Shelby Yahn stayed connected with Scottish Country Dancing during the pandemic by writing a new dance each week for 52 weeks. This dance was #50 and came from a request from Rebecca, a Milwaukee SCD teacher, to write a dance with a chain progression figure. Shelby writes: "I like chain progressions, and rarely see them in dances, so I was happy to oblige and grateful for the inspiration. I liked the idea of rolling a chain progression into a poussette, which is an uncommon combination. I also included a set and rotate which I think kicks off the dance with good momentum (which doesn’t die down until the chord at the end). Interestingly, this may be the only dance I’ve written without any solo for the first couple; every figure has both couples fully engaged, and neither gets the spotlight, so this dance is a group/team/set effort. This is also another four-figure-dance, isn’t too fussy, and as Rebecca pointed out, uses all three types of steps (setting, traveling, and slip). I like how this dance turned out and look forward to dancing it some day! The name is a shoutout to Barney Stinson from the show How I met Your Mother. He creates (usually ridiculous) challenges for himself, declares them 'challenge accepted!', and doesn’t rest until he’s pulled them off, and I was happy to feel challenged to write a dance this week which highlights such a fun figure."
