Last night i wanted to do a square dance with a Grand Square for a
chorus. In planning for the evening, i thought it might be good to
introduce the idea in a contra. The following is the result:
"Petite Square Contra" DI Tom Senior May 2014
A1 B&S N
A2 Circle Left, star Left
B1 Long lines F&B, 1's swing, and end close.
B2 Petite Square (1's are below)
1-2 1's back up, 2's move forward (face down)
3-4 1's up the outside as 2's move down inside
5-6 1's in to center (face down), 2's back out
7-8 1's move down center to next N, 2's up outside to meet new 1's
The Petite Square move is borrowed from an English Country Dance by Gary
Roodman. i have not seen it in contra before, although it may not be
particularly original.
The dance went pretty well last night at the Chicago Barn Dance. The only
problem was that the dancers wanted to rush through each section, not
taking 4 steps. After a few times through, most dancers got the idea and
applied it to the grand square latter in the evening. I also kept the
first 3 parts of the dance pretty simple since i wanted to do it early in
the evening.
Hope this might be useful.
Tom
--
Tom Senior
Dance while you can.
see my website: http://marblechimes.com/
You are invited to take a survey to gather views about "social dance"
at Sidmouth Folk Festival - Contra, Playford, Traditional Squares,
Irish set dancing and similar. The information will be used to help
plan Sidmouth Social Dance 2015. Whether you've been a Sidmouth
regular for years or you've never been there, your views will be very
welcome.
http://tinyurl.com/SidmouthSurvey
(Apologies if you receive this more than once.)
Colin Hume
I've collected a few but I'm looking for dances suitable for a mixed crowd (with new dancers) but at a dance where there is no teaching, just walk-through.
So not beginner starter dances. But - not heys (delphiniums and daisies) but - any contributions are welcome! Or those with a r/l that can be converted to promenade with no deterioration of flow. Thanks in advance.
I have:
tica tica timing/ old time elixir #2,
ALS Safeway,
air pants,
after the solstice (switching r/l w promenade ),
dance all night,
Back to basics,
Back Road to Ayer,
ADPD,
All you can eat,
Greetings,
Delphiniums and Daisies,
Broken Sixpence
Laurie P
Grand Rapids/ West MI
Last June, Jack Mitchell asked for suggestions on what should go into
a workshop on End effects. I've now collated the ideas, added some
opinions of my own, and produced a page of notes which I will be using
at Chippenham Folk Festival this coming weekend, so if you're
interested please have a look and send any comments either to the list
or direct to me.
http://www.colinhume.com/dtendeffects.htm
I'm also sending this to the Trad-dance-callers list, so apologies if
you receive it twice.
Colin Hume
Sounds like more than one person has come up with a great idea
independently. I always thought that it was Nick Hawes who first
wrote a dance with intersecting contras with a square (or squares) at
the intersection(s).
I had a phone conversation with him probably in the early 90s. His
memory of what he had called (at Ashoken I think) was:
A circle left 4 steps, balance, California twirl, pass through
B allemande left corner (neighbor) and swing partner.
C ladies chain over and back
He couldn't remember the other 16 beat phrase and told me to just pad
out the rest to come up with 64 beats.
I called the above to a crooked tune and the ever creative Becky Hill
took the choreography and added do-si-dos with neigbor and partners
to pad it out.
If any one is in contact with Nick it would be interesting to get
more information.
Tom
My apologies, searches of my brain and my archives has failed to find the
notes I am looking for.
Please could someone remind me what name is used to refer to contra lines
which cross each other, so that those waiting out at the top don't wait but
do a square dance with each other to the same calls? Any links or pointers
also much appreciated.
Thanks.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England <mailto:john@modernjive.com>
john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
<http://www.modernjive.com> http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive
Events & DVDs
<http://www.contrafusion.co.uk> http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing
in Kent
Hello, esteemed caller colleagues!
The 4th Saturday dance in Norwich, Vermont needs to quickly find a caller
for this month! $75 guaranteed, more if a huge number of dancers turn out.
Fairly diverse range of skills, music by the house band, Cuckoo's Nest. I'd
call if I wasn't playing in the band (though it might come down to that).
Besides filling the slot this month, if anyone is interested in joining the
list of regular callers for this dance, we're looking into that as well.
Let us hear from you!
Chip Hedler
Hi all,
The request below is for the Upper Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire (Hanover, Lebanon NH, White River Jct VT). If anyone is interested in taking this on, please contact me off list: deliaclark8(a)gmail.com. I would do it for her but will be out of town.
Delia
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Johnnie Angel <liv2servixoye(a)gmail.com>
> Subject: I"m wicked late in asking but do you know any amateur callers
> Date: May 8, 2014 4:47:24 PM EDT
> To: Delia Clark <deliaclark8(a)gmail.com>
>
> My friend is getting married on June 21st. She was looking for someone that could call some contra dances at her wedding. I believe she has a DJ with some contra songs so she needs someone to lead the folks in a dance. She was hoping to save some money by getting someone less experienced but still knows what they are doing. Do you know of anyone that would fit that bill or perhaps it is something you may be interested in. Please let me know. Sorry I missed that last dance in April. I"m looking forward to doing more dances. They were great though. Thanks for being there and inviting me. Hope you're thoroughly enjoying this beautiful weather. Thanks for letting me know.
> Concetta Coviello
<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>
Delia Clark
PO Box 45
Taftsville, VT 05073
802-457-2075
deliaclark8(a)gmail.com
I haven't been calling very long, and I know I'm young and spry, but what
sort of incidents have any of you had that might necessitate caller's
insurance?
Thanks for being willing to participate--I did not think to allow for
participants outside the U.S. but I would love to have your input. Please
just make a note at the end of the survey, in the "comments/suggestions"
box.
Thanks!
Jennifer
On Fri, May 2, 2014 at 5:40 AM, Bob Morgan <ceilidh.caller.bob(a)gmail.com>wrote:
> I'd love to contribute but as I'm in England and I didn't see an option for
> that?
>
> Bob
>
>
> On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 11:06 PM, Jennifer Shafer <jeshafer23(a)gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Greetings fellow contra dance enthusiasts!
> >
> >
> > I am a Ph.D. student in music at Ohio State University, and I am
> developing
> > a research project to investigate some aspects of contra dance
> > choreography. To continue in this project I am asking for your
> > participation in a survey.
> >
> >
> > The survey should take about 20 minutes to complete. It does ask that
> you
> > recall names of dance choreographies that you have danced, and I
> recognize
> > that this may make it more difficult for some of us (myself included) to
> > fill out such a survey. However, I know that callers are more likely to
> be
> > able to recall names of dances, which is why I have chosen to distribute
> > the survey primarily to callers.
> >
> > Here is the link to the survey:
> >
> >
> > https://casosu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8e5SQGiwCL3MmiN
> >
> > Thank you for helping me in this research project by taking part in the
> > survey.
> >
> >
> > I sincerely appreciate your time!
> >
> >
> > Jennifer Shafer
> > _______________________________________________
> > Callers mailing list
> > Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
