Contra Callers

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4374 discussions

by Laur

I don't see a difference between the the indecent and the indifferent other than in one we ask the ones to be proper and the two's trade places and in the other (indifferent) we ask the dancers to from improper then change places with their neighbor. Tom Hinds, are you around for a quick answer? ~ Laurie ~

12 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] formation indifferent/ indecent

by lcpgr＠yahoo.com

Tom says it isn't progressing backwards ( in the dance amazing Sarah Wilcox). I would have assumed it did but this dance does not. Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPhone

12 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] homophobia (and a flirty dance, yada yada)

by tavi merrill

Hi all, I've been a little behind on SW lately, but this thread is rich in both ideas and potential misconceptions i would like to speak to. As Mac and Aahz rather humorously shared > I will admit - I prefer opposite gender swings - Am I homophobic and > just don't know it? > Well, I *overall* prefer opposite gender swings and other kinds of > physical interactions, has something to do with being heterosexual, I > think. ;-) That's different from feeling >uncomfortable< with or > disliking same-sex interactions in dance. i'd chime in and say i have a slight preference for same-gender swings - for obvious reasons. The swing holds a special place in contradance as the moment of sustained, more intimate interaction, and i'd wager to say we ALL prefer swinging folks we'd be keen on, er, dancing the horizontal tango with. That said, i don't give a crap who i'm swinging as long as it's a satisfying swing, and gender has less to do with that than skill and the subtle communication that allows dancers to orient themselves (often during a balance) as they pull into the swing. Homophobia is subtle, and ingrained. I'm gay, and some of the darkest moments in my life stem from my own homophobia. Often i'm unaware of when that homophobia is expressing itself - for example when i'm teasing a straight roommate by calling him gay, bolstering my sense of membership as "one of the guys". As a homosexual male, i have experienced genuine homophobia on the dance floor - men who refuse to swing or even look at me when i'm dancing the ladies' role - but the vast majority of same-role and same-sex swings i've encountered are awkward not because of homophobia. Ironically enough, the "Northumberland swing" many guys automatically reach for (http://www.cs.umd.edu/~nau/misc/swing-positions.html) is more "intimate" than ballroom position - but it is a widely known non-gendered hold. I think the issue here is more about (related to homophobia, but subtler) misogyny. Because the dance roles are defined by gender, if dancers aren't expecting or mutually planning for a symmetrical hold, there's a moment when dancers ask themselves, and wordlessly ask each other, which one is going to suddenly become the "lady". The subconscious cascade reaction is distracting, and entry into the swing becomes awkward and less-than-satisfying. Nobody likes unsatisfying swings. And there's always "that guy" who swings dudes harder than chicks... it can be a lot of fun to utilize the physical opportunity of swinging another man to go fast, swing hard, et cetera - a celebration of masculinity, even? - but sometimes it's also an expression of insecurity. I'm sure even for "that guy" it varies with the day, the mood, the guy he's swinging, and he's probably a bit rough with the ladies too. As a caller i love "playing" with dancers' expectations by using same-sex gypsy, do-si-do (in proper formation), s-s down the hall, even s-s grand R&L. I'm rather judicious with same-sex swings. All these moves depend very much on the crowd. In a gender-free context, they have zero impact; in a staunchly "traditional" group, they can be truly uncomfortable; in the right environment, they'll have the dancers laughing, acting playful, having a blast. As Ryan S pointed out, it's our responsibility as callers to know, or to ask questions about, the dancers we've been hired to entertain, making choices appropriate for the hall. (Look who's talking... i often err to the side of slightly challenging dances...) "Social engineering"? well, that's a caller's personal choice. If one feels moved to use same-sex swings, i agree with Andrea that teaching a symmetrical hold improves the dancers' experience. Many of the moves we see less of are a matter of teaching - for example, the gents' chain. It's less a question of homophobia than of people being befuddled by the reversed promenade hold and courtesy turn, in my experience an element which few callers adequately teach. Re: the rarity of same-sex R&L through: i'd argue that's entirely a choreography "fashion" issue. S-s R&L through typically occurs in older choreography associated with actives-only swings. The few dances i know which utilize both S-s R&L and a neighbor swing have fairly challenging, or generally awkward choreography. tavi p.s. John, i did like the 'Galway swing' dance you shared : ) p.s.#2 a great flirty dance nobody has mentioned: "Gypsy Star" by Adam Carlson. becket formation: A1. CL 3/4, PT and swing the next. A2 LLF&B, Ladies' chn. 1. Ladies R shoulder gypsy; gents enter in front of partner and all four gypsy; ladies drop out @home and gents gypsy 3/4 more to B2. Partner bal & swing another great flirty dance: "Coleman's March", available on Ted Crane's website. Cheers!

12 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] Suggestions for particularly flirty contra dances?

by Richard Hopkins

In older contra dances, danced duple or triple proper, same-sex right-and-left-through moves are common -- that is, a R and L through started from a position where two men are facing two women. Through the folk process, we have largely abandoned that practice, and either don't call those dances or call them much modified. There may be a number of reasons for this, but I think likely part of it has been discomfort with the same-sex interaction in that move. The folk process can take us in any number of directions…. "AFAIK it's a non-traditional element being added to a traditional folk dance form. It's not well defined, so awkward. A caller could say that #2's take the ladies position in the swing, but a caller at the next dance could say the reverse... so still not well defined. "As a caller, the job is to facilitate an enjoyable dance, not make a point of deliberately poking people's stress buttons. "As a traditional folk dance form, contra dancing is not static, but evolution should come from the "folk," not self appointed social attitude police. `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Richard S. Hopkins Tallahassee, FL 850-894-9212 850-544-7614 (cell) hopkinsrs(a)comcast.net

12 years, 2 months

Homophobia in contradancing? (Was: flirty contra dances?)

by Maia McCormick

I just don't accept that men not wanting to dance with other men necessarily has anything to do with homosexuality. Not to derail the flirty contradances discussion any further, but I wanted to put in my two cents. And to be fair, I *can* only speak about the US here, but I suspect much of this will apply to the UK as well. At the very least, I want to explain how men not wanting to dance with other men almost certainly has something to do with homosexuality and fear thereof--and you can decide yourself whether or not that explanation applies in the UK. If dancing with another man is not a particular male dancer's first choice, because they prefer to dance with women, or it's too complicated to work out the lead/follow dynamics, or what have you, that I can accept. But men being so averse to dancing with other men that it makes them decidedly uncomfortable to participate in a same-sex swing? Seems homophobic. (And of course, there may be other reasons behind this... but homophobia seems the simplest explanation for the majority of cases.) I'll explain. "Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender." I would argue that the reason for this discomfort with same-sex swinging stems from the men not wanting to be perceived as gay. NOT THAT THIS IS (necessarily) A CONSCIOUS SENTIMENT! I think it mostly stems from societal attitudes that are, at this point, incredibly deeply embedded. But, think about how much more social license female friends have to touch each other than male friends do. How men are expected to be constantly reinforcing and proving their masculinity by talking about sex, cars, etc. Think about the implications of the phrase "no homo"--that being suspected to be gay would be *the worst thing, oh my god* and one must avoid it and make disclaimers about their actions. Here's a superbowl ad from a few years back<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oooij6sQYgI>: look at how a) men kissing is hilarious and b) when they've done something gay, these guys freak out and need to reassert their manliness. Again, I'm not saying this is how any of the contra-men in question would react to, say, an accidental gay kiss... but these are the social norms that we're working within. So to me, two men being uncomfortable with close physical contact *absolutely* says, "no, we don't want to get too close or we'll seem/be gay," that is, a fear of homosexuality (or perception as such, or implication of such), that is, homophobia. But, I'm really curious what other explanations you can offer for this discomfort. It's just that, to me (being a gender studies major and all), this seems like the most obvious one. But I really am eager to hear alternate explanations. Forgive the gender-studies rant, I just get nerdily excited about this stuff! I hope that was somewhat coherent, but if I lost you anywhere, I can certainly clarify (or someone else can jump in and say it again more lucidly). Cheers, Maia 2013/4/10 Colin Hume <colin(a)colinhume.com> > On Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:30:58 -0400, Dave Casserly wrote: > > I'm not really sure what you're trying to say with your analogy > > here. Do you mean that people in England are actually more > > homophobic, and that people in America should accept that because, > > well, we wouldn't want English people coming here and telling us > > what's right and what's wrong either, when they don't know our > > culture and haven't danced here? If so, then you're right, that's > > a premise I disagree with. > > Dave - > > According to Wikipedia (and other online sources), > > "Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings > toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as > being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender." > > I just don't accept that men not wanting to dance with other men > necessarily has anything to do with homosexuality. But I can see that > we have radically different attitudes, and I don't want to get into a > long argument about it! Since you probably won't be calling contras > in England it's not that relevant. > > Colin Hume > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers >

12 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] Fruit Punch choreography

by Dugan Murphy

The dance is called "Fruit Punch" by Diane Silver. To be clear, the choreography (Becket formation) is A1 With couple on L diagonal, Yearn to new Neighbors and fall straight back (8); Ladies Allemande Right 1.5 (8) A2 Neighbor Balance & Swing (16) B1 Take hands in a ring and balance the ring (4); Pass through to a short wavy line across (neighbor right hand, ladies left hand) (4); Balance the wave (4); Neighbor allemande Right .5 (2); Men pull by the left (2) B2 Partner Balance and Swing Dugan Murphy Skowhegan, Maine www.duganmurphy.com On Sun, Apr 7, 2013 at 12:00 PM, <callers-request(a)sharedweight.net> wrote: > Send Callers mailing list submissions to > callers(a)sharedweight.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > callers-request(a)sharedweight.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > callers-owner(a)sharedweight.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Fruit Punch choreography (Rich Goss) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 6 Apr 2013 09:23:23 -0700 > From: Rich Goss <richgoss(a)comcast.net> > To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net> > Subject: Re: [Callers] Fruit Punch choreography > Message-ID: <5205567C-41B3-4E6A-9221-AE7348B4A664(a)comcast.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > I came across this old thread. I'm unclear on the exact name (is it Punch > or Bunch?) and the author (is it Diane Silver?) > > Cool dance! > > Thanks, Rich > > > On Aug 23, 2012, at 4:54 AM, Bree Kalb <bree(a)mindspring.com> wrote: > > > Joy, I got Fruit Bunch from Diane a couple of years ago. Yes, it is a > Becket. The A part is correct. Here's the B: > > > > B1 Take hands in a ring > > Balance the ring; pass thru to a wave*, > > Balance the wave > > Neighbor allmd Rt 1/2; Men pull by the Left to Partner > > B2 Partner Bal and Swg > > > > *still with same Neighbors, women in the center; neighbor on your right > > > > > > -----Original Message----- From: Joy Greenwolfe > > Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2012 1:00 AM > > To: Caller's discussion list > > Subject: [Callers] Fruit Punch choreography > > > > Fruit Punch by Diane or? > > I have Improper written down, but it looks like a Becket. > > > > A1 With couple on L diagonal, Yearn to new Neighbors and fall straight > > back (8) > > Ladies Allem R 1+1/2 (8) > > > > A2 N Balance & Swing (16) > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > End of Callers Digest, Vol 104, Issue 7 > *************************************** >

12 years, 2 months

Fruit Punch choreography

by Joy Greenwolfe

Speaking of dances with missing details, I have a great dance called Fruit Punch. Diane Silver called it at Bogue Banks Boogie a few years ago. Not sure who wrote it (maybe Diane?). I evidently wrote it down wrong since it doesn't progress but instead keeps sending the dancers back and forth. Someone said it felt like it was missing a circle somewhere. Does it start with a circle left half way into a slide left? Does anyone have the correct choreography? I haven't heard back from Diane yet about this question. What I have is this: Fruit Punch by Diane or? I have Improper written down, but it looks like a Becket. A1 With couple on L diagonal, Yearn to new Neighbors and fall straight back (8) Ladies Allem R 1+1/2 (8) A2 N Balance & Swing (16) B1 Take hands in a ring. Balance the ring (4) Pass through to an ocean wave (4) Balance the wave (4) N Allemande R x1 (4) B2 Ladies Allemande L 1+1/2 to partner (8) Partner swing (8) Thanks for any clarification anyone might have. Joy Greenwolfe Durham, NC

12 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] new dance

by lcpgr＠yahoo.com

Great! I'll be calling tonight if the crowd is right Lp Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPhone

12 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] new dance

by Tom Hinds

Laurie, I think it's a keeper and is called Kate's Departure. Kate Brady, was a dance organizer in C'ville until she moved to Colorado. Tom

12 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] Suggestions for particularly flirty contra dances?

by Jerome Grisanti

Alan, Since the move called Mad Robin has been mentioned so often, I hope you consider calling the eponymous English dance (billed as such, of course, don't want to cause riots). Easy enough for dedicated contra dancers but different enough (proper, and with 2-hand turns instead of swings) to offer variety. And if people want to substitute swings, they may. And how they end that swing can offer some other interesting variations. Frankly, I find that an occasional two-hand turn in a contra offers plenty of potential for flirtation (with room for it to remain merely friendly). --Jerome -- Jerome Grisanti 660-528-0858 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats

12 years, 2 months

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Contra Callers