Hi Everyone,
I've been pretty low-key on calling for several years now, just a few local
dances a year. Years ago I did close to one gig a month at home and around
my local region, but cut back due to busy life. Now I've accepted an
invitation for a regular gig that's going to be a bit different, so I'm
back on this email list, and I seek your advice.
A few people from the nearby Western Square Dance group came to one of our
local contra dances where I was calling, and had such a fun time they have
invited me, and the band from that evening, to come and do a monthly series
in their hall, promoted and sponsored by them. The band and I decided we'd
give it a shot.
I've had barely any exposure to Western Square Dance, but I know their
education system is formalized, calling is improvised, and the music is
mostly recorded; whereas in contra dancing the education is more by
assimilation, the calling is mostly fixed within a given dance, and the
music is live and improvised. I anticipate we may feel like strange cousins
to each other. Do any of you have any experiences or thoughts about
crossing over into this parallel universe of traditional dancers? I'm
particularly concerned about how I can best help them feel comfortable with
the way Contra Dance is done, and how I can be a gracious presence in their
space.
Bonus question: they want to know how to split the gate, since they don't
have experience paying bands. Your thoughts?
Best regards,
Joseph
Can anyone ID this dance and author? I found it on a Youtube video but it
wasn't named.
A1 Bal & Sw N
A2 Men Almd L 1-1 /2 Sw Ptnr
B1 Sq Thru - (Rt hand Bal N, pull by, pull by Ptnr w/ left, repeat)
B2 Bal ring, Petronella, Bal Ring, Calif Twirl
Thanks in advance...
Linda Thomas
Wilmington, NC
coastaldancer(a)ec.rr.com
I’m a new contra dance caller (took Nils’ workshop at American Week last July). And my goal is to offer calling for Family dances to help spread folk music/dance in our community. (maybe College contras, but that’s a different thread)
I’m calling my first Family dance on March 6th for a home-school community. I was hoping to offer a page of INTERESTING , Kid-friendly, FUN info, activities, links in case someone wants to delve further into the history, dance or music.
Any great resources out there? I don’t have a ton of time to put this together from scrap. And I don’t know enough yet to figure out the history. I’m learning as I go!
thanks !
Claire Takemori
Bay Area California
Hi Everyone,
In preparation for calling my first family dance on March 6, I’d like to find some family-friendly dances that are for very small groups, like 3-9 people.
Ideally NOT proper triplets, or 3x3s (already have a few of those) and NO gender roles.
I’ve got a good collection of simple dances for 10++ people, circles, lines, etc.
I’m preparing for a crowd of up to 100 but if it dwindles down to 1-2 families or starts slow, I’d like something for small groups too.
Thanks!
Claire Takemori
OK, sorry for this much delayed report back on the gig. First, I really
appreciate all the dance suggestions and helpful tips shared both on and
off-list (many). A reminder of just how wonderful this list can be!
At first, it was looking like my worries were founded - with just 5 minutes
to go there were maybe 8 people from the set up crew in the hall, clustered
around the refreshments table... and then the posse of t(w)een girls
paraded out of the powder room where they were all making ready, just in
time for the start. And then the families appeared, etc. By the end of the
early circle -> spiral dance we'd coaxed most out of their chairs and were
close to 70 people on the dance floor. :)
I used a number of the suggested material, plus a bunch of my existing
family dance collection. Modified some dances to suit the theme -- for
instance, there's a "Grumpy March" longways in the NEDM "Sashay the Donut"
book. I asked the dancers "how does a cowboy walk?" and got a bunch of
folks immediately sticking their thumbs in belts and doing a bowlegged
strut, just what I wanted! So we did the A1 of that dance with a Cowboy
Strut instead of the Grump Across in the original, plus some simplification
of the A2/B1.
Virginia (no)Reel type stuff, Sasha, two singing squares, bunch of simple
longways with a lot of shashays. Taught a basic and rotary waltz - I'd
announced a waltz to start the break and then noticed a whole bunch of
folks watching my partner and I intently, trying to follow along as we
danced, so I stopped the band - gracefully - and then we started it up
again after a 5 minute basic lesson (everyone in long lines, leads on one
side - partner across, show hold and basic steps then get into formation
around the hall). Stopped once more and showed the rotary turn, then we did
a second tune. They picked it up pretty darn quickly - last one of the
night they did a great job all on their own.
Big smiles all around and almost everyone danced most of the night. I don't
think more than a few left before the very end (and two tweens begged for
one more dance after the last waltz). The fiddler (Paul Lizotte) and
pianist (Deborah Gerstein) were wonderful and the live music/flexibility
made my job much easier - but I was sure exhausted by the end!
Thanks again,
Don
On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 12:07 AM, Don Veino <sharedweight_net(a)veino.com>
wrote:
> Thanks for all the great input! I've now got quite a few options for the
> tiny crowd scenario offered.
>
> Much appreciated!
> -Don
>
> ps: I've had a chance to meet with the sponsors and see some of the
> all-out decorations they've got going for the hall - including hay bales,
> old time milk cans, saddles on sawhorses, etc. - may need to pull together
> some themed outfit for myself after all. :)
>
Over the last 100 years the English Folk Dance & Song Society has published
many great dances in its magazine "English Dance & Song" and its predecessor
"E.F.D.S. News".
Having been given a pile of old magazines by Chris Turner, John Sweeney has
started a project to make these wonderful dances available to everyone via
the Internet at http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/Dances.html#eds.
There are over 60 dances presented so far, covering all genres. They are
mostly contemporary compositions, but there are also articles about
traditional dances and interpretations of much older dances.
If you can provide any more information about any of these dances, their
composers, their style, their tempo or their history, then please contact
John Sweeney at info(a)contrafusion.co.uk so that he can add that information
to the Web pages.
For each dance John provides both the original page from the magazine and
his own interpretation of the dance. Words such as "Balance", "Allemande"
and "Swing" have been used by different dancing masters to mean many
different things. Styles, tempos and nomenclature vary depending on the
century, the country, the dance genre and countless other factors. John has
tried to put the dances into words that he uses when he is calling today,
and to provide other hints where possible, often using other sources. Of
course you are welcome to interpret the dances any way you wish. John hopes
you have fun calling and dancing some of these great old dances.
The original pages from the magazines are reproduced with kind permission of
the English Folk Dance & Song Society. The dances were submitted to the
magazine so as to reach as wide an audience as possible. Publishing them in
this way will help to further that aim.
= = = = =
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
Hi All,
I made up another dance last night. Is it new?
Becket
A1 Petronella Ring Balance; Neighbor Swing
A2 Big Oval Promenade--Clockwise (women towards center)--turn as a
couple (men now towards center); Return
B1 (looking for man with partner) Men Allemande Left 1-1/2; Partner Swing
B2 Long Lines Forward & Back; Star Right Half, Single File Prom (men
leading partner) to next Couple to form a Ring
If it is new, and not out of some misplaced memory, then it's called A
Valentine Surprise.
~erik hoffman
oakland, ca
I'm looking for some zesty Proper dances to add to my collection.
Suggestions?
aTdHvAaNnKcSe (thanks in advance)
/Andy Shore
http://andyshore.com/
best email - andyshore(a)gmail.com
