two Middle Couples: Open Back Ring Half Way (4)] (Ends stand still)
B2	Partner Gypsy Meltdown (16) - Finish facing a New Line in your original direction

Music:
Smooth reels at around 108bpm. E.g. "Charlie Mulvihil's / Gigue Du Salon".

Notes: This dance was the winner of the "Dance-writing Competition" at the "May Heydays at Evesham" dance weekend in April/May 2023.

The Men's Ricochet follows the same path as their Mad Robin - basically they do two Mad Robins, but meet with both hands on the second one.

The ladies need to finish their Half Hey, curving to the left into the circle of four. The optional spin out of a ricochet is fun and works well in this dance to slow the men's backward momentum so that they fflow easily into the circle.

The two Balance the Rings are to give time for you to work out who you are with and get ready for a nice smooth Serpentine Hey. If you are a fan of Slytherin feel free to hiss every time you balance in!

The Serpentine Hey is as in Gary Roodman's Terpsicourante (but two cycles, not three). The ladies are doing a Hey, dragging their neighbour men along behind them. They do hold hands with the other pair in the Circle Lefts; they don’t hold hands with the other pair in the Back Rings. It is important for the ladies to let go early at the end of the Circle Left and curve over their left shoulder to go behind the other couple. It should be one smooth serpentine movement.

When a Circle Left Half Way leaves you at the left or right end of the set, stand still!

A Gypsy Meltdown is a Gypsy flowing smoothly into a Swing.

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