Rickey asked, "I am wondering if you have any dances for low numbers of dancers
(perhaps 6 or less), when most or all of the dancers are beginners and adults.
I am also wondering if you have any dances (presumably different dances), that
do not require choosing a partner and are good openers for beginner adults."
I've missed some of this discussion, so apologies if I'm repeating. There are
many good possibilities to be found in the English ceilidh repertoire. One
useful source of such dances is Thomas Green's website:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/greenery/BarnDances/
Now, granted, 6 or less is a pretty small number of dancers, and many of the
dances on this site need more than that, but there are plenty that will work
well for the situation you describe.
Triplets, of course, are a helpful part of your repertoire. With five people
there, you can join in to make up a triplet, and that will keep your dancers
moving for quite a while. They range, of course, from simple to very
challenging, so pick carefully. One that you might find appropriate for this
situation is David's Triplet #4," by David Smukler, which was written
specifically to be relatively simple:
http://www.davidsmukler.syracusecountrydancers.org/DSS.html#trip4
Good luck!
David Millstone
Hi callers,
Thanks for the suggestions. There were several. If you can, post the
dances, or send them directly to me if you prefer, (holt.e(a)comcast.net). If
that is too difficult can you point me towards some. Perhaps indicate some
favorites. I try to do my homework but I am a bit overwhelmed. As far as
just going home, when the numbers are low: Don't want to go home - not if we
can still have some fun anyway, at least not for a while. Might only be for
a bit. As far as Ted's Triplets, I do have several and I enjoy them. Most
of those I have are challenging for me to teach to beginners
Alan Winston asked "Does it have to still feel like a contra dance, or can
it be generically one-night-stand?" I do not expect these dances to feel
like contras, but they should be dances that can by done by contra dancers,
especially dancers with little or no traditional dance experience. Walking
steps best.
Silly dances are ok.
As far as using English dances, I have danced some English, mostly English
Country Dance dances and can teach simple moves (Siding, Setting, etc). If
it is something that these dancers can enjoy that night - great. I do not
have Antony Heywoods's "X Marks The Spot". Would love to see it.
For the partner free dances I did not expect a mixer, but a mixer would be
fine - but roughly within the New England, Southern or perhaps Western
traditional dance traditions, so as to stay within the limitations of the
dancers - and of this caller.
Alan, I would love to see some of those" 5-person ceilidh-type dances that
don't require asking a partner to dance" that you mentioned.
Mark Goodwin - you mentioned several interesting possibilities that I am not
familiar with. Can you post some of these or point me towards them. They
are all out of my experience at this point. They were:
(1) Spanish Waltz
(2) Domino Five, by David Haynes
(3) Polka Dots
(4) Steve Schnurr's dance Cottontail Rag
(5) Simple Jack
(6) Kentucky Reel, by Chris Brady
(7) The Margate Hoy, by Thompson 1783
(8) The Weevil by Richard Mason
(9) Susan Elberger's "Greenfield"
Dudley
How does the whole set longways Danse du Castor go. (Sounds like an oil.) I
have the others you mentioned, but not that one
Thanks to all of you - you are great.
Rickey Holt
Fremont, NH
Ok, I can't put this off any longer. I have too many cards, dances in the
computer, dances on scrapes of paper. I need a database! I would like to
be able to enter the dance into it and some other information like author,
or period or difficulty and then be able to ask it to show me all the dances
that have ladies chain to hey transitions, or have a California twirl, God
willing, or half promenade to half right-and-left through's, or that I once
thought might be good for one night stands with mixed crowds by the
seashore. It could also link back to showing me the entire dance. I know
that this is very basic database stuff, but I'm not too database literate.
I have Access and tried to do this there. I'm sure it can be done. Does
anyone have an off the shelf suggestion, or an easy answer. Easy answers do
exist for some things.
Thanks,
Rickey Holt
(Overwhelmed-in-New-Hampshire)
P.S. I have a pc running Windows XP and megagigas of ram and storage.
If posting to the web (website) please be sure all information is
correct
I have pulled dances from internet sites that sound fun to dance,
or that I have danced, only to find that the choreography was not
notated correctly. This has accounted for glaring sessions from dancers
and my reputation has suffered. Needless to say if I am not familiar
with a dance that
I have found on the internet, I will take it to a 'house' session and
try it out
before calling it at a regular dance. With very few exceptions
'notations' from
books are a more reliable source.
Perhaps if posting in 'web' form, employ an editor to double check
all information.
Happy calling!
Gale Wood
Gang,
On this topic, if people choose to put dances on the web, please include your name by the dance title. I have printed out dances from the web to be put on cards later and had to go back to sites to get the name correct or at all. Some sites have the name at the top or bottom of the printed out page. For this technophobe if chorographers could put their name by the title, procrastinaters like me,( am I alone in this?), will at least spell your name correctly. Pronunciation is a whole different aspect. As I have been taught, progress not perfection.
See ya on the floor,
Dan Black (Jersey Guy)
____________________________________________________________________________________
Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.
http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/
A question about publishing new dances.
(Let's assume for this argument that the dances are good, and
a significant number of other callers would be interested in them.
Publishing bad dances is a whole other issue.)
Is it better to publish them in a web site, or in book format?
(This is two sub-questions -- which is better for the person
publishing the dances, and which is better for the contra
dance community.)
Advantages of a web site:
-You don't lose money, or storage space with boxes of unsold
books. (I don't see anyone ever making money by published a
contra dance book.)
-It takes much less time to produce.
-It's not permanent, so you can update or fix it over time.
-It's free, supporting more the folk aspect of transmission.
Advantages of a book:
-It's permanent.
-It's more exclusive (you need to pay and order), so
hence it must be more valuable.
-There are fewer of them, so they stand out more.
-Hence, it's more prestigious.
(note that if they're a bad or lackluster collection of dances,
these advantages quickly become disadvantages)
Are there other reasons?
I've run across web sites (like Gene Hubert's or Rick
Mohr's) that rival the best of the individual printed books.
Then again, you can probably name books that have fallen
far short of expectations.
Thoughts? This is more than a theoretical question for me.
-Chris Page
San Diego
Hay Rickey
Here's Slippery Swing thought I would share with everyone
This is an interesting dance as the progression is in
A1 not at the end of B2
I hope Ted Crane does not mind this posting as I found
The dance on his web site. (and danced in VT)
Much fun to call, more fun to dance!
A plug for the 1st Thursday Dover NH dance guest callers
Are welcome! Dance goes throughout the summer
Dover city hall 8:00 - 10:30
See ya on the floor!
Gale
'Slippery Swing' Ted Crane
Becket
A1: Circle L 1X 8
With part slide left and
Cir L with new Neighbors 3/4. (Prog) 8
A2: DSD this neighbor, 8
Swing this neighbor 8
B1: full H44 across the set: 16
Women pass R
B2: Women cross again, passing Right, 16
Swing Part.
Hi folks -
You might recall that I was looking for the dance Oddville
(Ad Vielle) by Erik Weberg. Karen Fontana asked me to post
it here when I found it.
Well, thanks to your collective knowledge, I was able to
write to Erik directly. He sent back a very kind response
stating that he's now updated his website to include the
dance, and wishes me joy in calling it.
You'll find it at http://www.kluberg.com/erikcalls.html
It's a terrific dance, and one I hope many of you will try
out and enjoy calling too.
I suspect, though, that part of its wonderfulness that I
felt as a dancer is the way it totally fits the music it
turns out the dance was written FOR... this was an
excellent learning moment for me when I realized that. And
it makes me ponder how we can more often identify & request
tunes (as callers) or choose tunes (as musicians)
specifically for certain dances... have any of you IDed
good pairings like that to suggest? --Or is this line of
questioning getting too Englishy for comfort? <g>
Tina
Tina R. Fields, Ph.D.
(707) 824-9318
"Hindsight Now!"
-- the dance, not the mental state. <g> Erik Weber called
it at Folklife in Seattle last weekend, to his tune of a
similar name "Oddville Cupola," and I *loved* it. He said
the call is posted on his website, but I can't seem to
locate him online. Can anyone hook me up with how to call
this dance?
Thanks!
Tina Fields
Tina R. Fields, Ph.D.
(707) 824-9318
"Hindsight Now!"
