Aahz Maruch said, "I learned recently from square dancing: what we call
a Mad Robin is also properly called a sashay."
Well, yes and no...
In Modern Western Square Dancing the definitions are provided by
CALLERLAB - http://www.callerlab.org/ - see the "Basic and Mainstream
Definitions".
The Half Sashay is fully defined and includes:
"Styling: Dancers use a normal couple handhold, pulling slightly toward
each other as they initiate the sashay movement. As the dancers complete
the call, they catch hands to end in a couple handhold..."
In contra dancing a Mad Robin can start and finish with or without a
hand hold - I suspect "without" is more common.
But that is only half a Mad Robin. The Sashay itself has been
deprecated. CALLERLAB says, "The terms "Full Sashay" or "Sashay All The
Way Around" are not part of any dance program. This is improper language
and should not be used."
(So, definitely not "properly called a sashay"!)
Of course square dancers outside the MWSD world (and many of the clubs
within the MWSD world!) do what they want anyway :-)
The other challenge is that "Sashay" means lots of different things to
different people:
Dictionary definition: to walk or glide in an ostentatious way.
Sashay down the hall: take two hands with your partner and go
side-together-side-together down the hall (we normally say "Gallop" in
England).
In a waltz-time dance: take ballroom hold and step sideways (1 & 2
instead of 1,2,3) (we normally say "chassé" in England).
And indeed, in the dance world, "sashay" is derived from the word
"chassé" and has lots more variations - see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashay
So, I think I would stick to calling it a Mad Robin :-)
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
I did some Irish Set Dancing at Chippenham Festival last weekend and one
of the dances (from Clare, I believe) had a "dosido" - but in this dance
it was a left shoulder dosido with exactly two clockwise spins.
When did people start dosido spinning in contra dances? Where did the
idea come from?
Did the contra dance version and the Irish Set Dance version come into
being independently?
Thanks.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
Erik said, "It's just gone out of fashion in the contra dance world"
... and the square dance world, and the ceilidh world, and the English
Country Dance world, and the English folk dance world, etc! :-)
Erik also said, "I have yet to hear one of the proselytizers for the
spinning Do Si Do discuss the problem of the directional nature of the
Do Si Do and how they teach that..."
I think the problem of direction comes because callers DON'T teach a
Dosido - they rely on new dancers picking it up from existing dancers,
who of course may well be spinning. One caller told a tale of how, when
calling, she said that in this dance she wanted the dancers to do an
ordinary dosido; apparently some dancers asked what she meant and were
amazed to discover that there were no spins in a standard dosido!
If there are ANY newcomers at a dance then I will teach the dosido; I
tell them to start facing their partner, work out which is their right
shoulder, go forwards, sideways, backwards without turning and finish
facing their partner - I usually explain that it comes from the French
dos-à-dos meaning back to back.
If it is an ONS I am usually in the middle of the floor with my wife and
my wireless head-mike and I demonstrate it.
If I see anyone folding their arms I tell them that dancers don't do
that any more so they don't have to do it, but that they can of course
do it if they want to - I always say, "Innovation and improvisation are
good" making it clear that they can do what they want as long as they
are in the right place at the right time and don't mess anyone up.
If anyone is spinning I will tell the newcomers that they may see people
spinning and they can ignore it - the move works if one person spins and
the other doesn't.
If they are a keen energetic crowd I may show them how to spin the
dosido since it is fun and some of them pick it up straight away and
love it.
If it is an English ceilidh I definitely don't mention spinning since it
is much harder to do it when dancing hop-steps or skip-change steps - it
is not part of the style. Likewise with ECD groups (which don't really
exist in England - we mix all the styles up at each event!) since it is
not considered part of that style (though often works very well!).
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
<<Delayed because I sent from the wrong e-mail account...>>
I personally don't like arms folded in a dosido, so my three points in
favour of not folding was really a light-hearted response to the
previous post with three points in favour of saying nothing.
I always explain these things with a smile, tactfully, and make it
absolutely clear that they can fold their arms if they want: "innovation
and improvisation are good!" :-)
Why teach the dosido spin? Because it helps people to know which way to
spin, and because there are elements like catching your partner's eyes
between the spins that people won't necessarily pick up without some
guidance.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk <http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/> for
Dancing in Kent
Hi All,
I can't help looking for opportunities to modify...
For crowds that don't like the "inactive" role of 2's and 3's, the dance can be
made into a triplet, (set of 3 couples) if the 2's and 3's allemande once and a half to change places
while the actives go "across the hall and come back." If this is timed perfectly, a group of 6
can actually be in a line up and down the hall, just before the cast off.
About the "across the hall," the same old-timer who asked me about the contra corners with
each active visiting 4 corners, (BTW Thank you all for the feedback) demonstrates what he termed
a "rant" step at the end of the "across the hall" before the "and come back."
And, when dancing Sackett's harbor with a playful crowd, the Contra corners can be
turned into two "stars for three" with a little fast footwork. And I wonder if anyone has
written a version of this dance that includes that "visit all 4 in the contra corners" figure...
bobfab(a)aol.com
-----Original Message-----
From: callers-request <callers-request(a)sharedweight.net>
To: callers <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Sent: Wed, May 29, 2013 12:00 pm
Subject: Callers Digest, Vol 105, Issue 28
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oday's Topics:
1. Historic dances, Sacktt's Harbor (Donald Perley)
2. Re: Historic dances, Sacktt's Harbor (Kalia Kliban)
3. Re: Historic dances, Sacktt's Harbor (Jonathan Sivier)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
ate: Tue, 28 May 2013 13:19:43 -0400
rom: Donald Perley <donperley(a)gmail.com>
o: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
ubject: [Callers] Historic dances, Sacktt's Harbor
essage-ID:
<CAMKNU+-+H8CYAY3++-gFvyA=TY0sprL1_5nG7tx53hySvtjmwg(a)mail.gmail.com>
ontent-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
Last year the 200th anniversary of Hull's Victory had a lot of callers
eaturing that fine chestnut.
Today marks the 200th for the battle of Sacket's Harbor (second of 2
nyway) so consider adding it to your program in the next week. I
alled it last weekend to an enthused crowd.
Sackets Harbor
ormation: Contra, triple minor proper
igs: Steamboat Quickstep/I Lost My Love
A1-
orward six and back
ircle left, 3/4 round (six hands,) gents face up and the ladies face down
2-
ctives ?down? the center, turn alone
eturn, cast off
1-
urn contra corners and fall back into your own line
2-
orward six and back
ircle right, 3/4 round ( six hands)
In A2 the actives are actually moving across the hall as the minor
ets are rotated. If the stage is north, they move
est to east.
-----------------------------
Message: 2
ate: Tue, 28 May 2013 10:39:26 -0700
rom: Kalia Kliban <kalia(a)sbcglobal.net>
o: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
ubject: Re: [Callers] Historic dances, Sacktt's Harbor
essage-ID: <51A4EBCE.7020803(a)sbcglobal.net>
ontent-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
On 5/28/2013 10:19 AM, Donald Perley wrote:
Last year the 200th anniversary of Hull's Victory had a lot of callers
featuring that fine chestnut.
Today marks the 200th for the battle of Sacket's Harbor (second of 2
anyway) so consider adding it to your program in the next week. I
called it last weekend to an enthused crowd.
And you can get the English dancers in the crowd intrigued by telling
hem that it's essentially Trip to Tunbridge turned sideways. The
-to-T tune segues pretty nicely out of Steamboat Quickstep if you want
fun musical trivia moment.
Kalia
-----------------------------
Message: 3
ate: Tue, 28 May 2013 12:40:33 -0500
rom: Jonathan Sivier <jsivier(a)illinois.edu>
o: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
ubject: Re: [Callers] Historic dances, Sacktt's Harbor
essage-ID: <51A4EC11.5030907(a)illinois.edu>
ontent-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"; format=flowed
On 5/28/2013 12:19 PM, Donald Perley wrote:
Last year the 200th anniversary of Hull's Victory had a lot of callers
featuring that fine chestnut.
Today marks the 200th for the battle of Sacket's Harbor (second of 2
anyway) so consider adding it to your program in the next week. I
called it last weekend to an enthused crowd.
The next two Fridays, May 31 and June 7, Scott Meyer and I will be
eading workshops on Chestnut Contras prior to the Urbana Country
ancers' regular contra dances in Urbana, IL. We will be doing a number
f different classic dances including Hull's Victory and Sackett's
arbor. Here is the list of dances we will be selecting from for the
orkshops.
Chorus Jig
ull's Victory
ady of the Lake
ady Walpole's Reel
etronella
ortland Fancy
ory O'More
ackett's Harbor
There were several others we considered, but had to leave off the
ist. We could easily have added a 3rd or even a 4th workshop. We hope
o give our local dancers a feel for some of the history of contra dance
nd where some of the figures they encounter in modern dances came from.
Jonathan
----
onathan Sivier
aller of Contra, English and Early American Dances
sivier AT illinois DOT edu
ance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html
----
: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
: It depends on what dance you call!
-----------------------------
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nd of Callers Digest, Vol 105, Issue 28
***************************************
I think it is time to write a dance celebrating the victory of the Shannon
over the Chesapeake, for the Canadian and British dancers. There is a fine
song about it with a jig tune, so that would work, musically. I'll try to
work up some choreography because the anniversary of that is coming up,
too: June 1.
Maura
Ottawa, Ontario
>
Last year the 200th anniversary of Hull's Victory had a lot of callers
featuring that fine chestnut.
Today marks the 200th for the battle of Sacket's Harbor (second of 2
anyway) so consider adding it to your program in the next week. I
called it last weekend to an enthused crowd.
Sackets Harbor
Formation: Contra, triple minor proper
Jigs: Steamboat Quickstep/I Lost My Love
A1-
Forward six and back
Circle left, 3/4 round (six hands,) gents face up and the ladies face down
A2-
Actives “down” the center, turn alone
Return, cast off
B1-
Turn contra corners and fall back into your own line
B2-
Forward six and back
Circle right, 3/4 round ( six hands)
In A2 the actives are actually moving across the hall as the minor
sets are rotated. If the stage is north, they move
west to east.
In response to various posts:
Having your arms slightly out from your body DOES help with balance, by
increasing your moment of inertia. That's why tightrope walkers have
their arms out - not that I am recommending you put them that far out!
Having them folded DOES make it harder to balance! Yes, most people can
still spin, but why make it harder for yourself!
Using your arms effectively can help you spin more easily - you bring
them out a little before the spin then bring them in closer as you spin
- I take my right arm out slightly to the side as I start a
counter-clockwise spin in a right-shoulder dosido and wrap it in front
of me as I spin (I am used to doing this as I teach a number of other
dance styles which have spinning in and it is a key part of getting good
spins). I usually do three spins in a dosido, catching my partner's
eyes three times, so my arm moves out and in three times. For me it is
a reflex action. It is not a big movement, but it helps make the spins
easier and smoother.
You will see ice skaters doing the same thing to get multiple spins.
If you are interested in the science see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_momentum
I definitely don't get in the way of people's pleasure - I just
tactfully let those who are learning a dosido for the first time know
that they don't need to fold their arms, but that they can if they want
to. We call our sessions "Dancing for Fun" so I make sure every one is
smiling! :-)
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
