Anyone know of this? I threw it together as a simple beginner's lesson
teach-the-basic-moves dance, and I assume it, or something very similar, is
already out there. No response from the first bunch of callers I emailed.
-Ron Blechner
(title unknown / untitled)
Improper
A1: N ____ + Swing (16)
A2: Circle L 3/4 (6)
P S (10)
B1: LLFB (8)
Star L 1x (8)
B2 P Alle L 1x (8) (forgiving)
Ladies Chain (to N) (8)
Here's the mixer that I've used many, many times.
Redwing Mixer
Written by Sybil Clark and the McLain Family (Bickie, Raymond, Raymond Jr.,
Alice, Ruth)
Gents progress one place to the right each time.
A1 Ladies forward and back,
Gents go forward, turn right, and go to next lady on right
A2 Promenade with new partner,
end in ballroom position with joined hands pointing to center of circle
B1 With the foot nearer center of circle, touch heel, touch toe, and take
two elegant slides into the center
Do the same thing with the foot away from the center to return to place
B2 Abandon all pretense of elegance and do the same thing in double time
Heel, toe, heel, toe, slide slide slide
Heel, toe, heel, toe, slide slide slide!
Above is the way I've always called this dance, but I believe it was
originally written with no promenade. The A1 had all going forward and
back twice, and the A2 had the ladies going forward and back, and the gents
going forward and on to the next.
Some groups get a kick out of having everyone call the "heel, toe, slide"
part of the dance out loud. And, if you've got a big enough circle and a
daring band, it's fun having the band playing in the middle of the circle.
Jacob Bloom
Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 11:11:13 -0400
> From: Michael Clark <michael.clark(a)wmich.edu>
> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject:
>
> Re: [Callers] Favorite mixers?
> Message-ID: <0MTW00JAK7J4H600(a)mta01.service.private>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
>
> Thanks Kalia for getting this discussion started. You and others
> might be interested in going back into the Callers archives for a
> couple of earlier discussions on mixers, one in March 2012 started by
> David Millstone, I think, and one on waltz mixers in October 2010
> started by Chrissy Fowler. It looks like there's some overlap between
> now and the earlier discussions, but not a lot.
>
> Here's a mixer I use fairly often that I don't think has come up
> recently or in the earlier discussions. It's a reordering of one I
> learned from the English caller John Turner when he was over here in
> the mid-90's. (As he presented it, the promenade was the end of the
> sequence.)
>
> A1 Partner balance and swing
> A2 Promenade
> B1 Ladies to the center and back (clap on count 4); gents the same,
> end facing your partner around the ring (i.e., gents face CCW, ladies CW)
> B2 Allemande Right partner (=#1) once and a half, Allemande Left the
> next (=#2) once and a half to face the next (=#3, your new partner)
>
> I always think of this as "John Turner's Mixer," but I wrote him some
> years back to see if he had title and author information on it. He
> calls it "Grand Chain Allemande" but couldn't remember where/when he
> had collected it or who might have composed it. I wonder if John
> Sweeney or any other English dance leaders who read [Callers] might
> know something about it.
>
> Mike
>
> At 02:42 AM 9/28/2013, Martha Wild wrote:
> >I have a big circle mixer I really like, I'm not sure who wrote it
> >or the name of it, perhaps if someone else recognizes it they can
> >help me out there. I just call it the Balance and Pass mixer so I
> >know what it is.
>
I've just finished a full summer camp season, with 4 week-long camps in
just under 8 weeks and some home-town gigs in between. I feel pretty
wrung out. I've also had seasons when I overbooked and had a big
concentration of local gigs (11 gigs and a weekend, plus a pile of
performance rehearsals, in 8 weeks) that left me similarly pooped. I've
carefully booked the upcoming season to leave myself more down time, and
it's helping a lot. No more than one gig a weekend, with occasion
weeknights.
My question is for the other callers who call a lot, especially if you
travel to do it. What sorts of things to you do to take care of
yourself when your schedule is really intense? How do you keep your
calling fresh, and your attitude good? Do you have any personal
routines that help you focus? Aside from the fact that what we're doing
is mountains of fun, it's also a lot of work and takes careful
concentration and preparation. There's a local square dance caller who
does something like 320 gigs a year. I need to ask him sometime how he
does it, but he's always moving too fast to engage in conversation.
Maybe this is one of those questions that falls too far toward the
"advanced" end of the discussion spectrum. I don't know. But it's one
I'd love to hear from other hard-working callers about.
Kalia
The first couple times I danced this I copied it down, so I know that this was a version of the original. I believe it was Carol Ormand who called the dance both times, but I'm not certain.
Can anyone share their opinion on why the caller would have chosen to make the change in the dance? orientation or flow?
Rocks & Dirt Erik Weberg Type: Contra Formation: Duple-Improper Level: Int
A1 -----------
Neighbor allemande Left 1-1/2 (8)
Women's Chain (8)
A2 -----------
Long lines, forward and back (8)
Ladies by the Right, Gents go round
Women allemande Right 1-1/2 (8) while gents Orbit CCW to the other side
B1 -----------
Partner balance and swing (16)
B2 -----------
Circle Left 3/4 (6)
Square thru to the new ( OR 3 place circular hey without hands )
Ngh Pull by Right - P Left - Ngh Right on to the next with your left
OR Pass 1st Ngh by the Right, Partner Left, Neighbor Right face the next for an alm Left
original dance on Erick's site - A1 N B/S A2 Ladies Chain; Orbit {Ladies Al'd R 1-1/2 while men orbit ccw 1/2 way around}
~
When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance. ~Hans Bos~
~
I'd love to add a few more mixers to my repertoire. Which ones do you
like for beginning groups or for early in the evening? And do you have
some that more advanced groups can enjoy?
Kalia
Grant said, "The weekly club dances are much less common in the US contra
dance scene."
Shame! We really miss our weekly dancing when we take vacations in the USA.
It is hard work scheduling so that you are in the right place at the right
weekend to get a dance.
How about starting up some more mid-week, weekly dances? Especially in
places where it is warm in the winter :-)
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
My first experience as a caller was in January of 1981. I was teaching
music at a psychiatric hospital and decided to add a bit of dancing to my
teaching. I spent one night a week teaching on a ward for the hearing impaired. We
placed the speakers facing the floor to help the sound be felt. Each
student had one of our teaching assistants as a partner. This combination of
transmitting the vibrations and having a partner who could hear worked very well.
I've since found that using a demonstration set also helps those with
handicaps to understand the movements.
John B. Freeman, SFTPOCTJ
I have one with some similarities:
Moving Along (by Ray Dawson)
Circle Mixer
Start in big circle
A1: Into the middle and back, twice
A2: Partner Allemande Right and pass on
Next person Allemande Left and pass on
B1: Next person Two Hand Turn and pass on
Next person Dosido and pass on
B2: Next person (Balance & )Swing
I think there are a lot of similar dances used by different callers as easy
starters.
The move where you Allemande Right 1 & 1/2 then Left with the next, repeat
until you meet your partner or you get home, is used in Appalachian Squares
and is called a Lock Chain Swing (allemandes usually done as elbow turns)
(see http://round.soc.srcf.net/dances/krs/guts for one reference)
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Mike's Note:
It's a reordering of one I learned from the English caller John Turner when
he was over here in the mid-90's. (As he presented it, the promenade was the
end of the sequence.)
A1 Partner balance and swing
A2 Promenade
B1 Ladies to the center and back (clap on count 4); gents the same,
end facing your partner around the ring (i.e., gents face CCW, ladies CW)
B2 Allemande Right partner (=#1) once and a half, Allemande Left the
next (=#2) once and a half to face the next (=#3, your new partner)
I always think of this as "John Turner's Mixer," but I wrote him some
years back to see if he had title and author information on it. He
calls it "Grand Chain Allemande" but couldn't remember where/when he
had collected it or who might have composed it. I wonder if John
Sweeney or any other English dance leaders who read [Callers] might
know something about it.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
Jim, I really like your idea for the A1 (Prom ccw,wheel, prom cw).
Bouncing ideas back and forth is something I really enjoy and I think
that the dancers sometimes benefit in the long run.
Last night I called The Wheel with the cw promenade. It worked
fine. It wasn't a riot as Bill described so I was a little
disappointed. I don't know why. It seemed to have the same
excitement as the the Atlantic Polka Mixer (see Zesty) which I
wouldn't describe as a riot. I don't think that the change in
direction of the promenade was the reason.
The wrong way promenade wasn't an issue in terms of negative
learning. It was, perhaps a bit new and different for
the 'experienced' dancers. I called a square early in the evening,
The Wheel in the middle and a square later in the evening and there
weren't any issues with promenading.
For me this isn't about trusting or not trusting Gene and Bill. It's
all about finding a better mouse trap. Innovation from both
musicians and choreographers has given the dance community an
incredible amount of enjoyment. If Gene were alive today I don't
think he'd be insulted by my trying a variation of his dance. Yes he
was a Geneius but he wasn't perfect-not one is.
Trust the folk process instead. There's a reason the Paul Jones
mixers have men on the outside.
Tom
At 11:49 AM -0700 9/29/13, Kalia Kliban wrote:
>On 9/28/2013 11:46 AM, Erik Hoffman wrote:
>>
>>On 9/28/2013 8:54 AM, Aahz Maruch wrote:
>>>One easy way of shaving time from the walkthrough that I wish more
>>>callers would use: *Don't* have dancers return to their starting
>>>points, just start the dance from the place the walkthrough lands.
>>>That can save up to thirty seconds.
>>
>>Depends on if you do one walk through or two. With two walk throughs,
>>no one is out at the top. With one, you're leaving out a top couple --
>>unless it's a double (or quadruple) progression dance. I no long send
>>people back to the beginning if I do two walk throughs unless I deem it
>>a tricky dance, where seeing familiar faces again helps solidify how the
>>dance goes.
>>
>>~erik hoffman
>
>The argument against starting from the place reached after the
>second walk-through is that the couple who were the top #2s or the
>bottom #1s will have gotten one walk-through in their current role,
>then sat out the second walk-through. if you don't bring everyone
>back to their original starting places, then those folks are
>starting the dance in a role they haven't gotten to walk through at
>all. If the dance is asymmetrical in any way, or if it's early in
>the night and new dancers haven't gotten any practice in going
>around the end of the dance, this can be really disorienting and
>cause instant breakage.
Another way to save time is the "rolling start", if the band has been
paying attention to the walkthrough (maybe vamping a beat, and diddling
the melody here and there). Some bands are very good at it. The walkthrough
just seamlessly morphs into the dance before the dancers realize it. They
think they're doing another walkthrough, and getting it right.
There is no time spent going back, and the edge effect is unaffected
(everyone will get a chance to experience it). I called recently with
the Avant Gardeners, and they really do a smooth job of it, as do others.
It can help a lot if the musicians are also dancers, and if they already
have a tune set chosen and aren't focusing tune selection instead of
the floor during the walkthrough.
-Eric
