<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">So, what do dancers need to know in order to progress through a duple contra dance?</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style=""><br class="" style=""></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">(1) At the end of a swing, who finishes on which side. Thus we need some words and concept of these two roles, whether men and women, larks and ravens, or P's and Q's. (This seems really important when neighbors swing, and less important in ECD.) </div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style=""><br class="" style=""></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">(2) The identity of their current and future neighbors. (Tells dancers which way they are progressing.)</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style=""><br class="" style=""></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">(3) A consistent way to designate positions within a group of four. For the moment consider "first corners" to be the positions of woman 1 and man 2 at the start of the a duple improper dance.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style=""><br class="" style=""></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">Prudent use of all of these seems important over the various contra formations: improper, proper, becket (progressing left or right), indescent (2's crossed), and dances where the "1's" (those moving away from the music) start below the "2's." </div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style=""><br class="" style=""></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">For beginning and intermediate dancers, callers' use of (1) is often easier than (3). </div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">In dances with unusual end effects, caller's use of (3) can be difficult. </div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style=""> </div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">In general using (1) is clearer, because (a) it is easier to find a person, and (b) one's position changes throughout the 32 seconds or so of a contra. </div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style=""><br class="" style=""></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">I can think of quite a few dances which become much more difficult to convey to the dancers when (1) is avoided. For example: </div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">(a) "Second corners chain on the left diagonal" will always seem obscure.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">(b) Who rolls in front during a roll away, or moves in front during a Mad Robin</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" class="" style="">(c) dances with partial heys </div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790"></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" dir="ltr" class="" style="">(d) Many proper dances</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151790" dir="ltr" class="" style=""><br></div><div></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151849"> </div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1433183389539_1151851">Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217 239 5844</div></div></body></html>