<div dir="ltr">At Old Srurbridge Village, a living museum, we use one penny whistle, flute, or fiddle. We always dance Rakes of Mallow. The age of the dancing audience ranges from 4 to 70s, and they always have fun. <div><br><div>Rakes:</div><div>Fwd & Bk, Fwd & Change lines</div><div>Fwd & Bk, Fwd and change back to original line</div><div>Right hand turn, left hand turn</div><div>Top Couple sashay down.</div><div><br></div><div>Simplicity is the key. Do a google search for books by the New England Dancing Masters, and by Mariam Rose. There are many good dances and CDs with the tunes.</div><div><br></div><div>I wish you success!</div><div>Rich</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Aug 4, 2015 at 6:18 AM, Claire Takemori via Callers <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net" target="_blank">callers@lists.sharedweight.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">I want to learn to call & share family dances with more kids to spread folk music and dancing in our area (SF bay area, near Santa Cruz).<br>
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I've got an opportunity to teach dances for my son's nature class. It will range in age from 5 to 15 years. There's an option to work with just 8 years and up for some or all of the dancing.<br>
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My questions:<br>
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1. Can you recommend some really fun dances for starting out? The first couple have be great so I can win them over with fun.<br>
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2. I'm wondering how vital music is to the success? I think really great live music is a major part of my joy of contra dancing. We are not allowed to use electrical amplification. I'm wondering if I could use a single fiddler? And how do I locate a local fiddler who might volunteer playing? Maybe a talented youth?<br>
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3. I won't have a mic and will have to use a bullhorn. Any advice? I don't have a naturally loud voice, but do sing so I know about projection and belly breathing.<br>
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4. They are thinking of 8 consecutive weeks, once a week for 15-30 minutes (before nature classes head out hiking). Is 8 weeks a good initial exposure? How long should each session last, 30 minutes?<br>
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5. We might culminate with a "field trip" to a local barn dance. Any advice for the preparation for that?<br>
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Thanks for any advice!<br>
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claire takemori<br>
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