Contra Callers

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4417 discussions

by dje h

I recently got approached to call for a church social. Unfortunately, it's the same weekend as a huge area fiddle festival, and I'm not able to get a live band in spite of reaching out widely. I'm looking for downloadable full-length dance music (I'm completely willing to purchase). I prefer old-time tunes, but New England style would also work. Thanks!Deborah HylandFt. Scott, KS

5 months, 1 week

Re: Request for your fave dances that meet my criteria :D

by Katherine Kitching

Wow, thank you so much Mac, Michael and Greg, already this is just what I had hoped for!! I wouldn't mind some help ensuring I understand "slice left" -- does it just mean slide left and also move forwards to the next couple at the same time, or is it more involved than that? Kat Oct 13, 2025 4:50:41 PM Mac Mckeever <macmck(a)ymail.com>: > One of my favorites (Du Quion Races - attached). The B parts move fast - probably more of a challenge for the caller than the dancers. Only unusual part is the partner swing ends in the middle of a phrase. > > hope it works for you - lots of fun and the dancers don't seem to have any problems with it > > Mac McKeever > > > > > > > > > On Monday, October 13, 2025 at 02:39:56 PM CDT, Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > > > > > The Balter Dance > > Mr Johnson's JIg > > > On Mon, Oct 13, 2025 at 1:33 PM Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: >> >> >> Yay, glad the list is up and running again, I sent this last week and was sad when it didn't go through! >> >> Hi caller friends--- >> >> Would you be willing to share one or two of your favourite dances that meet my criteria as outlined below, for my Halifax group? >> >> This would be a great help to this volunteer caller who often struggles at the last minute to find what she needs! >> >> I'm striving to be better prepared, and I'm hoping this could help me build a rich and lovely collection of suitable dances :) >> >> If you have a dance for me, I would *super* appreciate it if you'd write the dance out in the body of the email, (Failing that, a direct link to the dance online would be ok..)-- >> >> Realistically because of how busy I am, if it is something I have to take multiple steps to find (e.g. click a link which sends me to an online reference to a PDF which I then need to download and scroll through), then I am not going to do it :D.... >> >> And if you are wondering why I don't use Contra DB - I do!! But it doesn't serve me perfectly - if you are curious why, I have included my full explanation below. >> >> thanking you in advance- >> Kat K in Halifax >> >> Pre-amble: >> >> My dance group consists of a strong newcomer presence each month - to bring those folks up to speed while keeping my regulars engaged, I generally write custom dances for the first part of the evening. >> >> However as both my dancers' skills and my calling skills have increased, I've started calling pre-written dances to cap off the evening - generally we manage 2-3 "advanced" dances, with little instruction, and people are loving it. >> >> My challenge is, what we consider "advanced" is pretty basic for you folks --and I often struggle to find dances online that hit just the right note with my "advanced but not THAT advanced" crowd. >> >> So here are the criteria I am looking for: >> >> 1. Only Beckets. >> I know this is booooring but for now, this is working well for us and I don't want to jinx it :). >> (that said, if you have a dance you think is perfect in every other way, feel free to share and I will see if I can modify it, or tuck it away for the future!) >> >> 1a - Ideally only Beckets with a CW progression, but we could try out CCW, that would be manageable :) >> >> 1b - only Beckets that progress in a becketlike fashion (i.e. some variation on slide to the left) - not a dance that has the dancers progress in Improper then go back to Becket. >> (FTR I *did* try a Becket that progressed in Duple Improper last year, and it took soooo long to get people tuned up to do it, it was not worth the effort!!). >> >> >> 2. No shadows, 2nd neighbours, double progressions... >> Too difficult for me and the dancers, based on our collective level of experience and confidence at the moment :) >> >> >> 3. Only figures that I am already familiar with, or that would be easy for you to explain to me and for me to explain to my dancers, haha :) >> Here is what I am familiar with (beyond the basic allemandes, do-si-dos, swings, stars, balances etc): >> >> - Balance short wavy lines >> - Rory O'Moore >> - Robins Chains >> - Larks Chains >> - Right and Left throughs >> - Heys (straightforward ones) >> - Petronellas >> - Mad robin sortof (we did it once and it wasn't great, but I could try again!) >> >> 3a. One additional difficult figure (if you are willing to explain it) could be interesting, but definitely not two difficult figures not listed above in the same dance!! >> >> 4. Prefer crowd-pleasers/greatest hits. >> Because we dance less than once a month and are relatively isolated, my dancers do not know *any* of the contra classics!! >> I would love tried-and-true crowd pleasers--- and I'm sure that nobody is going to groan and say, "awww, not that one again!" :D >> >> Off the top of my head, some classics we have danced already include Butter and Butterfly, and also Petronella Morning, and people love those. >> More in that vein would be great!! >> >> thanking you once again, >> Kat K >> Halifax, NS, Canada >> halifaxcontra.ca >> >> >> Notes on Contra DB >> I *do* use Contra DB to find dances that have certain criteria, and it is a fabulous resource- but >> >> a) It still takes me time to sift through dances that way, to find exactly what I need >> >> b) I have no idea if the dance is a "crowd-pleaser" or not, and I am looking for dances that will be a nice "reward" for my dancers at the end of the night >> >> c) I assume it only has a fraction of all the dances that you folks use, within it. >> (Though I am curious to hear-- about what percentage of all contra dances that are called in the world each year, do you figure are archived in Contra DB?? :) ) >> >> Cheers everyone! >> Kat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net >> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net >> > > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net

5 months, 1 week

Callithump (the Maine one, not DC)

by Sam Whited

Hi all, There was a contra band in that released a self-title album, "Callithump," in approx. 1998. I believe they were from the Bristol, ME, USA region. This is *not* the same as the DC area Callithump, whom I've already chatted with believing they were the ones to release the album. Does anyone happen to know them, or have a copy of the album? I'm looking for any information I can find about it (who played on it, where it was recorded, who did the mixing and mastering, etc.), and to try and get my hands on high quality scans of the packaging if possible. Thanks, Sam

5 months, 1 week

Request for your fave dances that meet my criteria :D

by Katherine Kitching

/Yay, glad the list is up and running again, I sent this last week and was sad when it didn't go through!/ Hi caller friends--- Would you be willing to share one or two of your favourite dances that meet my criteria as outlined below, for my Halifax group? This would be a great help to this volunteer caller who often struggles at the last minute to find what she needs! I'm striving to be better prepared, and I'm hoping this could help me build a rich and lovely collection of suitable dances :) If you have a dance for me, I would *super* appreciate it if you'd write the dance out in the body of the email, (Failing that, a direct link to the dance online would be ok..)-- Realistically because of how busy I am, if it is something I have to take multiple steps to find (e.g. click a link which sends me to an online reference to a PDF which I then need to download and scroll through), then I am not going to do it :D.... And if you are wondering why I don't use Contra DB - I do!! But it doesn't serve me perfectly - if you are curious why, I have included my full explanation below. thanking you in advance- Kat K in Halifax Pre-amble: My dance group consists of a strong newcomer presence each month - to bring those folks up to speed while keeping my regulars engaged, I generally write custom dances for the first part of the evening. However as both my dancers' skills and my calling skills have increased, I've started calling pre-written dances to cap off the evening - generally we manage 2-3 "advanced" dances, with little instruction, and people are loving it. My challenge is, what we consider "advanced" is pretty basic for you folks --and I often struggle to find dances online that hit just the right note with my "advanced but not THAT advanced" crowd. So here are the criteria I am looking for: *1. **Only **Beckets**.* I know this is booooring but for now, this is working well for us and I don't want to jinx it :). /(that said, if you have a dance you think is perfect in every other way, feel free to share and I will see if I can modify it, or tuck it away for the future!)/ *1**a** - Ideally only **Beckets** with a CW progression*, but we could try out CCW, that would be manageable :) *1**b** - only **Beckets** that progress in a **becketlike** fashion *(i.e. some variation on slide to the left) - not a dance that has the dancers progress in Improper then go back to Becket. /(FTR I *did* try a Becket that progressed in Duple Improper last year, and it took soooo long to get people tuned up to do it, it was not worth the effort!!)./ *2. No shadows, 2nd neighbours, double progressions...* Too difficult for me and the dancers, based on our collective level of experience and confidence at the moment :) 3. *Only figures that I am already familiar with*, or that would be easy for you to explain to me and for me to explain to my dancers, haha :) Here is what I am familiar with (beyond the basic allemandes, do-si-dos, swings, stars, balances etc): - Balance short wavy lines - Rory O'Moore - Robins Chains - Larks Chains - Right and Left throughs - Heys (straightforward ones) - Petronellas - Mad robin sortof (we did it once and it wasn't great, but I could try again!) *3a**. One additional difficult figure* (if you are willing to explain it) could be interesting, but definitely not two difficult figures not listed above in the same dance!! *4. Prefer crowd-pleasers/greatest hits.* Because we dance less than once a month and are relatively isolated, my dancers do not know *any* of the contra classics!! I would love tried-and-true crowd pleasers--- and I'm sure that nobody is going to groan and say, "awww, not that one again!" :D Off the top of my head, some classics we have danced already include Butter and Butterfly, and also Petronella Morning, and people love those. More in that vein would be great!! thanking you once again, Kat K Halifax, NS, Canada halifaxcontra.ca *Notes on Contra DB* I *do* use Contra DB to find dances that have certain criteria, and it is a fabulous resource- but a) It still takes me time to sift through dances that way, to find exactly what I need b) I have no idea if the dance is a "crowd-pleaser" or not, and I am looking for dances that will be a nice "reward" for my dancers at the end of the night c) I assume it only has a fraction of all the dances that you folks use, within it. (Though I am curious to hear-- about what percentage of all contra dances that are called in the world each year, do you figure are archived in Contra DB?? :) ) Cheers everyone! Kat

5 months, 1 week

Do you know the author of "The Pinball Dance A"?

by Sam Whited

A friend of mine has a dance that we want to use for an upcoming event but the card has no author on it. There's a good chance she wrote it and has forgotten, but I was wondering if anyone else happens to have this one just in case she picked it up somewhere and we're not crediting the author correctly? If not, I suppose the author is Valerie Young and I should give her credit since I'm sharing it here! There's also a "Pinball Dance B" variant which may or may not be by the same author (and also has no name on it). Thanks! The Pinball Dance A Double Progression, Becket A1. Left diagonal robins chain; Right diagonal robins chain (to shadow) A2. Right & Left Thru Across (second shadow?); Robins chain across (to new neighbor) B1. Circle right 3/4, zag right, zig left, zag right B2. Partner swing -- Sam Whited sam(a)samwhited.com

5 months, 1 week

Test Msg

by Seth Seeger

Hi all, Turns out the mailing list server was hung up and I didn't realize it. If you sent email to the list and didn't see a copy, then it didn't go through. I apologize for the interruption. We're going to move to Groups.io soon! Seth

5 months, 1 week

Why is it a half-sashay?

by Joe Harrington

Would someone please explain why moving your right foot out to your right and following it by moving your body and left foot is only half a sashay? Seems like a full sashay to me. Half a sashay would be like, taking a wide stance and stopping. In ballet, a chasse' is walking by moving one foot out and following it up with the other, never crossing them. Based on some limited reading, I don't think it's counted (as in, chasse' three times), but rather refers to the style of walking, say as opposed to jogging. I could be mistaken. "Roll away with a half sashay!" sure rolls off the tongue nicely, though... --jh--

6 months, 2 weeks

Agency and Language

by Jerome Grisanti

I was chatting with a caller mentee about language that gives one dancer more agency than another, and how to make such choices more neutral (i.e., all dancers should have agency). For example, "larks/gents, raise your partners hand" to initiate a California twirl. Rather, use "partners, raise your joined hands..." What other examples have y'all heard in the wild of best (and worst) practices? Thanks! — Jerome Grisanti Jerome Grisanti 660-528-0858 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com "Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

6 months, 2 weeks

Easy contras for beginners

by Emily Addison

Sorry that I'm late to the game on this email thread... summertime with a kiddo around means a lot less time for fun emails. :) I wanted to chime in on a few easy contras for when you have a loooot of beginners. Apologies if they've been mentioned already. Emily in Ottawa Festival Reel by Will Mentor Becket A1: Slice L --- LLFB A2: LH Star --- RH Star B1: Larks DSD --- Robins DSD B2: P Bal & Swing Quandranella by Claire Takimori Becket A1: Bal & petronella --- Bal & petronella A2: Bal & petronella --- Bal & petronella B1: Partner Bal & Swing B2: LLFB ---- (Call early!) Slide L and Circle L with new Ns (ORRRRR just slide left take hands and be ready to start again... depending on the crowd) F&T Reel by Chris Ricciotti A1: Circle LEFT--- Circle RIGHT (end this with 2s break hands to all face down) A2 Down the hall (1s in middle). 1s arch/2s through… come up 2X2 with 2s in lead. B1 P DSD –- LLFB B2 2s swing ---1s swing My Becket for Beginners Lisa Sieverts as modified by Emily Addison BECKET A1: Circle LEFT ---Circle RIGHT A2: Bal & petronella turn --- Bal & petronella turn B1: Bal, pass thru ACROSS the set & P swing on the side B2: Forward and Back ---- Slice Left Forward and Back to new neighbors

6 months, 3 weeks

Unifying contra dance formats with AI

by Rick Mohr

AI is invading our lives, but can sometimes be useful — for example, ChatGPT is pretty good at reformatting contra dances! In Philly we have mostly multi-caller evenings, where the coordinator gets dance submissions from many callers (in many formats), creates a program, and sends out the result. Sometimes the program looks like a fruit salad of formats, but (OCD?) I like everything to be concise and uniform. See example below, where ChatGPT unifies dances in 4 formats — Callers Box, one posted here, my website, and Bob Isaacs’ format. It took a few tries to refine the instructions (and I only tried this one output format), but in the end it’s a pretty amazing result from minimal instructions in plain English. Rick ========================= My Instructions to ChatGPT ========================= Please reformat the contra dances below as follows: Format dance headers as e.g. “Title (Author) Formation” If formation is omitted, use “Duple Improper” Format part names as e.g. “A1: ”. Eliminate beat counts for figures (like “8”). Put a part’s figures on one line, separated by commas, no period or spaces at the end. And this is important — format as plain text, do not format as markdown. Centrifugal Hey by Gene Hubert Permission: full License: CC-BY-NC FormationBase: Duple Minor <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#duple-minor> - Improper <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#improper> Progression: Single Figures: A1 (8) Neighbor allemande <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#allemande> right 1 & 3/4 (8) Men <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#men> allemande <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#allemande> left 1 & 1/2 A2 (16) Hey <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#hey> (PR;WL;NR;ML;PR;WL;NR;ML) B1 (16) Partner swing <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#swing> B2 (8) Right and left through <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#right-and-le…> with partner (6) Circle left <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#circle-left-…> 3/4 (2) Pass through <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#pass-through> along <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#across-along> (NR) Stars are Aligned by Lisa Sieverts BECKET, CCW 1. LH Star 2. RH Star 3. P Do Si Do (on side) 4. P Swing 5. Whole Set Oval Left 6. Whole set Oval Right 7. F&B 8. LH Star, on to the next, partners moving along the line *Trip to Trillium* Bob Isaacs Becket-L A1. 8 Circle L ¾ 8 w/Partner weave the line past two (1) A2. 8 w/N3 square through three 8 N2 swing B1. 8 Robins chain to partner 8 ½ hey (RR, N2L, LR, -) B2. 4,12 Partner balance, swing Fluidity By Rick Mohr; September 2017 Contra, BecketCaller's Box <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=18477> Level: Easy/Intermediate A1: 3/4 Hey *(larks pass left shoulders to start)* (12) Robins allemande left (4) A2: Gypsy and swing neighbor (16) B1: Right and left through (8) Circle right (8) B2: *(With next couple)* Circle left 3/4 (6) Swing partner (10) ========================= Output from ChatGPT ========================= Centrifugal Hey (Gene Hubert) Duple Improper A1: Neighbor allemande right 1 & 3/4, men allemande left 1 & 1/2 A2: Hey (PR, WL, NR, ML, PR, WL, NR, ML) B1: Partner swing B2: Right and left through with partner, circle left 3/4, pass through along (NR) Stars are Aligned (Lisa Sieverts) Becket CCW A1: Left-hand star, right-hand star A2: Partner do-si-do, partner swing B1: Whole set oval left, whole set oval right B2: Forward and back, left-hand star on to the next, partners moving along the line Trip to Trillium (Bob Isaacs) Becket Left A1: Circle left 3/4, with partner weave the line past two A2: With N3 square through three, N2 swing B1: Robins chain to partner, half hey (RR, N2L, LR) B2: Partner balance, swing Fluidity (Rick Mohr; September 2017) Becket A1: Three-quarter hey (larks pass left shoulders to start), robins allemande left A2: Gypsy and swing neighbor B1: Right and left through, circle right B2: With next couple circle left 3/4, swing partner

6 months, 3 weeks

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