Hi Lark,
I concur with Lisa about teaching the blobs.
It would also be a good idea to really emphasize the progression.
>From circles of 4, just pass thru and make a new circle "this will be who you dance with the second time"
then just pass thru and make a new circle "this will be...third time" then back to place.
It will give an opportunity to point out the end effects, too.
I did a dance very similar to the one Lisa proposed (Jefferson's Reel)
at my son's school's Colonial Day, and it was ok. (except for the kids who wouldn't touch another gender:-)
Good Luck!
Bob
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:33:09 -0500
From: Lisa Sieverts <lisa(a)lisasieverts.com>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Utterly Introductory dance input sought
To: larkspur(a)umich.edu, Caller's discussion list
<callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Message-ID: <D5F3DA83-EEB4-49D1-B41A-1D8B809E5C40(a)lisasieverts.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
These people have never danced? And you have 5 minutes?
I'd recommend nothing harder than Blobs:
Blobs
longways sets, gender doesn't matter
1. F&B
2. F&B
BEGIN TEACHING HERE (Blobs begin at the top, make circles of 2, 4, or
6 people -- or more as long as they don't tell you about it!)
3. Blob Circle LEFT
4. Blob Circle RIGHT
5. Blob RIGHT hand STAR
6. Blob LEFT hand STAR
7&8. Blob sashay down, others move up
Note that it would take you 5 minutes to teach "cloverleaf turn
single away from partner" IMHO.
Good luck!
Lisa
On Feb 11, 2009, at 10:59 PM, Lark-Aeryn Speyer wrote:
> Hi group,
> Weird situation: I am supposed to put together a five-minute
> presentation on
> myself as a leader for a "Leadership & Organizational Behavior"
> graduate
> class, and I just think that perhaps the way to go is to create a VERY
> SIMPLE English Country dance set to my favorite song--and teach it
> to my
> classmates.
>
> Most of you don't know me, but I'll nonetheless spare you with
> explanations
> as to exactly how weird this is. And, yes, I realize, too, that it
> may not
> be an optimal ECD introduction for my classmates, but I hope it
> will be
> beautiful in some degree, and moving, and indeed an expression of
> the kind
> of leadership I am trying to develop (yes, I'm a budding caller).
>
> In addition, the favorite song, Carrie Newcomer's "Bare to the Bone"
> (see http://carrienewcomer.com/chords/age_of_possibility_chords.pdf
> <http://carrienewcomer.com/sheet_music/
> Bare_to_the_Bone_sheet_music.pdf>
> and
> http://carrienewcomer.com/sheet_music/
> Bare_to_the_Bone_sheet_music.pdf)
> expresses everything I want to be as
a person.
>
> So I'm writing for advice. Since I am supposed to take 5 minutes
> for the
> whole dang kit & kaboodle, I will probably only run the dance three
> times
> through--one verse, one bridge, and one more verse. I've written
> moves for
> 8 bars of 4/4, and I do not think I need any additional moves for a
> rank-beginner group:
>
> ***
>
> "Bare to the Bone"
> Lark-Aeryn Speyer, 2009
> DRAFT
>
> 2-couple sets, facing across the hall; or 3-couple circle sets
>
> 1 taking hands in a ring, balance in and out
> 2 cloverleaf turn single away from partner
> 3-4 clockwise, single file circle 1/2 (step-pause step)
> (If you're in a 3-couple circle set, just circle as far
> as the
> music suggests)
>
> 5 taking hands in a ring, balance in and out
> 6 taking 2 hands with your partner, balance in and out
> 7-8 2-hand turn partner once
>
> (If in 2-couple sets, you are now on the other side of the set.
> This passes
> for a progression.)
>
> ***
>
> The music (in case you don't know it) is sweet, soft, simple, and
> healing.
> The lyrics (I intend to sing one verse beforehand in lieu of
> "let's listen
> to the music once through") and the general feel of the tune are a
> condition
> of complete openness, an approach of utter goodwill. What I would
> hope my
> classmates could take away is a feeling of lightness, ideally even of
> spiritual availability. (Of course, this also depends on my fiddler
> classmate who has offered to learn the tune.)
>
> And I'll bring along a handful of flyers for local English dances,
> just in
> case. :-)
>
> Thoughts very much welcomed! I assure you that any other ideas I
> have for
> this presentation are much scarier to me!
>
> Thanks,
> Lark Speyer
>
>
> --
> There is no conceivable beauty of blossom so beautiful as words,--
> none so
> graceful, none so perfumed. It is possible to dream of combinations of
> syllables so delicious that all the dawning and decay of summer
> cannot
> rival their perfection, nor winter's s
tainless white and azure
> match their
> purity and their charm.
> --Thomas Wentworth Higginson
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
Rickey,
Are you familiar with Katushka?
http://www.dulcimers.com/tunes/katushka.html
The midi sample on that page is pretty slow, but you'll get the idea. I'm
sure there are better recordings.
The Monday Night Band in Louisville Ky uses this pretty often, and it's fun
for the crowd to sing the A part: "La la la la la..."
--Jerome
> Message: 4
> Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2009 10:39:21 -0500
> From: "Rickey" <holt.e(a)comcast.net>
> Subject: [Callers] Tango-like Tune?
> To: <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <B7273155CF104246BDC5F9BD06D4F461@maxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi, I have a dance with a stolen title. The title is "Another Midnight
> Tango", stolen from Mike Richardson's title "Midnight Tango". Now what
> would
> be really cool would be a tune that we could contra dance to that would be
> as close to, or reminiscent of, a dark sultry tango as possible. Any
> suggestions? It would be most helpful if we could find a source for that
> tune (especially online) and if the tune was not overly hard to play - as
> this would be for this Saturday's Valentine's Day Dance, if all of these
> stars align.
>
> Rickey Holt.
>
> Fremont, NH
>
>
>
--
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
I think that using ECD to demonstrate leadership is a *wonderful* idea.
One suggestion-
Instead of a cloverleaf turn single, a turn single to the
right for all would flow more smoothly into a single file clockwise.
Good luck, Lark!
Lark-Aeryn Speyer <laspeyer(a)gmail.com> wrote:
(snip)
***
"Bare to the Bone"Lark-Aeryn Speyer, 2009DRAFT
2-couple sets, facing across the hall; or 3-couple circle sets
1 taking hands in a ring, balance in and out
2 cloverleaf turn single away from partner
3-4 clockwise, single file circle 1/2 (step-pause step)
(If you're in a 3-couple circle set, just circle as far as the music suggests)
5 taking hands in a ring, balance in and out
6 taking 2 hands with your partner, balance in and out
7-8 2-hand turn partner once
(If in 2-couple sets, you are now on the other side of the set. This passes for a progression.)
Thoughts very much welcomed! I assure you that any other ideas I have for this presentation are much scarier to me!
Thanks,Lark Speyer
(snip)
I have the opportunity to be interviewed about contra dance on a weekly radio program on a public radio station in our community. This program serves local country and western, salsa, swing, tango etc dancers as well as doing some promotion of folk, Scottish etc. The format is usually to play representative music by well known groups, have a few live local musicians play, interview someone knowledgeable, then announce where the dance events are happening that week around the state. I will have 15-20 minutes to talk, probably interspersed with tunes.
I see this challenge as somewhat different from our contra-community-wide problem of describing contra to the general public....the audience here is a group of folks who already do other sorts of dance. I would welcome sound bytes from anyone with this in mind. What points would you folks make?
Dear Shared Weight Folks,
It is great that we are able to receive invitations for calling
gigs....lots of opportunities for making connections! But I would
like to suggest that if a particular caller wishes to respond, that
the response be directed to the person doing the inviting. There
really is no need for the conversation to be shared with the whole
group. Thanks so much!
warmly, Linda Leslie
Dear Callers,
I organize Contra Dances in Northern Arizona. We dance on the third
Saturday of every month (except May) in Cottonwood AZ and the Friday before
that (which is usually the third Friday) in Flagstaff AZ. We
are enthusiastic, welcoming and GROWING dance communities in a
geographically isolated part of the country.
We would welcome callers traveling through the area, or those who
would other wise be planning a trip to the Grand Canyon, Sedona or other
parts of the sunny South West!! Pay is minimal, but the experience
and hospitality promise to be exceptional.
If you are interested, or know of any other callers that might be, please
contact me! Feel free to contact me directly at debcomly(a)gmail.com
Thanks!!!
Deb Comly
AZ We Dance
P.S. We'd welcome traveling contra musicians as well... :-)
I've had a couple of people tell me that the Pass Thru, California
Twirl is the original version.....
J
At 09:21 PM 1/26/2009, you wrote:
I learned Good Friday with simply a R+L through in B1.5 instead of a
pass
through/California twirl -- anyone know which is the original
version? The
pass-->California is an interesting variation on a R+L through with
a
twirl. It hadn't really crossed my mind, though the only difference
is the
gent's hand and people of course end up in exactly the same spot.
I'm not
really a fan, though. For one thing, it takes a standard figure and
alters
it in what I see as a needless way. It's kind of like calling a
chain and
mandating that all dancers do a twirl. But more importantly it
messes with
the timing. Pass-->California takes nowhere near 8 counts -- the
dancers in
the video were halfway round in in the circle before the start of
B2.
I have seen, and called, that combination before in "Roll 11" by Sue
Rosen
and Larry Jennings,
B2. Pass through across, California twirl
Circle left 3/4, California twirl to new neighbors
and I think it works very well because of the symmetry, and because
there's
another figure at the end of the section to take up the rest of the
music.
-David Giusti
On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 8:02 PM, lynn ackerson
<callynn1(a)pacbell.net> wrote:
> Looks like Kirston Koths' Good Friday.
>
> --- On Mon, 1/26/09, PARKER MANN <M_P_Mann(a)shaw.ca> wrote:
>
> From: PARKER MANN <M_P_Mann(a)shaw.ca>
> Subject: [Callers] Looking for name and author of this dance
> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Date: Monday, January 26, 2009, 4:36 PM
>
> I saw an interesting dance video from Austin's 2008 Fire Ant
Frolic
> festival
> on the web recently. It can be found at the following address:
>
> [1]http://www.strimoo.com/video/14265122/contra-dance-Vimeo.html
>
> I'd like to call it but I'd also like to know the name and
author. I
> couldn't find a contact for the caller, so I thought I'd pass it
out to
> the community. Can anyone tell me what the dance is?
>
> In the event you can't access the video, here are the moves and
timing as I
> interpreted them. It's a duple improper dance.
>
> A1:
> Starting in ocean waves of four across the set, Rory O'More
balance and
> slides. Bal R-L-slide R, balance L-R-slide L. (16 beats)
>
> A2:
> N allem R 1/2 (2)
> G allem L 1/2 (2)
> P swing (12)
>
> B1:
> LLFB (8)
> Pass through across (4)
> P California twirl (4)
>
> B2:
> Circle L 3 places (8, more or less)
> N d-s-d 1 1/2 to progress (8)
>
> Thanks.
>
> -Parker
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> [2]http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> [3]http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
[4]http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
References
1. http://www.strimoo.com/video/14265122/contra-dance-Vimeo.html
2. http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
3. http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
4. http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
I saw an interesting dance video from Austin's 2008 Fire Ant Frolic festival on the web recently. It can be found at the following address:
http://www.strimoo.com/video/14265122/contra-dance-Vimeo.html
I'd like to call it but I'd also like to know the name and author. I couldn't find a contact for the caller, so I thought I'd pass it out to the community. Can anyone tell me what the dance is?
In the event you can't access the video, here are the moves and timing as I interpreted them. It's a duple improper dance.
A1:
Starting in ocean waves of four across the set, Rory O'More balance and slides. Bal R-L-slide R, balance L-R-slide L. (16 beats)
A2:
N allem R 1/2 (2)
G allem L 1/2 (2)
P swing (12)
B1:
LLFB (8)
Pass through across (4)
P California twirl (4)
B2:
Circle L 3 places (8, more or less)
N d-s-d 1 1/2 to progress (8)
Thanks.
-Parker
In answer to Sue Robishaw <sue(a)manytracks.com> on the subject of "Young Children at Dance"
Hi, Sue!
I do tons of family dances and get to work with lots of families with kids of all ages, from pre-ambulatory (not a problem!) on up. My general approach at the beginning of the evening is to recommend that kids who are too young to ride a bike dance as cling-ons (hanging onto a parent or other willing friend of the family), rather than as someone's partner. I then recommend that young kids who can ride bikes but have never danced before should be partners with an adult. I strongly recommend that young kids not partner each other unless they have some experience or the dance is specifically intended for kids.
Recommendations to dancers notwithstanding, I might still end up with a knot of really young kids intending to dance together. Then it's up to me to adjust--select a dance I know will work, such as a stripped-down variant of the Virgina Reel or a really, really easy contra; ask the kids to come up to the front of the line and have adult couples between the kid couples; come down on the floor and use the kids to demo moves for the walkthrough--whatever it takes.
If I judge that a contra will work, my favorite never-fail dance for first-timers with lots of kids is Ellen's Green Jig (it's in "Zesty Contras" among other places).
Chip Hedler
chiph(a)rumney.org
