Contra Callers

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4417 discussions

Right hand high and left hand low figure

by Elizabeth Bloom Albert

Dear callers and fellow dance writers, I am writing a new contra dance and I have a question: Has there ever been an instance where, during a “Right hand high and left hand low,” everybody in a line of FOUR snakes under the raised arms (i.e., no one turns alone) in order to come back up the hall? Caller’s Box explains the move as “A way for a line of three to face the other direction and swap ends without dropping hands.” I want it to be a line of four. Will that work? Thank you! -- * Elizabeth Bloom Albert *

4 months, 1 week

Rights and Lefts

by Rich Sbardella

I am tasked with calling a Colonial Dance with mostly novices. Most of the dances I have are Triple Minors and contain Rights and Lefts. I am converting the dances to Duple Minors in most cases, or perhaps to a Triplet if need be. I have two questions. Do you have a favorite replacement for the 16 count Rights and Lefts that will leave dancers facing their new neighbors? Do you have any Regency period or colonial flavored dances for a group of novice dancers? Thanks! Rich Sbardella Stafford, CT, USA

4 months, 2 weeks

Space-Efficient Dances (a PS to Ceilidhs, Barn Dances, etc, Oh My!)

by Angela DeCarlis

Hello again all! Thank you to those who've already shared their favorite barn and ceilidh dances with me! I'm having trouble searching the Shared Weight archives, so apologies if this has been asked before. After discovering that the space allotted to my dance event this Sunday is fairly small, I'm now looking for dances in space-efficient formations. The dance floor is about 10 paces wide and deep, so about the right size for four 8-person squares. It's not a great size for longways sets, so I'm thinking scatter mixers and concentric circles might be good — maybe some triplets?? "Squares" four more than 8, Like Monkey in the Middle? What miniature dances do you brilliant people have up your sleeves? 🙂 Ang

4 months, 2 weeks

Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea

by Emily Addison

Hi Folks! I'm wondering if you have tricks to teach Box the Gnat and Swat the Flea to a whole room of dancers who have not done it before. (In this case, it's happening in an otherwise very simple scatter mixer but I can imagine almost no one will know the figure.) The wording I've figured out is below. I feel like it's wordy but it's also a hard move to pick up because it's kind of weird what's actually happening. :) Ideally, I'd love to be able to teach this without a demo but I feel like I'm stuck with the demo. (If you have talk BtheG to a big room of non-dancers without a demo, I'd love to hear your strategies). Anyway - open to any and all feedback. Thanks! Emily in Ottawa DEMO BoxTGnat from a hands 4 With your P - join R hands in loose handshake hold – no thumbs! Goal is to trad places with your P so you end up in the spot there are right now. BUT Lark/Robin will be doing different things to get there! But little tug to start & raise joined hands. Larks: you walk past your P into your P place. (could feel like behind/outside of the circle) Robins: you WALK under your joined hands, turning in to face ctr of circle & keep turning until face P . You have stepped into THEIR place. Have them drill StF and BtG over and over before starting the rest of the dance.

4 months, 2 weeks

Ceilidhs, Barn Dances and Kitchen Dances, oh my!

by Angela DeCarlis

Hello everyone! I've been starting a new dance series in Gainesville, Florida called the All Y'all. The gist of the series is that each event features a variety of community social dancing in an effort to attract experienced dancers who want to try new styles, as well as dancers who are brand new to all of it. At the first event we had barn dances, some very easy contra dances, a simple square dance, some urban line dancing, and a demo performance from a local clogging group. It was a great success, with around 75 folks attending, the majority of whom were beginners. Here's a link if you want to check out some videos of the fun. <https://www.instagram.com/p/DO1uvMGkbFm/?img_index=1> *Here's the ask:* I need to expand my repertoire of beginner-friendly dances to include more formations, and also different traditions! In particular, I want to add more English, Scottish, etc ceilidh dances to my bank for my upcoming events. Simple squares and anything else you adore is also welcome! If you have one of two you love, please send them along. Please include what tradition and/or country the dance originates from when appropriate! I'm not yet at a point where I can request any special music — so like, some day I'd love to have balfolk and all that goodness, but it won't happen soon. For now assume the musicians are playing from the American Oldtime repertoire (including 3-part tunes!). Thank you all in advance, especially those reading from across the pond. 🙂 Ang

4 months, 3 weeks

teaching Wizard's Walk; The (Wayward) Witches Way

by Andrew Stout

Hi Callers, I have a gig on Oct 30, so naturally I'm plumbing the archives for Halloween-themed choices. There have been several threads on this, I'm not trying to start another one, I have two more specific questions: 1. Anyone got tips for teaching the Wizard's Walk figure? I've danced it (although not recently); I've never called it. (I'm interested in all tips, but FWIW I'm expecting a relatively experienced semi-monthly local crowd.) 2. The specific W'sW descendant I'm planning to use is Cis Hinkle's The WItches Way <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=3804>, which has the Wizard's Walk figure in A1. It seems to me that to better fit the original Wizard's Walk tune the dance should be "rotated" thus: A1: (4,4) balance the ring (with Nbr1s); Petronella turn 1 place to R (no claps) (8) Partner swing A2: (4,4) balance the ring; Petronella turn 1 place to R (no claps) (8) Neighbor1 swing B1: (8) Robins chain (to Ptr) (6) circle RIGHT 3/4 (2) Ones arch, twos dive [to meet next Nbrs) B2: (16) Wizard's Walk: | (4) Nbr 2 mirror pass through along (ones split twos) | (4) Nbr 3 mirror pass through along (twos split ones) | (4) backing up Nbr 3 mirror pass through along (ones split twos) | (4) backing up Nbr 2 mirror pass through along (twos split ones) Has anyone done that? Do y'all agree? (The original dance <https://www.cambridgefolk.org.uk/contra/dances/ruth_ungar/wizards_walk.html> has the W.W. figure in B2.) I don't know if such a variant deserves its own name, but if so it seems like it should be called "Wayward Witches". Cheers, --Andrew Stout

4 months, 3 weeks

Re: Full-length tunes for a dance

by Bill Olson

Amy, hi.. looks like you sent that reply only to me and I bought the album, what, 30ish years ago? I'll copy the list on this reply. The guys were out here in Maine just after Ted Sannella died to play the North Whitefield dance. It was a really cold November night. Ted was buried within earshot of the hall and after the dance, we hiked down to his grave and Claude played "Lady of the Lake" on fiddle. It was below freezing, and we all had a moment. That was KGB for ya!!! bill ________________________________ From: Amy Wimmer <amywimmer(a)gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2025 7:22 PM To: Bill Olson <callbill(a)hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [Callers] Re: Full-length tunes for a dance I can attest to the great music on KGB's "Volga Notions" album. We've used it for situations where there was no band. Dave, Claude, and Julie are superb musicians and composers. Get ahold of Dave and buy that thing! -Amy Wimmer Seattle On Tue, Oct 14, 2025, 12:16 PM Bill Olson via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: Seattle contra dance band, KGB,'s CD "Volga Notions" has dance length tune medleys. Not old timey, but really really great. The band, Dave Bartley, Julie King, and Claud Ginsburg, is no longer together after 31 years (so sad), but you can get the album from Dave on his website. bill" ________________________________ From: dje h via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>> Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2025 2:10 PM To: contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>> Subject: [Callers] Full-length tunes for a dance I recently got approached to call for a church social. Unfortunately, it's the same weekend as a huge area fiddle festival, and I'm not able to get a live band in spite of reaching out widely. I'm looking for downloadable full-length dance music (I'm completely willing to purchase). I prefer old-time tunes, but New England style would also work. Thanks! Deborah Hyland Ft. Scott, KS _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net>

5 months

Suggest names for these two dances

by sjapartments＠gmail.com

****** Becket right ****** 1) F&B and roll away (larks slide, robins roll) 2) Bal the ring, spin or slide right one place in ring (aka petronella) 3) Dsd (or right shoulder round) current neighbor 4) Swing new neighbor 5) Rights and lefts across 6) Robins chain to partner 7) Robins right shoulder round in center, 8 ) Partners swing .. ****** Becket, Zigzag progression (See *Note *below) ****** 1) F&B and roll away (larks slide, robins roll) 2) Bal the ring, spin or slide right one place in ring (aka petronella) 3-4) N's bal (or dsd) & sw 5) 1/2 Pousette with partner around current neighbors, larks moving forward 6) with new N's, balance the ring and petronella 7-8) P's bal (or dsd) & swing *Note* Everyone now progressed but on the opposite side from which they started. Next cycle through the gets dancers back to their starting with 5) 1/2 Pousette with partner around next neighbors, robins moving forward One could also describe this dance's zigzag progression by explaining that couples starting in the larks'/robins' line progress down/up the set A zigzag progression has dancers progression either to the top or bottom of the set, but with each cycle of the dance leaving dancers in the opposite line from which they started. Ron Buchanan came up with this idea for Becket dances some years ago. Starting the dance on phrase 5, I think makes the dance switch between proper and improper.

5 months, 1 week

Tony Parkes LCA

by David Smukler

The late Tony Parkes will be honored November 22, 2025, as a recipient of the Lifetime Contribution Award from Country Dance and Song Society. The event takes place at the Scout House, Concord, MA. A renowned caller of contras and squares for more than 50 years, choreographer, musician, band leader, textbook author, workshop leader, dance historian, and organizer, Tony was widely recognized as the preeminent traditional New England caller at the time of his death. The November 22 program will be mask optional. It begins at 4 PM with a square dance session taught and prompted by Tony himself! (on recordings), followed by an award presentation, a potluck supper (6 PM), and an evening dance (7:30 PM) of contras and squares called by Annie Kidwell, Ben Sachs-Hamilton, and Lisa Greenleaf, with music by Stove Dragon: Oliver Scanlon, Max Newman, Rose Jackson, Sam Zakon-Anderson. (Note that the language on Tony’s recordings is gendered. The evening dance will use role terms robins and larks.)

5 months, 1 week

Gents/Larks and Ladies/Robins lines

by sjapartments＠gmail.com

Before the rise to prominence of larks and robins, callers and dance transcriptions would occasionally refer to the gents'/ladies' line as the line in which gets/ladies would line up for a proper dance. Should this now rarely used designation be declared obsolete or deprecated, or should we now occasionally refer to the gents' and ladies' lines

5 months, 1 week

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