Hi all:
Does anyone here know of any dances that are licensed under an open
(free as in freedom) license or have fallen into the public domain (it's
hard to find dates for a lot of older dances)?
I'm already using a few of Seth Tepfer's dances which are licensed under
a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 3.0) license [1] (Thanks Seth; I owe you a
beer or something!) and wondered if anyone else had licensed their
dances in a similar fashion?
I know that most callers don't mind if people include their dances in
non-commercial teaching materials or call them at dances (implicit CC
licensing is sort of ingrained in the culture), but I'd like to stick
with things that are verifiably in the public domain or have explicitly
been released under a CC or similar license.
These would be used as example dances in the typesetting project that I
mentioned recently (which will hopefully be published sometime next week).
Thanks,
Sam
P.S. I always wonder why more callers don't do this; lack of knowledge
that such things exist?
P.P.S. As a matter of public record: All of my dances are _always_
released under CC BY-NC 3.0 license unless otherwise marked or stated. I
also waive the noncommercial restriction for the purpose of calling them
at a dance.
[1]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
--
Sam Whited
pub 4096R/EC2C9934
https://samwhited.com/contact
I'm interested in others' perspectives on this topic integral to our
passion. I've had a few very brief interactions with other callers on this
topic but would appreciate a wider view with an eye towards commonly agreed
acceptable practice. We live in a world that has the dichotomy of very
strong legal concepts of "ownership" and yet at the same time the dance
community carries on a more open heredity of sharing and the folk process
in order to benefit us all.
As I became interested in calling, I started to do a fair amount of capture
from live calling with occasional "asks" to the caller for
clarification/confirmation of my capture (at a convenient point in the
program for them). Often they would just hand me their card. In one case an
established caller offered a stack of "easy" dances to a group of us at a
shared caller night which was very helpful to gain some known entities.
Nowadays if a caller offers their card I usually simply take a photo of it
with my cell phone to respect their time and transcribe from that later.
Lately I've been doing a couple of other things to capture dances: gaining
clarification from YouTube videos for trickier choreography I've seen live
or leveraging positive mentions of dance names on lists like this to
trigger a YouTube search for original capture.
If folks ask me to look at a card when I'm calling I'll gladly share it.
However, I'm a bit uneasy when they ask for more than a couple and from my
experience on the other side it appears others around me feel similarly. (I
once had the unusual experience of a caller unknown to me asking for one
card which I handed over and then came back from socializing during the
break to find her rifling through and copying from my card deck on stage -
seemed to think that was perfectly normal behavior!)
I've not posted another composer's work (with the exception of one dance
commissioned for my daughter) as I feel this is crossing the line. However,
I have noted several collections of dances posted on the web by folks other
than the authors - in some cases they assert they have permission to do so
and others are mum. I have copied from several of these in the past but now
steer away from "no permission expressed" ones.
So I've kinda boiled this down to a tentative personal code of sharing:
- OK to gather from primary sources on my own work (live dance, YouTube
videos, etc.)
- OK to gather first hand from another caller's offered card or follow
up message, whether their own work or of another composer
- OK to gather from web publication or books expressing permission, or
posted by the author
- Before copyright works/chestnuts open game and OK
- OK to offer my own compositions as I like in any form
- OK to share others' compositions in a one-on-one on request fashion
- Not cool to hoover up another caller's deck in big gulps (at least at
an event or without offer) or to be expected to give likewise
- Grey area: sharing another's composition in response to a request on a
list post (as opposed to an off-list one-on-one email, or a link to an
existing acceptable on-line resource)
- No Way: publishing a list of other's compositions, without the
expressed permission of the author, in any form.
I freely offer that some of the distinctions may or may not make sense to
others, but feels right to me in this environment. The grey area one above
would probably be stifling to several of the choreography review and
criticism threads which are otherwise very helpful were it made "not OK."
I'd love to hear what others think!
Code's Compiling by Sam Whited (Duple becket)
A1. Neighbor dosido (8); Partner see saw (8)
A2. Shadow swing (16)
B1. Balance and petronella (8); Balance and petronella (8)
B2. Partner swing (8); Left diagonal: Right and left through (8)
Hi Sam,
Just a few suggestions.
Seesaw has multiple meanings; it could be a left shoulder dosido
(old MWSD definition), it could be a left shoulder gypsy (current MWSD
definition), it could be the men walking in a dosido path around a
stationary lady (see 37 seconds in at
http://squaredancehistory.org/items/show/654).
Whereas dosido (which has countless spellings and more meanings) has
been standardised in the contra community, I don't believe seesaw has, so I
would always specify which one I mean.
When you say "Shadow swing" you haven't yet established who the
shadow is. I guess you mean the person beside you in the long lines, but it
depends on the dance; your shadow could be some distance away. Again, I
would suggest you specify who you mean.
Balance and Petronella: I guess you mean Balance the Ring and
Petronella. The original dance from which the Petronella move was taken
didn't have hands joined in a ring - see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TamzPchX--I So unless you say it is a
ring/circle readers might assume you are using the original move and not
join hands. Again, it helps to make things clear if you use a few more
words.
Hope that helps.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
In light of the earlier discussion about both double-progression and
dances with neighbor swing that don't have circle left 3/4, I wrote the
following. I'd first like to double-check that this doesn't already
exist under some other name, nor does the name exist for some other
dance; I'd also like feedback on the choreography.
Orange You Glad We Met?
Becket
A1
Men L allemande 1/2 (4)
Neighbor B&S (12)
A2
L star 1/2 to prev neighbor (6)
R star full to current neighbor (10)
B1
Pass thru current neighbor to new neighbor (4)
PROGRESSION
End in wave
Balance wave (4)
Square thru 3.5 (8)
B2
Partner B&S (16)
--
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
<*> <*> <*>
"It's 106 miles to Chicago. We have a full tank of gas, a half-pack of
cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses." "Hit it."
Sam asked for some samples of less formal ECD:
This is a demonstration team using lots of bits from different dances,
together with some fun choreography:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXzEy9qzeSQ
This is also a demo team, but they are doing a selection of dances that are
often done over here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIIOMCz0jFc
The sequence at 2:17 is a traditional "contra" dance called "Pins and
Needles" - short sets which are joining across the hall for the waves.
The sequence at 3:23 is "Dorset Four Hand Reel".
We dance both of those regularly at our local club.
This is some American dancers having fun doing 17th Century dances from
Playford's "English Dancing Master":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ35ZkLkJJ4#thttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3uWRbXFBM4
I strongly believe that this is much more like the way the dances were
danced in the 17th century, with lots of stepping and energy - anyway that
is how I teach them!
A three couple version of Portsmouth at Chippenham festival a couple of
years ago in the Zesty Playford session:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65xy_6XC1_Y
(I'm in the middle during the first part of the video, tall guy with grey
hair, white shirt, blue trousers (sorry, pants!))
The caller asked us to rant or step all the way through.
Notice that in all these examples there is lots of stepping rather than
walking. That is one of the reasons you will end up with a healthy glow! :-)
Hope that helps.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
Sam said, "I tried ECD a couple of times, and while I enjoyed the people,
and thought a lot of the dances were really interesting, I couldn't help but
wonder why I'd want to do something that didn't leave me sweaty and
breathless afterwards."
It doesn't have to be like that!
Come to one of my English country dances and I'll get you sweating! :-)
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
Hi
I am designing workshop for a dance weekend here in Australia and would like to crowd source some inspiration:
Simply answer the question - what made you addicted to contra?
Looking forward to your answers
Cheers
Jeanette
"The piano - 88 little mistakes waiting to happen." Peter Barnes.
If you have the sequences for any of the following dances, please send me a private message:
Hang
Time (Isaacs/AUman)
I
Wish They All Could Be California Twirls (Jim Kitch)
Moody
Street (Rosen)
Round
the House by Bob Isaacs
Sneak
Peek (Bob Isaacs)
Square
Affair (Becky Hill)
Walk
the Walk (Bob Isaacs)
Thanks
Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217-239-5844
P.E.,
That same sequence change is generated in some dances by having the #1 gent
do a "Right hands high, left hands low" figure while the other gent turns
alone. The move is different, but you might find some existing
choreography/dances that inspire you (or that you might avoid repeating).
Unfortunately, I can't provide titles offhand.
--Jerome
--
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
"We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least
once."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
Hello, all!
I'm look at a down-the-hall move and wondering if it has been done before, and if so with what results, so any feedback would be appreciated. Results mainly meaning: did it cause confusion for the dancers/ did they enjoy it.
Improper, 1's between 2's, line of four down the hall, gent #1 turns in place holding both ladies who pivot around him. Gent #2 turns alone.
Return the line, this time lady #2 (center lady) is the pivot point for both gents.
This "turn" would be better described as Lady #1 "bends-the-line" alone, gent #1 stays in place beside her. Lady and gent #2 cast outside to make a full turn until they are both facing in, lady on the right.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Polly
