Confused here. There's a dance that I thought was called Canadian Barn
Dance, often done around this time of year. I was told last night that it
was actually called the Caledonian Barn Dance. Google isn't definitive yet,
so any ideas?
>From John Tuck
jatuckdk(a)gmail.com
That is, in a pinched space. I don't know how else to phrase it. Is it possible to wait out an extra turn or two at the bottom so that the number of couples actually dancing is smaller than the number of couples in the contra line? (I couldn't look up the question in the archives because explaining it is wordy.) Has anyone tried it?
Are there other methods for dealing with not enough room?
Background: I'm calling a house party contra with room for one contra line of 16-18 dancers but need 24 paying participants (to cover the band and me). Given that some people will be late, others chatting around the food, there won't be four extra couples dancing but maybe one or two or maybe none. There is a "waiting area" off to the side that doesn't take space away from the contra line.
thanks, this forum has been invaluable to this newbie caller
Leslie Gotfrit
The Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend committee is happy to announce
that the 2014 weekend will happen on MLK weekend in January at the
University of New Hampshire. We are also happy to welcome Dudley
Laufman and Susan Kevra as our featured callers, along with music by
Calliuope and Maivish. The Friday night dance will include calling by
Lisa Sieverts and Trip to Nelson, along with Susan and Dudley at the
microphone.
Details at the website: http://www.ralphpage.neffa.org/
Here is a link to my dances. They are more difficult to visualize than they are to dance or teach
http://aptsg.org/Dance/dances.html
I generally only call at dance weekends or weeks with open calling
Here are the ones from the above link I call most often
More advanced:
George's Neat Reel
A.O.'s No-No
Not Quite Fifty
Where's Alex?
Maybe You Should Write an Easy Dance
A Proper Potpourri
Hoots and Shouts
The Great Urbana Barn Dance
Mr. Johnson's Jig
One Shy of Twenty
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Doubly Good Ideas
Promises and Pearls
Say Go to the Do-Si-Do
Rory O Star
Third Easy Dance
More straightforward:
Where is Tim's Cup?
Dave Found the Missing Coffee Cup
E.J.M.J.F. in Cincinnati
More Carina
And Thinking About Coffee Cups
Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217-239-5844
Links to photos of many of my drawings and paintings are at www.ArtComesFuerst.com
Exciting! I'm pretty new to the calling game, but here are some of the
advanced dances in my box that I'm extra excited to be able to pull out
when the time comes.
The Magpie and the Seal // David Zinkin // double improper
A1: Star right below (8)
Star right above with old Ns (8)
A2: DSD 1.25 to wave of four (ladies take left, Ns take right) (8)
Balance wave, (4) alle N by R 1/2, gents pull by L (4)
B1: Bal/swing partner (16)
B2: Ladies chain (8)
1/2 hey (ladies start by R) (8)
Dr. Bluhm's Delight / Rick Mohr // Becket
A1: Slide left, circle L 3 places (8)
Swing N (8)
A2: LLFB (8)
Hands across LHS 1/2, gents drop (4)
Ladies keep allemanding L 3/4 more and take right with N (wave of 4) (4)
B1: Balance wave (4) and alle R 5/8 with N; gents take left with next gent
(diagonal wave) (4)
Balance wave (4); gents alle L 3/4 to take rights with partner in new
diagonal wave (4)
B2: Balance wave; swing partner (16)
Life, the Universe, and Everything / Carol Ormand // DI
A1: Ones pull by R, cross set, go down outside one place (8)
LLFB (8)
A2: Ones turn contra corners and do NOT let go of second corner's left;
take partner's right hand to form diagonal wave (16)
B1: Balance wave (4); drop hands and walk forward to form new wave with 2s
in center (One partners will not be in this wave) (4)
Balance wave (4); allemand right about 3/4
B2: 1s balance and swing; end improper, facing partner
(This can be an alternating corners dance; the twos go up the hall when
active if you choose to call it this way)
Have fun!
Zoë
zmadonna(a)oberlin.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Message: 1
>Date: Tue, 7 Jan 2014 11:04:04 -0500 (EST)
>From: Donna Hunt <dhuntdancer(a)aol.com>
>Subject: [Callers] complicated Contras
>
>Hi All:
>I have a few "experienced" afternoon workshops coming up and I'm tired of
>my material. I'm wondering if any of you have favorite challenging contras
>that you'd like to share? I'm looking for any dances that are intermediate
>or advanced in nature and dances that you wouldn't do on a regular night.
Hey Donna,
I know that felling :-) Maia, Seth and Zoe mentioned some of the dances I
would have suggested. A few more of my current faves are:
Dulcimer Lady - Jim Kitch
Fiddle Tales - Cary Ravitz
Flapjack Express - Joseph Pimentel
George is Reddy Willing and Able - Dean Snipes
Indigo Silk - Lynn Ackerson
Our House - Dean Snipes
Whirl of Fortune - Cary Ravitz
Hope that helps,
Bev
I also have a Shure Beta 58A wireless handheld. When I was first looking, the audio expert at the music store suggested Sennheiser. I tried them both out with their speakers, and we found it fascinating to realize that while the Sennheiser worked beautifully with his male voice, the Shure sounded far better with my middle-range female voice. Enlisting other volunteers, we also found this to be true with numerous men and women.
Because of this experience, I strongly suggest that you try the microphone in person yourself rather than just going by reviews.
Tina
Several folks asked what kind of SHURE mic I have. It is a PGX1 and comes
in either a headset or a stick mic. The transmitter is separate from the
headset, but I don't have any problems with it. It isn't very heavy and so
doesn't weigh down the waistband of my skirt. I also keep a tiny pouch
with a shoulder strap in the case so if I am wearing a dress and don't have
a waistband, I just slip it into the pouch.
JoLaine
--
JoLaine Jones-Pokorney
"We are as gods and might as well get good at it!"
- Stewart Brand
Square-through vs Cross-trail
Can anyone tell me what the difference is between these two figures, if
any? They show up in various different dances in my collection but they
both seem to be the figure that in English country dance we'd call "2
changes of rights and lefts" which is to say right hands to the person
across from you (either neighbor or partner, depending on where the
dance has taken you so far) and then left hands to the person in your
minor set who's next to you in line (again, either N or P). And in ECD
those 2 changes can sometimes start along the line instead of across,
which I assume can happen in contras as well though I haven't yet
encountered it.
And can anyone point to a really thorough online glossary of contra
terminology?
Kalia
