*"if we had more time we'd throw in a square"*
The contra dance medley at NEFFA
<https://www.neffa.org/folk-festival/new-england-folk-festival-2023/> is
normally six dances, each six times through (well, the last one is five or
seven). I was thinking about what you'd need to do if you actually wanted
to include a square...
The main problem is that you need to switch the dancers from groups of four
to groups of eight, and there isn't really a great way to do this. In
computer science speak the issue is that it takes time linear in the number
of dancers. But maybe you could have the top couple sashay down from the
top, and everyone takes hands eight as they pass, which is fast enough even
in a long hall that it's ok (~16 beats, and you adjust the time by figuring
out how much intro to do on the square)? And then tell anyone left out at
the bottom to square up?
(Going back into contra lines from aligned squares should be easier: side
couples circle left three quarters and twirl to swap, lines at the sides,
etc)
Would this work?
Jeff
I attended an advanced dance this afternoon that was intermediate at best,
and had a few raw beginners in there, and it got me wondering:
1. As callers, what do you do when a bunch of intermediate and/or beginner
dancers show up to an advanced session?
2. As organizers, what do you do to try and keep your advanced sessions...
advanced? (Either in messaging or at the dance itself?) Obviously I'm not
advocating for kicking anyone out, but if a bunch of newbies show up at an
advanced session, both they and the dancers who came for gnarly stuff are
going to have a less-than-ideal time.
3. As dancers (/organizers/callers), how do we elevate the dance level of
our local communities? I'm talking about increasing familiarity with some
of the less common moves (contracorners, left hand chains, etc.) but also
about building awareness of the dance and recovery skills, and technical
things like giving satisfying weight, swinging correctly, guiding linemates
into the next figure, etc.
I welcome any thoughts and musings!
Cheers,
Maia (Brooklyn, NY)
--
Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194
So... it occurred to me that it'd be really easy to do a mixed-role contra
corners from Becket position.
A few weeks ago, I danced Jim Kitch's Equinox, which had a fun setup and
you finish Contra Corners by passing R , but ... do people know any simpler
ways? Like, for example, dance below. I can't possibly have been the first
to figure this out, eh?
(If not written yet: Buttered Corners)
Becket
A1. Circle L 3/4
NS
A2. Robins Chain
LLFB*
B1. Bottom couples Contra Corners**
Same Couples Pass R, to P
B2. P B + S
... slide L to New Ns
* opportunity in the lines for partners to rollaway to swap roles
** and can alternate top couples, bottom couples, doing bottom couples -
who were original 1s - first. This way, the top of the set has corners for
people, always.
Like, literally this gives 16 measures to progress and have a neighbor
swing if you want. If we opened up to the idea of contra corners with a
neighbor from Becket, it opens up immense numbers of dances that can be
written.
In dance,
Julian Blechner
Hello all,
I appreciate the time it takes to thoughtfully respond to challenging
questions, and provide a variety of viewpoints. Thus, thanks for all the
thoughts on this question.
Something came to mind while reading the following paragraph late in Alan's
reply to the question:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Winston, Alan P."
"Purely for callers dealing with the situation once it's happened already:
I don't know if advanced contras are meant to be
difficult/spatially-challenging etc contras. You could in general try to
accommodate.a mixed level floor by trading complexity for novelty. Unusual
figures equalize things for everybody (if nobody's used to a left-hand
chain the beginners are at no disadvantage)."
My belief, which, I think, might differ from Alan's, is that "advanced"
dancers -- let's define that as those fluent (i.e. able to successfully and
happily enjoy a hash call) in a substantive set of glossary figures -- will
have, by osmosis, unavoidably developed a degree of "dance thinking",
musicality and spacial awareness. That includes an awareness of "the space
between" figures; i.e. the transitions.
So, I think that an advanced dancer does, in fact, have a leg up when faced
with a novelty figure, or anything new in the dance; they can and will use
their experience to help figure it out. (Unless, I guess, the novelty
figure is so far removed from anything previously encountered; "if Einstein
were a contradance choreographer and brought along a "quantum figure", for
example. Egads!)
Also, novelty, in my experience, can be hit-and-miss. From unexpected bliss
to eye-rolling hokiness.
To my mind, "dance thinking" somewhat analogous to "design thinking"; that
is, a way of thinking that guides the experienced practitioner in whatever
context the designer practices the craft.
From Alan's paragraph, therefore, I might change the suggestion of "trading
complexity for novelty" to "trading complexity of figures for satisfying,
perhaps novel, combinations".
Don't know if that's a useful observation.
I'm, otherwise, totally on-board with Alan's appreciation of a dance
session in which high levels of skill and trust are so concentrated (i.e.
ratio of adepts to novices) that magic can happen.
Three examples from my experience.
1. An advanced dance weekend I attended, repeatedly, years ago which had a
"word of mouth, invite your skilled dance friends", form of recruitment.
The caller(s) knew the crowd could navigate through any hash thrown at them
in an hour-long marathon medley. (Yes, it's exclusionary. So is El Capitan
for climbers. Or uni courses with prerequisites.)
2. The Flurry Festival in upstate New York. The synchronicity of 1000-ish
dancers, invariably including some novices, successfully flowing through
moderately challenging contras is a marvel and a delight.
3. Similarly wonderful, though not quite as large -- due to space
limitations -- is the contra pavilion (Warren's Roadhouse!) at Seattle's
Folklife festival which, like the Flurry, would see a modicum of novice
dancers successfully assimilated into the Borg.
In dance,
Ken Panton
Hey contra calling friends :)
I have an admission ... ... ... I have NO triple minors in my card box.
I've been doing certain kinds of gigs (contras + ONS + contra/square
nights) and it's so easy not to call triple minors.
HOWEVER, I'm lately trying to 'up my game' to expand my repertoire.
Might you have a favourite triple minor you could share?
I'm looking for dances that are SUPER fun and relatively accessible.
Thoughts?
Thanks for the consideration!
Emily
Hi All,
I've been looking at a couple of simple simple contras.
One is Jefferson and Liberty (below) and the other is Taking Liberties with
Jefferson.
I do like the fact that the stars are in Taking Liberties. However, in my
somewhat limited calling career, I've haven't found that swings in the
middle/across the set have really worked well in contras. (Can get away
with in in longways dances but contras are a bit tighter).
I just don't get enough calling practice to be testing this stuff out a lot.
*I'm looking for other perspectives on this! What do you think?*
Thanks!
Emily in Ottawa
Jefferson & Liberty (improper)
④ L
④R
RH★
LH★
1s down outside … eye contact!
And back up … step in between the 2s
ALT: 2s swing partner in middle something fun here?
Finish with 1s in middle, a N in outer hands – all face down
Down hall 4 in line
Back up … as doing so 1s arch & 2s duck thru
…to NEW N
Taking Liberties with Jefferson (improper)
④ L
④R
1s down outside … eye contact!
And back up … step in between the 2s
ALT: 2s swing partner in middle something fun here?
Finish with 1s in middle, a N in outer hands – all face down
Down hall 4 in line
Back up … as doing so 1s arch & 2s duck thru
P Swing
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We have a band in the area that like to play kind of a jazzy swing tune number - and as far as I can ever remember callers are more than a little surprised by the tune when it comes out because the dances don’t work with it.
I want to do is find a dance that goes with a swinging jazzy tune, and then ask them to play it when I choose that dance
I do have one dance I think might’ve been recommended here Ragtime Sammy that goes well with a rag. However I’m a little concerned it may be too dizzying.
Thought?
Any others??
Laurie PietravalleWest Michigan
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
I have quite a different understanding of these terms than John Sweeney does.
“Hand cast” is not done with an arm around. That would be simply “cast off” in a New England style contra, common in those wonderful classic contras we call the chestnuts. Hand cast is distinguished from just a cast by the fact that you join hands rather than do the arm around. It’s used, I’d say, when flow would be improved by a hand connection at that moment.
What distinguishes “hand cast” from “gate” is progression. The word cast implies that the figure involves progression, typically the ones and twos exchanging positions. In Louise’s dance There and Back the figure does not involve progression, and so I think calling it a gate turn is clearer. But “gate” is borrowed vocabulary, imported into contra dance from ECD like “poussette,” which is why it is not yet universally understood by readers of this list.
I would also argue that in almost any dance with this sort of move, the turn is far more satisfying if the pivot point is the joined hand, rather than one person horsing the other around. If twos remain in place during a hand cast the set would move down the hall; twos are moving up just as much as ones are moving down.
David Smukler
Syracuse, NY
> From: "John Sweeney" <john(a)modernjive.com <mailto:john@modernjive.com>>
> Subject: [Callers] Re: Dance with petronella right and left
> Date: April 14, 2023 at 7:01:27 PM EDT
> To: <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
>
>
> Hi Amy,
> “Hand Cast”, “Gate”, “Wheel Around” (which I am surprised is not in https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm), and “Turn As A Couple” are all fundamentally the same move.
>
> Two people stand side by side, facing the same way, and hold the nearest hand. They rotate staying in line with each other.
>
> The only questions are where the pivot point is and how far you turn. Wheel Around and Turn As A Couple usually mean that the pivot point is the joined hands and that you turn 180 degrees. Hand Cast and Gate usually mean that the pivot point is one of the dancers and the rotation can be 180, 270 or 360 degrees, depending on the dance.
>
> Of course, nowadays most contra dancers told to Turn As A Couple will do a California Twirl instead.
>
> And “Hand Cast” can be done with arms around each other’s waists, or by, for example, #2s facing up and offering an elbow for the #1s to hook into so that they can be whirled around the corner – more likely when the #1s are galloping up the set and need help to redirect their momentum!
>
> Happy dancing,
> John
>
> John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com <mailto:john@modernjive.com> 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
> http://www.contrafusion.co.uk <http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/> for Dancing in Kent
>
>
>
From Here To Infinity
Laurie P
~ When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance. ~Hans Bos~ ~
