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Double helix 1953-2003
The double helix dance

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Introduction

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DNA dance

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The DNA cocktail

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dance1dance2
Format: L5 (improper)

Join LHs high and RHs low to corners (same sex) to make Double Helix.

English balance and set twice : B2B partner (R shoulders)

Double Helix - English balance and set twice : B2B partner (L shoulders).

Tops join both hands in front and double cast and weave down set to bottom, between 2nds and 3rds, then between 3rds and 4ths etc. Other couples tag on behind as they are passed.

Tops make an arch at the bottom and rest pass through through, double casting back into lines. This gives progression. (order now 2, 3, 4, 5, 1) Swing if time.

New tops single cast, followed by their lines, each collecting new partners in order.

New sets find floor space : Swing to use up music.

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DNA dance
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NOTES

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The improper lines (that is, alternating ladies and gents) give two complimentary strands.

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New dancers are brought in every verse as the set replicates.

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The balance and set can be as little as step to the side and back twice or as much as a full-blown rant step. The dancers can follow their fancy here.

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The As and Bs both model a double helix in different ways.

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In Cs, the strands replicate. All the errors that can occur with DNA also occur with the sets; insertion, deletion and substitution. What's more, these errors persist as the sets replicate.

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When all the spare dancers are on the floor, strands can pair up with other strands to make full sets.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This dance was devised by Steeve Aal, Theo Gibb and Noel Jackson. Noel, who kindly gave us these details, is Education and Outreach manager at the Centre for Life in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Copyright © National Centre for Biotechnology Education, 2006 | www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk