Contra Callers April 2024

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

15 participants
5 discussions

Help with figuring out a suuuuuuper simple medley?

by Emily Addison

Hi fellow contra callers :) Given the situations I usually call in, I've never done a medley. However, in a few weeks I'm calling in a situation where a medley would work really well. It's not an overly experienced group of contra dancers. However, they are really keen and want to try new stuff. I'd love to have a no-fail super simple contra medley. Might you have any suggestions on medleys that you've used that have been safe/no fail in a situation with mixed experienced levels? Much thanks :) Emily in Ottawa ON

6 months, 3 weeks

Follow up re :Videos of different things to do in short wavy lines?

by Katherine Kitching

Hi everyone - I wanted to thank you all for the super helpful information, tips, dances and videos you shared with me earlier this month. Our groups's introduction to Ocean Waves / Short Wavy Lines earlier in April went super well, and everyone had a great time. For those who are interested in our "beginner-friendly Halifax method*" of contra, I'm including the two introductory dances I used for SWLs .... According to our method, these dances did not have swings in them. * I've included the details of our method of structuring a dance at the end of this email :) TWO NO-SWING DANCES WITH SHORT WAVY LINES Composed by Kat Kitching but perhaps they already exist, I did not check extensively :) I do not have any interesting names for these dances, I just title them in a way that helps me remember what's in them... Balance-y dance with wave - In Short Wavy Lines (neighbours right shoulder to right shoulder), balance the wave to the right, to the left, and to the right - then push off each other's hands to form a circle with everyone in their home place (8) - Circle left - Circle right - Do si do neighbour ------ - Balance the ring 2 times - Do si do partner - 2-hand balance with your partner 2 times (veering slightly to the left the first time, to the right the second time) - 2-hand balance once with your neighbour, and tug by the right shoulder into a wave with new neighbours ------ ------ ------ ------ Dance with wave and down the hall Prior to this dance, get partners to discuss what they'd like to do for their "Free choice" figure together... - In Short Wavy Lines (neighbours right shoulder to right shoulder), balance the wave right then left, then right-hand-allemande half way around with your neighbour to reform the wave with neighbours having switched places - Balance the wave again right then left, and right-hand-allemande halfway around again, to come back to where you started - Push off your fellow dancers into a circle with everyone in their home place (2); circle left once all the way around back to home (10), balance the ring one time and snap open (2s splitting and going to the outside of the line) into short lines facing down the hall (4) ---- - Down the hall, turn alone - Come on back, bend line to face partner - Free choice figure across, with partner (I suggested do si do or 2x box the gnat) - 2 hand balance with N one time, then step towards each other again, then push off their hands and turn 180 to form new wave with next neighbours... * Halifax Contra's beginner-friendly dance evening sequence In our method, we spend the first 2/3 of the evening slowly building everyone's skills from scratch. We always follow this sequence: - Spiral dance - Simple circle mixer - Simple contra dance in a Sicilian circle (no swings) - Set up in short contra lines and practice doing random things with neighbours and partners while frequently progressing the lines until everyone's comfortable (using many short lines so everyone gets plenty of practice being ejected and moving up and down the lines) - band plays some silly music. - Teach the next dance, reform in fewer, longer lines, and do a contra dance without swings or anything that puts people out of home place. (Lots of balancing, allemands, do-si-dos, circles and stars, LLFB etc) - Teach our "feature figure" for the evening - which may be a swing, a hey, ocean wave, ravens' chain, larks chain, petronellas or something else. - Lead a dance with this figure but no other "advanced" figures from the above list. ("Advanced" being a relative term, in our case!). Ensure they come back to home place before progressing. - Lead another dance with this figure (and no other "advanced" figures), but this time have them progress during the dance. - Then for the final 45 min of the evening, announce we are moving on to the "advanced" portion of the evening. From this point on, we clearly delineate 1 or more lines as "advanced", and another 1 or more lines as "I have no idea what I'm doing but I'll give it a try!". - From this point on, we do almost no teaching, only one quick walkthrough of each dance, and run the dances longer. Now the dances may contain any combination of "advanced figures" and all contain swings. - Those who feel (at least reasonably) confident in what they are doing dance in the "advanced" line... - Those who feel confused or hesitant or want a lower pressure situation dance in the "I have no idea but I'll give it a try" line. - People are encouraged to move from one line to the other during the dance-- downgrading if they are too confused in the "advanced" line, or upgrading if they have nailed it and wish to progress to the "advanced" line. > Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers > <mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> > Thursday, April 4, 2024 6:14 PM > Here are dances you should find useful: > > To teach wavy lines > "Positional Thinikning" https://aptsg.org/Dance/dances.html#PosTh > > A great dance for beginners and for moderately skilled to guide beginners > "The Balter Dance" https://aptsg.org/Dance/dances.html#Balter > > For dancers comfortable with a hey > "A.O.'s No-No" https://aptsg.org/Dance/dances.html#AOs > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net > Katherine Kitching <mailto:kat@outdooractive.ca> > Monday, April 1, 2024 2:30 PM > Hi folks- > > As I've mentioned before, our Halifax group is not very advanced - we > welcome a lot of beginners each month, and our regulars are not super > regular or super skilled.. - and so the practice we've settled on is > to choose one "feature figure" each month to focus on teaching.... > > in the first part of the evening we break down the figure in detail so > everyone gets a chance to learn it inside-out... then do a few dances > that has that figure in it, but nothing else difficult (not even > swings! unless swing is the feature figure for that evening). > > Then at the very end of the evening we do an "advanced segment" where > we call a few dances quickly with little teaching (probably more like > what all of your dances look like!) - and those dances include all > sorts of figures that have been featured over the past 6+ months. > (Usually most of the beginners have been tired out and gone home at > this point) > > Anyhow, this month our feature figure will be short wavy lines - and I > don't have a lot of experience with them myself. > > Could anyone point me towards some videos where short wavy lines are > featured? > > I'm interested in being able to watch different fun things that can be > done in SWLs... including the Rory O'Moore sequence, and other > simple/basic actions. > > No need to send me videos of more elaborate and unusual types of SWL > figures. > > Also no need to worry about the content of the rest of the dance - I > generally write custom dances to incorporate the feature figure while > keeping everything else way simpler than you folks are used to :) > > I want to do 3 dances with SWLs - each one with a slightly different > type of SWL figure - I can think of balancing then allemanding haflway > around, repeat... > > and the Rory O'Moore sequence as the final more tricky one... > > But is there something else I could do in short wavy lines too? > > and I would like to see the first two in action so I can make sure to > feel confident in my teaching!! > > Many thanks :) > > Kat in Hfx

7 months

Surely thus dance has a name and author?

by Julian Blechner

Becket A1. Circle L, Pass Thru N (or slide L to next and circle) N Alle R 1 1/4 to long wavy line, Larks face out, Robins face in A2. Bal, Circulate x2 B1. N B+S B2. Larks Alle L 1.5x (or pull by) PS

7 months, 2 weeks

Videos of different things to do in short wavy lines?

by Katherine Kitching

Hi folks- As I've mentioned before, our Halifax group is not very advanced - we welcome a lot of beginners each month, and our regulars are not super regular or super skilled.. - and so the practice we've settled on is to choose one "feature figure" each month to focus on teaching.... in the first part of the evening we break down the figure in detail so everyone gets a chance to learn it inside-out... then do a few dances that has that figure in it, but nothing else difficult (not even swings! unless swing is the feature figure for that evening). Then at the very end of the evening we do an "advanced segment" where we call a few dances quickly with little teaching (probably more like what all of your dances look like!) - and those dances include all sorts of figures that have been featured over the past 6+ months. (Usually most of the beginners have been tired out and gone home at this point) Anyhow, this month our feature figure will be short wavy lines - and I don't have a lot of experience with them myself. Could anyone point me towards some videos where short wavy lines are featured? I'm interested in being able to watch different fun things that can be done in SWLs... including the Rory O'Moore sequence, and other simple/basic actions. No need to send me videos of more elaborate and unusual types of SWL figures. Also no need to worry about the content of the rest of the dance - I generally write custom dances to incorporate the feature figure while keeping everything else way simpler than you folks are used to :) I want to do 3 dances with SWLs - each one with a slightly different type of SWL figure - I can think of balancing then allemanding haflway around, repeat... and the Rory O'Moore sequence as the final more tricky one... But is there something else I could do in short wavy lines too? and I would like to see the first two in action so I can make sure to feel confident in my teaching!! Many thanks :) Kat in Hfx

7 months, 2 weeks

Some contra dance history of interest:

by Michael Fuerst

In 1810, and for some years before and after, Sudbury MA (incorporated in 1639) was the site of a monthly barn dance. One of the local dance masters, Allen Ortep, composed a contra dance, where four dancers would balance in a circle, left foot then right foot, followed by shift/spin left one place. Allen and another local dance master both had interest in the same lady. To shorten a long story, Allen did not get the lady, and eventually stopped attending the Sudbury dances. His successful rival then composed a dance where four dancers balanced in a circle, right foot then left foot, followed by a shift/spin right one place, and named it petronella (spell petronella backwards to find out why). To honor these events, Sudbury MA was given the zipcode 01776. (Thanks to Don Veino for pointing out Sudbury's zipcode.)

7 months, 3 weeks

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Contra Callers April 2024