Hey all,
A question I've been mulling over for several months now is where the line
blurs from "a variation of" to "a dance based on" to "a dance of my own"
when writing contras.
*For example:*
Last Hey (First Hey var.) - Paul Balliet and *maybe* Isaac Banner in a way?
Becket, CW
A1: (8) Circle left 3/4
(4) Rings balance
(4) Pass through u/d
A2: (8) Ladies alle. left 1.5x
(4) Short waves balance
(4) Partner alle. right 3/4
B1: (16) Ladies pass left, hey for 4
B2: (16) Partner balance/swing
In this case, I took First Hey, shifted it off by a phrase, and changed
what had then become the A2. I've called it at four or five dances out in
the northwest now, and I've waffled back and forth between calling it "a
variation of..." or "a dance of mine, based on..." and I'm still not sure
on which I want to use.
I'll admit I'm still fairly new to this list, but at least in the several
months I've been following conversations here it seems fairly regular that
I see someone put out a dance, asking if it exists, only to get several
responses of "Oh, yes, I wrote that but with 8/16/32 counts different." I
always feel like it must be exciting, in a way, to know that you and
another caller both put together the same ideas, but I also would guess
that it must be a little disheartening, in a way, to know that your
newfound baby isn't quite yours and yours alone...heck, Newton and Leibniz
both developed Calculus and 300 years later even that can't seem to be
settled.
Over the last few years I've heard callers talk about when they consider a
dance to be a unique sequence and the majority opinion seems to be if a
full phrase is unique between the two, but I'm not sure that's always a
hard and fast rule...
Anyways, I've been *very* curious what other people have to say on the
topic. Please let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Isaac Banner
Hi, Angela,
I've been calling the figure a "facing star," when I bother naming it at
all while teaching or prompting it.
Also, nice dance, though I suspect that since experienced dancers tend to
take fewer than eight beats to do half poussettes and 3/4 stars, I suspect
that dancers may end up swinging for as many as 20 beats.
Dugan Murphy
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy.comwww.DuganMurphy.comwww.PortlandIntownContraDance.comwww.NufSed.consulting
> Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2017 14:03:37 -0400
> From: Angela DeCarlis <aedecarlis(a)gmail.com>
> To: callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
> Subject: [Callers] New Dance?
> Message-ID:
> <CA+h6_BYyybaF3qCeyDrJO1p=DLn9x+CyJ75xEgGWiut3+4R+YA@mail.
> gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hey y'all!
>
> After a lovely weekend of both Contra and English at Youth Dance Weekend, I
> had an itch for programming some English-inspired choreography at BIDA last
> night. Since I didn't have a dance with the figures I wanted, I whipped one
> together on the drive home, tested it in the driveway, and debuted it last
> night. Success!
>
> Now the question, of course, is whether or not someone already wrote it!
>
> -===-
>
> Amble On East
> Becket CCW
>
> A1: Long Lines Forward & Back
> Ladies Chain Across (to Neighbor)
> A2: Ladies Dosido 1x
> Neighbor Swing
> B1: Give & Take, Gents draw Partner into 1/2 Poussette CCW
> With NEXT, Gypsy Star* 3/4 (Ladies backing up)
> B2: Partner (Long) Swing
>
> -===-
>
> *Do we have a new name for this figure yet? I called it Gypsy Star in the
> walkthrough once or twice before realizing I should maybe figure something
> else out, and the phrase "Special Star" actually escaped my mouth, to the
> absolute delight of some of the dancers. During the dance itself, I just
> called "Star."
Hi, Bill,
I'm pretty sure Cary Ravitz first developed the figure we call "gypsy
star." I know three of his dances which use the figure. "Woven Waves" and
"Gypsy Star" were both written in May 1999. "Gypsy Waves" was written in
2013.
I haven't seen it in many other dances. Ryan Smith and I helped Stacey
Lang write a dance with the figure called "The Fault in Our Stars." See
http://www.twirlyshirts.com/dances/by-ryan/the-fault-in-our-stars/
Dugan Murphy
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy.comwww.DuganMurphy.comwww.PortlandIntownContraDance.comwww.NufSed.consulting
On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 4:29 PM, Bill Olson <callbill(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
> Dugan and all, I don't know if Cary Ravitz actually "invented" the Gypsy
> Star but he wrote a dance entitled that and a lot of others that include
> it. Dugan, you're sort of Cary's protégé, right?, so you must know the
> dance. This is the same figure, correct??
>
>
> bill
>
Hey y'all!
After a lovely weekend of both Contra and English at Youth Dance Weekend, I
had an itch for programming some English-inspired choreography at BIDA last
night. Since I didn't have a dance with the figures I wanted, I whipped one
together on the drive home, tested it in the driveway, and debuted it last
night. Success!
Now the question, of course, is whether or not someone already wrote it!
-===-
Amble On East
Becket CCW
A1: Long Lines Forward & Back
Ladies Chain Across (to Neighbor)
A2: Ladies Dosido 1x
Neighbor Swing
B1: Give & Take, Gents draw Partner into 1/2 Poussette CCW
With NEXT, Gypsy Star* 3/4 (Ladies backing up)
B2: Partner (Long) Swing
-===-
*Do we have a new name for this figure yet? I called it Gypsy Star in the
walkthrough once or twice before realizing I should maybe figure something
else out, and the phrase "Special Star" actually escaped my mouth, to the
absolute delight of some of the dancers. During the dance itself, I just
called "Star."
Hey folks,
Looking for a dance with multiple swings with the same N, and also
preferably a P b&s, for a workshop I'm running on in-dance communication.
Anyone have one to recommend?
On a similar note, this is the dance I tossed off to fill this need: does
it exist? If not, tentatively titling it "Good Fences".
Improper
A1: long lines forward and back
(new) N swing
A2: ladies chain to P
half hey (ladies pass R)
B1: P b&s
B2: gents alle. L 1 1/2
(same) N swing
Folks,
I found a square sequence I wrote a while ago?
Does it exist in trad-dance circles?
Heads R&L Thru (8), Hds Pass Thru, Sep @1 into middle and Bx Gnat. (12)
Same 4 RH Star (8) to corner Alle Left (6)
P DSD (6), Corner Swg (8)
Full Promenade (16)
Thanks,
Rich Sbardella
Stafford Springs, CT
Home of the Stafford Stomp!
Does anybody recognize these two choreographical sequences as dances that
have already been written by someone else? I came up with them yesterday,
but they look basic enough to be already-composed, so I want to give credit
where it is due if I'm not the first to land on these sequences.
"Hanging Out in Portland" by Dugan Murphy (improper, double progression)
A1 Neighbor right shoulder spiral/gypsy and swing (16)
A2 Gents Left Hand Allemand 1.5 (8) / Partner Pass Right to Start Half Hey
Across (8)
B1 Partner right shoulder spiral/gypsy and swing (16)
B2 Circle Left Three Places (7) - Partner Weave Left Past This Couple (3) -
Weave Right Past Second Couple (3) - Weave Left to Face 3rd Neighbor on the
Side (3)
"Get the Baby" by Dugan Murphy (improper, single progression)
A1 Neighbor Balance and swing (16)
A2 Gents Left Hand Allemand 1.5 (8) / Partner Pass Right to Start Half Hey
Across (8)
B1 Partner Balance and swing (16)
B2 Ladies Chain Across to Neighbor (8) / Left Hand Star Once (8)
"Hanging Out in Portland" came about while looking at "Valerie's Trip to
Portland" by Erik Weberg and "Leave Them Hanging" by Luke Donforth at the
same time. "Get the Baby" is like a lot of basic star-progression dances,
but I guess I had "Get Me Going" by Lisa Greenleaf and "The Baby Rose" by
David Kaynor on my mind at the time when I was looking for a different
progression sequence to accompany the swing-allemand-hey-swing sequence.
Thanks, everybody
Dugan Murphy
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy.comwww.DuganMurphy.comwww.PortlandIntownContraDance.comwww.NufSed.consulting
Hi all,
I'm preparing for a workshop at a dance weekend in November where the theme
will be contra dances that incorporate square dance moves.
I have a number dances with square thrus and swing thrus and box
circulates. However, these moves are fairly well known at this point. This
will be an advanced group of dancers so I'm looking for dances that
incorporate more unique and sophisicated moves.
I know Bob Isaacs has several that quality, with dances that use Spin the
Top and Spin Chain Exchange the Gears.
Looking forward to seeing what you may have.
--
*Mark Hillegonds*
Cell: 734-756-8441
Email: mark.hillegonds(a)gmail.com
Hi all,
Are the Sharedweight Archives working? I can't seem to get any searches to
return results.
I tried to search the archives for various square dance moves, but kept
getting 0 results. So I tried terms that really ought to return results and
still got nothing.
For example: when I search for the word "ladies", I get 0 (zero) results.
Same when I search for the word "chain". Just to see if it mattered, I
tried with and without quotes and both upper and lower cases...no dice!
The few options available for entering search criteria would seem to limit
the possibility to screw it up. So I"m scratching my head on this.
Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.
--
*Mark Hillegonds*
Cell: 734-756-8441
Email: mark.hillegonds(a)gmail.com
Hi All,
I have been calling for almost 37 years, but have mostly been on “emeritus” status since I moved to an island that has no regular dances. The last dance I called was on Cape Cod 18 months ago. That dance is the only one I can get to; not more than once or twice a year. Attending that dance requires a ferry ride and leaving at intermission to catch the last ferry home.
Anyway, I am going from no dances in 18 months to 3 in three weeks. Tonight’s dance will be mostly “rookies”, but I expect a handful of experienced dancers. The other two dances will full of new dancers. I have my usual ONS list of dances. I wonder if you might share a few newer dances that can easily be taught and danced by these folks. I will be working with a really great string band, so the music will be great for these dances.
Thanks in advance,
John B. Freeman, SFTPOCTJ
