Lovers of traditional dance,
>
>
It is with sadness I announce that Marie Cassady, a dancer and teacher of
dance in Louisville Kentucky for many many years, died on Sunday afternoon.
She was 104, just two months shy of 105.
Marie founded Louisville Country Dancers, which has since become a mostly
contra dance group, but in the day featured English dance as well, and even
occasional international dances.
I first met her in the mid 1970s, when she and husband Frank Cassady taught
Italian folk dances to a performance troupe that my siblings were involved
in. (I was too young to join the first few years). As it turns out, they
also taught performance troupes for many ethnic groups.
She was interested in many things besides dance, including national and
international travel. She also sang with her church group for many years.
As well, she reared several children and was a maternal figure for many
others.
A few years ago, she related to me her memories of the influenza epidemic
of 1919. Imagine that, she had memories of her father from that time, and
of Camp Taylor in Louisville! She also talked about the 1937 flood of the
Ohio River.
She slowed a bit over the years, remaining active in English and
international but leaving contra to younger bodies. She also took up hula
dancing in her 90s. Gotta keep learning!
She remained active and mentally sharp until very recently. I saw her in
August, and she immediately called me by name.
There will be a memorial service for Marie in early November, but the
details are not yet determined.
Many thanks to you, Marie Cassady, for introducing so many people to dance
and the communities it engenders. I am grateful to have known you.
Jerome Grisanti
--
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
"Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power
and magic in it." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Dear Friends,
Caller's Companion just got it’s 100th user today!
Thanks to everyone for their support, feedback and patience over the last 8 years in making CC an invaluable tool for Contra Dance (and some ECD) callers. I hope to be able to continue improvements in the future. As a labor-of-love / shareware project, you're sharing CC with other callers and showing them how you use it helps spread the word and also support future efforts as well as the hundreds of hours that I've already invested in it.
Special thanks to Bev Bernbaum, my initial beta tester; Linda Leslie, who provided invaluable feedback in the early years and made feature suggestions to support ECD calling; and Nils Fredland, for extensive feedback around iPad use.
Thank you again!
Love, Will
http://callerscompanion.com
--
Will Loving
2419 S York St Apt 5
Denver CO 80210-5319
413-253-7223 (desk)
413-221-8626 (iPhone)
I like the A parts motion of this trad dance (thanks Bob for posting!).
Seeing this got my brain going while I was running my errands this
morning... and out popped these two multi-swing retakes. I hope they're
unique but please let me know should you have info otherwise.
Thanks,
Don
The Devil's a Swinger - DI - Don Veino 20171012
A respin on the traditional dance Devil's Dream to incorporate swings yet
retain some of the tradtional feel.
Starts with the 1s facing down in the center and 2s facing up on the
outside.
A1 (6,2) 1s go down center/2s go up outside - 1s turn as couple, 2s turn
alone
[I'd probably teach/prompt "centers as couples, outsides turn alone" as
it fits both instances]
(6,2) 1s go up center/2s go down outside - Handy Hand Allemande 1/2x
same role Neighbor to 2s in center
A2 (6,2) 1s go down outside/2s go up center - 2s turn as couple, 1s turn
alone
(6,2) 1s go up outside/2s go down center - Right Hand Allemande 1/2x
opposite role Neighbor
B1 Half Hey (G Pass Left to start)
Neighbor Swing
B2 Long Lines Forward & Back [Alternative: Circle Left 1x]
1s Swing in Center, all face progression
I ♥ Devil Dogs - DI - Don Veino 20171012
A respin on the traditional dance Devil's Dream to incorporate Partner and
Neighbor swings.
Starts with the 1s facing down in the center and 2s facing up on the
outside.
A1 (6,2) 1s go down center/2s go up outside - 1s turn as couple, 2s turn
alone
[I'd probably teach/prompt "centers as couples, outsides turn alone" as
it fits both instances]
(6,2) 1s go up center/2s go down outside - Handy Hand Allemande 1/2x
same role Neighbor to 2s in center
A2 (6,2) 1s go down outside/2s go up center - 2s turn as couple, 1s turn
alone
(6,2) 1s go up outside/2s go down center - Right Hand Allemande 1/2x
opposite role Neighbor
B1 Gents Cross
Partner Swing
B2 Give & Take to Gents (N Swing), all face progression
[Alternative: Circle Left 3/4x, Neighbor Swing, all face progression]
On Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 10:34 AM, Bob Peterson via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> There’s this no-swing dance, which I got from https://www.
> cambridgefolk.org.uk/contra/dances/devils_dream.html
>
> The Devil's DreamTraditional
>
> Improper Contra
> A1
>
> - 1s face down and lead down the centre while the 2s face up and go up
> the outside
> - all turn alone and lead back to give neighbour nearest hand and half
> turn neighbour
>
> A2
>
> - 1s facing down the outside and 2s up the middle: lead up or down
> again
> - you promenade in the same direction both times
> - all turn alone and lead back to give *left* hands to neighbour
>
> B1
>
> - turn neighbour into a full ladies chain across
>
> B2
>
> - half promenade neighbour across set
> - half right and left back
>
>
>
Hi Angela,
“Hole in the Wall” isn’t a move. It is a dance from 1695.
The “Hole in the Wall Crossing” is not a new move. It is a stylised version of a normal Cross Over.
You can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=25&v=TUxbcJIOHNY
There are countless contra dances already with moves like: Balance the Ring; Ladies Cross.
You just do the crossing in that style and you are doing a “Hole in the Wall Crossing”. You don’t need to write new dances, just give the dancers that stylistic option.
Notes:
They almost certainly didn’t cross over like that in 1695. That style was added by someone, probably in the middle of the 20th century, and it became so popular in that dance that when people wanted that style in other dances they started referring to it as the “Hole in the Wall Crossing”.
While the video of them dancing The Hole in the Wall is very nice, it was extremely unlikely to have been danced in Jane Austen’s time. It was over 100 years old, and they didn’t dance old dances in the way that we do today.
I hope that helps to clarify things! 😊
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
OK then... Here's a gypsy star dance where the star doesn't start in interwoven long waves. From a dance choreography workshop. Been waiting for me to wrap my brain around it and publish it for a year and a half now.. It actually works and is easier to dance than it might appear at first glance. It has a figure that Peter Johnson had dreamed up and had been sitting on for a while.. Guess then *I* sat on it. Not sure if anyone else of the authors published it any where. If so, I didn't see it.. - bill
Stellar Gypsy Becket
by: Bill Olson, Peter Johnson, Riley Geistman, Sam Smith, Ray Jantzen, Laura Garchar, Patricia Danscen, Anthony Risenhoover, Peter Koza, Tina Fields, Hamish ?
A1 promenade 3/4*, Swing new N (on ladies' home side)
A2 1/2 R&L, W 1/2 chain (to partner)
B1 LLF&B, Arch to Gypsy Star** (facing partner, move Star 1/2 way)
B2 Gypsy and Sw Partner (on home side)
*Promenade 3/4 is just continuing a normal promenade another 1/4 position so dancers are across from partner
**Arch to Gypsy Star (concept was presented by Peter Johnson): Make Arch, walk forward, Ladies walk through arches.. when hands are all together, women take Left hands across and Men take Right hands across to form the Gypsy Star (women's hands under, men's hand over). Looking partner in the eye women sort of "draw" the men half way around the star. (the women are actually doing a do sa do pattern with each other here)
written at a dance choreography workshop at Stellar Days and Nights dance weekend in Colorado, Feb 2016
Hi All,
I posted a request for suggestions on preparing for an upcoming dance a couple of weeks ago. I had not called a dance in 18 months, and had expected to stay on “emeritus” status. Thank you for your suggestions! You helped buck me up and get my head back in the game. The dance was an annual one for our "living local” foodie folks. They were sure ready to dance after diner was finished! It was not hard at all to get folks up and moving. The Flying Elbows String Band is always a treat to call to. We all had big fun! The band and I might end up with an additional gig or two from this. One of the band members posted a video of dance from the 2015 dance for this same group. I was even wearing the same shirt. I recognized the dance that I used to use at almost all ONS dances. Dang! I had forgotten all about it! The band and I did another dance gig this weekend. We again had big fun. We managed to do our dances while several small children danced in and out of the sets. One result of these two dances is that some locals may finally get together to have a regular dance series again. The band and I have a wedding gig coming up this next weekend. I have shaken off my mental cobwebs and am back in the groove.
Thank you all for your encouragement!
John B. Freeman
Hi
I have a question for anyone who calls or dances Gender Free MWSD (by
Gender Free I mean where no assumptions are made about what role a dancer
will take based on their gender).
I've been told that GF MWSD dances still use the terms "Boys" and "Girls",
but please correct me if I'm wrong.
MWSD is unique amongst folk dancing in that dancers need to know the role
being danced by others in the square (if I'm a "boy" and the call is "boys
trade", I need to know who the other boy in my line / wave is in order to
do the call).
So to my question: How do the dancers identify which roles the other people
are dancing? Traditionally this is done with dancers taking the opposite
role to their gender wearing bands, but that is surely inappropriate if the
dance is GF.
Also, if any MWSD clubs are using truly non-gendered terms, please let me
know.
Thanks in Advance
Jeremy
www.barndancecaller.netwww.genderfreedance.net
Hi, all! I recently wrote this dance and would like to know if it’s already out there somewhere and being called by people. As always, your feedback is appreciated. I test called it in September and it went well. Seth Tepfer called it in River Falls and it went well, though he is going to try it with LLF&B at the top of A2.
Joyous Rose
by Jacqui Grennan
Contra/Becket-CW
A1 -----------
(4) Gents Give & Take their N
(12) N Sw
A2 -----------
(8) Circle L 1x
(8) N allem RH 1-1/2 plus to short waves, ladies LH in middle (allemande is just under 2x)
B1 -----------
(4) Balance the wave
(4) Move forward to new wave, w/ NEW N allem. Right 1/2 (gents middle LH) <=PROGRESSION
(4) Balance the wave
(4) Swing thru - Neighbor allem. Right 1/2, Ladies allem. Left 1/2
B2 -----------
(16) P B&Sw
End Effects: Wait out improper
I wrote out a glossary dance; not a first in the evening, but maybe second.
Anyone know of a prior version?
Spend Some Time Together
by Luke Donforth
Contra/Improper/Easy
A1 -----------
(8) Long lines, forward and back
(8) Neighbor swing
A2 -----------
(8) Men allemande Left 1-1/2
(8) Partner Do-si-do
B1 -----------
(16) Partner balance and swing
B2 -----------
(8) Promenade across the Set
(8) Women's Chain across
The B2 moves could be swapped, but I liked how much time you could get with
a partner this way (hence the title).
I wouldn't use it as a first dance, but it seems like a nice second one to
teach the a chain.
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
