All this grapevine chitchat got me thinking: Krikey, this is one of those
instances where you don't realize something changed until much later. Kind
of like trying to remember the last time you rolled down a grassy hill as a
kid.
We used to do the grapevine-ish step when circling when I started contra in
Ottawa about 25 years ago - kind of as a way of allowing one to look both
forward and back. I have no idea where or when that stopped. Weird!
Ken Panton
dear callers and dance writers,
has anyone out there come across/written a contra dance that incorporates
the dance move, Yemenite (as in “Yemenite right; Yemenite left”), from
Israeli folk dance?
thanks much !!
--
* Elizabeth Bloom Albert *
Anybody driving from the north to Winter Dance Week at John C. Campbell
Folkschool in Brasstown NC? I would gladly carpool with you. Please
contact me! Thanks,
Susan in Ohio [image: 🎶] [image: ☺]
330-347-8155
woosterdance.com
Hi,
I am wondering if you have any dances for low numbers of dancers (perhaps 6
or less), when most or all of the dancers are beginners and adults. I am
also wondering if you have any dances (presumably different dances), that do
not require choosing a partner and are good openers for beginner adults.
Thanks as always to all,
Rickey Holt.
Hi Joe,
You can contact Emily Rush, who shares her Google drive link with folks to use for calling techno contras.
I’ve called a techno contra recently using a couple of her tunes as well as slowing down the BPM on some EDM music I found online (Spotify, Apple Music, etc)
There are amazing DJs who have made some fun dance mixes and many of them are square tunes. I counted them out to be sure for mine.
I also got some tunes from Caller DJ Noah Grunzweig in Portland OR. And a recording from a zoom techno contra that M’Gilvry Allen did for our Zoom NYE 2020.
Good luck!
Claire Takemori
> On Dec 3, 2022, at 10:54 AM, contracallers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net wrote:
>
> Send Contra Callers mailing list submissions to
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> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Seeking new Techno Contra recorded music (Joe Harrington)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2022 10:46:08 -0500
> From: Joe Harrington <contradancerjoe(a)gmail.com>
> Subject: [Callers] Re: Seeking new Techno Contra recorded music
> To: Lisa Sieverts <lisa(a)lisasieverts.com>
> Cc: contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> Message-ID:
> <CAHyB5qFG_wBakAtYSVD60D=JWyRT6gkAh+W7YivOo-WOtzT4cQ(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: multipart/related;
> boundary="000000000000161a7205eeee5b6a"
>
> Folks, please be careful talking about buying and trading contra DJ mixes
> in a public forum. Unless the music is original (e.g., Dr. Shadow), it
> isn't legal to buy and sell mixes unless the creator/seller bought
> mechanical licenses for every input track and kept the licenses current
> when they sold the copy to you. Those licenses are $15/track plus a few
> pennies per copy, making a 10 mix collection with three tracks per mix a
> whopping $450/year to create and retain the right to sell or give away
> free. They are separate from the performance licenses available from
> Callerlab. We haven't attracted the attention of the music industry like
> the square-dance callers did a while back (leading to threatened lawsuits
> and the creation of Callerlab). Callerlab's license lets you PLAY music
> you've legally acquired at non-private events, whether paid or not. To
> make mixes or give it to someone else without destroying your copy, you
> need a mechanical license.
>
> That said, I'm putting together some resources for contra DJs. One item in
> development (don't hold your breath) is a solution to the music mixing
> problem that does not require a mechanical license because it does not
> create a "fixed form" copy of the created work. If you're interested in
> DJ-related conversations and resources, sign up here:
>
> https://forms.gle/uZcHhH7P8eDUy2Pz5
>
> We've had one zoom call so far, and traded good advice and experiences
> about building fun, diverse pop-music contrra dances!
>
> Thanks,
>
> --jh--
> Joe Harrington
> Organizer, Greater Orlando Contra Dance
> Faculty Advisor, Contra Knights, the UCF contra dancing club
> contraknights.org
> FB, Ig: Contra Knights
> contradancerjoe(a)gmail.com
> 321-696-9914
>
> On Sat, Dec 3, 2022 at 10:12 AM Lisa Sieverts via Contra Callers <
> contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> I love the D.R. Shadow album, here’s the Apple Music link. It’s not new
>> (2015) but it’s very cool.
>>
>> [image: preview.png]
>>
>> Electro Contra
>> <https://music.apple.com/us/album/electro-contra/1040606364>
>> D.R. Shadow <https://music.apple.com/us/album/electro-contra/1040606364>
>> <https://music.apple.com/us/album/electro-contra/1040606364>
>>
>>
>> Lisa Sieverts
>>
>> On Dec 2, 2022, at 10:50 PM, Lissa Bengtson via Contra Callers <
>> contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>
>> I have some great Techno Contra music I purchased in 2018 from a super
>> Washington DC DJ. But I’m wondering if there are some newer mixes, using
>> recent artists, that I could purchase in time to get used to them before
>> our January 14 TechnoContra? (I’ll be one of the callers.)
>>
>> Please contact me if you know of a source! Many thanks!
>>
>> Lissa Bengtson
>> lissabengtson(a)gmail.com
>> 210-627-5940
>> San Antonio, TX
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>
Hello Folks,
I am looking for some contra dances which have a holiday theme for
Christmas, Chanukah, or New Year's (Eve) for an open contra dance.
Do You have any favorites?
Rich
I have some great Techno Contra music I purchased in 2018 from a super
Washington DC DJ. But I’m wondering if there are some newer mixes, using
recent artists, that I could purchase in time to get used to them before
our January 14 TechnoContra? (I’ll be one of the callers.)
Please contact me if you know of a source! Many thanks!
Lissa Bengtson
lissabengtson(a)gmail.com
210-627-5940
San Antonio, TX
At the risk of derailing this conversation, ah, I definitely am derailing it so will change the subject line.
I’d like to see new COVID-aware choreography with fewer swings. If swinging is perhaps the most dangerous thing we do while dancing, I’d like to see some new dances that emphasize partner swings and de-emphasize neighbor swings, and at least some dances without any swings.
I’m intrigued by the idea that dances without swings open up 32 beats of opportunity for new choreography.
Lisa Sieverts
603-762-0235
lisa(a)lisasieverts.com
On 23 Nov 2022, at 9:30, Jeff Kaufman via Contra Callers wrote:
> "during the average contra evening, you will spend approximately 30 minutes
> swinging"
>
> Tangent: I thought "that can't be right" but a little playing with numbers
> and I think it is. My back of the envelope: guess ~12 dances, each ~17
> times through, with ~20 beats of swinging per dance. That's 4k beats of
> swinging, which at 118bpm is 35min. Another way to think of it is that in
> a 3hr evening half of your time is dancing and a third of that is swinging.
>
> Jeff
>
