I'm fairly new to Calling and fascinated with Contra dance choreography.
Below is my attempt at a Groundhog day dance. The groundhog starts his
day by looking for his shadow and so does this dance.
Groundhog Daze Becket
A1 Gypsy your shadow
Partner swing
A2 Circle left 3 places
Balance the circle, 1's make an arch, 2's dive thru
B1 Next neighbor balance and swing
B2 Long lines forward and back
Ladies allemande right 1/2, partner allemande left 3/4
I know there are thousands of dances out there so if this is not an
original, please let me know the true name.
Thanks, Jim Hemphill
The applicability of shadow dances notwithstanding, I have also used
tunnel dances and dances with a dip and dive progression in honor of the
other piece of the tradition, namely, coming out of the hole to greet
the whatever.
Walter
Hi all,
I am about to call a dance the character of which has changed from what I
expected and I need some easy dances. I had harder material planned and
while I do have some material that is probably easy enough, I am not sure
that it is. The dance is at a college. It is for college students only,
pssibly only students from that college, and we are now hoping for a large
contingent of beginers; perhaps mostly beginners. Have you any expereince
with a similar situation? I am thinking along the lines of ONS dances,
although if we made a few into regulars for the regular dance there that
would be great. So: "no-partner" dances, mixers (I have January Mixer - a
great one), Set dances ("Once and to the bottoms") .......
We intend to have a blast!
Rickey Holt, Fremont, NH
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Thanks, Mac.
Rephrasing to make sure I understand: after the "turn 1/4", the
couple you're facing would be your partner couple; the ones next to
you in your line of 4 (facing the same direction in the hall) would be
a couple of your neighbors, the other neighbors would be diagonally
across?
Are there other dances that start this way?
~ Becky Nankivell
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Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:54:29 -0800 (PST)
From: Richard Mckeever <macmck(a)ymail.com>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Double contra - whodunnit?
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good question
Get in 4 face 4 so you recognize the other couple in your line
then take traditional hands 4 in regular contra lines
then turn 1/4 turn to Becket
Mac
________________________________
From: Becky Nankivell <becky4dance(a)gmail.com>
To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
Sent: Monday, December 26, 2011 12:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Callers] Double contra - whodunnit?
Below is the post with the dance. My question: what consitutes
"4-face-4 becket formation"??
~ Becky Nankivell
Below is the post with the dance. My question: what consitutes
"4-face-4 becket formation"??
~ Becky Nankivell
Title: Major Hey
Author: Erik Hoffman
Formation: 4-face-4, becket
A1: Circle Left 3/4, pass through; New Neighbor Swing
A2: Long Lines; Men allemande Left 1 1/2 (to a line of people across
both, sets, partners facing, men back-to-back)
B1: Balance, slide right (a la Rory O'More); balance left, slide left (a
la Rory O'More)
B2: face partner, use right hand to start 1/2 hey for 8 (16)**
C1: partner balance and swing
David (G), you are correct. The only difference between what Tom and
Gaye called are the B1 - the Rory O'More.
In teaching this dance, people need to remember that when they start
they hey they are passing their partner by the right and going opposite
directions from their partner -- though the next-to-the-outside two
people will immediately 'bounce' off the ends and effectively follow
their partners.
If you end up having two major sets (lines) of four-face-four, you need
to keep them widely separately. People have a tendency to keep hey-ing
across 16 people. Fun, but not necessarily this dance.
Seth Tepfer
Director of Administrative Computing
Oxford College of Emory University
seth.tepfer at emory.edu
770-784-8487
------
Message: 9
Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:14:33 -0500
From: Chris Page <chriscpage(a)gmail.com>
To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Double contra - whodunnit?
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On Mon, Dec 26, 2011 at 11:01 AM, Hanny Budnick <kyrmyt(a)cavtel.net> wrote:
> I failed to note it down immediately after dancing it... Maybe one of you
> can fill in the considerable gaps, please:
> 1) The choreography stems from 'someone in California'.
> 2) Formation: two improper contra lines, close together for a double dance
> ? across the whole set
> 3) there's a hey for all eight in it
> Your turn....
> Thanks, Hanny
"Major Hey" by Erik Hoffman? It also has Rory o' More slides in it,
and is 40 bars. Though I think it's a Becket 4-face-4.
-Chris Page
San Diego
Hi, I realize I owed a report back on my first gig experience.
In the simplest summary, it went great. I had planned a program of more
basic, very connected dances based upon the crowd I was expecting. It
turned out that we had zero newbies and kept most of the crowd from the
start right through to the end, which made me want to stretch the material
in the second half. I ended up pulling up a few cards I'd prepped for
another venue, and modified a bit for better connection/orientation (eg: in
*A Rare Bird* making the pass bys into pull bys, gypsy to allemande, etc.)
and all went well.
To the best of my recollection, my program was:
Alamo Intro - Circle - Al Green
Get Me Going - DI - Lisa Greenleaf
Broken Transcription - DI - Don Veino (yet another variant on Broken
Sixpence)
Polymorphous' Reel - DI - Christine Hale (dance written in honor of the
prior incarnation of the band, request by organizer)
You're Among Friends - DI - Bob Isaacs
Butter - Becket - Gene Hubert (my video of this night's walk-through and
dance at http://youtu.be/pqSoOvu2wI0 )
---
Nail That Catfish To The Tree - DI - Walter Davies [+Bob Dalsemer]
(unfortunately, tune was not in the band's portfolio)
Special Delivery - Becket - Nell Wright
Redbeard Reel - Becket - Bob Isaacs (written for dancers that were present)
A Rare Bird - DI - Bob Isaacs, var: Lisa Greenleaf, plus mods on the fly by
me
The Big Easy - DI - Becky Hill
I had two points of trickiness in my teaching. In Special Delivery, my prep
notes were unclear about whether the B2 L Chain was across or on diagonal
so I taught it straight across then figured it out in the walkthrough it
was diagonal. In Rare Bird, I had not refined my language enough in prep to
clearly describe the current N pull by coming out of the LH Star at the
bottom of the B2, resulting in me having to talk more than I planned and
run through a second time to get it across. I now have better card notes
for both.
Thanks for the tips and info from this list! I put a bunch of it to good
use and hope to apply more soon. I got good feedback from several dancers,
had fun with the band, and the organizer was very happy (and has invited me
back).
-Don
In regard to the dip and dive dances,
Here's one that we in Wendy Graham's dance writing class at Augusta
Dance week last summer-- Wendy, Hilton Baxter, Pamela Moe, Susannah Gal,
and I-- wrote. It's on Wendy's web site
http://www.folkmads.org/wendy_dancetext.html. The imagery the class
worked with was mountains, tunnels, and rivers.However, I think it might
capture the idea of an ambivalent ground hog, ducking in and out, not
sure whether he/she saw its shadow or not.The rest of the dance might
imply that the shadow was not seen, since it continued, possibly as a
rite of spring.
Augusta ReelimproperWendy Graham's dance writing class, August, 2011
A1:Arches ( #2s arch, #1s duck thru, #1s arch, #2s duck back
thru);Neighbor swing
A2:Gents pull by with left hand to partner, swing.
B1:Women step forward to long wavy line, balance; allemande left about
three fourths around to face partner, gypsy partner and return to place
B2:Gents step forward to long wavy line, balance; do-si-do once and a
half to progressed position.(The women need to face in the progressed
direction, ready to join hands with partner as he approaches)
Others are:Ellen's Green Jig (Roy Dommett); Ashokan Hello (Tony Parkes);
and Jefferson and Lincoln (Seth Tepfer)
I've used a proper Tunnel Dance also.
A1: Forward and back, pass thru across and turn around
A2: ditto, to return to original side
B1: All except top couple make an arch with partner; top couple chassez
down to the end; Top Woman dances back up thru the tunnel as Top Gent
dances back up the outside
B2: Top Gent dances down thru the tunnel as Top Woman dances down the
outside; All swing partners.
Walter
Mural favorite dances are Gene Hubert's Summer of '84 and Tom Hinds' Batja's Breakdown. Tried and true favorites.
Sent from my iPad
On Dec 25, 2011, at 12:00 PM, callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote:
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> 1. Shadow Dances? (Luke Donforth)
> 2. Re: Shadow Dances? (Richard Mckeever)
>
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:22:12 -0500
> From: Luke Donforth <luke.donev(a)gmail.com>
> To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: [Callers] Shadow Dances?
> Message-ID:
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>
> Hello all,
>
> Ground Hog's Day is more than a month away, but I wanted to send the
> question out now. What are your favorite dances with shadows (or trail
> buddies)?
>
> Thanks
>
> --
> Luke Donforth
> Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
> www.lukedonev.com
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 08:16:06 -0800 (PST)
> From: Richard Mckeever <macmck(a)ymail.com>
> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow Dances?
> Message-ID:
> <1324829766.42447.YahooMailNeo(a)web120401.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> I like Susan Kevra's 'Trip to Phane' reel - but it seems to get called more around Thanksgiving - maybe it is ready for a second holiday.
>
>
> Mac
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Luke Donforth <luke.donev(a)gmail.com>
> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Sent: Sunday, December 25, 2011 8:22 AM
> Subject: [Callers] Shadow Dances?
>
> Hello all,
>
> Ground Hog's Day is more than a month away, but I wanted to send the
> question out now. What are your favorite dances with shadows (or trail
> buddies)?
>
> Thanks
>
> --
> Luke Donforth
> Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
> www.lukedonev.com
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
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> End of Callers Digest, Vol 88, Issue 26
> ***************************************
Recently someone posted a dance sequence and rather then hijack that thread I'm starting a new one.
> Right hand turn, Left hand turn
> Two hand turn, No hand turn (do-si-do)
> Balance and swing
> Promenade and slip the clutch (ladies turn right and meet the next gent)
Outside of modern square dancing you can define slip the clutch any way you like, of course, but within MSD, a slip the clutch requires both dancers in the couple to already be facing in opposite directions. What would be borrowed here from MSD is a "ladies rollback while the gents move forward".
What's good here is the definition for this rare contra call is included. What's bad is this exactly not the definition in squares. I know slip the clutch sounds cooler and is shorter to say.
Its likely this was misobserved, misremembered or a coincidence of invention. It could even be a very old definition that diverged in the two dance styles. It's still going to (mildly) confuse the handful of people who dance both contras and MSD-they'll either mess up or hesitate. I can dance a contra to whatever words the caller wants to use as the caller defines it, but if this were undefined and sprung on me, say in a medley, I'd do something the contra caller did not intend. So again I'm glad the definition is included in the choreography.
(Here's and easy reference to the rollback and slip the clutch calls from MSD: http://www.mit.edu/~tech-squares/lessons/lesson6.html. There are more precise definitions at the callerlab site.)
What do you think?
\bob
Hi Hanny,
Re: Report from New Zealand (Hanny Budnick)
You referred to "proper traditional contras". Are you
suggesting that there are some improper ones? (And I assume you don't
just mean the starting position!) :-)
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 &
07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
