Contra Callers September 2019

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

53 participants
36 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.

1 year, 11 months

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, 5 months

Fwd: "70 Libra Suns" by Jean Gorrindo

by Jean Gibson-Gorrindo

Hello All! I wanted to write a dance in celebration of my stepping into the Libra Sun for the 70th time. I wanted it to be very balanced, in Libra fashion. Anyone seen this dance before? It is not like anything in my data base that has Mad Robin in the A1, but I did not search the other figures. Thanks for your input! Jean Gorrindo > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Jean Gibson-Gorrindo <jgorrindo(a)charter.net> > Subject: "70 Libra Suns" by Jean Gorrindo > Date: September 24, 2019 at 8:25:56 AM PDT > To: jean gorrindo <jgorrindo(a)charter.net> > > 70 Libra Suns > by Jean Gorrindo > Contra/Improper/Easy > > A1 ----------- > (8) Mad Robin (Ladies pass in front moving Right > (8) Balance the ring and spin to the right (petronella) > A2 ----------- > (16) Partner balance and swing > B1 ----------- > (8) 1/2 Hey, Ladies passing right shoulders > (8) Ladies allemande Right 1-1/2 > B2 ----------- > (16) Neighbor balance and swing

4 years, 12 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

What can you do.....?

by tom hinds

Alan, You raise an interesting question. After I’ve had time to sleep on it, I’ve come up with some other issues to raise and.discuss. I’m curious if you have a beginning workshop before the dance. In my opinion the skills needed for a new dancer to not only survive their first dance but to actually enjoy it are many And that means having a beginning session that approximates as close as possible the dance itself. In your email you mention larks and ravens. If you do have a beginning workshop, are the newbies given the opportunity to practice/react to their new titles? Not having that opportunity to practice reacting to their new titles may cause a bit of confusion on the dance floor. Tom

5 years, 1 month

Re: [Callers] What can you do.....?

by K Panton

I think that whole "momentum" topic is very useful and, in my experience, aside from the occasional reference in a walk-through it is typically left for the dancer to connect the dots on their own. It goes hand in hand with awareness of transitions (i.e. the connecting tissue, that we don't often teach, between the figures, that we do teach), I think. (I sometimes think - not really - I'm the only one who can enjoy a lovely transition as much as a lovely figure) Not sure how one can incorporate yet another teaching point into a beginner session but I've often thought that a regular "tips" session of, perhaps, 10 minutes during the break - for those interested - would be a good time for such things in a community's dance schedule. I'd be curious to hear what other communities do by way of well-received teachable moments (apart from quick, targetted style points from the caller during the walk-through). Ken Panton On Sun., Sep. 29, 2019, 18:02 , <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. What can you do.....? (tom hinds) > 2. Re: What can you do.....? (Winston, Alan P.) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2019 08:44:38 -0400 > From: tom hinds <tomthecaller(a)yahoo.com> > To: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > Subject: [Callers] What can you do.....? > Message-ID: <8757E3F3-E880-4101-9CF8-5A05A244699B(a)yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > Alan, > > You raise an interesting question. After I?ve had time to sleep on it, > I?ve come up with some other issues to raise and.discuss. > > I?m curious if you have a beginning workshop before the dance. > > In my opinion the skills needed for a new dancer to not only survive their > first dance but to actually enjoy it are many And that means having a > beginning session that approximates as close as possible the dance itself. > > In your email you mention larks and ravens. If you do have a beginning > workshop, are the newbies given the opportunity to practice/react to their > new titles? Not having that opportunity to practice reacting to their new > titles may cause a bit of confusion on the dance floor. > > Tom > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2019 19:37:06 +0000 > From: "Winston, Alan P." <winston(a)slac.stanford.edu> > To: "callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net" <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>, > tom hinds <tomthecaller(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: Re: [Callers] What can you do.....? > Message-ID: > < > DM5PR07MB403868A0F8945FE5D7B411F7F2830(a)DM5PR07MB4038.namprd07.prod.outlook.com > > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" > > Tom -- > > It's possible, if not likely, that what I'm calling "seems to have no > sense of flow" has different causes for different people at different > times. I've definitely seen it happening at gents/ladies dances as well as > at larks/robins dances as well as at English dances. When I lead a > beginner session at a larks/robins dance I introduce role names when > teaching the swing, emphasize that larks open on the left, ravens/robins on > the right, and do a circle mixer that's just into the center and back, > swing the next etc, repeating the larks left robins right thing. So they > get to hear the role name a lot. > > Of course new comers often take quite a while to get sorted regardless. > Last Sunday I called a single contra dance at a party - the party honored a > queer activist who also liked contra dancing, so the honoree wanted there > to be a dance, although hardly anybody at the party had done it before. > Did a Haste-to-the-Wedding variant which only had a partner swing, felt no > need to use any role names at all (beyond partner and neighbor) and every > foursome one couple was in spent about 6 of the 8 beats available to do a > right hand star getting the star organized. I couldn't see what was going > on, but they'd pass through and circle on time, and then their foursome > would be huddled like the Peanuts kids around the sad little tree in the > Christmas special and then a star would start moving. > > (This isn't an example of a "no sense of flow" problem, and I didn't see > any of that at that event.) > > What I'm talking about here is that there's choreography that seems fairly > inevitable - if you're going to circle left into a half-poussette isn't the > probable direction of the half-poussette pretty obvious, or if you did a > clockwise half poussette into a mad robin why should you even have to use a > role name to say who goes through the middle first? Getting it wrong > requires fighting your momentum - and some people will do that. [Although > if they're generally tentative, or late, or executing one call and stopping > and then executing the next call, then they don't have appropriate momentum > anyway.] > > -- Alan > > > ________________________________ > From: Callers <callers-bounces(a)lists.sharedweight.net> on behalf of tom > hinds via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > Sent: Sunday, September 29, 2019 5:44 AM > To: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > Subject: [Callers] What can you do.....? > > Alan, > > You raise an interesting question. After I?ve had time to sleep on it, > I?ve come up with some other issues to raise and.discuss. > > I?m curious if you have a beginning workshop before the dance. > > In my opinion the skills needed for a new dancer to not only survive their > first dance but to actually enjoy it are many And that means having a > beginning session that approximates as close as possible the dance itself. > > In your email you mention larks and ravens. If you do have a beginning > workshop, are the newbies given the opportunity to practice/react to their > new titles? Not having that opportunity to practice reacting to their new > titles may cause a bit of confusion on the dance floor. > > Tom > > > _______________________________________________ > List Name: Callers mailing list > List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/ >

5 years, 1 month

Re: [Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 65, Issue 18

by tom hinds

Call dances where the dancers have physical contact as much as possible I.e. circles allemandes etc. Avoid moves like mad robin and heys. Change heys to heys with hands etc. Sent from my iPad > On Sep 27, 2019, at 4:06 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. What can you do as a caller to help people on the floor who > clearly have no sense of the flow of a dance? (Winston, Alan P.) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2019 20:40:07 +0000 > From: "Winston, Alan P." <winston(a)slac.stanford.edu> > To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net> > Subject: [Callers] What can you do as a caller to help people on the > floor who clearly have no sense of the flow of a dance? > Message-ID: > <DM5PR07MB40384E35F4585353A59A01A5F2860(a)DM5PR07MB4038.namprd07.prod.outlook.com> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > What do you as a caller to help people on the floor who clearly have no sense of the flow of the dance? (Sometimes you see people who will absolutely fight the flow of the dance to go the wrong way / do the wrong thing; there are others who are just sufficiently tentative about every figure that they've arrived at this figure late or with no useful momentum, or maybe they take so long to process a prompt that they'e dumped all their momentum by the time they're ready to move. ) How do you help those people? > > Who goes through the middle first in a Mad Robin was the example that made me think about this , but there are also questions like "coming out of the circle left which direction do the larks orbit while the robins allemande and which hand do the robins allemande with?" where answers seem inevitable but aren't. > > If you see people who are confused about the answers to these questions where the flow of the dance should answer them there's certainly always the possibility of continuing to prompt with the answers, but that's not really helping to develop an important skill I think is central to satisfying contra dance. > > -- Alan >

5 years, 1 month

What can you do as a caller to help people on the floor who clearly have no sense of the flow of a dance?

by Winston, Alan P.

What do you as a caller to help people on the floor who clearly have no sense of the flow of the dance? (Sometimes you see people who will absolutely fight the flow of the dance to go the wrong way / do the wrong thing; there are others who are just sufficiently tentative about every figure that they've arrived at this figure late or with no useful momentum, or maybe they take so long to process a prompt that they'e dumped all their momentum by the time they're ready to move. ) How do you help those people? Who goes through the middle first in a Mad Robin was the example that made me think about this , but there are also questions like "coming out of the circle left which direction do the larks orbit while the robins allemande and which hand do the robins allemande with?" where answers seem inevitable but aren't. If you see people who are confused about the answers to these questions where the flow of the dance should answer them there's certainly always the possibility of continuing to prompt with the answers, but that's not really helping to develop an important skill I think is central to satisfying contra dance. -- Alan

5 years, 1 month

Spring Cleaning

by Maia McCormick

How often do folks on here clean out (or not) their dance collections? I went through mine this evening and found some that I never call and keep meaning to, but it never happens -- even though some I recall really enjoying when I danced them. When and how do you decide to take a dance out of your collection? In clutter, Maia

5 years, 1 month

Re: [Callers] Using music in beginner session

by K Panton

Has someone a link to the Glen Echo newcomers workshop outline? Ken Panton Subject: Re: [Callers] Using music in beginner session Message-ID: <CAP+XMj6wpxqFAHV5XYp8a-SDDaZehS=U+94Y8FKp=Y8hEF9nCg(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" I commend to your attention the outline of the newcomers workshop as it was developed at the Glen Echo contra dance. This is still rather close to the workshop that is given on Fridays, including using muisc throughout.

5 years, 1 month

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Contra Callers September 2019