Contra Callers

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

17 participants
4362 discussions

by William Watson

Greetings! I've been asked to lead a short workshop session for folks possibly interested in starting calling. While I have a number of handouts from callers' sessions at different camps I've attended, I don't really feel that I should hand out copies of those notes. I've started pulling together some material of my own, but thought I'd ask the list members if they know of any materials already on-line. I did check the "contra dance links" page, did a quick scan, and picked a few items from the list to include on mine. If you want to see what I have so far, you can look here: http://www.quiteapair.us/calling/<http://www.quiteapair.us/calling/resources.html> Please let me know of any materials you found helpful when starting, or that you recommend I suggest to new callers. Thanks! William -- wjw1961(a)gmail.com William J. Watson

18 years

Neffa workshop

by Lisa Greenleaf

I've been asked to let folks know that I'll be repeating my contra tune discussion/workshop at Neffa, but this time it will be geared towards musicians. I'll also be joined by Jaige Trudel and Adam Broome from Crowfoot. This is a good opportunity for callers and musicians to learn about choosing tunes for contras, and how different kinds of tunes affect dancers. I'll have pre-recorded examples, and I expect Jaige and Adam will contribute a few riffs of their own. The workshop is called "Bands and Contra Tunes" and is Sunday at 1PM in High School Room 103. See you soon at Neffa, -- Lisa

18 years

writing dances

by crunchymama＠juno.com

Howdy folks! Newbie back with a question. I've written a few dances lately. At least, I think I have! I'm not sure how one finds out if the same combination of dance steps already exists. Also, yes they all work on paper, but I haven't tried them out on anyone yet. Those of you who write dances- how do you get your Guinea pigs? Would posting dances to this list be appropriate? If they work and are fun I would love for them to be used, and if they were already written by someone else, I'd like to have their proper names on the card! In reply to another thread- one of the dances has a star promenade, if you would like me to post it. Thanks, Alison Murphy in Memphis TN

18 years

Got NEFFA?

by Karen Fontana

Hi everyone, It's NEFFA time again, and last year we had three different "Shared Weight" informal gathering times... one was Friday evening up in the bleechers (split across the 1/2 hrs to be fair to the programs!), another was Saturday morning at 9 am (!) Bring your own Bagles and another in the cafeteria at 3 pm Saturday .... I'll have to take a closer look at the Grid but just wanted to express interest in claiming a few times during the weekend when we can chat face to face, (aside from all the neighbor and partner swinging!). Last year, my 3 pm Saturday suggestion conflicted with the Beattles sing along! -- sorry! I'll take another look at the schedule, but just wanted to get a message out before getting on a plane (in a few hours). Hope to see many of you soon! Karen <>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<> Karen Fontana www.karenscontracorner.com 650-691-9663 <>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>

18 years

OT: NEFFA 2007 - Parking changes

by Seth Seeger

Hi everyone, Please excuse this slightly off-topic post, but we want to make sure everyone knows about the parking changes for NEFFA. -Seth Begin forwarded message: > The New England Folk Festival is this week: Friday - Sunday, April > 20-22, 2007 > (If you're not attending NEFFA this year, you may ignore this email.) > > The parking arrangements for NEFFA 2007 have changed from what was > printed on the fliers (and what was originally on the website). > Revised parking information is on the NEFFA web site. Save yourself > some trouble and check it out. > > Parking and Directions: http://neffa.org/getting_there.html > > And remember, NEFFA is at a new place this year: Mansfield, > Massachusetts. > > We apologize if you've already gotten a message about this. We're > reaching far and wide to let as many people as possible know about > the change. > > Seth Seeger > NEFFA Volunteering Comittee > > ---------------------------------------------------- > > NEFFA Festival schedule grids, in a variety of formats: > - http://neffa.org/grid/index.html > > VOLUNTEERING: NEFFA can always use volunteers. Especially this > year, at a new place. Visit the volunteer table at the festival to > sign up.

18 years

Old Dance in Need of a Name and Repair

by Rickey

Hi All, I have a dance which I remember dancing in Montpelier Vermont with Charles Woodard, probably in the 1980s. It is below. It is a duple proper dance. (A1) Actives Balance and allemande right 1 ½ (A2) Ladies Chain over and back (B1) Left Hand Star Above, Right Hand Star Below (B2) Actives Swing, end facing up and cast off. I do not have a name for this dance. There does not seem to be enough to do in A1, so Ive changed it to Actives Balance and Do-si-do and allemande right 1 ½. But the biggest problem is with the ladies chain. My wife tells me that she has never started a ladies chain from the left side of the gent, which is what happens here. I thought that this was a common way to set up a ladies chain when starting from a duple formation, but I cannot find any where the woman does start from the gents left. I have written a fix that eliminates the ladies chain altogether, but I was wondering if anyone is familiar with this dance. Do I have part of it wrong? What might your fix be, or do you have any other dances that are fairly easy that have a star with old neighbors flowing into a star with new neighbors (since this is the part I like best). If it was also without a hey that might be ideal. Got too many heys programmed into the evening already I suspect. Thanks, Rickey Holt.

18 years, 1 month

Star grips was Re: Star Promenade

by crunchymama＠juno.com

In reference to "Sounds Like a Match" by Lynn Ackerson, it seems to me like the A1 would be a little smoother with a Southern style star than a New England style? Has anyone found this to be the case? Our local dance must have been started by Yankees as we typically use the wrist grip. I've been enjoying Bill Olson's "The Eggbeater" http://www.megalink.net/~pweeks/eggbeater.htm but I have to remember to specify the Southern grip for it when teaching the walkthrough. Are there any dances that you all enjoy dancing/calling that do better with one particular style of star? -Alison Murphy in Memphis TN -- mavis mcgaugh <yankeecalls(a)yahoo.com> wrote: I have used this dance several times: Sounds Like a Match Lynn Ackerson {bkt 1/4 left] A1 Balance Ring Ladies Trade by Left Hand ALL - Left hand star 1x ----- Progression A2) w/ Next Neighbor D-S-D & Swing B1 Men Left AL 1 1/2 W/ Parner Star Promenade B2 Ladies Right AL 1x Partner Swing

18 years, 1 month

Re: [Callers] Old Dance in Need of a Name and Repair

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

Hi Rickey, I suspect the dance you're thinking of is Dandies' Hornpipe. Charles certainly included many of the older dances in his repertoire. David Smukler discussed the dance at length in his "Cracking Chestnuts" column in the Jan/Feb, 2007, issue of the CDSS News, and you can find it on David's website here: http://www.davidsmukler.syracusecountrydancers.org/dandies.htm When Ralph Page published the dance in Northern Junket in 1968, he printed the triple minor version, but added that he preferred it as a duple minor. Here's a link that will take you to a scanned version of the dance as it appeared in Northern Junket: http://www.izaak.unh.edu/dlp/NorthernJunket/pages/NJv09/NJv09-02/NJv.09.02.… tm This is from the University of New Hampshire's Library of Traditional Music and Dance, which maintains the Ralph Page collection. The dance also appeared in _The Ralph Page Book of Contras," a slim booklet published in 1969 by the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Here's the triple minor version: Dandies' Hornpipe Couples 1 - 4 - 7 etc. active. Don't cross over (Counts) Active couples forward and back (8) Turn by the right hand once and a half around (8) Go below one couple and the opposite ladies chain (8+8) Left hand star with the couple below (8) Right-hand star with the couple above (8) Active couples swing in the center (stop facing UP) (8) Up the center and cast off one couple (8) In his article, David suggests making the first figure in A1 be "Long lines, forward and back," instead of just the active couple, and he offers a few other modifications that you may wish to consider. Hope this helps. David Millstone

18 years, 1 month

Re: [Callers] Star grips

by Jerome Grisanti

Alison, Here are two dances by Cary Ravitz that use the hands-across grip in a star. Both feature the flow from star to allemande or chain. I also specify a hands-across grip in several dances where there is a "balance the star" move before or after turning the star, though I don't have those figures handy right now. I don't have any that specify the cogwheel star, and with most stars I let the crowd do the "default" star for that area. ---Jerome Dancing Spell Cary Ravitz 9-98 Improper contra Easy A1 - Neighbors balance and swing (16). A2 - Circle left (8). - Star left using a hands across star (8). B1 - Men allemande left 1+1/2 (8). - Partners swing (8). B2 - Right and left through across (8). - Ladies chain across (8). Starburst Cary Ravitz 7-95 Improper contra A1 - Neighbors take right hands and balance (4). - Neighbors box the gnat (4). - Star right using a hands across star (8). A2 - Ladies chain across to your partner (8). - Star left using a hands across star (8). B1 - Ladies turn out and partners gypsy and swing (16). B2 - Circle left 3/4 and pass through up and down (8). - New neighbors do-si-do (8). Alternate B1, can be called as ladies' choice B1 - Ladies turn in and partners gypsy by the left (4). - Partners turn alone clockwise and swing (12). For callers up to medleys, I have had success teaching Starburst and then switching to Dancing Spell, but only if the crowd has seen a right-and-left thru that evening. ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 05:45:48 GMT From: "crunchymama(a)juno.com" <crunchymama(a)juno.com> Subject: [Callers] Star grips was Re: Star Promenade To: callers(a)sharedweight.net Message-ID: <20070416.224645.5614.2814317(a)webmail02.lax.untd.com> Content-Type: text/plain In reference to "Sounds Like a Match" by Lynn Ackerson, it seems to me like the A1 would be a little smoother with a Southern style star than a New England style? Has anyone found this to be the case? Our local dance must have been started by Yankees as we typically use the wrist grip. I've been enjoying Bill Olson's "The Eggbeater" http://www.megalink.net/~pweeks/eggbeater.htm but I have to remember to specify the Southern grip for it when teaching the walkthrough. Are there any dances that you all enjoy dancing/calling that do better with one particular style of star? -Alison Murphy in Memphis TN -- Jerome Grisanti 660-528-0858 660-528-0714 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com

18 years, 1 month

Re: [Callers] writing dances

by David.Millstone＠VALLEY.NET

Good place for guinea pigs for testing dances-- and for practicing calling-- is at a house party, a kitchen junket. Invite a handful of friends over, roll up the proverbial rug, clear out the kitchen or dining room, and go at it. We danced all of Ted's Triplets (41 of 'em) in out kitchen one day, with a second set in the dining room when the crowd was at its peak. With nine people, you can have someone calling and enough for a square, a four couple longways, triplets with a few folks resting or preparing the next dance. Have fun! David Millstone

18 years, 1 month

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Contra Callers