As a dancer from Virginia, I've visited the Lambertvlle contra dance on two occasions while in NJ, both in the summer ('05 and '06, I think). They have an active contra community, and I remember being pleasantly surprised at the number of dancers. I'd say it was at least in the 50-60 range. I'm thinking of going there again this summer.
Brian
Bill wrote: "...when I used the New England Chestnuts recording, I slowed that
version down from 121bpm to 116bpm, but the other Money Musk Moment dances on
youtube seem to be slower than that 112 bpm and 105 bpm."
Opinions differ about how fast it should be played. You'll notice great
variation in the various video clips and recordings, with McQuillen and the
Rhythm Rollers setting a steady tempo on the slow side compared to others.
Rodney Miller et. al on the New England Chestnuts album have it at about 120
beats per minute; an early Ralph Page recording is more like 116 bpm. Northern
Spy played it at 111 at our dance; Dudley Laufman recorded it at 103 bpm, which
is close to the 106 tempo played by the Rhythm Rollers in the video clip. And at
the other end, that 78 rpm recording of Benjamin Lovett calling with the Henry
Ford Orchestra (32-bar version) is at 127 bpm!
David Millstone
--- Chris wrote:
I'd guess this lookalike phenomenon is from the constraints of 32 bars, using
common conventions and pieces, and trying to minimize the complexity while
using a given concept.
--- end of quote ---
And if a dance includes a partner swing (and a neighbor swing to boot) that
limits the possibilities even further of what can fit into the remaining music.
David Millstone
Hey SW crew,
I'm playing a gig this weekend with Notorious and one of my favorite
Larry tunes is "The Judge". I know that they like to save that tune for
a dance with Petronella balance and spin to the right at the top of the B1.
I'm hoping that you will share with me your favorite dances that have
Petronella moves in the B1.
Thanks!
Chris Weiler
Goffstown, NH
The Friday night dance sponsored by the Lambertville Country Dancers dance was,
briefly, in Trenton and is now in Titusville, NJ, just a few miles downstream
from Lambertville. Sometimes it's an English country dance and sometimes a
contra, so you'll want to get clear with the organizers about who you are and
what you do.
It's a small group, maybe 30 people, at least at the English dance I called
there in February.
David Millstone
Thanks, Chris, for starting this thread. I was calling with Notorious on
Saturday night in Montpelier, and finished out the evening with The Judge as the
tune, though I picked Maliza's Magical Mystery Motion as my choice to go with
it.
David Millstone
So, Chris, what did you choose? I noticed lots of Petronellas last night,
but I don't specifically remember which one was in the B1.
Lark
--
It is not necessary that you leave the house. Remain at your table and
listen. Do not even listen, only wait. Do not even wait, be wholly still and
alone. The world will present itself to you for its unmasking, it can do no
other, in ecstasy it will writhe at your feet.
--Franz Kafka, _Aphorisms_ (1918)
A thanks of great appreciation for all who put up videos of their Money
Musk dances. Having read about this dance for years, never seen it,
never danced it, certainly never called it, it was so nice to see the
dance (so that's how it looks!), if only via the airwaves. Someday it
will be in person. But the energy and joyous enthusiasm came through
even this way.
Cheers for all the sharing,
Sue
PS -- Thanks also to those who included the musicians in their clips.
* * * * * * * * * *
The monthly barn dance in Dietlikon (near Zurich), Switzerland, takes place once
each month; their March dance took place last night, so that's when they danced
Money Musk.
Unlike most groups in Europe who do American squares and contras, their monthly
dance features live music, a lively quartet called Over the Isles (accordion,
fiddle, piano and bass).
Here's a link to the video of their dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUMUPqqvTdg
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
P.S. David Smukler and I are tallying the results. A rough count shows that
about 1,000 dancers and 75 musicians were involved in the (First Annual?)
International Money Musk Moment. Thanks to all who participated.
Good luck, Bill! And there definitely is a market of folks interested in the
older dances. David Smukler and I each held a dance this past Saturday where the
program was advertised as all older dances. We each had a great turnout. At my
dance, we had everone from absolute first-timers, to many of the regular crowd,
to folks whom we haven't seen on a dance floor in ages. Some dancers drove two
hours to attend.
Here's the program I called in Norwich, Vermont:
Grand March
British Sorrow
Lamplighter's Hornpipe
Jamie Allen
Gay Gordon's
Portland Fancy
Morning Star
Devil's Dream
Money Musk
Rory O'More
Speed the Plough
Young Widow
Chorus Jig
There were plenty of other good possibilities. Didn't include Petronella or
Hull's Victory or Hull's Victory because we do 'em so often anyhow, mixed in
with more modern material. Of course, we do Chorus Jig often, too, but you can't
have a program of chestnuts and omit that one!
The program in Syracuse, with multiple callers, went as follows:
Lady Walpole's
Queen Victoria
British Sorrow
Chorus Jig
Petronella
Rory O'More
Money Musk
5th figure of the standard Lancers
Lamplighters' HP
Young Widow
Devil's Dream
One of the delights has been reading comments e-mailed after the dance from
folks who wished that there could be more such events. Here are some samples:
"I've been meaning to write to thank you for that fabulous dance this past
weekend in Norwich. It was well worth the trip from northern Vermont. On the way
back we were wondering if this could become an annual event. I've pretty much
given up contra dancing in recent years (twirling, stomping, athleticism, etc)
but that night brought back everything I love about it. The calling, the music,
the dances, it was all sheer pleasure. So were the tidbits about the dances and
their history. You even persuaded people to behave in a civilized manner..."
"What wonderful dances !! Those chestnuts are such a treat to dance -- they're
full of that unending flowing feeling if you're active; and if you're inactive,
they're full of chances to admire the actives - the hall - and the caller and
band, to enjoy the other dancers in your set, and to support the actives in
making each round of the dance a perfectly timed smoothly-choreographed delight.
And Money Musk is one of my favorites, so it was wonderful to do that last night
-- I particularly like when the active person swoops (or backs) into his/her
spot in the lines of three -- or as an inactive, when to two of you are
receiving the "incoming" active with just the right timing. Plus while we were
dancing it in Norwich, it was wonderful to realize that this dance being done by
like-minded but unknown "friends" all around the globe, with great callers and
bands all urging on the dancers!"
"I saw so many familiar faces (usually I can't remember the names) and found
that many had come because of the program. Us 'oldsters' don't get the chance
to do the old chestnuts often. Thank you!"
"Thank you for an absolutely wonderful dance last night. The program and music
and calling were utter heaven..."
Are these dances for everyone? Probably not. (I was calling a week ago at a
large venue with many-- i.e., 50 or so-- new dancers on the floor. The first
dance of the evening had no partner swing, only neighbor swings, so that the
newbies could experience swings with many different people. One experienced
dancer approached me afterwards to point out that there had been no partner
swing. She mentioned that she had never done a dance before that evening that
didn't have a partner swing, didn't know that such items even existed.)
One of the things I noted in looking at the two hours of video footage we
gathered from the Norwich dance was seeing all those inactive couples having fun
while just standing still. Smiling at their partner, listening to the music,
occasionally sneaking in a swing with an inactive from the neighboring line--
okay, so they weren't always standing still-- and watching the active couples.
Boy, I sure remember picking up a lot of tricks from watching good dancers,
something that's much harder to do in the everyone-moving-all-the-time dances.
Don't get me wrong-- I love those, too, and call plenty of 'em, but variety is
good.
Where can you find directions for all those dances? Well, I'll put in a plug for
"Cracking Chestnuts," published by CDSS. You can also find many of them on the
syllabi online for the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend.
As many of you know, Saturday night was also the time for what we dubbed the
International Money Musk Moment. Folks in venues around the northeast danced
Money Musk at more or less the same time, and we were joined by dancers in
Michigan, California, New Zealand, Denmark, and (coming up this coming Saturday
at their monthly dance) the outskirts of Zurich. David Smukler and I will
compile the stories from all these venues and will share the information in some
fashion.
I posted a piece of video footage showing our dancing in Norwich, Vermont:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnCnMSEAejg
There's also a short piece documenting Money Musk at Monte Toyon camp (Linda
Leslie and Bob Isaacs calling):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy8hIwkpo1Q
Here's a link to a Facebook site showing the dance in Bethlehem, PA, with Donna
Hunt calling
http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/swf/mvp.swf?8%3A149819=&v=24250984990&ev=0
and this clip from New Zealand, with Bill Baritompa calling to the New England
Chestnuts recording:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdQIKMdtR3A
Cheers,
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
