--- Donna wrote:
How about Circle Left 3/4? Lately, I've been programming specifically to avoid
having a circle in each dance. It's surprisingly difficult to find
dances that don't have circles.
--- end of quote ---
I don't have time now to sift through cards, but I'm wondering how much of this
circle left phenomenon 3/4 is there to maneuver people into position so everyone
can have a partner swing (much more easily done on the side of the set than in
the center) and a neighbor swing (ditto).
In the older dances--
Money Musk
Chorus Jig
Rory O'More
Hull's Victory
Lady of the Lake
Lamplighter's Hornpipe
Petronella
etc.
-- there's nary a circle left to be found.
But then, in those dances there wasn't the expectation of the partner swing, nor
of flow, which came into popular taste starting in the 1980s, or thereabouts.
Just wondering...
David Millstone
Improper
A1: Neighbor DSD; Neighbor Swing [or NB&S]
A2: LL; Ladies Chain
B1: Ladies DSD; Partner Swing
B2: Circle left 3/4; Balance Ring, pass thru
I don't remember the name or author of this dance. Do you?
Thanks
Seth
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1. What is the proper distance to the mic? I have been told that
several inches is best, and I have seen one caller who is always clear
measure that distance by placing her fist, with thumb and pinky extended,
between her mouth and the mic. I have also seen other highly respected
callers rest it on their chin. What are your feelings?
The kind of mics seen at contra dances ("dynamic") suffer from "proximity effect". The bass frequencies are boosted the closer you get. Some callers work too close to the mic, and it makes for uncorrectable boominess in the hall.
A span (thumb tip to pinky tip), about 6 to 7 inches or so, might be a bit too far away, as it will pick up some measure of stage/hall noise.
Tony Parkes recommends grasping the mic around the barrel, and extend the thumb above the windscreen and nestle the tip in the hollow between your lower lip and chin. This keeps the mic locked at a consistent distance (which is a good thing) about an inch or two from the mouth.
2. I have been taught to speak down the axis of the mic and not hold it
like an ice cream cone, yet many prominent callers do not seem to do this.
How important do you think that this is?
In general, talking down the axis is a good thing. If you work an inch or two from the mic, doing the "ice cream cone" thing will probably be OK, and in fact, may be desirable if you tend to pop your Ps ; the plosive force will bypass the mic element. If you work 6 inches from the mic, the "ice cream cone" will definitely be out of the pick-up pattern of virtually all mics you'll see contra sound engineers use.
3. I have a good wireless mic (a Sennheiser Evolution G3), which I like
to put on its stand when I can. When I scan the room, sometimes turning my
head from side to side, how important is it to move the mic so I do not
change the angle between me and the axis of the mic?
Whatever you can do to keep the mic in the same position relative to your mouth, the better. I would recommend either a headset mic for you, or go handheld. If you work 1 to 2 inches from the mic, you can probably get away with not fiddling with the mic as you move your head.
Hi all,
I have 3 questions about best mic use when teaching and calling at a public
contra dance:
1. What is the proper distance to the mic? I have been told that
several inches is best, and I have seen one caller who is always clear
measure that distance by placing her fist, with thumb and pinky extended,
between her mouth and the mic. I have also seen other highly respected
callers rest it on their chin. What are your feelings?
2. I have been taught to speak down the axis of the mic and not hold it
like an ice cream cone, yet many prominent callers do not seem to do this.
How important do you think that this is?
3. I have a good wireless mic (a Sennheiser Evolution G3), which I like
to put on its stand when I can. When I scan the room, sometimes turning my
head from side to side, how important is it to move the mic so I do not
change the angel between me and the axis of the mic?
Thank you, Rickey Holt, caller, Fremont, NH
Hey Everyone,
I've had a request to do a 90 minute ONS in W. Greenwich RI on Sat. April
7. I would LOVE to do this gig, but I'm already booked.
Basics are: approx. 25 beginning dancers, 40-60 y.o. Start time
approximately 6 PM (TBD soon) *MUST* bring own recorded music. It may
be a schlep, but it's a short program in a nice hall and gorgeous setting.
Please reply asap for contact info and further details. I only learned
about it this wk. and they are hoping to post it to their membership this
coming Mon.
Site is 40 min. from Providence & just under 40 min. from Mystic, CT.
warmest regards,
Paul
Adding to Linda's good thoughts -
For a full hey I usually point out that people should end up in their starting place, and if there are lots of newer dancers I may add "how you get there is just a detail, as long as you don't crash into anyone else." Folks often chuckle at that point, which I take as a good sign. But how to officially teach it? If most people are new I've done the first walkthrough with hands, as in Grand R & L, then without hands.
One thing that confuses a lot of new folks is how to turn and re-enter on the other side. I've seem many people turn sharply back and collide. It sometimes helps to describe it as a LH U-turn (or RH U-turn as the case may be), or to suggest pretending that they're hooking their arm around an imaginary lamppost. Or pretend they are little airplanes and have to "bank" to turn. Most kids (and some adults) embrace being silly with the airplane idea, which makes the whole figure less intimidating.
For a half hey, it helps to point out they'll be diagonally across from their staring place at the end (usually the same gender neighbor's spot).
Hilton Baxter
> I agree with Tavi that heys don't have to be perceived as a difficult
> move. I use them all the time with newer dancers, using the following
> guidelines:
> A full hey which occurs anywhere but in the B2 is easier, since the
> dancers do not have to progress out of the hey
> A hey which ends up with a B & S, or gypsy and S (either P or N) will
> smooth over any tendency to get a bit lost. Great dances that are
> perfect examples are:
> The Carousel by Tom Hinds
> Flirtation Reel by Tony Parkes
> There are many others!
> Sometimes using a dance that introduces a half hey is a great way to
> get folks ready for a full hey later on in the evening.
> These dances add variety.
>
> One other quick point that I thought about when Emily first posted,
> but did not share at the time: I use four in line down the hall quite
> a bit with new dancers. I have never found that it caused confusion
> about location in space/the dance. Quite the contrary, it gives folks
> encouragement to move to the music in a quite natural way, and is
> another move that adds variety. I can understand avoiding these dances
> because of space constraints. However, four in line down the hall to a
> great march makes for wonderful dancing.
>
> Cheers! Linda
Begin forwarded message:
> Hi Friends,
> I've been working with my friend Dr. Lorenzo A. Trujillo over the past few months to produce a video that illustrates the five-part Las Cuadrillas, an Hispanic quadrille. The interpretation and choreography of the five part Las Cuadrillas is by Lorenzo based on the teaching of his mother, Marie Oralia Duran Trujillo, Damian Archuleta, and additional notes by Helen Mareau. The music was compiled by Aurora Lucero-White and Eunice Hauskins (1940). The music on the video is performed by The Soda Rock Ramblers. A recording of the Las Cuadrillas music is available on Lorenzo's spectacular CD, "The Golden Age of the Southwest: From 1840 to Hollywood." Visit: LorenzoTrujillo.com
>
> The video is a bit under 12 minutes long - I hope you like it! Please share the link with your friends!
>
> Best, Larry Edelman
>
> http://youtu.be/_tINtD7AKek
>
I once attended a dance where Erna-Lynne Bogue demonstrated a most effective way to teach a hey. (The following assumes partners are on the same side of the set, facing across, and the women will start passing right shoulders, but it can be revised for other starting configurations.)
Erna-Lynne had the men stay put, while she instructed the women to (a) Cross set passing right shoulders. (b) Pass left shoulders with neighbor and walk around and behind him to face back into center. (c) Again pass right shoulders with other woman. (d) Pass partner by left shoulder and walk around and behind him and stop when at where they started. Erna-Lynne then had the women repeat walking this same pattern, but with the men following the women. It seemed a bit magical, but everyone completed the hey successfully.
Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217-239-5844See my art work in the store window of 133 W Main, Urbana, two doors east of Race on the south side of Main. Links to photos of many of my drawings and paintings are at www.ArtComesFuerst.com
James wrote:
> However, if a dancer asks a specific question such as "Do
> we pass by right or left shoulders in the middle?" during
> a walk-through, I don't think the caller should refuse
> to answer in the dancer's terms. This, I believe, would
> create the impression that the caller either didn't actually
> know the answer or was disrespecting the dancer or both,
> thereby raising the dancer's affective filter and making it
> harder, rather than easier, for the caller then to help the
> dancer learn a different way to think about things.
>
"Affective filter." That could be useful. It comes from Krashen's theory
of second language acquisition. It describes an anxiety-triggered feeling
of incompetence that prevents a student from acquiring new information. As
in:
"When a caller steps down from the stage when wearing a head mike and
follows a novice dancer while gesturing and giving them verbal instructions
over the PA system it is likely to raise an affective filter that will make
it nearly impossible for the novice dancer to learn the dance."
It's a good term to use in discussions here.
Just a thought,
- Greg McKenzie
