[Callers] Building to Contra Corners

[Dugan Murphy]

Hi, Hannah!

I very much second Alex Deis-Lauby's recommendations.  The difficulty in a
contra corners figure in contra formation is two-fold: the out-of-minor-set
interaction and the short allemandes.  If you can get the dancers to do
short allemandes earlier in the evening and use a dance without interaction
outside the minor set (as in, a triplet or 3-face-3), then you've prepared
them for one point of difficulty and removed the other.

My favorite triplet for contra corners is "Microcasmic Triplet" by Ann
Fallon and my favorite in 3-face-3 formation is "Down by the Riverside" by
Melanie Axel-Lute.  The choreography for both are in others' responses.

If you determined to call contra corners in contra formation, I recommend
"Labor of Love" by Kathy Anderson (choreography here:
http://dancevideos.childgrove.org/contra/contra-modern/196-labor-of-love)
because it uses a box-the-gnat to get actives to trade places before the
contra corners figure, rather than a half-figure-eight, which is much more
difficult for newer dancers.  "Labor of Love" also allows ones and twos to
trade off being active.

Good luck!

Dugan Murphy
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy.com
www.DuganMurphy.com
www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com
www.NufSed.consulting

>
> Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:37:54 -0500
> From: Hannah Chamb <hannahchamb at gmail.com>
> To: callers at lists.sharedweight.net
> Subject: [Callers] Building to Contra Corners
>
> Hi all, first time posting here!
>
> I'm new-ish to calling and I've yet to call contra corners. I think I'm up
> for the challenge and could teach the figure itself, but I still think it's
> a tricky one for dancers in all but the most experienced crowds. A few
> callers I know have advised me to build up to a challenging figure like
> contra corners over the course of an evening by calling dances that echo
> the skills the dancers will need later.
>
> With that in mind, what dances would you call early in the evening in a
> mixed-level group that would help "teach" dancers the skills they need to
> be successful at contra corners?
>
> I've been thinking I should include an easy proper-ish dance, and maybe a
> dance with allemandes outside the minor set... anything else come to mind?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Hannah Chamberlain
> Westbrook, ME
>
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