Hi Hanny,
Sorry, I really thought you meant "proper" meaning "genuine",
but you meant "Proper", as in "all the men on one side".
It was, in that context, just meant as a humorous riposte...
Which obviously failed... :-(
Anyway, we would have to agree on definitions for "traditional"
and "contra" before we could discuss whether your statement "traditional
contras were always 'proper'" is a valid statement. But since those the
meaning of those terms is fluid and depends on the speaker, the context,
the country and the century, let's not go there :-)
I would however like to point out an example of an early
improper contra:
The King of Poland - Playford 1698:
http://www.izaak.unh.edu/nhltmd/indexes/dancingmaster/Dance/Play4045.htmhttp://www.srcf.ucam.org/round/dances/cdb/cdb4/king
"First Man on his Woman's side"
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 &
07802 940 574
http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events, Instructional DVDs and
Interactive Maps
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
From: Hanny Budnick <kyrmyt(a)cavtel.net>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Re Proper Traditional Contras
Message-ID: <4EEB21C8.6040208(a)cavtel.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Hi John,
As you know, traditional contras were always 'proper' - all men on the
same side to start the dance.
Casting off with regards,
Hanny
[with apologies for duplicate posting for those also on the trad-dance-callers
list]
Callers interested in square dances may enjoy a new series of videos that I've
been uploading from the Dare To Be Square weekend held last month at the John
C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. They are the first videos posted to
the new YouTube channel started for the Square Dance History project. Here's a
link that will take you to the channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SquareDanceHistory
Callers at the weekend were Bob Dalsemer, Tony Parkes, Phil Jamison, Bill Litchman,
Larry Edelman, and Jim Mayo. Funding for the videography-- superbly done by John-Michael
Seng-Wheeler, of Charlottesville, VA-- was provided by CDSS. Thank you!
At the moment, there are sixteen Brasstown videos available, with another ten
in the queue being uploaded tonight, and there are scores more waiting to be edited,
compressed, and uploaded. I don't plan to announce each new batch on this list,
so if you're interested, you could subscribeto that SquareDanceHistory channel
and you'd receive automatic notifications when new videos were available.
Some videos just show the dancing, while others include relevant parts of a walkthrough.
In all cases, the caller's voice has been boosted a little to make it stand out
above the music.
Enjoy!
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
Hi Folks,
Brand new to the list. I'm one of the organizers for the MondayContras
series at the Concord, MA Scout House and have been an avid dancer for just
over 4 years now. Hi to those I already know and to those of you I'll get
to know from here!
I've been an occasional caller for dances on shared evening programs and
camper nights, etc. but have my first full evening coming up later this
month, which I'm excited about. This is for a smaller regional dance that
attracts a mixed crowd of mostly periodic dancers. I've done some basic
"how to call" workshops at festivals, etc. but have not taken a formal
caller's course.
I'm planning to tailor my dance selection to the expected crowd and build
in some flexibility to address variability. I'm pretty confident in my
dance selection skills but I'm definitely still counting my way through the
music to call. So one concern is with making sure I stay firmly anchored to
the music, without depending upon the crowd for cues. I craft my calls to
fit the phrasing and rehearse with music to get confident but dance
breakdowns are a fear. I've come close a couple of times early on but have
been able to set things right somehow on the fly... however, I was not very
confident doing so at the time.
So with that concern, a couple of related questions:
- Do you have practiced recovery routines (more than just "get home and
swing your partner")? Is that common? Or do most callers just make it up on
the spot?
- In working with the musicians, are there any customary "I've lost track,
where are we in the music?" signals?
I look forward to learning from the shared wisdom of the group here and am
open to any other tips you may have.
Thanks,
Don
Hello All,
In the near future, I get to call for my first gender free dance. I'm
looking forward to it, and thinking about my program. I was contemplating
putting in Bands chains. The gents chain is a move that seems by and large
ignored in conventional contra dancing; the occasional dance I've seen
using it is usually greeted with grumbling. Are gender free dancers more
open to the move?
I was thinking of the following dance (where barearms are on the right
after a swing)
*A1*
Neighbor Balance and Swing
*A2*
Promenade Neighbor across and courtesy turn
Barearms chain across the set (pull by right)
*B1*
Barearms do-si-do 1x
Partner swing
*B2*
Bands chain across (pull by left, courtesy turned by neighbor)
Right Hand Star 1x
I've sent the question directly to the dance organizer, and I'm
cross-posting on facebook, but I also wanted to poll the folks here.
Thoughts?
Thanks.
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
www.lukedonev.com
Hello,
The Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend is approaching very quickly. Please consider joining us at the University of New Hampshire, January 13-15, next month. Details can be found at http://ralphpage.neffa.org/
This year the retrospective will focus on the dances in the Nelson, NH town hall. If you have ever attended or participated at a Nelson dance, I'd like to hear your memories and reflections. You may be quoted at the Ralph Page weekend, so please let me know what impressed you and what has stuck in your mind. Why do you think that we are still dancing in the Nelson town hall? We have our own answers to that question, which you will hear at the Ralph Page weekend, I'd like to add your thoughts, as well, if you have ever joined us for an evening of dance in the Nelson town hall.
Thanks a lot,
Rich Hart,
Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend Committee.
Hi folks,
I have 4 gigs coming up this month, 1 of which is a ONS. I'll look in archives as well, but I'm curious if folks can recommend any
good dances or tunes in an Xmas, Hannukah, Solstice, or Kwanza theme I can use. I already have a few gimmicks, but always looking
for more.
Thanx, Ric Goldman
Palo Alto, CA
Just a funny phenomenon brought to mind by Alan's good advice, quoted here:
> Hmm. Do you pay attention to the music when you're dancing? Do you know where
> you are in the tune when you're on the floor? You kinda need for that to be
> second nature - something you don't have to spend conscious brain cycles on.
As someone who listens to trad music a lot, I can say Alan's point is the case for me (as a caller, dancer, music-appreciator, occasional hack musician.) I just "know" which part is the A and which is the B - kind of like autopilot. In fact I think I probably more reliably know automatically where I am in the music than where I am in the dance sequence.
And it's HUGELY helpful to me as a caller.
But once in a great while there is a tune that just 'sounds backward.' The A sounds to me like it's the B, and vice versa. I have no idea why this is true, but it definitely is a phenomenon for me. Inevitably I am thrown off track by those tunes, and sometimes do something wrong as a consequence (prompt wrong call, give band signals midway thru the A1, start dancing the wrong thing, etc.)
Anyone else have this experience? Anyone know what might make a given part of the tune sound "A-ish" or "B-ish"? And perhaps more to the point, does anyone even want to spend bandwidth pondering these questions?? ;)
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
--- Chrissy wrote:
But once in a great while there is a tune that just 'sounds backward.'
--- end of quote ---
Keep in mind that there are some tunes where different musicians know the two
parts in different order. I've run across bands who play the Growling Old Man
and the Cackling Old Woman in what sounds to me like the wrong order and yes,
that throws me off, too. And then there are tunes such as Mackimoyle, where some
musicians put the first beat at the start of opening four eight notes, while others
treat those as pickup notes. I know the tune best this second way-- that's the
way I learned it-- so when I encounter it the other way, it takes me a moment
to adjust.
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
