<div dir="ltr">Susan, thanks for relating some of LCD's history! I had figured Louisville's hands-across was due to historic influence from regional square dancing. I'm curious of the actual cause of the the (relatively recent, it seems) switch from wrist-hold to hands-across. I'll ask some folks next Monday.<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 9:21 PM, Susan McElroy-Marcus <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:smcelroymarcus@earthlink.net" target="_blank">smcelroymarcus@earthlink.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Calibri';COLOR:#000000">
<div>Just a bit of Louisville dance community history on this subject—when my
husband started dancing there in the late 70’s and I came in 1982, the Monday
night dance was a mix of English and contra. The default contradance star
grip was the “wrist lock” not hands across as in English. We called it a
basket handhold or wrist grip. Our influence came from New England because
our friend, Norb Spencer, who started the group along with Marie and Frank
(Cassidy?) and who called much of the time—learned in New England. We then
taught it that way when we moved to Cincinnati and started that group.
Louisville only became a “bastion of hands-across-by-default” sometime in the
late 1990’s or ealy 2000’s during my calling hiatus. When I re-entered the
calling scene 6-7 years ago, I was surprised and bemused upon calling in
Louisville to learn of the high regard held for their ‘traditional’ hands-across
star style.</div>
<div>Susan McElroy-Marcus</div>
<div style="FONT-SIZE:small;TEXT-DECORATION:none;FONT-FAMILY:"Calibri";FONT-WEIGHT:normal;COLOR:#000000;FONT-STYLE:normal;DISPLAY:inline">
<div style="FONT:10pt tahoma">
<div> </div>
<div style="BACKGROUND:#f5f5f5">
<div><b>From:</b> <a title="callers@lists.sharedweight.net" href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net" target="_blank">Chet Gray via Callers</a> </div>
<div><b>Sent:</b> Monday, October 10, 2016 9:44 AM</div>
<div><b>To:</b> <a title="mrtimklein@yahoo.com" href="mailto:mrtimklein@yahoo.com" target="_blank">Tim Klein</a> </div>
<div><b>Cc:</b> <a title="callers@lists.sharedweight.net" href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net" target="_blank">callers@lists.sharedweight.net</a>
</div><div><div class="h5">
<div><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Callers] Wrist-Lock Stars</div></div></div></div></div>
<div> </div></div>
<div style="FONT-SIZE:small;TEXT-DECORATION:none;FONT-FAMILY:"Calibri";FONT-WEIGHT:normal;COLOR:#000000;FONT-STYLE:normal;DISPLAY:inline"><div><div class="h5">
<div dir="ltr">I tend to consider my home dance, Louisville, KY, and nearby
Lexington, as two of the last bastions of hands-across-by-default. Wrist-grip
seems to be the default (for contra; squares are a different matter) even in
relatively nearby cities: Indianapolis, Bloomington, IN, Nashville, Cincinnati.
Not sure about Berea and Somerset, KY, also nearby.
<div> </div>
<div>I'd be hesitant to use weekends, Flurry in particular, as bellwethers of
what is typical in anything but weekends. I'd wager that the vast majority of
contra dancers, even habitual dancers, have never been to a dance weekend,
perhaps not even their "home" weekend. Just as there is a sort of
"weekend-style" dance program, there is a "weekend-style" of dancing that is a
pidgin not necessarily representative of any particular regional style.</div>
<div class="gmail_extra">
<div> </div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 9:41 AM, Tim Klein via Callers
<span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net" target="_blank">callers@lists.sharedweight.ne<wbr>t</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT:1ex;MARGIN:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;BORDER-LEFT:#ccc 1px solid">
<div>
<div style="FONT-SIZE:16px;FONT-FAMILY:helveticaneue,helvetica neue,helvetica,arial,lucida grande,sans-serif;COLOR:#000;BACKGROUND-COLOR:#fff">
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7500" dir="ltr"><span id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7546">I
call for dances in Knoxville, TN and occasionally in the surrounding area
(Jonesboro, Chattanooga). I've been dancing here for 30 years. Kaufman was
correct. I recall hands across stars in Knoxville, Atlanta, Brasstown,
Asheville and points between, but wrist grip stars in Lexington, Louisville
and Nashville. I'm certain about Knoxville, but perhaps others can confirm for
the other cities.<br></span></div>
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8187" dir="ltr"><span id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7546"><br></span></div>
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8195" dir="ltr"><span id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7546">The
wrist star has gradually taken over as the default in the area, but a couple
of us old-timers are still holding out. I still teach the hands across star in
the pre-dance lesson because it's quicker, but acknowledge that there are
variations. When I call and dance, I still prompt and encourage the
hands-across grip. We've got to hold onto our traditions and fight the
globalization of contra, right?<br></span></div>
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7821" dir="ltr"><span id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7546"><br></span></div>
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7879" dir="ltr"><span id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8706">Of
course, there are situations where one variety works better than another -
to/from a move with an adjacent person (star to alemande, courtesy turn to
star) suggests a wrist star, while moves where the contact is across
</span><span id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7546"><span id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8707">(star
old neighbors to star with new, ladies start star then gents join in)
</span>suggest the hands across. In those cases, I'll explicitly suggest one
version in the walk through.</span></div>
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7566" class="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583qtdSeparateBR">
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8740"> </div>
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8761">Tim
Klein</div>
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8762">Knoxville,
TN</div>
<div> </div></div>
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7902" class="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yahoo_quoted" style="DISPLAY:block">
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7901" style="FONT-SIZE:16px;FONT-FAMILY:helveticaneue,helvetica neue,helvetica,arial,lucida grande,sans-serif">
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7900" style="FONT-SIZE:16px;FONT-FAMILY:helveticaneue,helvetica neue,helvetica,arial,lucida grande,sans-serif">
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7899" dir="ltr"><font id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7904" size="2" face="Arial">
<hr id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_7903" size="1">
<b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT:bold">From:</span></b> Dave Casserly via Callers
<<a href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net" target="_blank">callers@lists.sharedweight.ne<wbr>t</a>><br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT:bold">To:</span></b> John Sweeney <<a href="mailto:john@modernjive.com" target="_blank">john@modernjive.com</a>>
<br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT:bold">Cc:</span></b> "<a href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net" target="_blank">callers@lists.sharedweight.ne<wbr>t</a>" <<a href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net" target="_blank">callers@lists.sharedweight.ne<wbr>t</a>><br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT:bold">Sent:</span></b> Monday, October 10, 2016 8:37
AM<br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT:bold">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Callers]
Wrist-Lock Stars<br></font></div>
<div>
<div class="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139h5">
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8142" class="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583y_msg_container">
<div> </div>
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yiv7284825054">
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8144">
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8143" dir="ltr">Jeff Kaufman wrote a paper on regional variations in contra
dance. Here's <a href="https://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/linguistics/2007_kaufman_jeff.pdf" shape="rect" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">what he found</a> for wrist-grip stars
(page 31 of the link). Basically, they're common everywhere in the US
except in some parts of the South. This is based on data from ten or
more years ago, so I'm not sure if that's still true. I would not be
surprised if it isn't-- there's enough cross-contamination that wrist-grips
could have taken over even in the South. We do have people from Georgia
and North Carolina on the list; hopefully they'll chime in.
<div> </div>
<div>-Dave</div>
<div>Washington, DC</div></div>
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8147" class="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yiv7284825054gmail_extra">
<div> </div>
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yiv7284825054yqt10119" class="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yiv7284825054yqt1030508015">
<div id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8146" class="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yiv7284825054gmail_quote">On
Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 4:31 AM, John Sweeney via Callers <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net" shape="rect" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">callers@lists.sharedweight.ne<wbr>t</a>></span> wrote:<br clear="none">
<blockquote id="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yui_3_16_0_1_1476103981837_8149" class="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yiv7284825054gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT:1ex;MARGIN:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;BORDER-LEFT:#ccc 1px solid">Hi
all,<br clear="none"> I have been to
contra dances and festivals all over America and<br clear="none">everywhere I
have danced everyone automatically uses a wrist-lock star<br clear="none">(unless the caller has specified hands-across because of the
subsequent<br clear="none">choreography).<br clear="none"><br clear="none"> But I am constantly
challenged in England by people claiming that<br clear="none">wrist-lock stars
are not the standard in America.<br clear="none"><br clear="none"> When I go to somewhere
like The Flurry and see 600 people from all<br clear="none">over the country
all doing wrist-locks it seems to me that it must be the<br clear="none">standard way of doing things.<br clear="none"><br clear="none"> And obviously it has
been common in America for a long time; this<br clear="none">video is from
1964 in Northern Vermont and shows wrist-lock stars:<br clear="none"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZubTju7g_s" shape="rect" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=pZubTju7g_s</a><br clear="none"><br clear="none"> So, are
there still significant communities that don't use<br clear="none">wrist-locks?<br clear="none"><br clear="none"> Is the wrist-lock the
de facto standard?<br clear="none"><br clear="none"> Thanks.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">
Happy dancing,<br clear="none">
John<br clear="none"><br clear="none">John Sweeney, Dancer, England
<a href="mailto:john@modernjive.com" shape="rect" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">john@modernjive.com</a> 01233 625 362 & 07802<br clear="none">940 574<br clear="none"><a href="http://www.modernjive.com/" shape="rect" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.modernjive.com</a> for
Modern Jive Events & DVDs<br clear="none"><a href="http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/" shape="rect" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.contrafusion.co.uk</a> for Dancing in Kent<br clear="none"><br clear="none"><br clear="none"><br clear="none">______________________________ _________________<br clear="none">Callers mailing list<br clear="none"><a href="mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net" shape="rect" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Callers@lists.sharedweight.net</a><br clear="none"><a href="http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net" shape="rect" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://lists.sharedweight.net/
listinfo.cgi/callers- sharedweight.net</a><br clear="none"></blockquote></div></div><br clear="none"><br clear="all">
<div> </div>-- <br clear="none">
<div class="m_-1803966149709102964m_7732331266943326139m_-535810527196427583yiv7284825054gmail_signature">David
Casserly<br clear="none">(cell) <a href="tel:781%20258-2761" value="+17812582761" target="_blank">781 258-2761</a></div></div></div></div>
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