Many experiences with enthusiastic teens dancing for the first time has taught me the importance of training them to listen for each successive call. They can lapse into autopilot on any figure--I've had teens who take forever to get a star rotating, then just keep going to indulge their success through two or even three subsequent calls.
Starting out with longways dances (such as the many variants of the Virginia Reel) with several 8-count figures ending in long lines facing across can establish good listening behavior especially if you insist they wait for each call before launching into the next figure. I try to get them to really notice how dynamic it is when the whole set of dancers moves together so they are thinking more about the big picture. I also tell them if they realize they're really late on a figure, skip it if they can and wait for the next call (and I try to pick dances that tolerate that well).
As far as contras go, dances with 16-count swings actually have worked better for me because the dancers usually wear themselves out more quickly and settle down into a more energy-conserving mode. But in the walkthrough and while the dance is in progress, I almost always insert a warning such as "end the swing and face across" (or whatever) before I give the call for the next figure.
Chip Hedler
HI Seth
Sounds like fun but.... please refine notation
or possibly its just my browser???
If I have time tomorrow I'll send a dance that
I created.
Thanks
Gale Wood
Original Message:
-----------------
From: Tepfer, Seth LABST(a)emory.edu
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:48:35 -0500
To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
Subject: [Callers] weird contra dances
A friend in Seattle (Alan Cheetham) has written a contra dance with
substantially weird end effects called broken corners. The dance is below,
but the gist of the hook is you start contra corners, but with your first
corner you allemande left 1.5 to have the TWOs complete the contra corners.
I'm gathering some people together tomorrow night to walk through that
dance. I've got a couple of other weird dances, but while I've got some
dancers gathered together for some experimental dancing, do YOU have any
weird contras you've had hanging around and you need an in-depth, fully
studied, deliberated upon walk thru?
If so, please send them on. Tomorrow is a great time for us to work on your
dance for you!
Also, if you happen to be in Atlanta Wed, stop on by Janet's house from
7:45 - 9 to help us parse this and other dances out!
Note: I have neither danced nor called this dance. I can make no
recommendations about it being callable, danceable, understandable. It
should be danceable. I just haven't proven it yet.
Broken Corners
Author: Alan Cheetham
Start: Beckett O=men, X=women
[After hands-four improper rotate right 1 / 4 so the "Ones" are on the
right (men's proper side)]
X
O
X
O
X
O
"Ones"
O
X
O
X
O
X
Circle Left 3/4 (8)
O
X
O
X
O
X
A1a
X
O
X
O
X
O
Swing Neighbor (8)
X
O
X
O
X
O
A1b
O
X
O
X
O
X
Long Lines F&B (8)
X
O
X
O
X
O
A2a
O
X
O
X
O
X
"Ones" half Figure 8 up around Twos (8)
X
X
X
X
X
X
A2b
O
O
O
O
O
O
First broken corner - part 1 (part of 8)
"Ones" start contra corners - Alamand partner by the right ½ to first
corner (standard contra corner first corner)
X
X
X
B1a-1
OX
OX
OX
O
O
O
First broken corner - part 2 (rest of 8)
Alamand corner by the left 1 ½ (which will end in a position to send the
corner "Twos" into the middle)
X
O X
O
X
B1a-2
O X
O X
O
X
Second broken corner - part 1 (part of 8)
Former corners alamand the one you meet in the middle ¾ (to go to what
would have been the standard second corner for the original people in the
middle)
O
O
B1b-1
OX
OX
OX
X
X
X
Second broken corner - part 2 (rest of 8)
Alamand second corner position person by the left once around (to head back
along the side)
O
X
O
X
O
X
B1b-2
X
O
X
O
X
Along the set gypsy the one you meet by the right ½ to ¾ changing places
(part of 8)
O
X
O
X
O
X
B2a-1
O
X
O
X
O
X
Men gypsy across the middle by the left ½ ending facing your partner (rest
of 8)
X
X
O
X
B2a-2
O
O
O
O
X
X
X
X
O
X
O
X
O
B2a-2
O
X
O
X
O
X
Swing partner (8) (may need to swing slightly to the right, or remember the
circle will be with the couple slightly to the right)
X
O
X
O
X
O
X
O
B2a-2
O
X
O
X
O
X
Seth Tepfer
Director of Administrative Computing
Oxford College of Emory University
seth.tepfer(a)emory.edu
770-784-8487
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web LIVE Free email based on Microsoft® Exchange technology -
http://link.mail2web.com/LIVE
A friend in Seattle (Alan Cheetham) has written a contra dance with substantially weird end effects called broken corners. The dance is below, but the gist of the hook is you start contra corners, but with your first corner you allemande left 1.5 to have the TWOs complete the contra corners.
I'm gathering some people together tomorrow night to walk through that dance. I've got a couple of other weird dances, but while I've got some dancers gathered together for some experimental dancing, do YOU have any weird contras you've had hanging around and you need an in-depth, fully studied, deliberated upon walk thru?
If so, please send them on. Tomorrow is a great time for us to work on your dance for you!
Also, if you happen to be in Atlanta Wed, stop on by Janet's house from 7:45 - 9 to help us parse this and other dances out!
Note: I have neither danced nor called this dance. I can make no recommendations about it being callable, danceable, understandable. It should be danceable. I just haven't proven it yet.
Broken Corners
Author: Alan Cheetham
Start: Beckett O=men, X=women
[After hands-four improper rotate right 1 / 4 so the "Ones" are on the right (men's proper side)]
X
O
X
O
X
O
"Ones"
O
X
O
X
O
X
Circle Left 3/4 (8)
O
X
O
X
O
X
A1a
X
O
X
O
X
O
Swing Neighbor (8)
X
O
X
O
X
O
A1b
O
X
O
X
O
X
Long Lines F&B (8)
X
O
X
O
X
O
A2a
O
X
O
X
O
X
"Ones" half Figure 8 up around Twos (8)
X
X
X
X
X
X
A2b
O
O
O
O
O
O
First broken corner - part 1 (part of 8)
"Ones" start contra corners - Alamand partner by the right ½ to first corner (standard contra corner first corner)
X
X
X
B1a-1
OX
OX
OX
O
O
O
First broken corner - part 2 (rest of 8)
Alamand corner by the left 1 ½ (which will end in a position to send the corner "Twos" into the middle)
X
O X
O
X
B1a-2
O X
O X
O
X
Second broken corner - part 1 (part of 8)
Former corners alamand the one you meet in the middle ¾ (to go to what would have been the standard second corner for the original people in the middle)
O
O
B1b-1
OX
OX
OX
X
X
X
Second broken corner - part 2 (rest of 8)
Alamand second corner position person by the left once around (to head back along the side)
O
X
O
X
O
X
B1b-2
X
O
X
O
X
Along the set gypsy the one you meet by the right ½ to ¾ changing places (part of 8)
O
X
O
X
O
X
B2a-1
O
X
O
X
O
X
Men gypsy across the middle by the left ½ ending facing your partner (rest of 8)
X
X
O
X
B2a-2
O
O
O
O
X
X
X
X
O
X
O
X
O
B2a-2
O
X
O
X
O
X
Swing partner (8) (may need to swing slightly to the right, or remember the circle will be with the couple slightly to the right)
X
O
X
O
X
O
X
O
B2a-2
O
X
O
X
O
X
Seth Tepfer
Director of Administrative Computing
Oxford College of Emory University
seth.tepfer(a)emory.edu
770-784-8487
Hi All;
I'm looking for the moves and author of a 4 facing 4 named Major Hey, which has a 1/2 a hey for 8 in it. Any teaching points would also be helpful. Thanks, and a Happy Holidays to everyone -
Bob
_________________________________________________________________
Put your friends on the big screen with Windows Vista® + Windows Live™.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/shop/specialoffers.mspx?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_CPC…
I've been calling for a little over a year now, on a volunteer basis here in Memphis TN. What that works out to is calling at one or two dances a month, and programming and calling half that evenings dances- between 4-5 individual dances each time. So I don't feel like I have a year's experience with the limited opportunities to practice with an audience.
What I am most interested in, that could possibly be taught or explored in that time frame, is teaching walkthroughs. IME some of the greatest dances just don't go well or are slow starters if I don't give a good walkthrough.
Things I'm working on that aren't as easily taught:
personality and presence in dealing with the crowd,
enunciation,
and matching music to the dance and the dance to the music.
For that last one I found Amy Cann's long post a few months back very helpful!
-Alison Murphy
Memphis TN
"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
~ James Madison
HTTP://WWW.RONPAUL2008.COM
-- "Beth Parkes" <beth(a)hands4.com> wrote:
A question for newer callers:
Since this is a list specifically to support new callers, I thought I'd ask
what you would like to have covered in a callers discussion workshop.
Specifically, a single session of not more than a couple of hours, so
there's really not time to do a lot of serious teaching. I have lots of
ideas, but it's been a long time since I was a new caller and I want to know
what YOU want to know.
Thanks in advance,
Beth
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
_____________________________________________________________
Boost your business with a small business loan. Click now!
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2111/fc/Ioyw6iigEfXeQ2Vf7XVWG0liAF7hBZC…
