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Re: [Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 79, Issue 10

by Erik Erhardt

I'd like to know what ONS stands for, please. Erik

14 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 79, Issue 7

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

Welcome, Keith! I think you'll find this list to be a helpful source of ideas and support. > A couple of moves you include, I wouldn't think about calling for college beginners until I see they've mastered 4-5 simpler dances. Can you be more specific about which figures are giving you pause? Haste to the Wedding, for example, is a dance that I've called for years in lots of settings. The elementary school where I taught used to include it as part of our annual May festival, with 300-400 children, teachers, parents all dancing around the town green. David Millstone Lebanon, NH

14 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] easy ONS dances where partner is kept?

by Chrissy Fowler

Hi all, Various topics. CHAOS: Although I appreciate being credited for that version of Chaos (one of my favorites for family/community type dances) I don't consider it mine. I learned Chaos from Diane Silver (caller from Asheville NC). Don't know whose it is. Diane gave me a few variants - including N/P dsd in B2, P/N sw in B2 (making it a mixer) and I think over the years I've added a few tweakings. It can also work fine w more than 2 cpl sets, depending on how much chaos you want to invite. NB: Among 6th graders at a recent dance residency it was voted "Best dance" of the ones they learned. SNOWBALL: Splendid dance. I've even done it w a mix of 5 and 6cpl sets (for ex, if there's just one more cpl that wants to dance, and we can't get another 4 cpls for the extra set, they just add onto a set.) I always do the AABBCC version of the dance (Thanks David Millstone for teaching it to me!), and I just treat the 5/6 as one so I hardly have to change my calling pattern, thus saving embarrassing miscues due to altering something I know by heart (so both cpls gallop up center and back to place in the C1, then cpl 1 gallops down ctr to bottom of set and all swing P for the C2.) I'll run it til at least everyone has a chance to be cpl 1 once. If the band doesn't know a 3 part tune, it works for me to use regular AABB tunes. If it won't be coming out even at the end, and the band isn't up to an A2 ending, then I just add in a tag at the end to fill up the B1B2 Something like EVERYONE allem R, L, EVERYONE LLF&B, and EVERYBODY sw one last time. FORMING SQUARES: Cool hint from Michael B. Can't wait to try that technique, since facilitating forming of squares at Comm/Family/School dances for me is always a bit of a hands-on and time-consuming process, whereas circles is nearly always quick & efficient. NEW REPERTOIRE: More interesting dances to add to the box! Thanks all! Great thing about new/inexperienced dancers is they are usually happy to do anything. Great thing about this list is the useful ideas and positive reinforcement. Chrissy Fowler Belfast ME

14 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] easy ONS dances where partner is kept?

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

Linda mentioned The Snowball in her recent post. I learned that dance from the very useful website maintained by Thomas Green: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/greenery/BarnDances/WholeSet.html#The%20Snowba… He credits the dance (slightly different than Linda's version) to Martin Hodges. I in turn have modified the printed version by having the 5s simply gallop up to the top and back down again, instead of casting back, a minor point. I find it a really useful dance for several reasons. First, it includes the basic figures that one might need to include in an evening: hand turns, stars, circles, lines forward and back, swing, and a progression. Because it's in five couple sets and not everyone is moving all at once, it's a bit calmer than some other dances I call in such settings. The dancers farther down the line who are watching those who are moving inevitably start clapping along in time to the music. One wrinkle is that the dance is designed to be 48 bars of music, so it works best with a three-part tune, AABBCC. When I called it Friday night at the local PTO dance (our 28th annual!), the band picked Merrily Kissed the Quaker's Wife, a three-part jig. Other tunes that your musicians might know that would fit this pattern are Set de Ronfleuse Gobiel (the Snoring Mrs. Gobiel, a staple in the Quebecois repertoire) Ragtime Anie (with its third part), Reel Beatrice, Quadrille Jos Bouchard. If you're working with recorded music, there's good recording of the latter two tunes on the Sashay the Donut album, and another of Snowball 6x (Reel de Rimouski/R. des accordeonistes) on the Any Jig or Reel album, both available from New England Dancing Masters. Of course, you could also have a band play AABBAB, or AABB and then another tune AB, and most dancers won't even notice. I find as a caller that it helps me to have the structure of the three part tune to support my prompting. I will put in a plug for all of the New England Dancing Masters books as supremely useful for such settings. Also those my Marian Rose. Paul Rosenberg's Sashay the Banana contains lots of useful material, and of course Dudley's books. David Millstone Lebanon, NH

14 years, 9 months

Re: [Callers] easy ONS dances where partner is kept?

by Chrissy Fowler

I think a bunch of family/wedding/ONS dances have been shared on the SW callers list already, so they're available in the archives. (I recently was made aware of the very useful search function.) Most mixers can also be keepers w a little rearranging. Don't forget about easy squares! And scattered 2 couple sets w "scatter promenade to find new neighbor cpl" in the B2. Chrissy Fowler Belfast ME

14 years, 9 months

Re: [Callers] Easy ONS Dances

by John Sweeney

Hi, You may find some of these useful: http://www.lloydshaw.org/Catalogue/Childrens_Index.htm http://goldenjubilee2008.esmmarchives.org.uk/08_CHILDRENS_FESTIVAL/J08_C hildrens_Festival/Schools/Dances.htm In England we call ONS all sorts of different names such as Barn Dance, Ceilidh, Country Dance, Square Dance (even though they don't just do squares - they just recognise the name as meaning this sort of dance!). These are the sort of simple dances we call at such functions: http://www.mts.net/~jinks%20/fd/menu.htm http://www.gerryjones.talktalk.net/dances.html http://www.scottishdance.net/ceilidh/dances.html http://homepage.ntlworld.com/greenery/BarnDances/ http://www.ceilidhcalling.co.uk/dancelist.php Hope that helps. Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events, Instructional DVDs and Interactive Maps http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Contra Dancing in Kent

14 years, 9 months

easy ONS dances where partner is kept?

by Tina Fields

Hi o esteemed community of callers - I'm going to call a big father-daughter dance for the Girl Scouts next month. (It's called "Me and My Cowboy; how cute is that?!) In preparing, I realize that most of the supremely easy dances I know are mixers. While this is usually great, these girls are likely not going to want to partner up with other girls' dads, but instead keep their own dad. They'll also enjoy partnering with each other, especially for the goofier dances. But I still seek delightful and very easy ONS dances wherein the dancers keep their partners. I already have a lot of galloping longways set dances like Galopede, Weaver's Galopede, Four Around Four, & White Mountain Reel. I also have Do-Si-Three (thanks, Linda Leslie!) and Jefferson & Liberty. I mostly seek a variety of calmer (but still fun) ones so the dads can rest up a bit while still dancing, and a couple of circle dances that aren't mixers, if they exist. A few more easy Sicilians would also be welcome. Do your repertoires include these? What are your favorites? Will you share? Thank you! Tina ******************************* Tina R. Fields, Ph.D. Sebastopol, CA (707) 824-9318 indigenize.wordpress.com "Hindsight Now!"

14 years, 9 months

kidney donor needed

by Chrissy Fowler

Hi friends, I'm sending this to you in order to cast a wider net for my Boston-area dance friend and fellow caller, Dan Pearl, who has PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease.) He's actively looking for a living donor that's willing and able donate a kidney (especially someone with type O blood, although as you can learn in the paired donor info on the website, it could work with an interested and qualified donor of another blood type.) Dan's story, his health details, and more information (including specifics for individuals who might consider being a donor) can be found at http://danskidney.info. If you can think of other groups or individuals to forward this to, in order to further spread the net, please do. Thanks, Chrissy Fowler

14 years, 9 months

Re: [Callers] Transfer from 45s to CD?

by Chrissy Fowler

Many thanks to all who responded, both on and off list, to my 45->CD query. Great suggestions and resources, and I'll pass them along to the person who's spearheading the revival of the square dance revival. Chrissy Fowler Belfast

14 years, 9 months

cast off

by Tom Hinds

Chrissy brings up some good points about the cast off. It's interesting that I found a definition of gate on a web site that was maintained by an English country dance leader. That definition mentions that the person backing up in a gate makes a smaller circle. And, I'm informed by dance master Jim Morrison that the gate probably evolved from cast off. If the person backing up does make a smaller circle, is the pivot point closer to the person backing up?? One dancer who used to dance in Nelson in '69 mentioned that during a cast off, the men never touched! Tom

14 years, 9 months

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