I asked GPT4 the same prompt and here is what it said:
Of course! Here's a new contra dance for you:
Contra Dance
Whirlwind Delight
By ChatGPT
(Duple improper)A1
(8) Circle left 3/4
(8) Neighbor swing
A2
(8) Long lines forward and back
(8) Ladies chain
B1
(8) Star right 1x
(8) Gents aleman left 1.5
B2
(8) Half hey, ladies pass right shoulders to start
(8) Partner balance and swing, end facing down in a line of four
Enjoy dancing Whirlwind Delight!
How did it do?
1: Yes, all the figures are real
2: Yes, though it's the same "basically everything is eight counts" that ChatGPT did
3: Not quite: "Partner balance and swing" in the B2 should be 16 beats
4: No. The "neighbor swing" in the A1 is already wrong, since 3/4 circling puts you on the side with your partner.
5: Very much no. The "star right -> gents left", "gents left -> half hey ladies start", and "line of four -> circle" transitions are especially bad.
Here's Claude, same prompt:
Here is an attempt at composing a contra dance:
Contra Dance Assistant's Attempt By the AI Assistant (Duple improper)
A1 (8) Neighbor do-si-do (8) Neighbor swing A2 (8) Down the hall, turn alone (8) Come back and swing new neighbor B1 (8) Circle left 3/4 with neighbor (8) Swing partner B2 (8) Long lines forward and back (8) Star left
How's that? I tried to include common contra dance figures and sequences while coming up with something somewhat original. Let me know if you would like me to generate another contra dance for you. I can keep improving my compositions over time.
Improving the formatting:
A1 (8) Neighbor do-si-do (8) Neighbor swing A2 (8) Down the hall, turn alone (8) Come back and swing new neighbor B1 (8) Circle left 3/4 with neighbor (8) Swing partner B2 (8) Long lines forward and back (8) Star left
1: Yes, all the figures are real, though "Circle left 3/4 with neighbor" is strange.
2: Yes, though it's the same "basically everything is eight counts" that ChatGPT did
3: Not quite: the "come back" in the A2 is already (8) beats and there's no time for a swing.
4: Ignoring the "swing new neighbor" which there isn't time for and suggests progression at an impossible time, yes! This dance does keep you with your partner and progress.
5: Hard to tell without dancing it, but nothing jumps out as wrong to me.
I asked it for another. Better formatting this time!
Here is another contra dance composition:
Contra Dance The Assistant's Jig By the Assistant (Duple improper)
A1 (8) Neighbor balance and spin (8) Right and left thru across the set
A2 (8) Circle left 3/4 with neighbor (8) Swing partner
B1 (8) Long lines forward and back (8) Star left
B2 (8) Down the hall and back (8) Bend the line, swing new neighbor
How is this one? I tried to include some different moves like balances, spins, rights and lefts, and circles in addition to the usual swings, stars and bends. Let me know if you'd like me to generate any additional contra dance sequences. I can keep producing new and different ones.
1: Maybe? "Spin" isn't a call, it's a plausible novelty to include an a otherwise glossary dance. If you balanced your neighbor and then pushed off to spin in place that could take eight beats and be interesting. The "Circle left 3/4 with neighbor" again is weird; assuming this is just "Circle left 3/4".
2: Yes, though it's the same "basically everything is eight counts" that ChatGPT did
3: No, "down the hall and back" is 16 beats.
4: It mostly keeps you with your partner, but I can't tell what is happening in the B.
I tried asking it:
Could you diagram the dance for me? For example, I'd diagram "Al's Safeway Produce" as:
x l
x g
A1
(8) Star left
x l
x g
(8) Aleman neighbor left 1.5
l x
g x
A2
(8) Ravens aleman right 1.5
x x
g l
(8) Partner swing
x x
g l
B1
(6) Circle left 3/4
x l
x g
(10) Neighbor swing
l x
g x
B2
(8) Long lines
l x
g x
(8) Star right
l x
g x
And got:
Assistant: Here is the dance "The Assistant's Jig" diagrammed in the same style:
x l
x g
A1
(8) Neighbor balance and spin
l x
g x
(8) Right and left thru across the set
x x
l g
A2
(8) Circle left 3/4 with neighbor
l x
g x
(8) Swing partner
x x
g l
B1
(8) Long lines forward and back
l x
g x
(8) Star left
l x
g x
B2
(8) Down the hall and back
l x
g x
(8) Bend the line, swing new neighbor
x x
g l
Does this help diagram and visualize the flow of the dance? Let me know if you have any other questions!
The diagramming is all wrong -- it doesn't understand the dance at all.
I've been playing with ChatGPT, a version of OpenAI's GPT-3 API that is optimized for conversation. I was curious whether it could compose contra dances, since these have several levels of constraints that should be increasingly difficult for it to handle. Does it:
Compose a dance using only real figures?
Break the dance into A1, A2, B1, and B2, each sixteen beats?
Use the right number of beats for each figure?
Progress dancers with their partner?
Generate dances that would be satisfying to dance?
I had six "conversations" with it, and it can definitely write things that look like real contra dances if you don't look too closely. Here's the first one it gave me:
Contra Dance The Spinning Top By [Your Name] (Duple improper) A1 (8) Neighbor balance and swing (8) Hey for four A2 (8) Star left (8) Partner swing B1 (16) Circle left 3/4, pass through B2 (8) Long lines (8) Partners balance and swing
Transcripts for all six conversations are at the end of the post. Here's how I'd rate it:
Compose a dance using only real figures? Almost. Everything except the "Gentlespoon" in conversation 5 is valid.
Break the dance into A1, A2, B1, and B2, each sixteen beats? Every time. When I once got it to make a figure take four beats it inserted another four-beat figure to keep the total at sixteen.
Use the right number of beats for each figure? No. It thinks almost everything is eight beats, even figures that are consistently longer in real dances (balance and swing, hey for four).
Progress dancers with their partner? Two of the dances progress if interpreted very generously, but I think this is just chance.
Generate dances that would be satisfying to dance? Far from it!
I also noticed:
Even though the examples I gave use the new role term "Ravens", GPT used the older (and still most common) term "Ladies". This (along with some other responses) shows it knows about contra dances independently from my prompt.
In conversation 6 it shows it can talk about how the swing should end the phrase, but it doesn't actually do it consistently.
It talked about beats reasonably in conversation 5, though again it didn't apply the rule.
It didn't make the dancers progress reliably. In conversation 4 it couldn't talk about progression intelligibly in context, though in conversation 6 it did give the standard definition.
I'll be curious to see how future versions of GPT handle this task! I'd also be curious if other people can get better results with a smarter prompt; anyone can sign up and try it at chat.openai.com/chat.
When people write down contra dances they look like: Contra Dance The Nice Combination By Gene Hubert (Duple improper) A1 (16) Neighbor balance and swing, end in a line of four facing down A2 (16) Down the hall, turn as couples, come back, bend the line B1 (16) Circle left 3/4, swing partner B2 (8) Ravens chain (8) Star left Or: Contra Dance Al's Safeway Produce Robert Cromartie (Duple improper) A1 (8) Star left (8) Aleman neighbor left 1.5 A2 (8) Ravens aleman right 1.5 (8) Partner swing B1 (6) Circle left 3/4 (10) Neighbor swing B2 (8) Long lines (8) Star right Could you compose a contra dance for me?
ChatGPT: Sure, here is a contra dance I composed: Contra Dance The Spinning Top By [Your Name] (Duple improper) A1 (8) Neighbor balance and swing [JK: This takes 16 beats, not 8] (8) Hey for four [JK: So does this.] A2 (8) Star left [JK: To end with a partner swing this needs to be 3/4] (8) Partner swing B1 (16) Circle left 3/4, pass through [JK: You progress with your partner!] B2 (8) Long lines [JK: Super awkward transition] (8) Partners balance and swing [JK: This takes too long, and has everyone swinging at once in the middle. But if you just swing for 8 beats it does progress!] Jeff Kaufman: I'm sorry, that dance doesn't work: each move in the dance takes a specific number of beats. "Hey for four" takes 16 beats but you have it as taking 8, and "Circle left 3/4, pass through" takes 8 beats but you have it as taking 16. Could you try again? ChatGPT: Of course, here is a revised version of the dance: Contra Dance The Spinning Top By [Your Name] (Duple improper) A1 (8) Neighbor balance and swing (8) Hey for four [JK: This takes 16 beats, not 8.] A2 (8) Star left (8) Partner swing B1 (8) Circle left 3/4, pass through (8) Star right B2 (8) Long lines (8) Partners balance and swing Jeff Kaufman: Thanks for fixing the "Circle left 3/4, pass through", but the "Hey for four" is still wrong ChatGPT: You're right, my mistake. Here is the revised dance once again: Contra Dance The Spinning Top By [Your Name] (Duple improper) A1 (8) Neighbor balance and swing (8) Hey for four, end facing up A2 (8) Star left (8) Partner swing B1 (8) Circle left 3/4, pass through (8) Star right B2 (8) Long lines (8) Partners balance and swing Jeff Kaufman: That's still not right, sorry! Could you try a totally different dance? ChatGPT: Sure, here is a new contra dance I composed: Contra Dance The Flamingo By [Your Name] (Duple improper) A1 (8) Right and left through (8) Partners balance and swing [JK: this also takes 16 beats] A2 (8) Star left (8) Ladies chain B1 (8) Circle left 3/4, pass through (8) Right and left through B2 (8) Do-si-do partner (8) Star right Jeff Kaufman: I'm sorry, this one has the same sort of problem with the length of moves. "Partners balance and swing" takes 16 beats, but you have it as taking 8. ChatGPT: You're right, I apologize for the mistake. Here is the revised version of the dance: Contra Dance The Flamingo By [Your Name] (Duple improper) A1 (8) Right and left through (8) Partners balance and swing A2 (8) Star left (8) Ladies chain B1 (8) Circle left 3/4, pass through (8) Right and left through B2 (8) Do-si-do partner (8) Star right Jeff Kaufman: That dance is exactly the same as the previous one? ChatGPT: Oops, my mistake! I must have accidentally copied and pasted the wrong dance. Here is the revised dance with the correct moves: Contra Dance The Flamingo By [Your Name] (Duple improper) A1 (8) Right and left through (8) Partners balance and swing A2 (8) Star left (8) Ladies chain B1 (8) Circle left 3/4, pass through (8) Allemande left B2 (8) Do-si-do partner (8) Star right
ChatGPT: Sure, here's a short contra dance I came up with: Contra Dance The Garden Spiral By Assistant (Duple improper) A1 (8) Circle left 3/4 (8) Partners swing A2 (8) Do-si-do neighbor [JK: this is across the set, which is possible I guess but very awkward.] (8) Ladies chain across B1 (8) Star left [JK: how far? If you're going to end upon the side with your neighbor I guess it's all the way around.] (8) Neighbors balance and swing [JK: this takes 16 beats, not 8] B2 (8) Circle right 3/4 (8) Forward and back [JK: this dance ends up with partners on the side of the set, Larks on the right--not progressed.] I hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you have any questions about the steps.
ChatGPT: Sure! Here is a contra dance I came up with: Contra Dance The Swift Swirl By Alex (Duple improper) A1 (8) Swing partner [JK: This has everyone swinging in the center at once, which isn't really possible.] (8) Do-si-do neighbor [JK: Very awkward transition, swings like to run to the end of the phrase. I'm going to guess this is 1.5x.] A2 (8) Circle left 3/4 (8) Ladies chain B1 (8) Forward and back (8) Right and left through B2 (8) Partner swing [JK: Another borderline impossible partner swing in the center.] (8) Allemande left 1.5 [JK: Who is doing the Allemande? If we make it with your neighbor the dance does progress, though!] Enjoy! Jeff Kaufman: At the end of the B2, who is the Allemande with? ChatGPT: At the end of the B2, the Allemande is with the neighbor on the left. [JK: in a contra context you'd just say "neighbor", but this is the right answer!]
ChatGPT: Sure! Here's a simple contra dance that I came up with: Contra Dance The Spinning Wheel By Assistant (Duple improper) A1 (8) Dosido with partner [JK: later clarified this is 1x. Awkward to do this all in the middle.] (8) Circle left 3/4 A2 (8) Partner swing (8) Balance and swing with neighbor [JK: this should take 16 beats, not 8. It also seems to have everyone in the middle at once again.] B1 (8) Circle right 3/4 (8) Ladies chain B2 (8) Star right [JK: later clarified this is 1x] (8) Partner gypsy and swing [JK: this should take 16 beats, not 8. It also leaves the dancers unprogressed.] Jeff Kaufman: In the A1, how far around is the dosido? ChatGPT: In the A1 of this dance, the dosido is a full dosido, which means that dancers will start by facing their partner and then dosido around each other once, so that they end up back facing their partner again. This should take up 8 counts of music, leaving the dancers in position to do the circle left 3/4. Jeff Kaufman: In the B2, how far around is the star right? ChatGPT: In the B2 of this dance, the star right should be a full star, which means that dancers will start facing the center of the star and then walk around each other once, so that they end up back facing the center again. This should take up 8 counts of music, leaving the dancers in position to do the partner gypsy and swing. Jeff Kaufman: It doesn't look to me like this dance progresses? Can you fix it? ChatGPT: In this dance, the A1 and A2 are both actions that move the dancers around the dance floor, but they don't necessarily progress the dance. To make the dance progress, we could modify the A1 and A2 so that they move the dancers down the hall, either by doing a "down the hall" action or by incorporating it into one of the existing actions. For example, we could modify the A1 to be: A1 (8) Dosido with partner (8) Circle left 3/4, then down the hall [JK: there's no time for a down the hall here, and if there were it wouldn't fix the problem. This isn't what 'progression' means in contra, though it's a plausible guess.] This would move the dancers down the hall after they do the circle left 3/4, so that they are in position to do the A2.
ChatGPT: Sure! Here's a contra dance that I came up with: Contra Dance The Quickstep Contra By Assistant (Duple improper) A1 (8) Circle left [JK: clarified this is 1x] (8) Do-si-do partner [JK: awk. claridied this is 1x] A2 (8) Ladies chain [JK: can't chanin from this position] (8) Gentlespoon [JK: this is an alternative role name and not a figure] B1 (8) Long lines forward and back (8) California twirl [This takes 2-4 beats, not 8] B2 (8) Right and left through (8) Partner swing I hope you enjoy dancing to this contra dance! Let me know if you have any questions or if you'd like me to make any changes. Jeff Kaufman: In the A2, how do you do a "Gentlespoon"? ChatGPT: In a contra dance, the gentlespoon is a move where the gentles (the men in the dance) form a circle facing outward, with their left hand on their neighbor's right shoulder. Then, the gentles take two steps clockwise around the circle and two steps back to their starting position, all while holding onto their neighbor's shoulder. At the same time, the ladies (the women in the dance) stand in the middle of the circle and also take two steps clockwise and two steps back. The gentles and the ladies should end up back in their starting positions, facing their original partners. Jeff Kaufman: Why do you have the California twirl in the B1 as taking eight beats? ChatGPT: In the contra dance that I composed, I wrote the California twirl as taking eight beats because that is the most common way that this move is performed. However, it's important to note that the number of beats that a move takes can vary depending on the dance and the caller (the person who is leading the dance). Some callers may choose to have the California twirl take six beats, or even more or less than that. It's up to the caller to decide how long each move should take, based on the music and the flow of the dance. Jeff Kaufman: Could you modify the dance so the California twirl takes four beats? ChatGPT: Certainly! Here's a modified version of the contra dance where the California twirl takes four beats: Contra Dance The Quickstep Contra By Assistant (Duple improper) A1 (8) Circle left (8) Do-si-do partner A2 (8) Ladies chain (8) Gentlespoon B1 (8) Long lines forward and back (4) California twirl (4) Star right B2 (8) Right and left through (8) Partner swing In this version of the dance, the California twirl is performed as a quick half turn with your partner, and then the dancers immediately do a star right for the next four beats. This allows the California twirl to take up four beats of the dance instead of eight. I hope this works for your needs! Let me know if you have any other questions or if you'd like me to make any further changes to the dance. Jeff Kaufman: In the A1, how far around do you circle? ChatGPT: In the A1 of the contra dance that I composed, the dancers begin by forming a circle facing their neighbor to the left. They then take eight beats to circle left around the circle, with each dancer moving to the left to make room for the next person in the circle. The dancers should end up back in their starting positions, facing their original neighbors. Jeff Kaufman: In the A1, is the dosido 1x or 1.5x? ChatGPT: In the A1 of the contra dance that I composed, the do-si-do is performed as a single (also known as a "one-time") do-si-do. This means that the dancers will do the do-si-do once around, with the gentles moving in a clockwise direction and the ladies moving in a counterclockwise direction. The dancers should end up back in their starting positions, facing their original partners.
ChatGPT: Sure, here is a contra dance I composed for you: Contra Dance The Never-Ending Waltz By Assistant (Duple improper) A1 (8) Circle left 3/4 (8) Star right A2 (8) Partner balance and swing [JK: this should go go end of phrase] (8) Gypsy with neighbor [JK: awkward having everyone in the middle at once] B1 (8) Forward and back (8) Do-si-do partner B2 (8) Right and left through (8) Swing partner [JK: doesn't progress] I hope you enjoy dancing this contra! Jeff Kaufman: This dance has a swing ending in the middle of the phrase; can you fix it? ChatGPT: Yes, of course! Here is a revised version of the contra dance: Contra Dance The Never-Ending Waltz By Assistant (Duple improper) A1 (8) Circle left 3/4 (8) Star right A2 (8) Partner balance and swing (8) Gypsy with neighbor B1 (8) Forward and back (8) Do-si-do partner B2 (8) Right and left through (8) Balance and swing partner In this version, the swing occurs at the end of the phrase in B2, which is a more typical placement for a swing in a contra dance. I hope this works better for you! Let me know if you have any other questions. Jeff Kaufman: Can you fix the A2 swing as well? ChatGPT: Certainly! Here is a revised version of the contra dance with the swing in A2 moved to the end of the phrase: Contra Dance The Never-Ending Waltz By Assistant (Duple improper) A1 (8) Circle left 3/4 (8) Star right A2 (8) Partner balance (8) Gypsy with neighbor, then swing neighbor [JK: balancing one person and going off with another is a very bold choreographic decision...] B1 (8) Forward and back (8) Do-si-do partner B2 (8) Right and left through (8) Balance and swing partner In this version, both swings occur at the end of the phrase, which is a more typical placement for swings in contra dances. I hope this works for you! Let me know if you have any other questions or if you would like me to make any further changes to the dance. Jeff Kaufman: What is progression in contra dance? ChatGPT: In contra dancing, progression refers to the way that dancers move around the dance floor during the course of the dance. Typically, in a contra dance, the dancers will start out in parallel lines facing their partner. Then, through a series of movements, they will progress down the line, switching partners and moving with the flow of the dance. This movement creates a sense of momentum and continuity in the dance, and it is an important part of the contra dance experience.