Confessions of a Reluctant Choreographer (part 3)

Waterfall

About the dance: Waterfall was written and recorded as a piece of music in its own right, I didn't think of adding steps to it until after it was completed. The mental picture I had while composing it was of a stream going through rapids and waterfalls before becoming a large, slow river and finally reaching the sea.
Although the music is in a slow, straightforward 2/2 there is a twist in that the melodic phrase repeats over five bars, which would make a symmetrical series of steps very difficult. There are no sections to the music (like the verse/chorus in Angelus) except for this five bar phrase, but within it the first two bars have the same underlying chord while the other three have a rising progression, which is something to work with. The rhythm is not very sharp so slow, even steps were the only real option.
I'd started off with a grapevine as this had the sinuous motion of my stream image but I couldn't seem to find the next steps, turning to face around the circle made the steps very plodding, carrying on with the grapevine was dull and didn't fit with the musical phrase, and an abrupt change of direction felt very awkward. So I just played the music some more and waited for inspiration.
When it came it was both an idea for the next step and an overall picture of the individual's motion, so close together that I don't remember which came first. The step was an illogical extension of the grapevine, after a side and a cross in front step (as if continuing with another grapevine) I added another cross in front, bringing the circle inwards and gently changing direction. The obvious resolution was to do a reversed repeat, stepping to the left side and then crossing behind twice. The image that accompanied this was of an eddy in the stream, a small whirlpool where the water loops in a circle and, for a moment, moves in the opposite direction to the flow.
It was still not quite right, but raising the arms fully on the two crossing steps in and lowering them on the two crossing steps out made the motion easier, added an up/down element to the dance and made it easier to differentiate between the first two steps of the grapevine and the start of the 'eddy' part.

Music: 'Waterfall', written, played by and available from me.

Formation: A circle, with arms starting in a 'V' hold./p>

Steps: The rhythm is slow and even all the way through. Everyone faces centre throughout.

• Start off with a grapevine - right to the side, left crossing in front, right to the side, left crossing behind.
• Step with the right to the side and cross the left in front (as before) but follow that with the right crossing in front of the left. The crossing steps are not 'tight' at all and the dancers will move in towards the centre. While doing the crossing steps the arms are raised as high as they will go.
• Step with the left to the side, then cross right behind left and left behind right, slowly lowering the arms back to a 'V'. Again the crossing steps allow the dancers to move, this time back out to the original circle.

The dance starts after a ten bar introduction, the same length as the step sequence.

Later thoughts: This was the first dance I shared with my peers, at the Easter Teachers' Gathering in the UK. I was very nervous about teaching it and didn't say that it was my choreography or music until long after the dance had finished.
I've slowly come to realise how difficult the dance is. I think it illustrates some of the pitfalls of choreography, creating a sequence that is easy for one person to do alone and using music that is very well known to the choreographer but doesn't help the dancer trying to learn the dance. I still enjoy dancing Waterfall but I realise that it needs quite a lot of practice before it comes together.
Although I can hear some dodgy moments in the music I still find myself thinking "Did I really do that?" which is, for me, a good sign of inspiration at work.