Contra Callers

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21 participants
4391 discussions

by Elizabeth Szekeres via Callers

Due to a cancellation, we are looking for a caller who can call both Contra and English dances for a weekend in Toronto on July 16/17. Please contact me directly for more info. Thanks Elizabeth Szekeres Talent(a)tcdance.org Sent from my iPhone

8 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] Contras which feature a "Dublin Bay" figure

by Erik Hoffman via Callers

I find, when dancing the one or two dances I've danced that try to steal the Dublin Bay figure, they have a line backing up bending into a circle. I found this transition not to my taste. So I took a stab at a different transition. I think it works, but it's a bit tricky: Happy Birthday, Susan Erik Hoffman Becket A1 Wm "Chain the line" (Wm Al R ¾, then to next Wm, Al L ¾ to meet Nb on R diag - across from Shadow); Neighbor Swing A2 LLF&B; Wm Chain to Shadow B1 Dublin Bay DH4inL ends loop back, centers step forward to B2 Pt B&S Given to Susan Petrick on her birthday, while on tour with the OpporTunists in 2010 (I think). The Dublin Bay DH4inL: Down for 4, turn alone backing up for 4, up for 4, turn alone, backing up for 4. From the ECD dance Dublin Bay. Others have used the Dublin Bay move, but ended it with a "fold into a circle. That backing up, then circling has never felt good to me. This is my attempt to come up with a segue I like. Note, even though it's a Becket dance, there is a difference in roles in this dance between the "ones" and "twos". ~Erik Hoffman Oakland, CA

8 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] Contras which feature a "Dublin Bay" figure

by Jerome Grisanti via Callers

Kalia, In my mind's eye, lines in B1 are facing the stage at beat 12, outsides turn to face down, insides walk forward to meet partners in beats 13-16. That's what I picture. Erik, is that correct? --Jerome 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 On Fri, Jan 20, 2017 at 3:20 PM, Kalia Kliban <kalia.kliban(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On 1/20/2017 1:14 PM, Jerome Grisanti wrote: > >> Kalia, >> >> In Erik's dance, it appears partners are in adjacent lines of four >> (whether women or men are in front depends on which side of the set >> you're on, also which way the lines are turned. It also appears that the >> first 12 beats of the Dublin Bay figure are as usual, but the last 4 >> beats are replaced by outsides turning down and insides walking up to >> meet their partners. >> > > So the line of 4 is moving forward, up toward the stage, but before they > do the Dublin Bay flip to move backward up toward the stage > the ends cast down? > > Kalia >

8 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] Lead & Follow

by John Sweeney via Callers

Cara asked, "Is there something wrong with Lead and Follow? Not sure if I have posted this on here before; my apologies if you read it all before. My beliefs, understandings, opinions - some points: 1) Contra is not intrinsically a lead/follow dance style; calling the roles "leader" & "follower" is incorrect, misleading and generally a bad idea 2) Within Contra there are opportunities to do some lead and follow, but either role can be the leader 3) There is a difference between leads, signals and connections, though connections are often used to lead beginners 4) Lead & Follow works better if both dancers have good lead/follow technique, and some flourishes also benefit from good technique 5) Leads can be with fingertips, body angles, eyes, and anything else that works 6) The end of a ballroom-hold swing is not symmetrical and it is often much easier to let the "man" control the end of the swing; that's not sexist, it is physics! 7) Most dancers would benefit from good teaching on this subject, but sadly there is very little teaching provided Details below. Read on if you are interested... First, I should perhaps explain my background. I have been dancing for nearly fifty years and teaching dance for over forty years. As well as contra, square, ECD, Contra, Morris, clog, etc. I also dance many partner dances such as West Coast Swing, Lindy/Swing, Argentine Tango, contra waltz and Modern Jive/LeRoc/Ceroc: http://www.modernjive.com. Modern Jive is an English, simplified form of Swing which has no fixed footwork and very few close-hold moves. It is led primarily by the man's fingertips and has a very wide range of moves. I specialise in Double Trouble: one man leading two ladies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE6Iu6Fh6bw This is a cabaret performance so we are doing some choreographed moves, but most of it is being led by me and the ladies don't know what I am going to do next. When I go to new venues I dance with lots of ladies to see how well they follow, then I dance Double Trouble with two of the good followers and I can lead them into a wide range of interesting moves. Leading two strangers simultaneously only works if they are following well, and because I have spent a lot of time studying lead and follow and developing my leading skills so that I can do this. So, back to Contra: 1) Contra is not intrinsically a lead/follow dance style; calling the roles "leader" & "follower" is incorrect, misleading and generally a bad idea I agree entirely with what many others have said already. The caller teaches the dance. The dancers dance it to the music. Everyone knows (at least in theory!) what is coming next, so there can be no lead or follow. The whole point of lead and follow is that the leader chooses the next move and has to let the follower know what it is through the lead; the follower then has to react to that lead in whatever way they choose. 2) Within Contra there are opportunities to do some lead and follow, but either role can be the leader When you execute the dance as the caller called it then there is no lead or follow. If you add some flourishes then they MAY involve some lead and follow, but which role leads depends on the actual move. A nice flourish at the end of "Up the Hall in Lines of Four; Bend the Line" is for a middle person to raise their hand and turn their end person into the circle. This is not part of the dance; the end person may not be expecting it and has to react to it; this is lead & follow. The genders/roles of the participants are completely irrelevant. Note: this can also be performed by the twirlee as an independent flourish - as long as the dancer whose hand you are holding allows it! Many dancers are so rigid that I can't raise their arm to twirl under it! (If only everyone would relax the muscles that they don't need to be using, and let their hands be moved!) 3) There is a difference between leads, signals and connections, though connections are often used to lead beginners When you help each other to redirect your momentum that is not really lead & follow. Examples are "Circle Left; Neighbour Dosido" or "Long Lines Go Forward & Back with the Ladies Rolling the Men Away from Right to Left; Ladies' Chain". Keeping connected and using the elastic in your arms to redirect the momentum and change direction makes these really satisfying moves. But no-one is leading or following; you are both just using good technique to help each other execute pre-defined moves. Of course if one dancer is experienced and the other is new to Contra, this type of connection can be used to help the new dancer to move in the correct direction. Connection, gestures and eyes are all great for helping everyone achieve the dance. Signals are pre-defined gestures that lead to choreographed moves that both participants know. An example is the twirls at the end of a Ladies' Chain. As a man, I offer my left hand high, fingers pointing down to let the lady know that I am willing to help her twirl - this is a signal; she responds with a high or low hand to let me know what she wants to happen. If she goes high then we start the twirls and I make very small circular movements directly above her head to help her twirl twice (or just once if she resists). Once I have established rapport with a dancer and realised they want to do more twirls then, on subsequent interactions, we may get up to around seven twirls - but only if both of us have good dance technique. Of course, a lady can lead herself into this move as well by just raising the man's hand and hoping he doesn't resist too much! Again this is more a signalled, playful, co-operative move than a lead and follow, since the lady knows what is going to happen and is equally involved in the decision about how many twirls are done. Genuine lead & follow, where the leader leads a follower into something they are not expecting, is quite rare in Contra. 4) Lead & Follow works better if both dancers have good lead/follow technique, and some flourishes also benefit from good technique Moves like Ladies' Chain twirls works best when both dancers have good technique. The techniques for leading and following and executing good twirls are identical to those used in Modern Jive. There is an article about lead and follow and twirling technique at http://www.modernjive.com/history/tension.html - you may find some useful material there. 5) Leads can be with fingertips, body angles, eyes, and anything else that works When I dance Modern Jive with a beginner lady, I spend the first couple of minutes teaching her the techniques for following; I do this through simple moves and exercises. If she has a good sense of rhythm and good balance then, during the second track that we dance to together, I can lead her through fifty different moves - she doesn't need to know the moves; she needs to know how to follow. This is lead & follow, and is very different from what happens in a Contra dance. The main leads are done with the fingertips, but a good leader will use anything that works to let the follower know what they are trying to achieve. The lead is an invitation. The follower can react in many ways to the invitation and the two dancers can play off each other in fun ways. Of course, always remembering that, if this is in the middle of a dance, you need to have both players facing the right way in the right place for beat one of the next move! 6) The end of a ballroom-hold swing is not symmetrical and it is often much easier to let the "man" control the end of the swing; that's not sexist, it is physics! N.B. This is about swings where you end side-by-side with the man on the left and the lady on the right. When you spring back to your own side at the end of a swing then the ending is somewhat different. A simple swing does not involve lead and follow, but someone has to control the end of the swing. The objective is to end in the right place side by side facing the right way. If the lady stops when she is facing the right way then the man has already turned too far and he is facing the wrong way; he then has to turn back against his momentum. To avoid this the lady would have to stop the man, get out of his embrace, and continue turning herself while making the man stay still. This is quite hard, but good dancers often do this, especially with beginners, or men who have no idea how to finish a swing well. On the other hand, If the man stops the swing on around beat 6 then he just releases the lady and her momentum takes her out smoothly to face in the same direction as the man. This is just physics, based on the fact that we choose to swing clockwise and to finish with the man on the left. This is not lead and follow; this is a mutual agreement as to how many times to go around, and how fast, and then to let the man end the swing so that it ends smoothly. Good dancers of course make the end of the swing flow into the next move. But here I am talking about a basic swing for ordinary dancers. Of course if one of you wants to twirl or be twirled at the end of the swing then you start moving into lead & follow territory, and since many of the embellishments are based on moves stolen from couple dances, then most such flourishes are led by the man. But that is not a rule - the lady can initiate a twirl of herself or her man, or both if she has good leading technique and he has good following technique. 7) Most dancers would benefit from good teaching on this subject, but sadly there is very little teaching provided As I have said, elements such as leading, following and twirling work well if the dancers have developed good technique. But where will they learn it in the Contra world? I teach workshops on the subject, but that seems to be quite rare. I also occasionally teach flourishes at our regular weekly dances. Sometimes it only needs a caller to drop in a few good one-liners into an evening's calling to pass along a little bit of knowledge. If callers don't do it who will? Hmmm... I have probably rambled on for too long now. I hope some of you find some of that useful. If you want to hear me talk on the subject for nearly two hours please contact me about getting a cheap copy of my Toolkit DVD: http://www.modernjive.com/tmjt.html :-) Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent

8 years, 8 months

Contras which feature a "Dublin Bay" figure

by Tavi Merrill via Callers

Dance genealogy question: The figure first appearing in "Dublin Bay" (aka "We'll Wed and We'll Bed," its title in Playford) morphed in contra into a modified "lines of four down the hall." I know a version of it from Sue Rosen's dance "Handsome Young Maids," where dancers facing down take four steps forwards, turn alone, and continue down the hall with four backward steps, then repeat the figure to return up the hall. I'm curious how many other contras this figure, or a version of it, appears in. Does anyone know of other dances? And any astute dance historians out there know what the first contra to use this figure is? Tavi

8 years, 8 months

Another vote for "jets" and "rubies"

by Aahz via Callers

Not that Portland, the other Portland. ;-) http://bangordailynews.com/2017/01/09/news/portland/contra-dancing-takes-a-… I personally would prefer to settle on "larks" and "ravens" because that seems to have more traction -- but it doesn't matter as long as we get away from "bands" and "bares". -- Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/ <*> <*> <*> Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html

8 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] Contras which feature a "Dublin Bay" figure

by April Blum via Callers

I recall dancing one called Doublin Back. And I have written one called Doublin Dublin. April Blum On Jan 16, 2017 5:20 PM, Tavi Merrill via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > > Dance genealogy question: The figure first appearing in "Dublin Bay" (aka "We'll Wed and We'll Bed," its title in Playford) morphed in contra into a modified "lines of four down the hall." > > I know a version of it from Sue Rosen's dance "Handsome Young Maids," where dancers facing down take four steps forwards, turn alone, and continue down the hall with four backward steps, then repeat the figure to return up the hall. > > I'm curious how many other contras this figure, or a version of it, appears in. Does anyone know of other dances? And any astute dance historians out there know what the first contra to use this figure is? > > Tavi

8 years, 8 months

Totals for taxes

by Luke Donforth via Callers

Hello all, 2016 is done, which for me means I can total up my calling for taxes and such. It doesn't come up here very often; but payment and mileage and whatnot is the unglamorous logistics side of calling. I figure it's worth sharing that type of information as well, so folks can be informed as they think about ramping up their calling. I'm rounding, but in looking back at 2016 in review, it comes to roughly:: 50 gigs 30 night on the road 10000 miles flown 5000 miles driven Earned $8000 A gig there is everything from fundraisers for the local library to week long dance camps. I apologize if that seems forward. It's information that I'd would have liked to have had to weigh as I started calling; and as I balance my calling against my day job and my time with family. I'm curious to hear what others are willing to share (on list, or privately) about their own financial/mileage impacts. I can break things out in private conversations if anyone wants to get into the weeds. (I admit, I like the occasional foray into data analysis). Happy new year to you all! I hope you're calling as much as you want, and that your taxes are easy! -- Luke Donforth Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>

8 years, 8 months

Four face fours

by Luke Donforth via Callers

Hello all. It's been a while since I've had enough folks at a house party to really walk through a 4x4 dance, so I'm sending this out for comment: I'm trying to increase my repertoire of accessible and entertaining 4x4s (my double reverse progression 4x4, etc, not qualifying) This one is in the "Midwestern Folklore" and "Will You Mary Me?" tradition of being two nearly identical halves. Plow and Cross Stitch by Luke Donforth Contra/Four Facing Four A1 ----------- (8) Lines of four, forward and back (8) Women's Chain up & down to facing neighbor A2 ----------- (8) 1/2 Hey up & down, women passing right shoulders (8) Neighbor swing (end facing partner, Women's line of direction; men opposite initial facing.) B1 ----------- (8) Women's Chain up and down to partner, power turn to face trail buddy couple (8) 1/2 Hey across, women passing right shoulders B2 ----------- (16) Partner balance and swing It could go lines of four again in B1, then the chain and power turn, with B2 being half hey and just a swing; but I figured try for the partner balance and longer swing. I'd appreciate hearing folks thoughts (too repetitive? too disorienting? basically X's dance Y), as well as your own favorite 4x4s; and why. My personal favorite is Rick Mohr's "Dance All Night", because you get a grand right and left in a contra. Take care, -- Luke Donforth Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>

8 years, 8 months

looking for Palm Springs CA area band(s) and sound people

by Andy Shore via Callers

I know this isn't the exact best forum, but ... I'm looking for leads on contra bands and sound people who might be available for a dance in Palm Springs California on Saturday, July 1, 2017 as part of the IAGSDC annual MWSD square dance convention. ( http://palmsprings2017.org/main/index.php ) Anyone with info please contact me directly at andyshore(a)gmail.com Thanks, /Andy

8 years, 8 months

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