Contra Callers

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

28 participants
4298 discussions

by playford1651＠googlemail.com

Hi, Does anybody recognise this dance:- Duple minor, improper, double progression Star right all the way, star left halfway, balance neighbour. Swing neighbour, promenade across set, cross trail. Square through 2 changes, swing next person. Think I have remembered it correctly as did not have time to copy callers card! Thanks, Graham Sent from my iPad

2 years, 4 months

Seeking sheet music for 2 tunes

by Louise Siddons

Hi all, I’m in the process of moving and many of my books are currently inaccessible. I’m seeking sheet music for 2 tunes: Sandpoint, by Rodney Miller, and The Way Back Home, by Larry Unger. The latter is in Waltz Time, which I promise I do own, and to be honest I have no idea if dots for the former have been published anywhere — it’s recorded on Flying on Home. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Louise (Winchester, UK)

2 years, 4 months

Covid cancellations

by Mary Collins

May have been talked about already so forgive me if it has. I have been contracted to call a wedding in Oct. Currently covid numbers are rising in my area and the bride, groom and I have talked about vaccines (yes), alcohol (no) and what if. Normally I do not require a deposit but I do expect payment upon arrival at venue. The question is: what to request as cancellation payment. What do others put in your contracts regarding this? Thanks in advance. Mary Collins

2 years, 5 months

Bridgerton wedding dance/experience with using non-contra or non-ECD music to modified ECD/ceilidh dances

by Alexandra Deis-Lauby

Hi all, I’ve been asked to call a Bridgerton-themed wedding dance. Part of what makes the Bridgerton theme is the music… So I’m wondering if anyone has experience (of either the successful or unsuccessful variety) of calling dances to music that isn’t our normal dance tempo (these sound a little faster than normal contra tempo) and aren’t in our standard AABB pattern. Some of the music examples I'm trying to work with are below (I’ll be using recorded music) The event is normal wedding fare- not experienced dancers. Which will either mean everything falls apart or they won’t mind the dance being sloppy because they’re just so excited by dancing and the cool music. The dances I’m planning to use are very basic (Galopede, LaBastringue, a scatter mixer, some version of duke of Kents waltz etc.) So if you have related experience: Have people been into the music so much they don’t mind that they’re finding it hard to dance with the phrase and remember the dance? Are you able to keep them together just by your calling? Do they kind of figure it out? Other ideas? > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCIG6nbyiUM <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCIG6nbyiUM> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKTnO9fOcE8 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKTnO9fOcE8> > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qi1ApgkdCo <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qi1ApgkdCo> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMU1RZVX5mQ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMU1RZVX5mQ> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZhzFE2C-_w <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZhzFE2C-_w> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un4SsyvnKH4 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un4SsyvnKH4>

2 years, 5 months

Timing on 1/2 hey as couples?

by K P

Aside: strangely, this thread wasn't there when I looked on the Shared Weight site. Seth Tepfer wrote: Do you have any sense of how long that ½ hey for four in couples in promenade position should take? I know in "Cranky Ingenuity" the couple DSD is to take 8 counts but it is always tight and really should take 10 and steals from the individual DSD Response: Something that stood out immediately was that in A2, 4 couples are swinging in a line. Ouch! 😋 On the point of the couple's hey, I'd suggest just taking handy hands, rather than promenade, as in the dance Weave the Line. Running it through my brain, it seems when a couple arrives at the end, and just turn around, they will be standing around a for a couple/a few beats. If that's right, that will throw off the idea of flow and continuity but I understand the need to change places at the ends, by simply turning individually, as opposed to wheeling around. Perhaps one could add individual looping-around at the ends, such as in a single hey, which may eat up the extra beats. For me the bigger concern, I think, is the 4-in-line swing. One could suggest keeping lateral distance across but that will be hard to maintain given that the last swing with partner will tend, I think, to close it up again. ?? Ken Panton Ottawa

2 years, 5 months

Dance-Related Job Opening

by Jerome Grisanti

I'm posting this on behalf of Deborah Dennenfeld, who founded and does great work through this project. —Jerome Dance-related job opening! Dancing Well: The Soldier Project is a nonprofit that does amazing work bringing traditional dancing to veterans and their loved ones affected by PTSD or brain injury. Empirically shown to help. Seeking a part-time Office Administrator (contract basis) in Louisville Kentucky. Potential to develop into dance leadership in the future. Louisville has a strong contra community, a university with a program in Expressive Therapies and is a nice place to live. For detailed job description contact Deborah(a)DancingWell.org or scroll down at www.DancingWell.org . Application deadline 6/24 -- Deborah Denenfeld Dancer / Dance Educator / Dance Caller / Exec Director and so much more! Dancing Well: The Soldier Project www.DancingWell.org www.DeborahDenenfeld.com 502.889.6584

2 years, 5 months

Need help fitting to a tune

by Laur

A local band here plays Beaumont Rag As a part of their routine dance set. It’s a popular band. I’ve never experienced a contra dance The band has chosen to play for a dance work. It doesn’t work for the dancers and it’s agonizing for the caller. Can anyone suggest a dance that could fit? At this point I’m planning to request they don’t include the tune. I know there’s an English dance written to match but not interested in that for this set. Laurie Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

2 years, 6 months

Fw: Need help fitting to a tune

by Laur

Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad Begin forwarded message: On Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 4:20 PM, Laur <lcpgr(a)yahoo.com> wrote: Yes Bill I agree. I plan on asking the band not to include that tune, but thought I would give it a good sport try and ask here first. They play it for show, as a jazzy tune. It just doesn't work. And no the band isnt suggesting anything - the band always plays the tune during a dance. the caller does what they do, walks the dancers through the dance and the band picks a tune. But the band will play that tune at some point during the night. Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad On Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 4:08 PM, Bill Olson <callbill(a)hotmail.com> wrote: #yiv1411090249 P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}Laur, where are you? Not quite sure I understand here.. The BAND is suggesting the dance that you should callto a tune they want to play?? uhhhh... That ain't how it works. Make it easy on yourself.. You are in control here.. Just tell the band NOT to play the tune.. That all said, there are SO many ways Beaumont Rag is played. Not all of them are 32 bars long. and it is often played as a "show off' tune at Bluegrass festivals, i.e. REALLY FAST!!! the tune is pretty much fun if played AABB at a reasonable tempo.. Not sure what your local band does with it in a contra dance setting, but I'd just politely say 'we're not gonna use that one'.. my $.02 - bill From: Laur via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2022 7:50 PM To: Contra Callers <contracallers(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: [Callers] Need help fitting to a tune A local band here plays Beaumont Rag As a part of their routine dance set. It’s a popular band. I’ve never experienced a contra dance The band has chosen to play for a dance work. It doesn’t work for the dancers and it’s agonizing for the caller. Can anyone suggest a dance that could fit? At this point I’m planning to request they don’t include the tune. I know there’s an English dance written to match but not interested in that for this set. Laurie Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

2 years, 6 months

Need help fitting to a tune

by Liz Burkhart

A confrontational compromise to decline to pair a dance with the tune would be to suggest the band play it at the break for a couples dance.

2 years, 6 months

Tempus Fugit

by David Smukler

Hi all, I found a video of my dance Tempus Fugit being called at the Guiding Star Grange in 2018. I'd like to use the video in a presentation, and I would want to credit the caller. Does anyone know who it is? The video was posted by someone with the screen name FiddlerBoy83. The band is listed, but not the caller. David Smukler Syracuse, NY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQlj90Jgx6Q

2 years, 7 months

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Contra Callers