Hey folks,
Calling the occasional gig again after uh, everything, and I'm finally
inspired to iron out a bit of my beginners' lesson that I've always just
fudged in the past: *when calling gender-neutral, how do you have the
beginners pick roles?*
My spiel is generally, "we have these two roles, they're almost entirely
the same with some small differences, pick one and stick with it for a few
dances just to start and then you can try the other if you want, the most
important thing is knowing which role you are for a given dance."
In my lesson, I alternately:
1. say "whoever's standing on the right of this couple right now, that's
the robin" and then teach the swing in those roles
2. tell folks "decide who's the lark and who's the robin" with no
particular context and they pick arbitrarily
3. teach both sides of the swing and let them choose roles based on
which swing feels more comfortable
But it feels clunky and awkward every time.
I'm curious if others have similar experiences, or things they do in their
lessons that feel effective at getting people into one role (for now) with
a minimum of confusion. Hit me with your wisdom!
*Note: this is NOT an invitation to debate whether contra roles should be
gendered, or which set of role terms we should use, or whether we should
use role terms or positional calling. If you must, please make a separate
thread so I can mute it. If such discussion crops up in this thread, I'd
ask people not to respond, or to take responses to a separate thread.
Thanks.*
--
Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194
Hi, all - and Happy Thanksgiving next week!
I'm working with a group of somewhat new callers to possibly call a medley in December for a group of average dancers. I'm hoping you all can suggest one you already know is easy to call and flows well from one dance to the next, minimizing confusion on the floor and among the callers. We need 3-4 dances that work well together. I have called in a medley team before, but never actually composed the medley.
We're slowly building community skill!
Thanks for any suggestions.
Dorcas Hand
[Freedom to Read Foundation and ALA/OIF offer webinar on the History of Intellectual Freedom and Censorship | News and Press Center]<ftrf.org>
[Texas Library Assn. on Twitter: "The Texas Library Association (TLA) has launched a grassroots coalition, Texans for the Right to Read, to amplify and unify the voices of librarians, educators, parents, students,] [Unite Against Book Bans | ACADEME BLOG]
https://www.studentsneedlibrariesinhisd.org/https://www.ftrf.org<https://www.ftrf.org/>
https://texansfortherighttoread.com/https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/
Hi all,
In a workshop yesterday, one of the participants asked about favorite 3-facing-3 dances. I have several (Walpole Condo, by Ric Goldman, and Rita Rescheduled, by Alan Davies, for example), but I said this is exactly the sort of question I find it productive to ask this list — so here I am, asking on the workshop’s behalf!
And while we’re at it, a second question along these lines came up: great triplets that *don’t* have contra corners? That’s a long list, potentially, so I’ll nuance it by saying for myself I’m always particularly interested in accessible but unusual figures (The Pleasure-Vest, by Colin Wallace, has an utterly delightful figure that combines a chain, a star, and an orbit, for example).
Please don’t only point us to lists of these formations; the workshop participants were specifically asking for individual recommendations of favorites. We can all Google, but there’s utility in knowing that real, living humans find a particular dance worth doing :)
Louise
Winchester, UK
louisesiddons.com
(not sure how this will look as it seems shared weight admin has changed
the behaviour of website posting - my email client opened up)
In reply to Joe:
Good on ya for being active in your new contra series.
A couple of suggestions to consider:
Sometimes you don't need an entirely new figure; rather, you can select a
dance that modifies one previously learned. Classic example is a hey for 4.
First one could be a full hey (16 beats) across and back followed by (16
beats= long recovery time) of <something: balance, etc.> + swing.
Subsequent dance could be, e.g., just a half hey or full hey with a
turnout at the end to meet someone new or ???
Another option is different sorts of wavy lines (longways, across). Take a
look at United We Dance (pretty simple longways waves and a lovely dance).
This dance was adapted by David Smukler, I believe, to replace the longways
wavy lines with short waves across (don't recall the name); you probably
wouldn't want to call them both on the same evening. For something a little
more advanced and mood-adaptable with different kinds of music, look at
Chuck the Budgie.
Some degree of challenge can be added by choosing a dance that takes a
dancer out of their "home" foursome. One of the simplest dances with which
to introduce this is Young Adult Rose (Baby Rose growing up) which offers a
simple allemande to a trailbuddy and come right back to partner.
Other things to look for are the manner in which, and at what point in the
dance, the progression occurs.
Not sure if this helps.
One last tidbit. One of the first places I look in the choreography for a
dance is to see what/where the progression is and work back from there.
Cheers,
Ken Panton
Here is a link to one of my recent dances, "The Balter Dance," not written with beginners in mind...
http://aptsg.org/Dance/dances.html#Balter
A caller described her experience calling this at a local dance (which usually attracts
a relatively large number of beginners)
"I called a couple of your dances tonight. there were totally brand new dancers in the
mix- folks with not even other dance experience- so even basic stuff required like 3 walk-thrus.
We did Dave Found The Missing Coffee Cup, and Balter Dance.
Balter Dance was particularly well received for its chains for both ladies and gents,
which is rare, and works beautifully with the alternating stars.
One person commented that it was great for helping new dancers, since you're in
physical contact with either a partner or neighbor almost all the time, so you don't
get lost or wander in the wrong direction."
Does anyone have other dances with connectivity making them appropriate for crowds with a high proportion of beginners?
Hello folks,
Stephen Braun reached out to me about calling for the Gorham Family Camp
this summer. It didn't fit for me (I'll be taking my family to Camp Agassiz
in Maine the same week), but I offered to post it on Shared Weight so that
others who may be interested could get in touch with him.
The dates for the Gorham family camp will be Saturday Aug. 13 through
Saturday Aug. 19. Camp happens out at the YMCA facility on Darts Lake in
upstate NY (265 Darts Lake Rd, Eagle Bay, NY 13331). They're looking for a
caller who could bring their own music (a small portable speaker would be
fine) and who could lead a variety of family-friendly, fun, basic dances
(line, square-dance style, or contra-dance style) 3 evenings during the
week. Terms are negotiable but would include free room/board for the caller
and family in a lovely lake-side cabin for the week with free access to all
events and activities at the camp (boating, water skiing, horseback riding,
hiking, mountain biking, etc.) Interested individuals can contact Steve
Braun at braun.writer(a)gmail.com (CC'd).
Whatever you get up to this summer, I hope it includes safe and fun dancing!
Luke
Hi Louise and all,
Here a few triplets not using contra corners and use unusual figures
Cut to the Chase Triplet
uses chase and cut thru
https://youtu.be/5BdY_dy3hU0http://christchurch.contradance.nz/dances/Cut%20to%20the%20Chase.pdf
variation of above using dolphin heys
http://christchurch.contradance.nz/dances/Pelorus%20Jack%20Chase.pdf
NZ Sheepskin
uses sheepskin hey
https://youtu.be/Q6bTMsVFf3E
Cheers, Bill
On 8/11/2022 11:31 am, Louise Siddons via Contra Callers wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> In a workshop yesterday, one of the participants asked about favorite 3-facing-3 dances. I have several (Walpole Condo, by Ric Goldman, and Rita Rescheduled, by Alan Davies, for example), but I said this is exactly the sort of question I find it productive to ask this list — so here I am, asking on the workshop’s behalf!
>
> And while we’re at it, a second question along these lines came up: great triplets that *don’t* have contra corners? That’s a long list, potentially, so I’ll nuance it by saying for myself I’m always particularly interested in accessible but unusual figures (The Pleasure-Vest, by Colin Wallace, has an utterly delightful figure that combines a chain, a star, and an orbit, for example).
>
> Please don’t only point us to lists of these formations; the workshop participants were specifically asking for individual recommendations of favorites. We can all Google, but there’s utility in knowing that real, living humans find a particular dance worth doing :)
>
> Louise
> Winchester, UK
> louisesiddons.com
> _______________________________________________
> Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
Alternate Trios by Ken Kernen and Choo-Choo (named for Chattanooga
dancers) by myself. Two very easy dances
Fiddling for the following by Peter Stix I frequently use at parties
because of its ease. I have more in my collection but these are used by
me the most. If more info wanted just request.
Jane Ewing
Grant, AL
Hello,
It gives me great pleasure to announce the release of a new book by Louise Siddons-Dancing the Whole Dance: Positional Calling for Contra. This book, from CDSS, provides an in-depth look at how to be successful calling contras positionally based on Louise's years of success in a wide range of settings. With thoughtful commentary on the how and why of positional calling, as well as a detailed introductory workshop, and notes and instructions for calling eight specific dances, this booklet has everything you need to start learning positional calling for contra, or hone your craft further.
The book is available for sale now through the CDSS store in both print and digital formats.
https://cdss.force.com/commons/s/product/dancing-the-whole-dance-positional…
Ben Williams (he/him/his)
Sales and Publishing, Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS)
413-203-5467 x106 .:. ben(a)cdss.org<mailto:ben@cdss.org> .:. www.cdss.org/store<http://www.cdss.org/store>
[Top text reads "Join us in holding community and tradition together" with a button that says "Donate Now" below. There are three pictures in circular frames taking up the middle of the image. One of two adults dancing and smiling. One of two people playing accordion and fiddle outdoor, and one of two children laughing and dancing.]<https://cdss.force.com/commons/s/donations>
Hey callers and dance-choreographic-encyclopedic-knowledgeable people*
Last Friday I needed a transitionary dance at the last second. We had many more first time contra dancers than I was expecting. I wanted something a bit more than simply "Family Contra" or "Family Contra in the Castle". So I came up with this:
Formation: Duple Minor
A1: Circle left (8); Left hand star (8)
A2: partner DSD (8); neighbor DSD (8)
B1: Neighbor balance and swing
B2: long lines (8); 1s swing (8)
It was a perfect dance (transition from LH* to PDSD requires a moment for the robins/right hand dancers) but it was good enough for the moment.
However, it is such an obvious dance someone must have written it previously. Anyone know the name and the author?
Thanks
Seth
*those groups could be the same or not, as you will
Seth Tepfer, MBA, CSM, PMP (he, him, his)
Senior IT Manager, Emory Primate Center
