Hi,
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.
Thanks as always to all,
Rickey Holt.
I can only speak with reference to calling at NEFFA, as I have never applied to DownEast. As some of you may know that Linda Leslie is NEFFA's program chair, I will note that the program chair does not select performers for contra sessions.
Regarding NEFFA 2007, the following notice is now posted at http://neffa.org/perf_app.html - The Program Committee is not prepared to take your application at this time, since it is too late to apply for this year's NEFFA Festival. Please note that the application to perform is always available during the month of September, with a deadline in October. If you'd like to get an e-mail notice of application availability, send a blank e-mail to NEFFA_Performers-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com
So you can note on your calendar that September is a good time to check the NEFFA web site, and also arrange for a notice to pop up in your e-mail.
The NEFFA application invites you to come up with a briefly-described theme for your session, with a title of 20 characters or less. IMO, use your own judgment as to how important the theme is. If you are offering a concept that's really meaningful to you, don't be afraid to describe it. If what you really want to do is just call some hot contras, then IMO I wouldn't go overboard on the theme.
Unlike Northwest Folklife, callers and bands apply SEPARATELY to the New England Folk Festival. And I believe that this is a very good thing for beginning callers who hope to have a chance at getting onstage. This mix-and-match policy gives a fresh perspective for experienced performers, and can be an eye-opening experience for newcomers who may get to work with seasoned veterans. I will never forget calling at NEFFA with Northern Spy, a band that has worked with caller David Millstone for 25 years. And where was David during this session? Out on the floor, happily dancing to the music of his own band. NEFFA's selection process made that wonderful hour possible for me.
For what it's worth, the first year I successfully applied I asked for a "Festival Orchestra" slot, which means that instead of calling a themed, hour-long session I called two dances in the Main Hall with the assembled orchestra and then got off the stage as the next Festival Orchestra caller had a turn. IMO, the key here (as well as in submitting a session proposal) is to choose dances that you know by heart, can teach well, fully believe in, and love to share with a crowd. You don't want to have second thoughts as you approach the microphone.
If you're wondering why performer applications are required so far in advance of a festival, note that NEFFA may have 1700 performers, many of whom perform in multiple sessions (perhaps performing alone, and with a participatory dance group, and also with a concert performance group!). You can't doublebook a performer (or larger groups to which she may belong), you have to give her time to move from one venue to another, plus a bunch of other scheduling etceteras that would drive me loony to contemplate further. How scheduling was done in the days before computers is beyond me.
--
Robert Jon Golder
164 Maxfield St
New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 999-2486
I recently had the following exchange on a different list with Michael
Shapiro (guitarist with U4):
Michael wrote:
>>> U4 just played the SwingShift weekend in Lexington/Berea. The caller was
Barbara Groh. She did something that I think most callers should do, but I
haven't seen before. After the sets were formed and people had done the hand
four, she then broke up the beginners sets that had formed at the end of the
lines. She asked then to move forward and intersperse themselves with the
more advanced dancers (so that they were more toward the beggining of the
line and the foursomes were not all beginners).
She was also good at letting the music be heard ...
I wrote:
>> Regarding the caller asking sets to reform in order to spread the less
experienced dancers throughout the hall, much tact is required. Generally,
callers strive to avoid calling attention to particular dancers other than
when asking people to watch a demonstration, but asking people to change
sets can have the effect of making them feel like there is attention on
them. In addition, newish dancers want to dance with people they know, even
if those friends may also be newish dancers.
>> Speaking to the entire crowd, I do encourage experienced dancers to share
their experience by asking someone they've never met to dance at least once
in the evening, and praise the community for being so welcoming to newcomer
dancers. So while I might be thinking "let's break up this clump of
confusion," it would not be good to say something that draws attention to
"you people right here."
>> I have asked, off mic, for a set of experienced dancers to offer to
repartner with a set of inexperienced dancers down the line.
To this list, I ask:
I'd be interested in the wording that Barbara Groh used (which I'm assuming
was quite gentle). I'm also guessing other callers on this list have
developed tactful ways to address this issue.
Thanks,
Jerome
--
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
Dear Luke,
Your biggest challenge is figuring out exactly how many guests have
done contra dancing before, but this may not be the group that you
wish to focus on! For me, the much more important folks are all of
the family members and friends who have never been to a contra dance
before. If children are at the wedding, it is also great to make sure
the dances can be done by them, as well. Welcoming these folks into
the world of dancing, and making the dances fun and fool-proof is so
rewarding when accomplished! Those who have danced before will
understand what you are trying to do, and won't expect dances that
they might normally do at a monthly dance.
We take progressing and identifying actives and inactives for
granted. However, these concepts can be a bit difficult, especially
for a group that includes many novices. And you can bet that the
novices WILL be dancing together! Another challenge may be that
there are more women, or more men present. or same sex
couples....adding another layer of complexity to improper dances that
might be called. To deal with all of these challenges, I tend to call
longways dances (Galopede; Boston Tea Party, Le Brandy, variations of
the Virginia Reel); circle mixers (you have chosen La Bastringue;
there are others with shorter swings); Sicilian Circles (especially
those that can be called without regard for gender), and other
formations, which work very, very well. An example:
Do Si Three
Formation is a line of three dancers (facing down the hall), facing
another line of three dancers (facing up the hall) in a contra-type
set (imagine contra couples, each with an extra person)
A1 (Take hands in a circle of six) Circle left
Circle right
A2 Ends of the line Do si do your opposite (only the four people
who are on the ends of each line)
Middles of the line do si do your opposite (only the two
people in the middle of the lines)
B1 Ends of the line Two hand turn your opposite ( and return home)
Middles of the line Two hand turn your opposite (and return home)
B2 In lines of three (another words, with your partners) go forward
and back
"say goodbye to these neighbors" And pass through to the
next line of three
I put this dance together especially for this type of celebration. So
many potential problems are solved! Lines of three can be any number
of men, women, or combo. Children easily understand the dance (as
long as they are not too young). Even young children, if trioed up
with adults, can be included. The progression to a new group is very,
very easy. At the ends, I remind dancers that they wait out one time
through the dance, turn around as a line, and get back in the dance.
I never have to talk about actives/inactives, but I do mention that
after each dance move, the dancers go "home", and home changes at the
ends only. I don't teach a contra swing....I encourage a two hand
swing (the experienced dancers will naturally go into a swing with
each other, the others will have a great time with the two hand
swing). The dancers have lots of surprises.....who they swing, how
they might get back to the same neighbors (from the first time
through the dance), how successful they are, and how much fun
everyone has doing the dance!
I recognize that I might be promoting dances that are much too easy
for your particular group of wedding guests. I also realize that much
of what you plan to do highly depends on what the bride and groom
wish to have happen, since it is their day! However, I also want to
give you lots of "permission" to call a simpler program if the
situation warrants it. Those of us who have literally called
hundreds of weddings/birthday parties/benefit dances/etc. have shared
thoughts about programming at conferences, dance weekends, etc., and
we all agree that simple, easily taught, gender role free, accessible
dances will add immeasurably to the joy of the occasion.
Have a great time!
warmly, Linda Leslie
On Jul 30, 2009, at 12:00 PM, callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote:
> Send Callers mailing list submissions to
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. requesting wedding program feedback (Luke Donev)
> 2. Re: requesting wedding program feedback (Dave Colestock)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:56:58 -0400
> From: Luke Donev <luke.donev(a)gmail.com>
> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Subject: [Callers] requesting wedding program feedback
> Message-ID:
> <243d1eda0907291556m46086a4qeea5c3033fb2b271(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Hello,
>
> Some friends have asked me to call some contra dances at their
> wedding.
> There will be lots of dancers in the crowd, but not everyone will be
> familiar with contra.
>
> I've put together a schedule for my portion of the evening, two
> contra sets
> bracketing the cake cutting and some international folk dance and
> Klesmer
> (I'm only responsible for the contra).
>
> I'm planning on ~ 5 minutes to find partners and teach dances, and
> running
> the dances for ~10 minutes. The exception being the circle mixer
> after the
> snowball waltz, where folks keep there last waltz parter and move
> into a
> circle and teach the circle mixer quickly (~2 minutes) to keep
> people on the
> dance floor.
>
> The program is available as a google document at *http://
> tinyurl.com/mqlwa6.
> *I'd appreciate any feedback folks want to share, and would request
> comments
> to me off-list to avoid clogging inboxes. (I'll add know that Star
> Trek was
> specifically requested by the bride.)
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Luke Donev
> http://www.lukedonev.com
> Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:08:12 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Dave Colestock <contradancerdave(a)yahoo.com>
> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] requesting wedding program feedback
> Message-ID: <160877.17671.qm(a)web52607.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
>
> Hi Luke,
>
> Just one quick observation -
>
> You may want to allocate 10 minutes for teaching the dances (make
> them simple but fun) and 5 minutes for dancing. 10 minutes of
> dancing 1 dance may be a bit much for the non-contra dancers who
> will be participating, since they are not used to dancing, and more
> teaching time may also be required. Havent had a chance to look at
> the program, but wanted to make you aware of what I have already
> found in calling wedding dances myself. Unless it is all dancers,
> keep it simple and short. If you do the Fan Dance you can run that
> a long time. That one traditionally runs long.
>
> Dave Colestock
> www.davecolestock.com
> www.frolicinthefall.freeservers.com
>
>
> --- On Wed, 7/29/09, Luke Donev <luke.donev(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Luke Donev <luke.donev(a)gmail.com>
>> Subject: [Callers] requesting wedding program feedback
>> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
>> Date: Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 6:56 PM
>> Hello,
>>
>> Some friends have asked me to call some contra dances at
>> their wedding.
>> There will be lots of dancers in the crowd, but not
>> everyone will be
>> familiar with contra.
>>
>> I've put together a schedule for my portion of the evening,
>> two contra sets
>> bracketing the cake cutting and some international folk
>> dance and Klesmer
>> (I'm only responsible for the contra).
>>
>> I'm planning on ~ 5 minutes to find partners and teach
>> dances, and running
>> the dances for ~10 minutes. The exception being the circle
>> mixer after the
>> snowball waltz, where folks keep there last waltz parter
>> and move into a
>> circle and teach the circle mixer quickly (~2 minutes) to
>> keep people on the
>> dance floor.
>>
>> The program is available as a google document at *http://
>> tinyurl.com/mqlwa6.
>> *I'd appreciate any feedback folks want to share, and would
>> request comments
>> to me off-list to avoid clogging inboxes. (I'll add know
>> that Star Trek was
>> specifically requested by the bride.)
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> --
>> Luke Donev
>> http://www.lukedonev.com
>> Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com
>> _______________________________________________
>> Callers mailing list
>> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
>> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 59, Issue 10
> ***************************************
Hello,
Some friends have asked me to call some contra dances at their wedding.
There will be lots of dancers in the crowd, but not everyone will be
familiar with contra.
I've put together a schedule for my portion of the evening, two contra sets
bracketing the cake cutting and some international folk dance and Klesmer
(I'm only responsible for the contra).
I'm planning on ~ 5 minutes to find partners and teach dances, and running
the dances for ~10 minutes. The exception being the circle mixer after the
snowball waltz, where folks keep there last waltz parter and move into a
circle and teach the circle mixer quickly (~2 minutes) to keep people on the
dance floor.
The program is available as a google document at *http://tinyurl.com/mqlwa6.
*I'd appreciate any feedback folks want to share, and would request comments
to me off-list to avoid clogging inboxes. (I'll add know that Star Trek was
specifically requested by the bride.)
Thanks!
--
Luke Donev
http://www.lukedonev.com
Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com
HI Chris,
Nils Fredland called "Major Hey" for us at a Rochester dance and it was a
blast!
Needs some experienced dancers to keep it together:
Double Becket, 40 Bar
A1: Circle 3/4, Pass thru and Swing the one you meet
A2: Lines F&B
Gents Allemande Left 1+1/2 to waves of 8 (partner in right hand)
B1: Balance R, L, Slide R
Balance L, R, Slide L, face partner (looking along lines of 8 across
hall)
B2: Hey for 8 (Partner by right, ...)
C: Balance and Swing Partner
There's a shadow couple in the hey, and if the hall is crowded, have people
"tag" at the end of the hey, so the next person knows not to continue into
the
next set!
Bob Fabinski
Rochester, NY
>Hey,
>
>A band I'm working with would like to play their favorite 40 bar jig
>(AA=8+8 plus BB=12+12) at a dance sometime. I was wondering if anyone
>had dances for this format and what their experience was calling them.
>
>Thanks,
>Chris Weiler
>Goffstown, NH
**************
Looking for love this summer? Find it now on
AOL Personals. (http://personals.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntuslove00000003)
I spaced out when I wrote my earlier e-mail. I was thinking that the
balance would be after beat 16 in the B2 of 30 year jig. It would
actually be after beat 8. So, the dancers would be able to hear
where to balance after all. It's while they are swinging that the
melody is a bit crazy. It also occured to me that the beginning of
the hey would occur where the melody is crazy as well but this
shouldn't be such a big problem.
Tom
On Jul 12, 2009, at 12:00 PM, callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote:
> Send Callers mailing list submissions to
> callers(a)sharedweight.net
>
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> than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..."
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>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: 40 bar dances (David Millstone) (Bobfab(a)aol.com)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:44:10 EDT
> From: Bobfab(a)aol.com
> Subject: Re: [Callers] 40 bar dances (David Millstone)
> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Message-ID: <d30.4f659e88.378b42aa(a)aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> HI Chris,
> Nils Fredland called "Major Hey" for us at a Rochester dance and it
> was a
> blast!
> Needs some experienced dancers to keep it together:
>
> Double Becket, 40 Bar
> A1: Circle 3/4, Pass thru and Swing the one you meet
> A2: Lines F&B
> Gents Allemande Left 1+1/2 to waves of 8 (partner in right
> hand)
> B1: Balance R, L, Slide R
> Balance L, R, Slide L, face partner (looking along lines of
> 8 across
> hall)
> B2: Hey for 8 (Partner by right, ...)
> C: Balance and Swing Partner
>
> There's a shadow couple in the hey, and if the hall is crowded,
> have people
> "tag" at the end of the hey, so the next person knows not to
> continue into
> the
> next set!
>
> Bob Fabinski
> Rochester, NY
>
>> Hey,
>>
>> A band I'm working with would like to play their favorite 40 bar jig
>> (AA=8+8 plus BB=12+12) at a dance sometime. I was wondering if anyone
>> had dances for this format and what their experience was calling
>> them.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Chris Weiler
>> Goffstown, NH
>
>
> **************
> Looking for love this summer? Find it now on
> AOL Personals. (http://personals.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntuslove00000003)
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 59, Issue 8
> **************************************
Major Hey looks like a great dance! Thanks for sharing it. I'll
definetly try to use it the next time I call. I would however advise
Chris and others to think twice about using Major Hey with the tune,
30 year jig.
There are two reasons. Both the B1 and the B2 are 24 beats each.
So, the hey would be split between the B1 and the B2. Not the way to
match a dance to a tune but not the end of the world either.
The more important reason is the music itself. The first 8 beats of
both the B1 and B2 fit together well in an easily recognizable
phrase. The melody in the remaining 12 beats is tricky. The music
is not in easily recognizable phrases of 8 for sure. It's hard to
tell where the end of the second set of 8 beats end. I don't think
the dancers would find the right place to balance. It's not
impossible for them to balance in the right place especially if they
count. But for me it's not fun to have to count the beats so that I
can dance a particular dance. The music wouldn't support this
particular dance.
Tom Hinds
On Jul 12, 2009, at 12:00 PM, callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote:
> Send Callers mailing list submissions to
> callers(a)sharedweight.net
>
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> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
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>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: 40 bar dances (David Millstone) (Bobfab(a)aol.com)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:44:10 EDT
> From: Bobfab(a)aol.com
> Subject: Re: [Callers] 40 bar dances (David Millstone)
> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Message-ID: <d30.4f659e88.378b42aa(a)aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> HI Chris,
> Nils Fredland called "Major Hey" for us at a Rochester dance and it
> was a
> blast!
> Needs some experienced dancers to keep it together:
>
> Double Becket, 40 Bar
> A1: Circle 3/4, Pass thru and Swing the one you meet
> A2: Lines F&B
> Gents Allemande Left 1+1/2 to waves of 8 (partner in right
> hand)
> B1: Balance R, L, Slide R
> Balance L, R, Slide L, face partner (looking along lines of
> 8 across
> hall)
> B2: Hey for 8 (Partner by right, ...)
> C: Balance and Swing Partner
>
> There's a shadow couple in the hey, and if the hall is crowded,
> have people
> "tag" at the end of the hey, so the next person knows not to
> continue into
> the
> next set!
>
> Bob Fabinski
> Rochester, NY
>
>> Hey,
>>
>> A band I'm working with would like to play their favorite 40 bar jig
>> (AA=8+8 plus BB=12+12) at a dance sometime. I was wondering if anyone
>> had dances for this format and what their experience was calling
>> them.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Chris Weiler
>> Goffstown, NH
>
>
> **************
> Looking for love this summer? Find it now on
> AOL Personals. (http://personals.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntuslove00000003)
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
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>
>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 59, Issue 8
> **************************************
--- "The Witful Turnip" wrote:
Is it 8 [beats]+ 12 = 20 / 2 = 10 bars?? Is that the conversion?? "30 year Jig"
would be 8 + 16 = 24 / 2 = 12 bars.... So, are straight contra dance tunes 32
bar tunes ? (8 + 8 = 16 / 2 = 8 * 4 = 32). If my conversion theory is correct,
that would make Cherokee Shuffle a
36 bar tune, and 30 Year Jig a 40 bar tune. Am I understanding this
correctly?
--- end of quote ---
Yes.
Typically in "our" kind of music-- the jigs and reels that are commonly played
for contras dances-- dancers would walk two steps for each bar of music. (A
"bar" is more formally referred to as a "measure," and at the end of each
measure of music, when you look at a printed staff, there's a vertical line,
known as a bar.)
David "cleansed from egg on face" Millstone
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:46:50 -0400
From: "Chris Weiler (home)" <chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org>
Subject: Re: [Callers] 40 bar dances
>Found it on YouTube:
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L0IFo7LVok
Thanks for posting this Chris. It is a great tune. But I clearly have some
bars to beat/count confusion going. I count this tune as follows:
A1: 8, 8
A2: 8, 8
B1: 8, 16
B2: 8, 16
David Millstone made a comment <and no wiping of egg required> that the
Cherokee Shuffle tune in the B part is 10 bars long, not 12. But if I count
it as..
A1: 8, 8
A2: 8, 8
B1: 8, 12
B2: 8, 12
How do I get to the 10 bars??? Is it 8 + 12 = 20 / 2 = 10 bars?? Is that
the conversion?? "30 year Jig" would be 8 + 16 = 24 / 2 = 12 bars.... So,
are straight contra dance tunes 32 bar tunes ? (8 + 8 = 16 / 2 = 8 * 4 =
32). If my conversion theory is correct, that would make Cherokee Shuffle a
36 bar tune, and 30 Year Jig a 40 bar tune. Am I understanding this
correctly?
I'm so *not* a math or music theory head! But I suspect that bands would
prefer me to say I need an [N] bar tune rather than trying to describe what
I mean in beats/counts. And I really hadn't meant to start the beat vs.
count vs. bar discussion again. I just didn't get it the first time.
Thanks,
Bev
