Contra Callers

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

3 participants
4416 discussions

Thanks to Ridge, Bob , Adina, Chris, Jeanette, etc :) Re: dance video info

by Richie K.

Thanks to everyone who let me know about Donna Hunt and the "stutter step" in the video :) I've emailed Donna and will let you all know of any data she gives me :) :) Keep the contra fires burning... :) Richie Katz ____________________________________________________________ Click here to find the perfect picture with our powerful photo search features. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/Ioyw6i3mDcGPvii31xm139X0smrSQn8…

17 years, 3 months

Dancing Dancing Bear

by Rickey

Hi, I have called this dance before but a part of my directions does not make sense to me. Have you called it? The dance is Dancing Bear, by Becky Hill. Duple Improper (A1) Neighbor Allemande Right (½ ) (4) / Same Neighbor Allemande Left (ONCE AROUND) (also in 4!)/ Ladies Chain ( ½ ) (8) (A1) Hey (16) (B1) Partner Balance and Swing (16) (B2) Ladies Chain ( ½ ) (8) /Star left (once to new neighbors) (8) A Great dance!!!!!!!!!!!! What is puzzling me is this: The Allemande Left (in A1) seems to need to be closer to ONCE AND A HALF to set up for the ladies chain and doing THAT in 4 counts would be too much. I have called it, and I called it as once around and it did look like the dancers were going more than one half way around (the other option), so what do you think was really going on. How do you call this dance? Rickey Holt, Fremont, NH

17 years, 3 months

Re: [Callers] Varying a program

by Martha Wild

I have a whole bunch of thoughts on what makes a program varied or unvaried. I see, after having written what follows prior to scrolling down and reading below, that Alan and I have very similar ideas - however, I'll just leave what follows here even if it goes over some of the same ground, i.e., beginnings, transitions, and distinctive figures. Oh well, here's my take: I like to see variation in the types of transitions, like star to do- si-do, or California Twirl to face next neighbors, or circle left and pass through, or slide left to next etc. in a Becket. Too many of the same transition can seem unvaried. To me, starting two dances in a row the same way feels unvaried as a dancer. Haven't you ever been to programs where every dance starts "Balance and swing your neighbor?" I like to vary the kinds of swings in a program - some balance and swings, one or two gypsy into swing, just plain swing from a do si do or an allemande, sometimes women swing or men swing for variety. As a dancer, I'm afraid I'm not really fond of swinging both partner and neighbor in every dance. It just gets too darn tiring. Watch everyone leave early on a hot night in San Diego without air conditioning. So I try to mix up the program with a dance with "both" swings, and dances with partner only swings. I even do some fun dances with (gasp) active couples in them - usually double progressions, but also an active dance done late on a hot evening, or early with a small crowd, can have unusual choreography that you won't see in other dances and that is fun to do as a dancer. I also like to do dances where the #1 couple swings and later the #2 couple swings, so both get a chance. As far as repetition of figures - some figures you can get away with lots of repeats during the evening - like forward and back in long lines, or ladies chain, or right and left through. Sort of bread and butter figures. Other figures dancers start to notice - a fair number of circles can be OK, but when every dance has one, it's pretty obvious. Some figures are distinct and you don't want to do more than two (maybe one) dances with them - petronellas, box the gnats, wave balances, whole set circle left - those sorts of things. And if you like your program, and you've got a lot of heys in it, OWN your program, and say - tonight's theme is - wait for it - the HEY! We'll be trying all manner of heys and ways in and ways out of heys. Then it becomes something to look forward to and notice the differences and feel from dance to dance. Of course, that said, many dancers don't even notice if the same dance is repeated in the same evening - this from personal experience when two callers did that in a shared evening. A couple dancers remarked when asked that it did seem somewhat familiar.... But even if they don't consciously notice repetition, variety will still add that spice. One thing to be avoided though, is picking slightly similar repeating figures in two different dances - like circle left, ladies chain, women do-si-do and then two dances later do circle left, ladies chain, women allemande right - even if the rest of the dance is wildly different, people get pretty quickly entrained on the flow of the first set and will keep wanting to do-si-do in the second set. So I try to check my program for those sorts of repeats. I've felt the magnetic attraction of the entrained movement as a dancer and seen people stumbling with the second set as a caller - so avoid that. That's enough thoughts on variety for now... Have fun planning your programs. Martha On Aug 7, 2008, at 9:00 AM, 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. What Makes A Program Varied (Rickey) > 2. Re: What Makes A Program Varied > (Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing) > 3. Re: Chris's message (J L Korr) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 17:26:57 -0400 > From: "Rickey" <holt.e(a)comcast.net> > Subject: [Callers] What Makes A Program Varied > To: <callers(a)sharedweight.net> > Message-ID: <000501c8f80b$27bdfbb0$020fa8c0@maxx> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > OK all, > > What determines if a program is varied? I originally thought that the > number of times a figure occurred in an evening was a pretty good > clue, but > now ???????????? Here are dances that feel different, in programs > that feel > varied, yet look at how many times some figures are repeated in an > evening. > > VARIETY IN PROGRAMMING > > What is it? > > What is variety in programming determined by? I find that I can > include > many dances that have the same figures and still feel that I have a > varied > program. Below are three of my recent programs and the number of > times in > that evening that a given figure occurs. I arbitrarily started > with the > idea that more than five occurrences of a figure in an evening > might be a > problem. Obviously, I excluded swings and balance and swings. By > accident > no Circle left ??s were included. I have also not considered here > where in > the dance the figure occurred. Despite several figures occurring very > frequently in an evening, the programs still felt very varied to > me, and > some dancers expressed that as well. > > What do you think????????????? > > All programs had 14 dances in each. Some of the names are > approximate. Most > dances were contras, a few were circles, a few were set dances. > > Program 1 for Beginners ? Circles were in 9 dances, at least 1 do- > si-do in > 7, Stars or hands across in 7 dances. Program: Pride of the > Dingle, Jolly > Roger, No Dos, Family Contra, Fiddle Hill Jig, Ease, Green Jig, > Fancy French > mixer, Flutterbys, Midwest Folklore, Reading Reel, Yankee Reel, > Handsome > Young Maids, Greenfield 2 hand > > Program 2 for Beginners ? Balance the ring in 5, Circles in 8, Do- > si-do in > 8, Down the Hall 4-in-line in 6, Star or hands across in 10 dances. > Program: Cincinnati Reel, Haste to the Wedding, Family Contra, Anne? > s Visit, > Fiddle Hill Jig, Belles of Auburn, Malden Reel, Handsome Young Maids, > Midwest Folklore, Bride and Groom, Road to Boston, St. Lawrence > Jig, New > Friendship Reel, Ease > > Program 3 for Intermediate dancers ? ladies chain in 12 of the 14 > dances. > Program: The Baby Rose, Summer Sunshine, Dancing Bear, Betty Mac?s > Reel, A > Rollin? and A Tumblin?, Slapping the Wood, Fisher?s Jig, Box-the Gnat > Contra, Weave the Line, Ben?s Brilliance, That Special Someone, 40 > Mohr > Years, Flowers of April, Trip to Lambertville. > > > > Rickey Holt, > > Fremont, NH > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:52:56 -0700 (PDT) > From: Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing > <winston(a)slac.stanford.edu> > Subject: Re: [Callers] What Makes A Program Varied > To: Rickey <holt.e(a)comcast.net> > Cc: callers(a)sharedweight.net > Message-ID: <01MY1R8VJDAYA0JPQX(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU> > Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=iso-8859-1 > >> OK all, > >> What determines if a program is varied? I originally thought that >> the >> number of times a figure occurred in an evening was a pretty good >> clue, but >> now ???????????? Here are dances that feel different, in programs >> that feel >> varied, yet look at how many times some figures are repeated in an >> evening. > >> VARIETY IN PROGRAMMING > >> What is it? > >> What is variety in programming determined by? I find that I can >> include >> many dances that have the same figures and still feel that I have >> a varied >> program. Below are three of my recent programs and the number of >> times in >> that evening that a given figure occurs. I arbitrarily started >> with the >> idea that more than five occurrences of a figure in an evening >> might be a >> problem. Obviously, I excluded swings and balance and swings. By >> accident >> no Circle left ??s were included. I have also not considered here >> where in >> the dance the figure occurred. Despite several figures occurring >> very >> frequently in an evening, the programs still felt very varied to >> me, and >> some dancers expressed that as well. > >> What do you think????????????? > > > Over in English Country Dance land, where dances are tied to > specific tunes, we > think a varied evening has variety of music (different keys, meters > (we get > 2/2, 2/4, 4/4, hornpipe, waltz, minuet, polka, 3/2, and slip-jig > choices)), > tempi (we can range from maybe 85 to 110 bpm), mood, formation > (triplet, three > couple circle, two-couple set, four-couple longways, five-couple > longways, four > couple square, square with an extra couple in the middle, longways > duple, > longways triple, single circle, Sicilian circle, double circle, > etc, but we > don't generally do scatter mixers), complexity, and figures. I > think David > Millstone gets a bunch of this formation variation into his contra > dance > calling, but not many people do. > > So I used to worry about this in contra calling,a nd I do, still, > worry about > it a bit if I've got a band that only plays old-timey, but, really, > the variety > concern is somewhat overrated. > > > In contra, the musical variety stuff is up to the band, but you > still get to > futz with mood - is the dance playful, flirtatious, incredibly > flowy? Is it > equal or unequal? Do you stick with your partner throughout or > lose and regain > your partner? Do you stick with one other couple for 32 bars or > travel around? > Is there a trail buddy? > > > But if you're going to be doing, y'know, contras (longways dances > with minor > sets, whether that's improper/indecent/proper/duple/triple) the > things that most > non-caller contra junkies will notice are > > (a) How each round starts - if every single dance begins with > "balance and swing neighbor" it'll not only seem like it's > all the > same damn dance, you'll screw up the muscle memory and for > the next > move they'll want to do the same thing they did in the last > dance. > So don't stack up dances with the same first figure. > > (b) transitions - how do you get on to the next couple? If > they're all > pass through right shoulder, or all California Twirl and > face the > next, etc, etc, that'll seem pretty similar. (Mixing in some > Beckets will typically open up the transition menu.) > > (c) distinctive figures. If a dance has 8 bars of something > unusual or > distinctive - Petronella turns, balance short waves f&b and > go on > to the next wave - grand right and left around the whole > outside > of the ring - Rory O'More turns - then you don't get dinged for > boringness for having circle / star / r&lt, much less > ladies' chain/ hey for 4. Also, the extra-twirl crowd > doesn't get > bored by LC or H4 because they get to embellish. > > > > Figure count is probably worth noticing, but what makes things dull > is a whole > bunch of things that feel the same. Circle left to start a zigzag > feels > different from circle left half and slide one couple and circle > some more feels > different from circle left 3/4 and swing partner. If the kinetics are > different, it's different. > > For ONS, mess around with easy formations (scatter mixers, big > circles, etc) > but _minimize the number of different figures_. Circle, star, > swing, pass > through, down the middle, trade with partner, trade back, allemande > right, > allemande left. You don't really need much more, figure wise, and > they'll > typically be happy just to be dancing. > > If you're doing an explicitly contra evening for a roomful of new > contra > dancers, variety isn't your problem. Don't throw a whole bunch of > different > figures or weird progressions or whatever at them just to be > varied. Build > your program to introduce a few figures in the course of the > evening, but I > don't think you should look at your figure matrix, notice that you > didn't do > "Give and Take", and feel like you've failed. They're dancing with > different > people, to different tunes; that's all the variety most of them need. > > -- Alan > > -- > ====================================================================== > ========= > Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU > Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: > 650/926-3056 > Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park > CA 94025 > ====================================================================== > ========= > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 00:01:46 -0400 > From: J L Korr <jeremykorr(a)hotmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Callers] Chris's message > To: <callers(a)sharedweight.net> > Message-ID: <BLU140-W5F920CB7338D23F2A7D74C7750(a)phx.gbl> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > > Chris, I want to thank you for posting such a thoughtful and > detailed evaluation of a set of programs that obviously didn't go > quite as you had hoped. It was helpful for me to see what did and > didn't work for you, and why. As I know that you reflect carefully > on each program you call and what you can learn from the > experience, I have no doubt your next calling at a festival will go > much more smoothly. > > Jeremy Korr > Rancho Cucamonga, CA / Woods Hole, MA > > _________________________________________________________________ > Your PC, mobile phone, and online services work together like never > before. > http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/108587394/direct/01/ > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > End of Callers Digest, Vol 48, Issue 4 > **************************************

17 years, 3 months

Re: [Callers] Chris's message

by J L Korr

Chris, I want to thank you for posting such a thoughtful and detailed evaluation of a set of programs that obviously didn't go quite as you had hoped. It was helpful for me to see what did and didn't work for you, and why. As I know that you reflect carefully on each program you call and what you can learn from the experience, I have no doubt your next calling at a festival will go much more smoothly. Jeremy Korr Rancho Cucamonga, CA / Woods Hole, MA _________________________________________________________________ Your PC, mobile phone, and online services work together like never before. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/108587394/direct/01/

17 years, 4 months

What Makes A Program Varied

by Rickey

OK all, What determines if a program is varied? I originally thought that the number of times a figure occurred in an evening was a pretty good clue, but now ???????????? Here are dances that feel different, in programs that feel varied, yet look at how many times some figures are repeated in an evening. VARIETY IN PROGRAMMING What is it? What is variety in programming determined by? I find that I can include many dances that have the same figures and still feel that I have a varied program. Below are three of my recent programs and the number of times in that evening that a given figure occurs. I arbitrarily started with the idea that more than five occurrences of a figure in an evening might be a problem. Obviously, I excluded swings and balance and swings. By accident no Circle left ¾s were included. I have also not considered here where in the dance the figure occurred. Despite several figures occurring very frequently in an evening, the programs still felt very varied to me, and some dancers expressed that as well. What do you think????????????? All programs had 14 dances in each. Some of the names are approximate. Most dances were contras, a few were circles, a few were set dances. Program 1 for Beginners Circles were in 9 dances, at least 1 do-si-do in 7, Stars or hands across in 7 dances. Program: Pride of the Dingle, Jolly Roger, No Dos, Family Contra, Fiddle Hill Jig, Ease, Green Jig, Fancy French mixer, Flutterbys, Midwest Folklore, Reading Reel, Yankee Reel, Handsome Young Maids, Greenfield 2 hand Program 2 for Beginners Balance the ring in 5, Circles in 8, Do-si-do in 8, Down the Hall 4-in-line in 6, Star or hands across in 10 dances. Program: Cincinnati Reel, Haste to the Wedding, Family Contra, Annes Visit, Fiddle Hill Jig, Belles of Auburn, Malden Reel, Handsome Young Maids, Midwest Folklore, Bride and Groom, Road to Boston, St. Lawrence Jig, New Friendship Reel, Ease Program 3 for Intermediate dancers ladies chain in 12 of the 14 dances. Program: The Baby Rose, Summer Sunshine, Dancing Bear, Betty Macs Reel, A Rollin and A Tumblin, Slapping the Wood, Fishers Jig, Box-the Gnat Contra, Weave the Line, Bens Brilliance, That Special Someone, 40 Mohr Years, Flowers of April, Trip to Lambertville. Rickey Holt, Fremont, NH

17 years, 4 months

More life lessons for this caller... (really long)

by Chris Weiler

Hello everyone, I figured that I better start writing this report right away. Later I might be lazy and leave out some of the experiences from this past weekend. I suspect that this will be another of those long e-mails. Read as much or as little as you care to. For those unfamiliar or new to this list, when I started calling, I would send updates to this list detailing my successes and blunders in the hopes that it would help other new callers. Here are the latest: The beginning of this story goes back several months when I got an e-mail inviting me to be the second string caller at the Champlain Valley Folk Festival. I was offered camping, meals, a festival pass and exposure ("you can die of exposure" one caller said in a workshop). Since it's one of my favorite festivals and I planned to attend anyways, I accepted. Fast forward to the Champlain Valley Folk Festival that happened this past weekend. Due to my lack of vacation days at my relatively new job (I don't have enough to cover my time at Pinewoods later this month), I decided that I would work a half day and drive up during the afternoon. Never mind that my first calling session was 5:30pm to 7:30pm on Friday and it's a 4.5 hour trip from my work to the festival. This was my first mistake of the weekend. It made my Friday a stressful, rushed day. I also decided to give a friend a ride to the festival, which added time to the trip. Part of the trip was a stop at home to drop off my work things and pick up my camping/festival stuff. Due to the frantic rush to get back on the road, I made my second mistake: I did not pack the bag containing my dance cards and other reference materials into the car. I discovered this when we arrived at the festival at 5pm. See the above start time for my first session. Resisting the urge to panic, I went into problem solving mode. My first priority was to check in and get to the stage. The second priority was to somehow get enough dances together for a 2 hour session. I remembered that I had 3 callers phone numbers in my cell phone. I decided to sit down and write down every dance I could remember off the top of my head first. It worked out well, one dance would spark the memory of another. I would also think of a figure and it would trigger the memory of the dance that I like to use to teach that figure. In the end, I wrote down 8 dances that worked (and a couple that didn't). I decided that I could make a session out of that and that I could remember some more during the session. So I didn't need to call anyone (yet). On a side note, I was scheduled for three sessions over the course of the Festival with three bands that I had never heard of. I had expected that I would have time to meet the band members and get to know them and their capabilities at the festival. That was mistake #3 (we're not numbering chronologically here). I should have gone with my first instinct which was to hunt them down on the web and get in touch through e-mail or phone. The organizers would also probably have helped make that happen, too. Back to Friday night. The band was a long running group of French Canadian musicians who had been playing concerts for quite some time. They were fairly new to contras, however, and had learned a bunch of "square" tunes for the occasion since most of their repertoire is crooked. There were a couple of glitches during the evening. Some due to the tunes they learned (one had crooked phrases, but overall the tune was square. whoops!). Some due to bad communication. The person I was communicating with had trouble remembering how many times through before they should end. Sometimes the band would get off a part. The last dance, the person yelled to me across the stage something like "just tell us when to go out, it's just easier". So at the top of the B2 I caught her eye and waved, assuming that they would finish the tune. I turned around to face the dancers and prompt a final partner swing and the dance ended that instant. Whoops! Of the dances that I remembered, it quickly became clear that two of them were too easy for the crowd. That left me six dances to fill the session. I never did remember any more that night. So I ran the dances long. I added a waltz in the middle of the session as well as the end. A few people commented on the long dances and I heard it from the band, too. They were very tired after the session. The flute player kept rubbing her wrists. In the end, the dancers had fun. It was the first dance session of the festival and they had energy to burn. Compliments on my calling and the music came back to me afterwards, some directly, some through friends. In the end that's what I have to remind myself is what matters. I had spotted a couple of callers in the crowd during the session. Later in the evening, I sought them out and explained the situation. I asked if they had brought their cards with them. With the exception of two people, those I asked had not brought their cards. Saturday morning I went through their cards and copied about twenty dances from them. Some I knew and called before, but some I didn't. My undying gratitude goes out to Fern Bradley and Nancy Turner for their help. The second band was a group of young musicians. This group plays mostly country and old-time music. While they had all played for contras before, they hadn't played together for one with this repertoire. The guitar player apologized at the beginning for not knowing many jigs and assured me that they could play one during the session. My response was essentially "no big deal, play to your strengths". So I got a great set of hot old-time music for the session. I pulled dances that I felt would work with that kind of music out of my limited repertoire and put together a fun session. In concert, the band features two female vocalists who sing some wonderful harmonies. They were able to incorporate this into the dances wonderfully, without getting in the way of what I needed to do. One time they had an 8 bar a Capella lead into the dance that was beautiful. Later they played Golden Slippers and sang the words once the dancers had the dance down. Later that day, we had a downpour at the festival and everyone and everything got soaked. This revealed several more personal mistakes: assuming my raincoat was in the car; not bringing quite enough clothes to change into; driving my car onto a muddy field that just got more muddy. This also meant that on Sunday, only the really die-hard dancers came back to the muddy festival. My third session, on Sunday was the shortest. A blessing since I was running out of dances to call from my now limited repertoire. The band turned out to be incredible. A mix of musicians who have been playing for decades and young newcomers. Five fiddles, guitar, bass and piano. Hearing five fiddles belt out "Grumbling old man/Growling old woman" was an incredible experience. Working with them was a breeze. It was during this session, though, that my tiredness and unfamiliarity with some of the dances that I was calling came through. Mostly it showed up in awkward prompting. But with one dance (B&B Contra by Robert Cromartie) it was near disaster. During the walkthrough, I left out two moves from the teaching. I'd noticed that things had seemed a little awkward during the walkthrough, but it didn't seem to be a problem. "They'll smooth it out with the music" I told myself. I should note that the Sevens were playing on the main stage at that time, so it was the REALLY die-hard dancers who showed up to dance. They fudged and adjusted the dance to make it work. Of course, when the music started, there was all of this extra time and we seemed to be getting off the music. I checked my notebook and discovered the first missed move. I had left out the ladies chain. I Started incorporating that into the prompting. This also meant that people changed shadows (I think), changed who they were following in the star (their partner instead of their neighbor). Some were able to adjust others weren't. After another time or two through the dance I realized that I had also forgotten the final do-si-do. At least that one was a zero figure. Some people weren't able to adjust to the new figure, but had good enough recovery skills that they fixed it every time. Once the dancers were stable and succeeding (mostly) I signaled the band to go out after 2 more times through the dance. I finished the session with a couple of dead-easy dances that let the band shine. Exhausted, I left for home shortly after that. As I reflect now, even with all of the stress of the weekend (some from the weather, some from my own mistakes and poor preparation) it was a pretty incredible weekend. Friends and callers were all supportive. The ones that didn't have cards wrote down dances for me. They introduced me to other callers that I didn't know. Hugs were applied liberally at the appropriate times. And I had a wonderful time visiting with friends old and new. Swimming in the lake in the light rain on Sunday was incredibly refreshing after being muddy all day. And in the end, there were so many people that came up to me during the weekend and complimented my calling or told me how much fun they had at my sessions that I just can't hold onto the self-criticism. I've learned my lessons and I'll do it much better next time. But I can't ignore that I pulled it off and people had fun. What else needs to be said? Chris Weiler Goffstown, NH

17 years, 4 months

Re: [Callers] Thanks for a dance name, author and other data...

by Adina Gordon

Hi Richie, That's Donna Hunt. Donna, are you on this list? - Adina --------- Adina Gordon 828.230.9266 http://www.adinagordon.com/ --- On Wed, 7/30/08, callers-request(a)sharedweight.net <callers-request(a)sharedweight.net> wrote: From: "Richie K." <mightylumpy3(a)juno.com> Subject: [Callers] Thanks for a dance name, author and other data... oh and one more question besides... :) ... http://contrausa.com/user/fri2%20ron%20b4%20with%20quote.wmv ...starting just after the music gets fast, there is an inactive women coming up the line with reddish hair and and a knee brace who does a sort of stutter step before she does some of the moves... If anyone knows why she does so or even who she is so I can ask her the advantage of that it would be most appreciated :) best wishes ... Richie Katz

17 years, 4 months

Zia Formation

by Bob Isaacs

Hello All; Since we are mostly interested in contras and squares, I'd like to share with you what I've learned about a hybrid formation that combines contras and squares called zia formation (see the attached). In the past year I've started writing and calling zias, and have found they can be a fun novelty for those audiences experienced enough to appreciate them. Compared to another hybrid formation, grid squares, I have found they are harder to write but easier to dance, as they tend to stay aligned better and thus give dancers a more clearly defined path. I'd certainly be interested if anyone on this list knows of other zia dances that have been used. I hope you enjoy the discussion and the dances, and this gives you another way to bring fun to your dancers - Bob Isaacs _________________________________________________________________ Use video conversation to talk face-to-face with Windows Live Messenger. http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/connect_your_way.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_W…

17 years, 4 months

Re: [Callers] Announcing Dance Names

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

Thank you, Greg, for your thoughtful, well-stated, and caring responses to the points folks brought up in response to your original question. I really appreciate-- and this is something I've felt in your earlier posts-- the way that you work at bringing different points of view together, finding common ground without minimizing different opinions. As you certainly recognize, this particular question comes down to an individual caller's personal preferences and style, and there's not One Right Answer. Thank goodness! We don't aim to create a coterie of certified clones, but rather to celebrate the unique style that each caller brings to the mix. And I agree that through thoughtful discussions of issues such as this, callers from all vantage points come away with ideas to consider. I've often told folks at my callers' workshops to get copies of Larry Jennings's two books. Initially, newer callers are excited by the idea of obtaining collections of so many dances all in one volume. Useful as those dances are, I think the greater value of "Zesty Contras" and "Give-and-Take" is found in Larry's thoughtful essays. He was a man of many opinions and he wasn't bashful about sharing them. Whether or not you agreed with him wasn't the point; reading those many essays forces callers-- established and newbies alike-- to think about what they themselves value and to hone their own vision of what they want the dance to be when they're at the caller's mic. David Millstone Lebanon, NH

17 years, 4 months

Thanks for a dance name, author and other data... oh and one more que stion besides... :)

by Richie K.

Bob and Cis... Thanks for the "Jurassic Redheads"- Carol Ormand dance identification.... I'll email Carol and make sure the use of the dance in the video is OK :) THANKS !!! By the way... in the same video ... http://contrausa.com/user/fri2%20ron%20b4%20with%20quote.wmv ...starting just after the music gets fast, there is an inactive women coming up the line with reddish hair and and a knee brace who does a sort of stutter step before she does some of the moves... If anyone knows why she does so or even who she is so I can ask her the advantage of that it would be most appreciated :) best wishes ... Richie Katz ____________________________________________________________ Get life insurance quotes from top companies. Click Now. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/Ioyw6i3m2vx7pauKY7L3KMHUHpJhCWf…

17 years, 4 months

Jump to page:

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

Contra Callers