Contra Callers

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16 participants
4372 discussions

Callers in Polk Co. WI? or How to learn calling?

by Jonathan Wilson

Thank you all for your info and leads. You gave me a lot of good stuff to look through, and so far it has been very helpful.

14 years, 9 months

Re: [Callers] How to Learn Calling

by Sue Robishaw

Hi Jonathan, Not being near any contra scene I learned a great deal from Seth Tepfer's wonderfully generous online handouts on his website [1]www.dancerhapsody.com -- go to Calling, then Handouts. Also if you have a chance to head east to the Door County Folk Fest in July, dancing in the morning with various callers with a contra dance party Saturday night. I gleaned as much from what didn't work as what I did (there and elsewhere). I've considered doing the same here in the southern U.P. so would be very interested in hearing how you do over there. Dancing cheers! Sue R. -- * * * * * * * * * * Sue Robishaw ~ [2]sue(a)manytracks.com 906-644-2598 ~ 770N Fox Rd, Cooks (Upper Peninsula) MI 49817 [3]www.ManyTracks.com ~ Gardening / Homesteading / Artwork / Books / and more * * * * * * * * * * References 1. http://www.dancerhapsody.com/ 2. mailto:sue@manytracks.com 3. http://www.ManyTracks.com/

14 years, 9 months

Re: [Callers] New Dance? (Waiting for the Other Foot to Fall)

by John Sweeney

Hi Bob, It is almost identical to THE DOUBLE RAINBOW written by Jacob Bloom - see http://www.gis.net/~bloom/dances.htm He repeats your A1 for the other couple which gives a pleasing symmetry and a chance for everyone to swing. Then it continues as yours does, but with a slightly different progression since he used up A2. Lovely dance :-) 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

Callers in Polk Co. WI? or How to learn calling?

by Jonathan Wilson

Hello all, I live in a small town called Luck in Northwestern Wisconsin. I would like to start a monthly or bimonthly contra dance here. I have only been to a few contra dances, I don't know any dances, and certainly don't have any experience as a caller. I know a band who I think is well capable and interested in playing the music, but we don't know of anyone in the area that is familiar with or could lead a contra dance. So my questions are two: Does anyone know of anyone in the Polk county area capable of being a caller? if not How can a complete beginner like me learn the system and enough dances to become a caller? Are there any books, resources, workshops, etc. that would help me? Anything to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Jonathan

14 years, 9 months

New Dance?

by Bob Isaacs

Hi All: This past weekend at a dance writing workshop at the Foot Fall dance weekend we came up with the following dance, and were wondering if it was new: Waiting for the Other Foot to Fall Improper Co-authors; Dan Black, Joyce Duffy-Bilanow, Bob Isaacs, Hannah Platt, Kendall Rogers A1. Neighbor handy-hand allemande 1 1/2, 2s swing - face down (1) A2. Down hall in line/4 - 2s turn as a couple, up hall and bend line B1. Circle L, neighbor swing B2. Long lines, 2s swing (1) - It's the L hand for the 1G/2L, and R hand for the 1L/2G. The line of four facing down from L to R is 1G-2G-2L-1L. Anyone seen this one before? Bob

14 years, 9 months

Ralph Page Hotel situation

by Lisa Sieverts

Hi calling friends, I know a bunch of us attend the Ralph Page weekend in January ... and congrats to Lynn Ackerson for being a featured caller along with the amazing Tod Whittemore. It's going to be a great weekend. I was working on getting a hotel room and was shocked to discover that the New England Center on campus has closed. Defunct. Over. Locked Up. No More. As far as I can tell, the Holiday Inn Express is the next best choice, since it's still an easy walk to the MUB. So y'all might want to book a room early. Best, Lisa -- Become a Monadnock Co-op Member!<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103582272438&s=522&e=001yMXrq9ir0gBX7ESCD5f3q…> Join to enjoy great food and invest in our community's future.

14 years, 9 months

Re: [Callers] pre-existing dances?

by Mark Widmer

Luke, The partner gypsy-and-swing version is a dance written by Beau Farmer called Together At Last Regards, Mark ------------------------------ From: Luke Donev <luke.donev(a)gmail.com> wrote: Hello all, I was lying awake in bed last night, running through dances in my mind, and put together the following. It's a fairly straightforward dance, so I'm curious if it already exists in the collected oeuvre Improper A1 Neighbor Balance and Swing A2 Gents Left allemande 1.5x Pass partner by R for 1/2 hey B1 Partner Balance and Swing B2 Ladies Chain across the set Left Hand Star 1x Those balance and swings could easily be replaced with gypsy meltdowns, as the right shoulder is available in both cases. That's not really enough to make it a different dance in my opinion, so there are a couple of permutations this may already exist in. Thoughts?

14 years, 9 months

Dances like Haste to the Wedding

by J L Korr

Jeff, I recommend Joys of Port McNeill by Marian Rose, especially when danced to the tune Joys of Quebec as it was intended by the author. I won't reprint it here without Marian's permission, but it's in her Step Lively 2 book. It fulfills much the same objectives as Haste to the Wedding, has the same kind of alignment between the music and choreography, and has the bonus of an easy zigzag figure. I've used this early in an evening to preview the zigzag figure in a contra later on in the program. Works as Sicilian circle (as written) or as improper contra. Jeremy > Yesterday I called Haste to the Wedding [1] after an influx of new > dancers and as a recovery from a dance that was a little too hard for > the group. I expected it to go well, but I was surprised by how well, > actually. With the clapping in time with the music in the B parts and > the extra time for the pass through, a lot of people who'd been > confused by progression and how this whole thing worked seemed to get > it in a way that helped for following dances as well. > > Does anyone have suggestions for other dances that work similarly, > teaching progression? >

14 years, 9 months

Re: [Callers] Dances like Haste to the Wedding?

by Linda Leslie

Dear Alan, When calling Sicilian Circles, I have dancers form a large circle. I then actually go out on the floor and ask two couples to face each other. I then progress around the ring, having the couples face as I go. It actually takes very little time to do and avoids confusion surrounding language choices. Linda On Sep 8, 2010, at 6:03 PM, Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing wrote: > Jeff wrote: > > >> Yesterday I called Haste to the Wedding [1] after an influx of new >> dancers and as a recovery from a dance that was a little too hard for >> the group. I expected it to go well, but I was surprised by how >> well, >> actually. With the clapping in time with the music in the B parts >> and >> the extra time for the pass through, a lot of people who'd been >> confused by progression and how this whole thing worked seemed to get >> it in a way that helped for following dances as well. > >> Does anyone have suggestions for other dances that work similarly, >> teaching progression? > > I'll echo others who talk about how great a dance Haste to the > Wedding is. > I use it early on in one-night-stand programs very often, usually as > a Sicilian > Circle. According to John Millar in "Country Dances of Colonial > America", the > tune was used in an operetta called "The Elopement" in the 1760s. > Very similar > dance figures to the version we use can be found in the 1770s, > although with a > two-hand-turn-halfway-and-turn-individually-to-face-new-neighbors > progression, > which Does Not Work for beginners; The Sicilian circle with pass- > through > progression seems to be mid/late 19th-century. Anyway, it's > undifferentiated > enough that it can be your first contra dance, your first English > dance, your > first Regency dance, your first Civil War dance. > > In similar circumstances, if the band knows the tune (and they > usually do, > especially if they're old-timey) I'll pull out "Soldier's Joy", > which I have > from a mid-Victorian dance manual: > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > SOLDIER'S JOY. 80 Steps. > Sicilian Circle ("As for Spanish Dance") > 32-bar reel. > > > A1: 1-4: Forward and back > 5-8: Opposites turn two hands (no progression) > > A2: 1-4: Partners balance > 5-8: Partners turn (could swing if wanted) > > B1: 1-8: Ladies chain over and back > > B2: 1-8: Forward and back, forward and pass through. > > > > Original text: > > All forward and back, swing the opposite-all balance to partners and > turn-ladies chain-forward and back, forward and cross to face the > next couple. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > (You could certainly do this as an improper longways, but you'd need > to space > the minor sets out further than we usually do for contra, since the > ladies > chain is along the set rather than across it.) > > It's sometimes challenging to get first-timer groups into sicilian > circle > formation, since words that work for people with a vague clue > ("couple facing > couple around a circle", "radiate out like spokes of a wheel from > the hub", > etc) often don't for people who don't have practice in seeing the > big picture. > If anybody has ideas about that making that go smoothly all the > time, I'd be > happy to hear them. But in any case, the formation is great for > getting the > progression idea across since it relieves the first-timer of having > to deal > with end effects, role changes, etc, etc. > > -- Alan > > > > > > -- > = > = > = > = > = > = > = > = > = > ====================================================================== > Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU > Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: > 650/926-3056 > Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park > CA 94025 > = > = > = > = > = > = > = > = > = > ====================================================================== > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

14 years, 9 months

Dances like Haste to the Wedding?

by Jeff Kaufman

Yesterday I called Haste to the Wedding [1] after an influx of new dancers and as a recovery from a dance that was a little too hard for the group. I expected it to go well, but I was surprised by how well, actually. With the clapping in time with the music in the B parts and the extra time for the pass through, a lot of people who'd been confused by progression and how this whole thing worked seemed to get it in a way that helped for following dances as well. Does anyone have suggestions for other dances that work similarly, teaching progression? Jeff [1] Something like: A1 * (8) Circle L * (8) Circle R A2 * (8) Star R * (8) Star L B1 * (8) P dosido * (2) Clap, Clap * (6) P swing B2 * (8) N dosido * (2) Clap, Clap * (6) Pass Through

14 years, 9 months

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