Contra Callers

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Chicago Contra Dance Leadership Weekend with Lisa Greenleaf!

by Rachel Shapiro

The University of Chicago, with support from the CDSS Outreach Fund, is sponsoring a contra dance leadership weekend with an intensive callers workshop led by Boston caller Lisa Greenleaf the weekend of October 16th. *"Lisa *leads an intensive workshop designed for advanced-beginner through intermediate contra dance callers. It will focus on stage presence and teaching skills. The workshop runs Friday Night through Sunday Morning, and includes calling opportunities at the Saturday dance" callers must submit an application for this weekend in Chicago. There are only 10 slots available. the applications are due August 31 and can be found, along with the flyer, at: http://fac.uchicago.edu/leadership.html There will also be master musician classes with Pete Sutherland, Mark Roberts, and Jeremiah McLane (Three of the five members of Clayfoot Strutters!). There will be two dances this weekend, so even if you cant make the whole workshop, join us for a dance led by the callers on Saturday, and an Advanced Dance led by Lisa on Sunday. This is not to be missed. Please email with any questions (off list, please). See you there! Rachel

16 years, 3 months

more wedding dances

by Marguerite Durant

'Tis the season, isn't it? Linda Mrosko mentioned Newlywed Lane and Fancy Free Flirting circle waltz. Can someone please pass on the choreography to me? I'm also looking for a dance called at Princeton Country Dancers' anniversary dance this year, a longways set dance having to do with a wolf in a barn snatching piglets...? Thank you! Marguerite Durant

16 years, 3 months

Re: [Callers] Mystery Dance

by Liz and Bill

Hi Jack, My suggested fix is no good :-( I think this would fix it B2: Balance the Ring, Petronella Turn Balance the Ring, Petronella Turn and a 1/2 more but with this suggestion, I think it's too clockwise. B2: LLFB, right hand balance, and square thru 2 would be nicer Cheers, Bill

16 years, 3 months

Re: [Callers] Mystery Dance

by Liz and Bill

Hi Jack, Salmonella Evening by Steve Zakon-Anderson has the same A1, A2 and B2 but B1: Balance the Ring, Petronella Twirl Balance the Ring, Petronella Twirl Your mystery dance doesn't progress. It would work if B2 was Balance Ring, Petronella Twirl Balance Ring, California Twirl Cheers, Bill

16 years, 3 months

Mystery Dance

by Jack Mitchell

So...I just discovered a dance in my box without a title or author on it. Can anyone ID it for me? A1: Neighbor Alle R 1.5 Gents Alle Left 1.5 A2: Partner Gypsy and Swing B1: Balance Ring, Petronella Twirl right into your N's arms N Sw B2: Balance Ring, Petronella Twirl Balance Ring, Pass Thru Along the Set

16 years, 3 months

Re: [Callers] How do you handle little arches/big people traffic jams?

by Jerome Grisanti

Amy, I explain that we can make drawbridges when people in the middle are tall, and demonstrate. They catch on pretty quickly. Often an adult in the line will call out "drawbridge!" if little ones are creating a regular arch. --Jerome > I'm curious: > > Family dance callers, how do you handle the dances in which: > -- everyone goes through an arch (or the arch is brought over folks' > heads) at some point > -- and you get an arch made by two toddlers (aren't they CUTE???!) with a > whole bunch of grownups sqeeeeezing through it > -- while the band plays the B part for the 7th time > -- and the other sets are all done and rarin' to go? > > (it always happens in the set with the person who hired you, and the cute > toddlers are always their grandkids, have you noticed?) > > Cheers, > Amy > -- 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

16 years, 3 months

How do you handle little arches/big people traffic jams?

by Amy Cann

I'm curious: Family dance callers, how do you handle the dances in which: -- everyone goes through an arch (or the arch is brought over folks' heads) at some point -- and you get an arch made by two toddlers (aren't they CUTE???!) with a whole bunch of grownups sqeeeeezing through it -- while the band plays the B part for the 7th time -- and the other sets are all done and rarin' to go? (it always happens in the set with the person who hired you, and the cute toddlers are always their grandkids, have you noticed?) Cheers, Amy

16 years, 4 months

Keepin family dancers to the measures

by Nancy Turner

Here is a question I've mulled over and I'm curious to know what others practice. Do you always try to keep family dancers in time with the music? Most of the family dances I've called have had a mix of young children 4 and up and their parents; so it is this type of crowd that I'm thinking of when I ask this question. Rather than split longways sets into 6-8 couples, I've let them run longer. The dancers need more time to complete the figures due to the length of the sets and I get them going with the next figure at the start of the next A or B. The plus is that we don't have to worry about rushing, but I find that this requires me to call the entire time as the dancers don't have the music as the cue. I've played a bit with tempo. Slowing it way down does allow even young dancers to complete the moves in sync, but I have found a corresponding loss of energy from the slow tempo. Thoughts? Nancy Turner Waitsfield VT

16 years, 4 months

Cherokee Shuffle

by Leda Shapiro

As new member to this list, I am coming in late to discussion re: Cherokee Shuffle. Love the tune, and do not straighten it out. Just call it very infrequently, usually on April Fools' with no explanation, I see April Fool's Day as an opportunity - one year we did a Dance for President Bush (Senior) that did not progress. I would love some new ideas for April Fools Day 2010! Thanks Leda

16 years, 4 months

Re: [Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 60, Issue 2

by Walter

I believe the dance without a name is Midwest Folklore, by Orace Johnson. WD callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote: > Send Callers mailing list submissions to > callers(a)sharedweight.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > callers-request(a)sharedweight.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > callers-owner(a)sharedweight.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Wedding dances (Amy Cann) > 2. Re: Wedding dances (Luke Donev) > 3. Re: Wedding dances (Michael Barraclough) > 4. Waltz? (David Millstone) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 01 Aug 2009 21:17:40 -0400 > From: "Amy Cann" <ACann(a)putneyschool.org> > To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net> > Subject: Re: [Callers] Wedding dances > Message-ID: > <fc.0118c72d009deac53b9aca00173a5480.9dead5(a)putneyschool.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > OK, I just have to chime in (haven't posted here in AGES) > > I'm getting married next week, and I have NO IDEA what the caller is going > to call. That's HIS job. > > I hired David Millstone and told him to do what will make the most people > happy and comfortable. > > It's probably going to turn out to be the smartest bit of > non-micromanaging I will ever do in my LIFE. > > > Of course, I'm obsessing about everything ELSE... > > > PS if you know me and have known about this wedding for ages and think you > should be at this wedding and haven't gotten an official pretty paper > invitation, it's because we used up all of the snailmail ones on the kind > of relatives you have to invite even though you know they're not going to > come anyway. My dance friends are all going to have to make do with a > scanned-in pdf of the invite card and a link to the website. Watch your > inbox for an email in the next 12 hours, and if something STILL doesn't > show up it's because I'm an idiot. ( I SO identify with Sleeping Beauty's > mother, who forgot to invite one of the fairies to the christening and > ended up getting her daughter cursed.) Hell, I almost left Bob McQUILLAN > off the list! Email me if you wanna come and I'll get you the details. > Dave Bateman, are you out here? I don't have a good address for you > anymore, your invite bounced. > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 21:55:18 -0400 > From: Luke Donev <luke.donev(a)gmail.com> > To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net> > Subject: Re: [Callers] Wedding dances > Message-ID: > <243d1eda0908011855s6300fb35w6c2e753f9199d652(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Hello all, > > Thanks for the wonderful feedback, both on and off list. Very helpful and > informative. > > The wedding and reception went very well. I forgot one of the cardinal rules > of weddings, which is that they always run late. I didn't do nearly as many > contras as I'd originally blocked out, and ended up with just three. I left > them all Becket dances (since the last one had to be), and had a simpler > first contra without a 1s and 2s distinction, and where it didn't matter > what how you ended the swing > > Pluck It (easy Becket) > A1: C L, C R > A2: S R, S L > B1: P DSD, P swg > B2: N DSD, LL yearn left > > The new dancers seemed very comfortable with slide left type transitions for > dances, and not having to cross over at the ends simplified things as well. > > The other simple dance went over well. Easy for new folks as it's the same > set of moves twice. I collected it recently at Falcon Ridge, but I don't > know the name or author. Any help? > > Becket > A1 : C L 3/4, N DSD > A2: N Bal & Swg > B1: C L 3/4, P DSD > B2: P Bal & Swg > slide on to next couple > > By the final contra (Star Trek), we still had a fair number of new folks, > and they gamely tried the hay, and by and large they did alright with it. > The "find your partner and swing them" end of it helped a lot. > > Thanks again for the feedback and pointers. > >

16 years, 4 months

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