Two dances written by Society members are available from TACBooks: 'Sturt's Desert Rose', an easy, energetic warm-up social jig named after the Northern Territory's floral emblem and written by Angus Henry and Betty Fleming in 1986 to commemorate the introduction of regular SCD classes to Australia's Northern Territory, and 'The Quiet Achiever', a simple medley written by Puka Henry as an exercise to help beginners think for themselves.
Another good, easy and sociable dance called 'Mrs Henry's Bonnet' by Betty Redfearn was presented to Puka (as the winner of the competition for the best hat at the ball) at the New Zealand Branch Summer School in December 1996, and of course there is 'Mairi's Divorce', written with tongue in cheek by Angus in 1998 specifically to help people remember how to do the reels in James Cosh's popular (but often misinterpreted) dance 'Mairi's Wedding'!
An adaptation of an intriguing original dance is 'London's Turning', inspired by Sue Petyt's "London's Burning", and 'Eighteen Years On' was written to acknowledge a long-time member in this city of a constantly changing population.
More recently 'Courtney Jane' was commissioned by Lynette Westwood for her remote Kununurra Dancers, in remembrance of a popular and valued young dancer. It is a 3-couple dance designed to be adapted for four couples, to cater for the variable numbers of available dancers in the remote north of Australia!
'The Copthorne Steamie' was devised at short notice as a ceilidh item celebrating the trials and tribulations of residents trying to get their laundry done on a couple of dysfunctional machines during a wet New Year's Day at a recent Summer School. It was good fun to do if not in truly traditional form!
And of course the two dances dedicated to Angus and Puka by John Drewry to commemorate his visit to Darwin and published in his Australian Book; Amazing Glace (a 32 bar Strathspey for 3 couples in a 4 couple set) and Mindil Market (a 32 bar Reel for 4 couples). John involved the whole class in the process of creating one of them, which was an interesting and rewarding experience for all.