[Callers] Waltz-Time Contra Choreography

[Amy Wimmer via Callers]

In Seattle there's an annual fund raiser dance for Northwest Folklife
Festival. It's a marathon: 3 hours, nonstop, no teaching, 12-15 callers,
several bands. We mostly do contra, but Sherry Nevins, who runs that dance,
likes to add squares and waltzes in the mix. Since it's nonstop, there are
some interesting transitions between the styles of music. Part of this is
contra-to-waltz-to-contra. The contra after the waltz sometimes starts in
waltz time and then switches to a square tune in the same dance.

To quote my husband, sometimes that transition is bone jarring. I once
attempted to sing the contra calling to the waltz tune (not my idea!), and
was less than successful.

At any rate, if the tune and dance are picked well, many contra dances will
work in waltz time.

-Amy

On Aug 15, 2017 3:22 PM, "Winston, Alan P. via Callers" <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Here in the San Francisco Bay Area I don't think I've ever seen  a waltz
> contra done.
> (I love waltz country dances, I do them in English dancing pretty often,
> and I'd be happy to call
> the occasional one if I thought I could sell it.)
>
> So my questions are:
>
> Are waltz contras commonly done in your area?  What area is that? Do you
> remember when
> they started being done?  How did callers introduce them initially?
>
> Thanks,
>
> -- Alan Winston
> San Francisco Bay Area
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