Reset the Stage

February 2013, with revisions through September 2014
Three couples longways; mixer; second couple active
32 bars of 3/4
Music: "Fifty Candles" by Charlene Thomson; "Come Let's Be Merry" also works well

A1	Half hey for four on first diagonal [Long first corners change places] Half hey for four on second diagonal [Long second corners change places; actives end at home facing out]
A2	Twos dance out of set, orbit clockwise halfway into partner's place WHILE ones and threes back to back partner [entire set is now improper and inverted] All partners two-hand turn
B1	Circle left three hands round (Active lady with threes above and active gent with ones below) Circle six hands left halfway [ending all home]
B2	Those who have people on right diagonal, chevron WHILE others (first lady, third gent) cast to other end of their line Those who have people on right diagonal, chevron WHILE others (in long second corner places) cast to other end of their line

Notes

Charlene Thomson wrote a lovely waltz for my 50th birthday. I just had to write a dance for it!
A1: For teaching purposes, first have actives identify their first corners and second corners. The first corners of the actives are on the long first diagonal, and the second corners of the actives are on the long second diagonal. Then have the actives get in the middle back to back facing their first corners. (The original lineup does not look like it is set up for a hey, but the actives move into it, much as the starting position of Jack's Maggot does not look like it is set up for a hey, but the first gent moves into it.) Do half a hey for four starting with that corner by the right: go. If you do all of the half hey from there, actives are facing their same first corner person, but if they veer a little to the right, they should see their second corner person. Face that person and start another right-shoulder half hey, this time on the second diagonal, passing second corner by the right.
For actives (twos), A1 feels like tracing two leaves of a four-leaf clover (or the Apple computer command key), each active person making a small loop around his or her two corners' home places. Scottish dancers may recognize the A1 figure has half of the diagonal reels of four from Mairi's Wedding.
A1 involves middle couple and long first corners; begins with dancers passing on the right diagonal; ends with long first corners in each other's place and twos in each other's place. Second hey of A1 involves middle couple and long second corners; begins with dancers passing on the right diagonal; ends with long second corners in each other's place and twos at home facing out.
B1: In the circles, take two waltz steps (1-2-3) and two step-closes; thanks to David Smukler for that touch, evoking Fried Herman
B2: dance forward on right diagonal, passing by right shoulder, back straight up (also passing by right shoulder in the middle of each line)
B2: The last people to cast from one end of their line to the other at the end of one round of the dance can flow directly into the first half hey for four in the next round.
Progression: It is a mixer in that each time through, you begin across the line from a different partner; however, thinking of the set as a circle of six dancers, you are always diametrically across from the same person. So people who asked each other to dance should line up as twos or long corners; then they will be active together.

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