Hi,
I am wondering if you have any dances for low numbers of dancers (perhaps 6
or less), when most or all of the dancers are beginners and adults. I am
also wondering if you have any dances (presumably different dances), that do
not require choosing a partner and are good openers for beginner adults.
Thanks as always to all,
Rickey Holt.
I can only speak with reference to calling at NEFFA, as I have never applied to DownEast. As some of you may know that Linda Leslie is NEFFA's program chair, I will note that the program chair does not select performers for contra sessions.
Regarding NEFFA 2007, the following notice is now posted at http://neffa.org/perf_app.html - The Program Committee is not prepared to take your application at this time, since it is too late to apply for this year's NEFFA Festival. Please note that the application to perform is always available during the month of September, with a deadline in October. If you'd like to get an e-mail notice of application availability, send a blank e-mail to NEFFA_Performers-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com
So you can note on your calendar that September is a good time to check the NEFFA web site, and also arrange for a notice to pop up in your e-mail.
The NEFFA application invites you to come up with a briefly-described theme for your session, with a title of 20 characters or less. IMO, use your own judgment as to how important the theme is. If you are offering a concept that's really meaningful to you, don't be afraid to describe it. If what you really want to do is just call some hot contras, then IMO I wouldn't go overboard on the theme.
Unlike Northwest Folklife, callers and bands apply SEPARATELY to the New England Folk Festival. And I believe that this is a very good thing for beginning callers who hope to have a chance at getting onstage. This mix-and-match policy gives a fresh perspective for experienced performers, and can be an eye-opening experience for newcomers who may get to work with seasoned veterans. I will never forget calling at NEFFA with Northern Spy, a band that has worked with caller David Millstone for 25 years. And where was David during this session? Out on the floor, happily dancing to the music of his own band. NEFFA's selection process made that wonderful hour possible for me.
For what it's worth, the first year I successfully applied I asked for a "Festival Orchestra" slot, which means that instead of calling a themed, hour-long session I called two dances in the Main Hall with the assembled orchestra and then got off the stage as the next Festival Orchestra caller had a turn. IMO, the key here (as well as in submitting a session proposal) is to choose dances that you know by heart, can teach well, fully believe in, and love to share with a crowd. You don't want to have second thoughts as you approach the microphone.
If you're wondering why performer applications are required so far in advance of a festival, note that NEFFA may have 1700 performers, many of whom perform in multiple sessions (perhaps performing alone, and with a participatory dance group, and also with a concert performance group!). You can't doublebook a performer (or larger groups to which she may belong), you have to give her time to move from one venue to another, plus a bunch of other scheduling etceteras that would drive me loony to contemplate further. How scheduling was done in the days before computers is beyond me.
--
Robert Jon Golder
164 Maxfield St
New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 999-2486
Hi all,
I have finally finished working through the magazines and
publishing the dances on the Internet, with the kind permission of the
EFDSS. The dances cover all the different genres on both sides of the
Atlantic over the last 370 years.
There are now over 150 dances from the magazines at
http://contrafusion.co.uk/DancesEDS.html together with some interesting
articles (indexed on that page):
Dances Mentioned By Thomas Hardy in Under the Greenwood Tree.
Dancing Sidmouth Review of Sidmouth 1955.
The "Drops and Raises" in Folk Music by Peter Kennedy in 1949.
Films from the Past Video of Cecil Sharp dancing circa 1912, plus lots
of background information on the creation of the video.
Jubilee Dance Competition in 1961.
Meeting Country Dances by Roy Dommett in 1982.
Ralph Page.
Some Dorset Reel-Steps.
The Traditional Social Dance in Northumberland by Grahame Binless and
Mike Robson in 1970.
Village Dance in Cumberland in 1939.
What do we know about our Dances by J.F. and T.M. Flett in 1966.
What Makes a Good Dance? by Colin Hume plus the 1986 Dance Search
Competition.
Whose Version is That? Part I Colin Hume looks at the problems of
interpreting Playford Dances from the original books.
Whose Version is That? Part II Colin Hume looks at the problems of
interpreting Playford Dances from the original books.
The magazines are:
E.F.D.S News 1921 to 1936
English Dance & Song 1936 to 1989
I am missing about 10 magazines; I will be going to the
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library at Cecil Sharp House to work on those when
I get time.
Thanks to all those who have already contributed with advice,
information and corrections. Please let me know if you can add anything to
any of these pages.
Happy New Year!
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802
940 574
http://contrafusion.co.uk/KentCeilidhs.html for Live Music Ceilidhs
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive DVDs
There are still tickets available for my New Year's Eve Dance in Letchworth, Herts.
The programme will include English, Contra, Squares and Scottish.
Full details at http://colinhume.com/NYE
Colin Hume
Thanks for reminding me that I’ve intended to thank them, too. Its such a
great resource. Hats off to Chris and Michael!
On Thu, Dec 19, 2019 at 7:42 PM Kalia Kliban via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> I've been making heavy use of the Caller's Box site lately, but it took
> me a while to realize how handy and extensive the video links are. Not
> all, but most, of the dances I've been looking at have video links, and
> it's very rare that I can find those videos any other way (I've tried,
> just out of curiosity). My gratitude to Chris and Michael for putting
> that site together continues to grow!
>
> Kalia
> _______________________________________________
> Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>
--
Bree Kalb, LCSW
www.facebook.com/carrboromindfulnessandmeditation
I've been making heavy use of the Caller's Box site lately, but it took
me a while to realize how handy and extensive the video links are. Not
all, but most, of the dances I've been looking at have video links, and
it's very rare that I can find those videos any other way (I've tried,
just out of curiosity). My gratitude to Chris and Michael for putting
that site together continues to grow!
Kalia
Good morning, Chris!
If you're on the archives page, it's the tiny link icon under the time
stamp on the right hand side, next to the A.
[image: image.png]
Emily
On Mon, Dec 16, 2019 at 11:08 PM Chris Page via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> I've been looking through the archives of the new list.
>
> There's a way to link to threads, by cut-and-pasting the url.
>
> Is there a way to either link to individual posts, or an anchor within a
> thread that will lead to a particular post?
>
> Hopeful,
> -Chris Page
> Los Angeles, CA
> _______________________________________________
> Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>
Look for the permalink icon under the posting date. It’s a bit of chain (but looks like handcuffs to me).
\Bob
> On Dec 16, 2019, at 23:08, Chris Page via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> I've been looking through the archives of the new list.
>
> There's a way to link to threads, by cut-and-pasting the url.
>
> Is there a way to either link to individual posts, or an anchor within a thread that will lead to a particular post?
>
> Hopeful,
> -Chris Page
> Los Angeles, CA
> _______________________________________________
> Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
I've been looking through the archives of the new list.
There's a way to link to threads, by cut-and-pasting the url.
Is there a way to either link to individual posts, or an anchor within a thread that will lead to a particular post?
Hopeful,
-Chris Page
Los Angeles, CA
