I second Beth's comments in reply to the ideas introduced by Greg, esp the below excerpts.
Also, as a dancer, I think mixers are simply FUN (and if they are a bit goofy or wild, all the better!)
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast ME
Excerpts of email from Beth Parkes:
> Wow.
> I call mixers because it is the one and only time in an evening when the whole group is gathered together. Instead of "my little clique" it is "all of us are in this together" as a dancer and as a caller I enjoy that experience.
> Any idea of needing to twist the arm of people to welcome newcomers has not entered into it.
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Hello everyone,
Thanks to Bob Isaacs, I'm calling my first full evening this weekend at Swingin'
Tern in New Jersey. It's my home dance so I have a good idea of the dancers'
ability, but it will be hot and humid. I plan on running dances shorter with
longer water breaks.
Here's the preliminary program, with alternate dances I'm comfortable with
listed at the bottom. Please give me feedback!
SWINGIN TERN JULY 17, 2010
SPRING FEVER Tony Parkes dup imp
A1 8 Long lines
8Neighbor swing
A2 8 Gents alle L 1 ½
8 Partner swing
B1 8 Circle L
8 Star L
B2 8 Partner promenade across
8 Ladies chain to neighbor
BUTTER Gene Hubert Becket
A1 8 L diagonal circle L ¾
8 Neighbor swing
A2 8 Long lines
8 Ladies chain to partner
B1 16 Hey (LR, NL, GR, PL
LR, NL, GR)
B2 4, 12 Partner balance, swing
Joe DePaolo, guest caller
THE NICE COMBINATION Gene Hubert dup imp
A1 4, 12 Neighbor balance, swing
A2 8 Down the hall, turn as couples
8 Up the hall, bend line
B1 6 Circle L ¾
10 Partner swing
B2 8 Ladies chain to neighbor
8 Star L
FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER Tony Parkes dup imp
A1 4, 12 Neighbor balance, swing
A2 8 Gents alle L 1 ½
8 Partner swing
B1 8 Partner promenade across
8 Ladies chain to neighbor, give R to partner
B2 4, 4 Square through two: partner balance, pull by R, Neighbor pull by L
4, 4 Partner balance, pull by R, Neighbor pull by L
THE EYES HAVE IT Becky Hill Becket L
A1 8 Circle L, slide L
8 Ladies chain across to new neighbor
A2 8 Mad Robin: Ladies in front, gents in front
8 Half hey (LR, PL, GR)
B1 4, 12 Neighbor balance, swing
B2 8 Gents alle L 1 ½
8 Partner swing
ELLEN'S YARNS Rick Mohr Becket
A1 8 R&L through
8 L hand star
A2 8 Ladies chain on R diagonal*
8 Ladies chain across to shadow
B1 4,4 Balance ring, Petronella
4,4 Balance ring, Petronella, find partner
B2 4,12 Partner balance, swing
- - - - - - - - -
GOOD FRIDAY Kirston Koths dup imp, wave 4 Ladies L in middle, NR
A1 4,4 Balance R, L, slide R
4,4 Balance L, R, slide L
A2 2,2 Neighbor alle R ½, gents pull by L
12 Partner swing
B1 8 Long lines
8 R&L through
B2 8 Circle L ¾, pass through
8 New neighbor do si do 1 ¼ to new waves
PEDAL PUSHERS Bob Dalsemer dup imp
A1 8 Gents alle L 1 ½, scoop up partner
4, 4 Star promenade, butterfly whirl
A2 8 Ladies gypsy (do si do)
8 Partner swing, join hands in a ring
B1 4,4 Balance ring, pass through across, individually turn R
8 Single file promenade 3 places clockwise, ladies following neighbor
B2 4,12 Gents turn back; neighbor balance, swing
SARA'S JOURNEY Gene Hubert dup imp
A1 4,4 Neighbor balance, box the gnat, gents pull by L
8 Partner swing
A2 8 Circle L
8 Partner do si do
B1 4,4 Partner balance, box the gnat, ladies pull by L
8 Neighbor swing
B2 8 R&L through
8 Star L
POETRY IN MOTION Lisa Greenleaf dup imp
A1 8 Star R
8 Neighbor 1 alle R 1 ½
A2 8 N2 gypsy L
8 N1 swing
B1 8 Partner give and take to gents' side
8 Partner swing
B2 8 Ladies chain to N1
8 Star L
HEARTBEAT CONTRA Don Flaherty dup imp
A1 4,4 Balance ring, Petronella
4,4 Balance, Petronella
A2 4,12 Balance, neighbor swing
B1 8 Ladies alle R 1 ½ (gypsy)
8 Partner swing
B2 8 Circle L ¾
4,4 Balance, California twirl
ALTERNATES:
CENTRIFUGAL HEY
LANNY'S BACK
SCOUT HOUSE REEL
DELPHINIUMS AND DAISIES
STAR TREK
THE BABY ROSE
MARY CAY'S REEL
AL'S SAFEWAY PRODUCE
Mark your calendars:
November 18-20, 2011 (yes, more than a year from now)
"Dare to Be Square" Dance Weekend
Callers: Bob Dalsemer, Larry Edelman, Phil Jamison, Bill Litchman, Jim Mayo &
Tony Parkes
John C. Campbell Folk School
Brasstown, North Carolina
This special dance weekend, co-sponsored by the Country Dance and Song Society,
is devoted to traditional square dancing from Appalachia, New England, the
American southwest and beyond with six of the best callers from across the
country. All dancing will be to wonderful live music provided by Steve Hickman,
John Devine, Sam Bartlett and Claudio Buchwald. Space is limited to about 60
dancers. Previous contra or traditional square dance experience is highly
recommended.
This will be the first Dare To Be Square event in the eastern states in many
years; recent ones have taken place in the Pacific Northwest.
Registration won't be possible until late this year, but you might want to set
aside those dates if you think you'd like to attend.
Just passing along another reminder that the website for the
Southeastern Dance Leadership Conference is up and running. Lots of
great topics and opportunities to learn, discuss, and network.
http://rivertone.org/index.php
Southeast Dance Leadership Conference
Organizing Tools for Vibrant Dance Communities
October 1-3, 2010
Haw River State Park, North Carolina
Joy Greenwolfe
Durham, NC
I just posted clips from the evening dance at the Montpelier SquareBall, with
Will Mentor and Nils Fredland calling:
http://vimeo.com/13388634
This is another sampler, with short clips showing figures from give dances:
First Night Quadrille
Just Because
Little Sisters
Take Three Swings
Virginia Reel Square
Enjoy.
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
David, thanks for sharing all of these, and the previous batch (and upcoming!)!
~ Becky Nankivell
Tucson, AZ & Long Beach, CA
On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 9:00 AM, <callers-request(a)sharedweight.net> wrote:
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> 1. trad NH squares - videos (David Millstone)
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> Message: 1
> Date: 12 Jul 2010 09:55:30 -0400
> From: David.Millstone(a)valley.net (David Millstone)
> To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com, callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Subject: [Callers] trad NH squares - videos
> Message-ID: <132921109(a)retriever.VALLEY.NET>
> Content-Type: text/plain
>
> Lester Bradley calls a very traditional square dance program in central New
> Hampshire. (Lester was one of the dance callers selected to represent New
> Hampshire at the 1999 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in DC.)
>
> Here are five videos of traditional singing squares from Lester's monthly dance
> in Wentworth, NH. The files are lower-quality than some others I've posted; I
> tried out a different compression algorithm to speed up the process.
>
> My goal in posting all this material is to encourage callers to include more
> squares in their repertoire. The squares are part of our rich country dance
> heritage and they add variety to an evening's program. For callers unfamiliar
> with this material, seeing some of the dances may make it easier for you to
> think about calling them.
>
> David Millstone
> Lebanon, NH
>
> Here's the latest batch:
>
> Red River Valley
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMhOllPhq5w
> This one also has shots of the various musicians playing with Lester; those
> shots come about halfway through the video.
>
> Forward Six and Back
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wPM7ncM4Yg
>
> Comin' Round the Mountain
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tyR3J-5ydM
>
> Oh Johnny (big circle mixer)
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWRGauYCPwY
>
> Listen to the Mockingbird
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsdiBIvRLVc
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
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>
>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 71, Issue 9
> **************************************
>
Lester Bradley calls a very traditional square dance program in central New
Hampshire. (Lester was one of the dance callers selected to represent New
Hampshire at the 1999 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in DC.)
Here are five videos of traditional singing squares from Lester's monthly dance
in Wentworth, NH. The files are lower-quality than some others I've posted; I
tried out a different compression algorithm to speed up the process.
My goal in posting all this material is to encourage callers to include more
squares in their repertoire. The squares are part of our rich country dance
heritage and they add variety to an evening's program. For callers unfamiliar
with this material, seeing some of the dances may make it easier for you to
think about calling them.
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
Here's the latest batch:
Red River Valley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMhOllPhq5w
This one also has shots of the various musicians playing with Lester; those
shots come about halfway through the video.
Forward Six and Back
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wPM7ncM4Yg
Comin' Round the Mountain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tyR3J-5ydM
Oh Johnny (big circle mixer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWRGauYCPwY
Listen to the Mockingbird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsdiBIvRLVc
Dear callers,
I've just uploaded nine square dance videos to YouTube. Unlike the ones I
mentioned earlier from the Montpelier Square Ball, these are complete dances.
The shortest is just over 4 minutes; the longest is nearly twice that length.
You'll find both patter squares and singing squares. Enjoy!
These were all recorded at the release party for Ralph Sweet's "On the Beat with
Ralph Sweet," which was edited by Nils Fredland and published by Country Dance
and Song Society. CDSS organized the afternoon dance party at the Greenfield,
MA, Grange Hall as a way to celebrate Ralph in particular and square dancing in
general; indeed, Nils Fredland now has a part-time position with CDSS in which
he'll be looking to expand that organization's publications and recordings of
traditional American dance.
The band playing is Elixir (also recently featured on the NPR contra dance
piece), joined by three other talented New England musicians. (Full personnel
listings are given in the notes for each piece of footage.)
Technical note: Viewers of some of my other videos will note that the audio here
isn't as crisp as usual. Unfortunately, that afternoon when I attempted to patch
into the hall's PA system, I kept picking up a signal from a nearby radio
station, so the audio here comes solely from an onboard shotgun microphone. So
it goes...
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
Here's the list of the new videos:
The Auctioneer
Ralph Sweet, caller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBCElrznG9M
Bachelor Mill
Nils Fredland, caller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79t2LHhmIsY
Do-si-do and Face the Sides
Tony Parkes, caller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZa59b-FWIk
Little Red Wagon
Nils Fredland, caller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWlHdVavwk0
Marianne
Tony Parkes, caller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quu7SyfavZc
Sally Goodin
Ralph Sweet, caller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldsl2mJRH28
Shindig in the Barn
Ralph Sweet, caller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOfPY85ttc4
Trail of the Lonesome Pine
Tony Parkes, caller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmcVQ08hdjs
Wagon Wheel
Ralph Sweet, caller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AiqS0EQT88
I've uploaded some video clips from the recent Montpelier, VT, SquareBall hosted
by Will Mentor and Nils Fredland with financial support from Country Dance and
Song Society.
http://www.vimeo.com/13213390
More footage from this event (and from the Ralph Sweet book release party)
coming in the next few weeks as I get around to compressing and uploading it.
This first batch is a series of short clips illustrating some of the various
figures (and some breaks) called by different folks throughout the day.
Not a large crowd-- the event that night pulled in more folks-- but those who
were there had a good time.
Enjoy!
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
Greetings,
I'm planning for a one night stand, or, more precisely, a one dance
stand, at my brother's wedding. I'm seeing all sorts of advice here
for the kind of dances to use in such a circumstance, so thank you
all.
But... he's asking what tunes the band should play, and I have no clue
as to the names of the best traditional tunes for contra. I only need
a couple.
Thank you in advance.
-Chris
Christopher Buck
