Lisa is correct. If your main goal is to recruit new dancers to your local group, you will be sadly disappointed. That doesn't mean that you won't ever get someone who enjoys it at the wedding and then follows up by going to the local dance, but that is going to be very rare. As it happens I started contra dancing after experiencing it at a wedding. However, I have called dances at many weddings and I can't think of anyone who attended one of those, who wasn't already a dancer, and then started going to our local dance.
An exception might be if the people getting married are hardcore dancers and they invite a lot of the local dancers to their wedding. This might help to recruit non-dancers to give it a try in the future. The couple might even have in mind trying to recruit their non-dancing friends.
Other than that you should probably assume that none of those in attendance have ever danced before, and that they probably won't do so ever again. The best I hope for is that they have fun and then the next time they see a dance mentioned on the news or in the paper or something they may be inclined to give it a try.
Jonathan
On 7/3/2023 3:04 PM, Lisa Sieverts via Contra Callers wrote:
> Joe said:
>
>> I welcome any advice! My main goal in taking wedding gigs is recruiting
>> new dancers to our local scene, if that matters.
>
> Joe, that does matter. Remember that a wedding is one of the most important days in the couple’s lives. Your goal as a wedding caller is to make the dancing fun for the couple and their guests. Wedding dances are great when the dance helps the two families and their respective friends to be able to connect and enjoy meeting each other.
>
> I think it would be crass to mention a local dance unless you are asked “where can we do more of this.”
>
> Lisa Sieverts
> 603-762-0235
> lisa(a)lisasieverts.com
>
>
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Exciting news! Michael and Chris who run The Caller's Box
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/> just updated their
site so it renders properly on mobile screens!
Check out the before and after pics:
*BEFORE:*
*AFTER:*
My dance collection experience with revolving door dances has been... well,
a revolving door. Recently I was cleaning my deck and I chucked a bunch out
because I never called them; then recently at an advanced dance, Will
called a neat one and I remembered how much I like that move, when done
properly.
So, now I'm looking to add a few RD dances (back) to my collection: what
are your faves?
(And, as a tangent, how do you do/teach this move? I had always learned it
as an inverse star promenade, including the hand around the waist of the
person you're crossing with, and always found it really awkward—not to
mention sweaty—to assume this position, and to disentangle for drop-off.
More recently, I saw it taught as just taking hands with the person you're
crossing with (as you would in a line of four down the hall), and suddenly
I liked the move a TON more; the momentum was still there, but it was much
easier to engage/disengage. What is everyone else's opinion here?)
Revolvingly,
Maia
--
Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194
Hi, everyone! As a new caller, I’m looking for apps that will help me
visualize, practice, and plan contra dances.
The pipe dream is an Oculus/Vision Pro VR app allowing callers to practice
calling while virtual dancers follow instructions. VR developers - let's
talk!
More realistically, it would be amazing to have something similar to the
Taminations app (https://www.tamtwirlers.org/taminations/), but for contra
dances instead of squares. The idea is that you could input a sequence of
moves and watch the 2D figures perform them.
http://dancekaleidoscope.org.au/dance.html is the closest option I’ve found
to this, but it offers only specific full dances and doesn’t let you input
individual figures to see them combined. There’s a note on the bottom of
that page which says you can download an HTML/Javascript program to animate
your own dances, but it seems overly complex to set up (I can’t figure it
out on my Mac), and unfriendly for mobile devices.
One last thing – I’m hunting for an iOS app that’s a database of dances.
Like “The Caller’s Box” (https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/)
but for iPhone-sized screens and with offline support.
Perhaps some of these things don’t yet exist, but I think they would go a
long way toward helping new callers. Maybe there are some callers or
contra-lovers out there who double as software developers or know someone
with skills who could help us and we can create new applications together
to boost the next generation of callers.
Any feedback, ideas, or help would be great!
Thank you,
Harrison
Hi Ken, Bill, Colin and Robert,
Thanks for chiming in on my end effects questions. The point about
encouraging people to be ready for whatever and go where needed is a great
one. I really appreciate the specific tips too. :)
I think this query comes from my wanting to make sure that things go as
smoothly as possible while I'm trying something new to me!
Thank you for helping to encourage me along with advice!
:) Emily in Ottawa
Thanks so much for this review Lisa! I love this dance (shout out to Susan Michaels who wrote Kaboom!) and call it whenever I have mostly new dancers.
For the Teen Music camp I called at last week, I added in the B2, Left hand star AND Right hand star, 3,2,1 boom!
I got feedback from some non-dancers (who found contra dances too hard), who said that when they show up without friends or a date to a public dance, that they usually feel awkward about asking someone to dance who they don’t know. So the next time I called our local community barn dance, I started with more mixers to get folks easily mingling. This worked like a charm.
I even made longways sets by having folks line up in 2 long lines (no partners) then pairing them with someone across for a partner. I heard no groans or complaints. The single friends said they loved having more mixers to start, then most seemed comfortable asking someone after I showed them how it’s done (no dive bombs from the rear, eye contact, ask if they want to dance, and the answer can be yes or no)
I also tried to write a longways where folks were not paired with a partner, and make it a mixer…. Still In the testing phase. I know Luke Donforth wrote a longways line mixer !
Claire Takemori
(Asheville NC)
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2023 09:20:51 -0400
From: Lisa Sieverts <lisa(a)lisasieverts.com <mailto:lisa@lisasieverts.com>>
Subject: [Callers] Good dance for teens/familly dance
To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@sharedweight.net>>
Message-ID: <DDDCFBF3-D576-446E-9C1C-BF58A26E02C4(a)lisasieverts.com <mailto:DDDCFBF3-D576-446E-9C1C-BF58A26E02C4@lisasieverts.com>>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; markup=markdown
I used this dance recently (I was an emergency substitute) and was very pleased with how well it went. Not only is it a no-partner dance, it doesn’t even matter how big the circles are (though I did have them start out in circles of 4). So no one gets left out even if the scatter to make new circles is chaotic. It’s also easy to get them into one big circle for the last time through and that’s a very nice way to end.
I think I got it here on Shared Weight, thanks Claire!
Beaumont Boom!
By Claire Takemori (8/26/19)
*Any number in scattered circles
A1 Bal ring 2x, CL
A2 Bal ring 2x, CR
B1. LHS (pile of LH in the middle, keep walking same direction after CR) countdown 3-2-1
B2 Boom! Throw hands up and all twirl out of the star and make new circles.
Can end with one big circle
Claire says: I wrote a dance with no Partners that I love for family or parties where you start with a few and folks keep dropping in, but it also works for a large group.
Lisa Sieverts
603-762-0235
lisa(a)lisasieverts.com <mailto:lisa@lisasieverts.com>
> On Jun 21, 2023, at 1:00 AM, contracallers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net wrote:
>
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> Today's Topics:
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> 1. Good dance for teens/familly dance (Lisa Sieverts)
> 2. Re: Good dance for teens/familly dance (Jimmy Akin)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2023 09:20:51 -0400
> From: Lisa Sieverts <lisa(a)lisasieverts.com>
> Subject: [Callers] Good dance for teens/familly dance
> To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <DDDCFBF3-D576-446E-9C1C-BF58A26E02C4(a)lisasieverts.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; markup=markdown
>
> I used this dance recently (I was an emergency substitute) and was very pleased with how well it went. Not only is it a no-partner dance, it doesn’t even matter how big the circles are (though I did have them start out in circles of 4). So no one gets left out even if the scatter to make new circles is chaotic. It’s also easy to get them into one big circle for the last time through and that’s a very nice way to end.
>
> I think I got it here on Shared Weight, thanks Claire!
>
> Beaumont Boom!
> By Claire Takemori (8/26/19)
> *Any number in scattered circles
> A1 Bal ring 2x, CL
> A2 Bal ring 2x, CR
>
> B1. LHS (pile of LH in the middle, keep walking same direction after CR) countdown 3-2-1
> B2 Boom! Throw hands up and all twirl out of the star and make new circles.
>
> Can end with one big circle
>
> Claire says: I wrote a dance with no Partners that I love for family or parties where you start with a few and folks keep dropping in, but it also works for a large group.
>
>
> Lisa Sieverts
> 603-762-0235
> lisa(a)lisasieverts.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2023 07:58:56 -0700
> From: Jimmy Akin <jimmyakin01(a)gmail.com>
> Subject: [Callers] Re: Good dance for teens/familly dance
> To: Lisa Sieverts <lisa(a)lisasieverts.com>
> Cc: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID:
> <CAEXFEH0KY1aPEVFkYQjso4DLf7n4ozgnHNzH_CJn4iwTV28-TQ(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
> boundary="00000000000099da0405fe90e4ac"
>
> Interesting! I'll give it a try!
>
> (I'm always looking for simple, no partner circle dances.)
>
> Jimmy Akin
>
> On Tue, Jun 20, 2023 at 6:21 AM Lisa Sieverts via Contra Callers <
> contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> I used this dance recently (I was an emergency substitute) and was very
>> pleased with how well it went. Not only is it a no-partner dance, it
>> doesn’t even matter how big the circles are (though I did have them start
>> out in circles of 4). So no one gets left out even if the scatter to make
>> new circles is chaotic. It’s also easy to get them into one big circle for
>> the last time through and that’s a very nice way to end.
>>
>> I think I got it here on Shared Weight, thanks Claire!
>>
>> Beaumont Boom!
>> By Claire Takemori (8/26/19)
>> *Any number in scattered circles
>> A1 Bal ring 2x, CL
>> A2 Bal ring 2x, CR
>>
>> B1. LHS (pile of LH in the middle, keep walking same direction after CR)
>> countdown 3-2-1
>> B2 Boom! Throw hands up and all twirl out of the star and make new
>> circles.
>>
>> Can end with one big circle
>>
>> Claire says: I wrote a dance with no Partners that I love for family or
>> parties where you start with a few and folks keep dropping in, but it also
>> works for a large group.
>>
>>
>> Lisa Sieverts
>> 603-762-0235
>> lisa(a)lisasieverts.com
>> _______________________________________________
>> Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>>
>
I used this dance recently (I was an emergency substitute) and was very pleased with how well it went. Not only is it a no-partner dance, it doesn’t even matter how big the circles are (though I did have them start out in circles of 4). So no one gets left out even if the scatter to make new circles is chaotic. It’s also easy to get them into one big circle for the last time through and that’s a very nice way to end.
I think I got it here on Shared Weight, thanks Claire!
Beaumont Boom!
By Claire Takemori (8/26/19)
*Any number in scattered circles
A1 Bal ring 2x, CL
A2 Bal ring 2x, CR
B1. LHS (pile of LH in the middle, keep walking same direction after CR) countdown 3-2-1
B2 Boom! Throw hands up and all twirl out of the star and make new circles.
Can end with one big circle
Claire says: I wrote a dance with no Partners that I love for family or parties where you start with a few and folks keep dropping in, but it also works for a large group.
Lisa Sieverts
603-762-0235
lisa(a)lisasieverts.com
Hi Em,
Beneficial Tradition is great fun, but I'd suggest is best left for a crowd
that has successfully dealt with end effects with minimal guidance. I'm not
sure the end effects are, in any event, much more difficult than navigating
the B2 crosses(?). That, to my mind, is a question of familiarity with
unusual orientations, which comes from contra experience and/or an a priori
natural spatial awareness and a firm sense of right and left!‹
ADPD, as I recall, is pretty easy and, as you say, needs the warning -- as
with any multi-progression, or extra-minor set daliance, dance -- that you
need to be aware at the ends and, at its simplest, go where you're needed!
Often forgotten, as well, is to provide guidance to the non "out" dancers
to self-recover when the "out" dancer is not there when/where needed! :)
Bonne chance!
