Contra dancing has almost entirely lost the 'proper' formation, with
gents in one line and ladies in another. For most of contra dancing's
history, however, that was the standard formation and many people,
especially callers, still think of it that way.
I was at a dance recently where the caller noticed that there were
many new dancers and that it probably wouldn't work to just wait for
people to get into position. They told all the couples to stand with
the ladies in one line and the gents in another, to take hands for
from the top, and that this was proper formation. Then they introduced
1s and 2s and had all the ones cross over. But they didn't call any
proper or assymetric dances all night! Which is fine; I think they
chose good dances for the crowd. But why introduce the terminology?
Especially when there's so many other terms we want them to be
absorbing?
Jeff
PS: I also posted this on my blog, and there are some comments there:
http://www.jefftk.com/news/2012-05-04.html
Can any of you help me identify a dance that we danced during the last
NEFFA session on Sunday? The dance in question was called with the
Festival Orchestra playing and it may have been called by Sue Rosen.
The key figures were 2 "past through to an ocean wave" figures. In one
case you end with your neighbor in your right hand, and the other time
you end with your partner in the same place. The dance flowed very
smoothly and i liked it a lot, so any help with the title, author, or
the choreography would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rich Hart.
With apologies to all who are having deja vu feelings based on my
previous recommendations of this dance, how about yet another version
of Ellen's Green Jig? Can be danced improper, or if you ignore how
people choose to end the swing, without regard to gents/ladies roles.
A1: Dosido neighbor; circle left to original positions.
A2: Balance the ring; swing partners, end facing the other couple.
B1: Right-hand star; circle right to home position, keep hands joined.
B2: 2s arch, 1s take a peek ("duck for the oyster");
1s arch, 2s peek; 2s carry an arch up over 1s, who duck under and
through, take no more than 1 step and let the next no. 2 couple move
up to meet them (to prevent the whole set from drifting away from the
top of the set).
Variations of this dance have worked for just about every kind of
group I've encountered. You can probably craft a cool one of your
own...Hope you have great music; that can make almost anything you do
a terrific experience.
Chip Hedler
Hi all,
I'm calling a dance this Friday on a dock (over a reservoir). I anticipate (fear?) the following problems: mostly new dancers (we're frequently 3/4 new or new-ish); dancers having difficulty hearing me (although I will have a mic); and a relatively rough dance surface (they hold Latin Dance Club events here frequently, so it isn't entirely undanceable).
As a result, I've been looking for simple dances that allow dancers to help each other -- lots of contact, and balances/clapping/other "here's where we are in the dance"-type noises have been a focus of my planning. But I'm having a little trouble with putting together a set list with sufficient (to my mind) variety, so I'm turning to the list for suggestions.
One additional note: our organizer told me that petronellas are on the challenging side for our group even though they love them; I think this particular dance surface would make them not-fun to dance, too. So I'd really love dances that include balancing a ring but don't include a petronella.
Thanks!
Louise.
This is how I have the dance.
A2 Ladies chain on L diagonal
Forward and back
file:///Users/davidmillstone/Documents/Dance/American%20Dances/Dance%20directions/%20Collections%20of%20dances/Gene%20Hubert%20dances/Gene%20Hubert%20contras.webarchive
David Millstone
Hi,
I seem to have 2 versions of Double Boomerang by Gene Hubert.
Becket
The only difference is in the A2
Version 1
A2 ON THE LEFT DIAGONAL ladies chain / Long lines forward and back
Version 2
A2 Long lines forward and back / ON THE LEFT DIAGONAL ladies chain.
Are there 2 versions being danced? If you call or dance it which version do
you do?
If there are really 2 versions, what are the advantages or disadvantages of
each.
Thanks, hoping to call it a week from Tuesday.
Rickey Holt, Fremont, NH
Thanks for all the responses.
I found the dance documented in a couple of Ralph Page Dance Legacy
Weekend Syllabuses. In both cases it is documented as Swing rather than
Balance & Swing - maybe because of the difficulty of getting back in
time for the Balance.
The version we danced seemed to work well; the ladies just continued
their Rory O'More spin until they were heading in the right direction to
start the hey, though the option someone suggested of Ladies Allemenande
Left 1/2 into the Hey also sounds good.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 &
07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
Anyone recognise this:
Becket Formation
A1: Circle Left 3/4; Pass Through
New Ladies Allemande Left 1 1/2 to Partner and Ocean Wave
A2: Balance R/L, Rory O'More
Balance L/R, Rory O'More
B1: Full Hey - Ladies start Left Shoulder
B2: Partner Balance & Swing
I noted it down at a dance but didn't get a chance to ask the name or
the author. Can anyone help?
Thanks.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 &
07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
