Read the name backwards. Some years ago I wrote a dance in honor of
International Lefthanders Day (August 24th, I think) -- called "Not Always
Right" and it contained a "backward" Petronella, which Bob Isaacs and I agreed
should be called an Allen Ortep.
April Blum
Greetings to all:
Beth wrote: "Seeing it in the dance below implies to me that he thinks
quite highly of himself,....."
Yes, I do think highly of myself.
Mark wrote: " Should you spell Allen's name backwards, you'll get petrO
nellA."
No. Should you spell Petronella backwards, you get Allen Ortep.
Only after the dance "Allen Ortep's First Contra" had been popular for some
years, and had become well established as a "walnut" of the dance form, did
someone think to reverse both the move and it's spelling
Regards
Allen
Oh, come on, folks. One of the contra dance traditions has been a small set of named moves and, for the most part, directional names for any new moves. So, for example, we say, "Pass through to an ocean wave," instead of "Pass the ocean." Please, please fight any tendency to give obscure names for moves. If it is not descriptive, it is not appropriate. And since I have never met Allen Ortep, I am quite sure that an "Allen Ortep turn" would say absolutely NOTHING to me as a dancer. (Even if I did know him, I suspect it would not tell me much. Seeing it in the dance below implies to me that he thinks quite highly of himself, but it does not tell me how to dance. And I was doing the two's variation in Petronella which uses a left turn back in the early 80s. Nothing new there.)
Part of what caused a huge problem in the evolution of Modern Western Squares was the introduction of many newly named figures in the early 60s. Every caller wanted to invent the next great move. It moved the activity into a realm where you must take all those lessons and keep dancing regularly to remember all the fancy names.
Keep it simple, keep it folk, keep it welcoming.
Beth Parkes
-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: [Callers] How to Call a Petronella Turn?
Things change slightly with this dance by Allen Ortep......
Allen Ortep's First Contra Becket Counter Clockwise
A1 Star left
Right and left through on right diagonal
A2 Long lines forward, on the way back, partners roll away with a 1/2 sashe
Circle right 3/4, pass through along set by left shoulder
to meet couple passed during the right and left of A1
B1 Balance and swing this neighbor.
B2 Allen Ortep turn (balance in a circle, then move as an individual
to the left one place in the circle while twirling counterclockwise)
Partners swing.
Things change slightly with this dance by Allen Ortep......
Allen Ortep's First Contra
Becket Counter Clockwise
A1 Star left
Right and left through on right diagonal
A2 Long lines forward, on the way back, partners roll away with a 1/2 sashe
Circle right 3/4, pass through along set by left shoulder
to meet couple passed during the right and left of A1
B1 Balance and swing this neighbor.
B2 Allen Ortep turn (balance in a circle, then move as an individual
to the left one place in the circle while twirling counterclockwise)
Partners swing.
Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217-239-5844
Thinking of petronella and ring balances, curious about historical changes.
Seems most people most of the time balance the ring toward the center and back. Was it formerly more of a balance right then left?
Was thinking about the physics of it all and where the momentum is... Curious re recollections/insights.
Chrissy
Belfast
I call regularly for dances with large proportions of first/second-time dancers.
When I'm teaching the figure, I usually say something like "as in petronella" or "figure that comes from the chestnut/old dance petronella". In your foursome, take hands in a ring, and all together, balance the ring. Then I tell them they are going to 'move' to the right one place. They can do this by stepping or by spinning. If they spin, they do it over their right shoulder. Usually demonstrate this, either myself from the stage or with a foursome on the floor.
When I'm prompting during the dance, I tend to use variations of 'move' to the right. Sometimes 'spin,' depending on the crowd.
I got this idea of using the word 'move' from some other caller. No idea now who it was. (Please speak up if it was you!)
I like it because it explicitly gives people the option to avoid/skip the potentially-disorienting spin. (For newbies, it can be confusing enough just remembering their destination.)
I find it is a very popular figure. Of all the requests I have ever fielded, a large proportion are "Can you call a dance tonight that has petronellas/petronella balance & spin?" (Clap clap!)
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
So I had my first introduction to contradance through my school, taught by
student callers who had been taught by student callers before them, etc. I
was first taught to call a Petronella as... a Petronella. And then as I
started going to more outside dances and started reading up on the practice
of calling, I heard the move more and more just called as "balance the ring
and spin to the right" or "balance the ring and spin to swap."
So, esteemed caller-folk, I ask you: how do* you* call a Petronella Turn?
By name, or with some other turn of phrase? Do you have any sense how
widespread either of these conventions are? Why not just call a Petronella
a Petronella? If you call it by description rather than by name, do you
generally put the entire call together (e.g. "BALance the RING and SPIN to
the RIGHT") or break it up ("BALance the RING... and SPIN to the RIGHT" so
that "spin to the right" ends up coming on beats 3 & 4, just before the
actual spinning occurs)? Any thoughts are welcome!
Cheers,
Maia
Hi callers - I've started blogging about my adventures in calling. Would
love for you to visit and follow if it interests you!
http://jolainejonespokorney.blogspot.com
--
JoLaine Jones-Pokorney
"We are as gods and might as well get good at it!"
- Stewart Brand
