And I've heard it called "immoral" or sometimes "illicit."
April Blum
In a message dated 8/2/2010 3:36:43 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
callers-request(a)sharedweight.net writes:
Luke asked:
> >
> > If the 1s and the 2s cross? I'd be inclined towards anti-proper or
> > maybe improper-indecent (a mouthful). This was the question that
> > prompted the query.
> >
>
So from the stage, all the men are on the left and all the ladies on the
right? In keeping with the improper and indecent themes, I've heard this
formation referred to as "downright scandalous." But it may have been more
for the schtick than the etymology.
--Jerome
One that wasn't mentioned so far is the fairly new formation is the
adapted grid square. A square in the middle with contra lines
branching out behind each of the four square couples. With a large
hall, you can link the contra lines to other squares. Bob Isaacs once
tried using this formation at a Sunday night Glen Echo dance.
He called it the "Zuni Formation." If you take a look at the New
Mexico flag, it'll make sense!
Also, I've heard the two-couple scatter mixers referred to as
"Kentucky Squares" before. But that might only be used for particular
dances using that setup.
-Sargon
On Mon, Aug 2, 2010 at 12:00 PM, <callers-request(a)sharedweight.net> wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Dance formation names? (Luke Donev)
> 2. Re: Calling to Recorded Music Resource List (john meechan)
> 3. Re: Dance formation names? (Andrea Nettleton)
> 4. Re: Dance formation names? (Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing)
> 5. Re: Dance formation names? (David Millstone)
> 6. Re: Contra Music Examples (Jim McKinney)
> 7. Re: Contra Music Examples (Amy Cann)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2010 20:17:10 -0500
> From: Luke Donev <luke.donev(a)gmail.com>
> To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: [Callers] Dance formation names?
> Message-ID:
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> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Hello all,
>
> A dancer friend asked me about initial formation terminology, and I
> wasn't sure so I thought I'd ask the hive mind.
>
> In contra sets with hands four, if neither the 1s nor 2s cross over,
> it's proper formation (specifically duple minor I believe). If the 1s
> cross, it's improper.
>
> If the 1s cross and the whole set rotates 1/4 circle, it's Becket.
>
> If the 1s don't cross over but the 2s do, I've called that formation
> indecent. I'm not sure how widespread that use is.
>
> If the 1s and the 2s cross? I'd be inclined towards anti-proper or
> maybe improper-indecent (a mouthful). This was the question that
> prompted the query.
>
> Triple minor dances are hands six, and can be proper or with some
> couples crossed over... I don't know specific sub-names.
>
> Tempest formation is a wide n shape of four couples, actives in the
> middle facing down, inactives on the sides facing in.
>
> There's circle dances and Sicillian circles of facing couples. There's
> four couple square dance formation, five couples for Levi Jackson's
> rag, Morris and rapper formations and more. But are there other contra
> formations and if so what are they called?
>
> Are there other traditional formations, and if so what are they called?
>
> Thanks
>
> --
> Luke Donev
> http://www.lukedonev.com
> Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com
>
Luke asked:
> >
> > If the 1s and the 2s cross? I'd be inclined towards anti-proper or
> > maybe improper-indecent (a mouthful). This was the question that
> > prompted the query.
> >
>
So from the stage, all the men are on the left and all the ladies on the
right? In keeping with the improper and indecent themes, I've heard this
formation referred to as "downright scandalous." But it may have been more
for the schtick than the etymology.
--Jerome
--
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
For the good are always the merry,
Save by an evil chance,
And the merry love the fiddle
And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats
Thank you, everyone, for the spirited discussion and the resources.
I totally agree that calling WITH a band is the way to go - in fact, when I was
asked if I could do without, I was taken aback for awhile. But I also agree with
Chrissy: if the choice comes down to (A) calling a ONS dance to recorded music,
or (B) no dance for them/no gig for me, I'd rather there be more collective joy
in the world even if it's not optimally set up.
I'm thinking of dancing to recorded music as a gateway drug.
Tina
There are also dances in four-facing-four formation, which some (especially
those influenced by the Lloyd Shaw Foundation) term mescolanza. One example
would be The Devil's Backbone by William Watson.
Luke mentioned Becket formation dances. There are also a handful of dances in
double Becket formation. Start with two sets in Becket formation and then have
them move closer to each other; dancers in all four lines (i.e., four couples)
will be interacting with each other. As far as I know, Pat Shaw's dance K&E was
the first one in this formation.
David Millstone
Hello all,
A dancer friend asked me about initial formation terminology, and I
wasn't sure so I thought I'd ask the hive mind.
In contra sets with hands four, if neither the 1s nor 2s cross over,
it's proper formation (specifically duple minor I believe). If the 1s
cross, it's improper.
If the 1s cross and the whole set rotates 1/4 circle, it's Becket.
If the 1s don't cross over but the 2s do, I've called that formation
indecent. I'm not sure how widespread that use is.
If the 1s and the 2s cross? I'd be inclined towards anti-proper or
maybe improper-indecent (a mouthful). This was the question that
prompted the query.
Triple minor dances are hands six, and can be proper or with some
couples crossed over... I don't know specific sub-names.
Tempest formation is a wide n shape of four couples, actives in the
middle facing down, inactives on the sides facing in.
There's circle dances and Sicillian circles of facing couples. There's
four couple square dance formation, five couples for Levi Jackson's
rag, Morris and rapper formations and more. But are there other contra
formations and if so what are they called?
Are there other traditional formations, and if so what are they called?
Thanks
--
Luke Donev
http://www.lukedonev.com
Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com
> MY FAVORITE, MOST USEFUL, MOST USED RECORDED MUSIC:
* All recordings (& books) produced by New England Dancing Masters
(Peter & Mary Alice Amidon, Andy Davis, Mary Cay Brass & many other fine musicians including Becky Tracy, Keith Murphy, Sam & Stefan Amidon & Thomas Bartlett)
http://www.dancingmasters.com/
*Sweets of May & White Mountain Reel - recordings (& books) by Dudley Laufman
These have recently been combined into a single volume which looks quite terrific
http://laufman.org/
* Recordings by musicians local to my area (or the area of the gig) and inspiring at least one on-mic comment about these talented musicians in the neighborhood.
* I also have used KGB's Volga Notions (because the cd jacket claims in Russian, "Danceable but no chestnuts").
For SPECIFIC Tunes/Songs required for a specific dance:
* New England Chestnuts by Rodney & Randy Miller
two cd re-release available at Great Meadow Music
http://www.greatmeadowmusic.com/
* Lissa Schneckenburger's gorgeous new cd, Dance, is almost all chestnuts.
http://lissafiddle.com/
* Lloyd Shaw Foundation
Amazing resource, zillions of recordings & cue sheets and more. They set up a download site for you, once you request your recordings.
http://lloydshaw.org/Catalogue/CatHome.htm
* I recently found Amazon Music Downloads very useful
-Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
Dan's comment about having lots of 5x and 7x cuts reminded me...
Something I didn't mention in my earlier post on this subject is that for many
one-night stands, you don't often really long cuts of music. You can do
Gallopede 9 times through and folks are plenty happy to stop. If they're really
long lines, instead of having just one couple chassez down the set at the end of
B2, you can send the top two couples galloping down.
It's a differen tmentality than at a contra dance with dancers who do this
regularly, folks who are looking to get in the groove. Squares, longways set
dances, circle dances, and novelty dances as Beth points out. At camp gigs I
usually toss in Cotton-Eyed Joe and/or the Macarena and, more recently, the
Cupid Shuffle. Don't need to teach a thing... just put on the music and let the
kids take it away. They're having fun.
There was a time-- and not so long ago-- when I wouldn't dream of doing any of
that, and finally diagnosed myself with a case of
more-traditional-than-thou-itis. Realized that people hiring me for those
one-night stand situations weren't asking for a bit of pure-from-the-well
traditional dance... they were looking for me to assist them in having a good
time with their friends and relations.
I agree that live music is great to bring to a party and that's always my
preference. There's a different kind of energy that comes with it, it's part of
the tradition, it employs musicians, it gives folks who aren't dancing something
else to watch, and it's much easier to get the musicians to speed up or slow
down or to add one more time, not to mention having them be able to play backup
when someone wants to get up to sing a song. All part of making the party
happen.
David
While I vastly prefer using live music, I call my share of dances with recorded music, and have for decades.
Some people have cited some good recordings. Listen to recordings that are *almost* suitable, but can be made suitable by lengthening, shortening, excision of an "interesting but undancible" round, etc. Use audio editing software such as Audacity (free) to make things the way you want. As a result, I have a collection of cuts from 5x to 7x (lots of those), 8x, 9x, 11x and 15x.
I keep my music organized on my laptop and accessed by the MIT Folk Dance Club player. See http://home.comcast.net/~a1penguin/ for details on that. It is mostly bug-free, but it is free.
You don't need tons of material right away. Build it up as you go along.
Dan
Hi all -
Have any of you called for a dance without a band? I've gotten a query about
calling a barn dance, but their budget is teeny tiny, so they asked if I could
call to CDs. I know this is quite possible; my dad used to call square dances to
records, but those records were specifically made for dancing to. Most contra
music tracks I have only last at most ~3 minutes. I could theoretically splice
the tracks together to make a repeating loop, but this is a lot of time
investment and also, how would you know when the music would stop, in order to
go out? Would you try to guess, or just unceremoniously turn the thing off, or
do the "mood fade?" (And no, sadly, I'm not like Alan Furth or Erik Hoffmann,
folks who can call and play guitar/fiddle/banjo//etc. well at the same time.)
Do you have any strategic ideas? Thanks!
Tina
