Contra Callers May 2019

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

35 participants
19 discussions

by Rickey

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.

2 years

Re: [Callers] Festival Applications

by robertgolder＠comcast.net

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

4 years, 6 months

Calling a Halloween dance tonight? Try this circle mixer...

by Amy Cann via Callers

I try and call the dances of Rich Blazej whenever I can and this one's a Halloween favorite, re-done as "Werewolves and Zombies". *Garfield's Escape* -- circle of couples PLUS ONE EXTRA in the center (Garfield) A1 All into the center EIGHT steps and back, menacing the Garfield A2 Circle left, circle right B1 Women (werewolves) promenade single file to the right, while men (zombies) "star" by the right -- each man puts his right hand on right shoulder of the man in front - including Garfield. B2 Caller hollers "Escape!" ("Boo!", or maybe "Braaaiiins") and all men run to the outside and swing with a woman in the outer circle. A new Garfield remains in the center. Rich himself named this after Garfield the comic-strip cat, way back when he was cynical and funny (the cat, not Rich). "The single man remaining at the end of the dance is entitled to a pan of lasagna and some fresh kitty litter". My favorite normal tune for this is the minor jig Coleraine, played at a slightly slower lurch-y tempo, but if I'm lucky the band'll do the Alfred Hitchcock theme. Have fun, just thought I'd share -- and I'd love to hear how it goes if you do it, and what variations emerge. Cheers, Amy

5 years, 1 month

Hand Turns & Safety

by Erik Hoffman

John Sweeny below hoped we callers would teach more about hand turns and the like. I've been thinking on this for quite a while. Years ago I had a discussion with Brad Foster. We both lamented the loss of the allemande with mildly interlocking thumbs to the modern overprotective thumb against the side of the palm allemande. At that time I think I was still in Santa Barbara, thus it must have been pre 1994. I wrote an article for our dance rag called, "If Allemande Left, Where'd Allemande Go?" I talked about what I do when someone grips my hand-and I think all of us should remove that word, "grip" from our caller's vocabulary... But the most important thing I discussed is: * Our Wrist is Strongest When It's Straight * Our Fingers are Strongest When Curved * Thus, however one does an allemande, it should be a hook, with curved fingers and a straight wrist. Lately I've seen teachers promote the straight fingers, bent wrist, and flat palm method. The almost always makes one person's wrist uncomfortable. Not as bad as when someone draws the others hand into that almost-Aikido-put-them-on-the-ground position, but usually quite uncomfortable. Thus I hope most of us learn the curved fingers, straight wrist, no grip, and, no thumb clamping allemande, ECD hand turn, two hand turn type hand connections. ~Erik Hoffman, Oakland, CA From: Callers <callers-bounces(a)lists.sharedweight.net> On Behalf Of John Sweeney via Callers Sent: Friday, May 17, 2019 2:09 PM To: 'Caller's discussion list' <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: Re: [Callers] Name that Dance Hi Rich, I would just call it a "Big Set Mixer". It is a slight variation of the one in the Community Dances Manual. Callers just make up a 32 bar sequence that works for their dancers. While it is a good example of all ages having fun together, I really wish callers would teach the dancers just a tiny bit about how to do better hand/arm turns and swings :-) 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

5 years, 5 months

Coconut Cream Puff vs Pie + choreographer?

by Liz Burkhart

I have found two identical dances. First I collected Coconut Cream Puff by Nils Fredland, then I lost the card, and in the process of looking for it online, discovered Coconut Cream Pie by Lynn Ackerson. It is the same dance: 4 Facing 4 A1 Lines of 4 go forward and back middles star R once A2 Partner allemande L 1 1/2 new middles star R once B1 Partner balance & swing B2 All 8 circle L 1/2 (4 places) Balance ring, partner California twirl So who really wrote it? Does anyone know why there are two names and two choreographers attributed?

5 years, 6 months

Re: [Callers] Coconut Cream Puff vs Pie + choreographer?

by Bill Baritompa

Hi All, In the first video link in Callers Box, one dancer is doing an interesting addition at A2b: A2 Partner allemande L 1 1/2; New middles star R once WHILE new ends Neighbor swing. Cheers, Bill

5 years, 6 months

Re: [Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 61, Issue 13

by Liz Burkhart

Thank you! That sure does look like the same dance except B2 (or in the original, C1!) On Thu, May 30, 2019 at 6:36 PM <callers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > Send Callers mailing list submissions to > callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > callers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > callers-owner(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Coconut Cream Puff vs Pie + choreographer? (Liz Burkhart) > 2. Re: Coconut Cream Puff vs Pie + choreographer? (Winston, Alan P.) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 29 May 2019 20:36:43 -0400 > From: Liz Burkhart <burkhart.liz(a)gmail.com> > To: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > Subject: [Callers] Coconut Cream Puff vs Pie + choreographer? > Message-ID: > <CAEQ=jxCz= > 2syXFyoF6bE8BPrm2NcQnbVHomdKD3T+fmztR8qtg(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > I have found two identical dances. First I collected Coconut Cream Puff by > Nils Fredland, then I lost the card, and in the process of looking for it > online, discovered Coconut Cream Pie by Lynn Ackerson. It is the same > dance: > > 4 Facing 4 > A1 Lines of 4 go forward and back > middles star R once > A2 Partner allemande L 1 1/2 > new middles star R once > B1 Partner balance & swing > B2 All 8 circle L 1/2 (4 places) > Balance ring, partner California twirl > > > So who really wrote it? Does anyone know why there are two names and two > choreographers attributed? >

5 years, 6 months

Caller's Box update - videos!

by Chris Page

Michael Dyck and my contra dance database project, the Caller's Box, http://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/ now includes links for about 1,900 dances to about 8,000 youtube videos. They're currently unsorted, but hopefully after a few random clicks on the currently 115 identified videos of Gene Hubert's "Butter", there'll be an interesting one. -Chris Page San Diego, CA

5 years, 6 months

Prompting, circa 1890

by Richard Hopkins

In Otter Creek Books, in Middlebury VT, the other day I picked up a little book called “Prompting: How to do it”, by John M. Schell, “One of Boston’s leading prompters”. It “Contains the figures of all modern dances in common use, and how to call them”. It was published by Carl Fisher Inc (whom I think of as a music publisher) in 1890. It contains instructions for numerous multi-part quadrilles (Plain, Lancers, Caledonian, Double Lancers, Saratoga Lancers, etc), and a couple of individual square dances. It also has about 120 contra dances, all in proper formation and almost all described as duple (many seem as though they could just as well be done improper). The instructions say they are for six-couple sets. Every contra is to be followed by “All forward (4); turn partners (4); all promenade around the hall.” (I interpret this as forward and back, swing partner, promenade.). The ones that have familiar names (Petronella, Money Musk, Hull’s Victory, Vinton’s Hornpipe etc) have a family resemblance to the dances that were codified by Ralph Page and others or appear e.g. in Zesty Contras, but often aren't quite the same. This book was apparently one of Ralph Page’s main sources, and he felt free to update them some as he adapted them. in 1995, in connection with the 8th Ralph Page Legacy weekend at UNH, Tony Parkes wrote: "In preparing for this session, I reread Ralph's account of his early years as a caller ("One More Couple: Some Memories of 30 Years of Calling." Northern Junket, vol. 6 no. 12 and vol. 7 no. 1. February and May 1960) and discovered that Ralph learned to call with the aid of two different books: Prompting: How To Do It by John M. Schell (1890) and The Prompter’s Handbook, edited by J.A. French (1893)". Here is some of the advice from the first few pages of the book. It looks like the task and role of the prompter/caller have not changed very much in 129 years: ————————————————— Be a gentleman always; many questions will be asked and many minds to please. Answer each in a pleasant manner in every instance. Should any complain of the tempo adapted by the orchestra…. inform such that you are playing according to the instructions of the floor manager, to whom you pleasantly refer them, adding that you will willingly change it is his wish…..In the case of a new party, or no instructions regarding tempo, watch the effect of the music, and change it if it seems too fast or too slow. Grand Right and Left: It is well to make this call “Right hand to partner, grand right and left”. Ladies’ Chain (8 bars): Danced by opposite couples at same time. Opposite ladies cross, give right hand in passing, join left hand with opposite gent, and turn half around. (Before the invention of the courtesy turn — perhaps as a flourish, as suggested recently on this list-serv). The Voice: Do not strain the voice under any circumstances; the effect is injurious, and will soon render it useless. A few lessons in elocution, for the purpose of learning to throw out the voice, as in singing, will prove money well invested. Commit to memory one set of figures of a quadrille, for example, and call aloud and with the music until perfectly learned and the calls exactly in time; then take up the next. The first attempts are nervous times at best, so that all calls should be perfectly committed in the order they are to come, leaving nothing to memorandums or books before entering the hall. Practice with the music until the calls are thoroughly mastered on time, and distinct. (This reminds me of a square calling workshop I attended at Augusta in 1990 taught by Larry Edelman, in which we were forbidden to have dance cards in our hands while calling — though we could use them in teaching.) Figures requiring two calls, such as right and left etc, give the first call on the eighth bar (i.e. counts 15 and 16), the last on the fourth (i.e. counts 7 and 8). Invariably finish calling before the strain begins, otherwise the dancers will be behind, which detracts from their pleasure and the general effect. `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Richard Hopkins Middlebury, VT 850-544-7614 hopkinsrs(a)comcast.net

5 years, 7 months

Re: [Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 61, Issue 9

by Stephen

The forearm turn works well in MWSD because men wear long-sleeved shirts. Don’t know about you, but with short sleeved Ts typically worn by men in contra dancing, I’d hate to get a load of sweat on my arm , especially up and down the line with the all-too-frequent gents (or larks) allemand left once and a half. Sent from my iPhone > On May 21, 2019, at 4:07 PM, callers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net wrote: > > Send Callers mailing list submissions to > callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > callers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > callers-owner(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Richard Fischer) > 2. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Rich Sbardella) > 3. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Don Veino) > 4. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Rich Sbardella) > 5. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Erik Hoffman) > 6. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Andrea Nettleton) > 7. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (John Sweeney) > 8. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Folk Dance) > 9. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (John Sweeney) > 10. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Andrea Nettleton) > 11. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (John Sweeney) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 20 May 2019 18:58:41 -0400 > From: Richard Fischer <richardallenfischer(a)verizon.net> > To: Andrea Nettleton <twirly-girl(a)bellsouth.net> > Cc: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net> > Subject: Re: [Callers] Hand Turns & Safety > Message-ID: <52479A7C-5587-493A-8B69-F85F8519BE71(a)verizon.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Andrea, could you describe the forearm allemande? I don't think I've seen it and can't quite picture it. Or maybe send a link to a video that shows it? > > Of possible interest to some, one of the scenes portrayed on the Shield of Achilles in the Iliad shows youths and maidens dancing, "holding their hands on one another's wrists." > > With best wishes, > > Richard Fischer > Princeton, NJ > >> On May 18, 2019, at 12:14 PM, Andrea Nettleton via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: >> >> Hi all, >> I?m going to add a controversial note. I also loathe the many poor allemandes I get, unweighted, awkward handed, arm pulled in like a chicken wing, what have you. As a MWSD, I have come to love the forearm allemande for arm turns. Callerlab made the switch some years ago, and at first I was like, wut??? But it?s a position which save everyone?s hands and wrists, and even shoulders, is intrinsically very stable, and makes the chicken wing almost impossible. I started using it for dances with revolving doors, as a dancer, because those turns are so brief and necessarily tight and need a quick strong connection. I was so pleased I began using them elsewhere. People generally go along with it. I have been wishing Contra could just switch to this for all allemandes. I know it would be an uphill struggle to get everyone on board. But I had to put it out there. >> >> Currently I still teach an old fashioned allemande. I demonstrate and emphasize meaty parts of the thumb together, fingers curled around the base of the opposite?s thumb, flat wrist. And I always add that the thumb itself is an injurious device which lands at a tender spot if depressed, so leave it loose. Then I demonstrate how to produce enough connection to make a 2 person unit that turns on a post. I?m sure everyone on this list has similar teaches. >> If teaching this allemande was ever going to work, it would have by now. I suspect it?s failure as a hold is why callerlab opted for the forearm hold instead. >> My 2c, >> Andrea N >> Arlington VA >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >>> On May 17, 2019, at 6:01 PM, Erik Hoffman via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: >>> >>> John Sweeny below hoped we callers would teach more about hand turns and the like. >>> >>> I?ve been thinking on this for quite a while. Years ago I had a discussion with Brad Foster. We both lamented the loss of the allemande with mildly interlocking thumbs to the modern overprotective thumb against the side of the palm allemande. At that time I think I was still in Santa Barbara, thus it must have been pre 1994. I wrote an article for our dance rag called, ?If Allemande Left, Where?d Allemande Go?? >>> >>> I talked about what I do when someone grips my hand?and I think all of us should remove that word, ?grip? from our caller?s vocabulary? >>> >>> But the most important thing I discussed is: >>> Our Wrist is Strongest When It?s Straight >>> Our Fingers are Strongest When Curved >>> Thus, however one does an allemande, it should be a hook, with curved fingers and a straight wrist. >>> >>> Lately I?ve seen teachers promote the straight fingers, bent wrist, and flat palm method. The almost always makes one person?s wrist uncomfortable. Not as bad as when someone draws the others hand into that almost-Aikido-put-them-on-the-ground position, but usually quite uncomfortable. >>> >>> Thus I hope most of us learn the curved fingers, straight wrist, no grip, and, no thumb clamping allemande, ECD hand turn, two hand turn type hand connections. >>> >>> ~Erik Hoffman, >>> Oakland, CA >>> >>> From: Callers <callers-bounces(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers-bounces@lists.sharedweight.net>> On Behalf Of John Sweeney via Callers >>> Sent: Friday, May 17, 2019 2:09 PM >>> To: 'Caller's discussion list' <callers(a)sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@sharedweight.net>> >>> Subject: Re: [Callers] Name that Dance >>> >>> Hi Rich, >>> I would just call it a ?Big Set Mixer?. It is a slight variation of the one in the Community Dances Manual. Callers just make up a 32 bar sequence that works for their dancers. >>> >>> While it is a good example of all ages having fun together, I really wish callers would teach the dancers just a tiny bit about how to do better hand/arm turns and swings :-) >>> >>> Happy dancing, >>> John >>> >>> John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com <mailto:john@modernjive.com> 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 >>> http://contrafusion.co.uk/KentCeilidhs.html <http://contrafusion.co.uk/KentCeilidhs.html> for Live Music Ceilidhs >>> http://www.contrafusion.co.uk <http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/> for Dancing in Kent >>> http://www.modernjive.com <http://www.modernjive.com/> for Modern Jive DVDs >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> List Name: Callers mailing list >>> List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net> >>> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/ <https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/> >> _______________________________________________ >> List Name: Callers mailing list >> List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net> >> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/ <https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/> >

5 years, 7 months

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Contra Callers May 2019