I'll see you all there. But this particular Ralph Page weekend has my brain tied in knots: too many excellent sessions going on concurrently! Dance sessions, caller and musician workshops, David's dance history workshop, and more . . . perhaps the organizing committee would consider repeating the entire program on Monday and Tuesday after the official weekend concludes, so I don't have to miss anything :-)
Safe travels to everyone else heading to NH from outside New England.
Jeremy Korr
East of Los Angeles
>
> I'll be at RPDLW, as will Linda Leslie. I love to learn about dance
> history from people like David, and to experience that heritage in a
> weekend of exceptional participatory dance and music sessions. For
> those still considering coming to this event, please go to:
>
_________________________________________________________________
Put your friends on the big screen with Windows Vista® + Windows Live™.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/shop/specialoffers.mspx?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_CPC…
I'll be there, too. Wouldn't miss it!
Allow me to put in a plug for one session-- Saturday morning from 9-10:30, I'm
giving a talk on dance history. I've done this before on half a dozen occasions,
in locations from Denmark to New Mexico, and over time it's taken on a nice
shape.
It's a look at contra dance in particular (with some attention paid to squares
as well) through the ages, and it does a good job-- sez he, modestly-- of giving
audience members a sense of how the dancing has changed over centuries, as well
as useful and interesting information about some of the key figures in various
revivals in the 20th century. I know that when I first prepared this talk, it
was helpful for me to take all the bits and pieces I knew and pull them into
some kind of coherent order. Then I had the pleasure of going out to learn more
about those areas where I knew I didn't know enough.
It's not just me talking, never fear-- there are audio clips as well to spice up
the presentation.
I guarantee than anyone who comes will go away equipped to answer the perennial
question, "So why is this called contra dance and where does it come from?"
David
Hi callers,
What dances do you like for Valentine's Day? I have Circle of Love and
Country of Marriage, and a few singing squares. Some of what I have are in
jest like the playparty " Charlie", that includes "I once did think, my
pretty little pink, that I never could live without you, But since I lost
all hopes of you I care very little about you". Some are serious. Do you
have others, contras, squares, circles or set dances that you think would be
good to do on Valentine's Day?
Thanks,
Rickey.
Hi,
I'm getting close to finishing a web page with my dance
sequences, and was wondering if anyone out there would be
interested in volunteering to check it in the near future?
It's about 35-40 dances of varying complexities, primarily contras.
Primarily I'm looking for someone to verify the sequences are
correct, and that the descriptions of the strange bits are
sufficiently complete. (Secondary is stuff like grammar, format,
links, and presentation, but I'm not as much worried about that.)
Any help, either partial or whole, would be greatly appreciated.
Please email me for details.
Thanks,
-Chris Page
San Diego
"I'm calling a dance with a band that is going to play tunes from the sixties. "
Kris - I am not a musician, but I have called a contra while the band played Tequila. It was fantastic for me and the dancers!
Jane Ewing
Huntsville, AL
Our band does a great (well, we think so) old-timey version of Lady
Madonna.....
Martha
On Dec 22, 2007, 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. Re: Rock 'n' Roll Contras (Janet Levatin)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2007 07:52:29 -0500
> From: Janet Levatin <jlevatin(a)massmed.org>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Rock 'n' Roll Contras
> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <13ee0b4b67804d0d81863c22aa8f3433(a)massmed.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>
> I think some Beach Boys songs might work, for example "Help Me
> Rhonda."
> Janet Levatin
>
>
> On Dec 19, 2007, at 12:34 PM, Kris Jensen wrote:
>
>> I'm calling a dance with a band that is going to play tunes from the
>> sixties. We'll be doing several squares and I can easily call patter
>> to tunes like "Green Onions" and other instrumental hits. But I'm
>> looking for suggestions for tunes that might work for contras (well-
>> phrased, 64-count melodies?). And any other suggestions to make this
>> a fun dance.
>>
>> Thanks for your help!
>>
>> Kris Jensen
>> Albuquerque, NM
>> _______________________________________________
>> Callers mailing list
>> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
>> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 40, Issue 11
> ***************************************
I'm calling a dance with a band that is going to play tunes from the
sixties. We'll be doing several squares and I can easily call patter
to tunes like "Green Onions" and other instrumental hits. But I'm
looking for suggestions for tunes that might work for contras (well-
phrased, 64-count melodies?). And any other suggestions to make this
a fun dance.
Thanks for your help!
Kris Jensen
Albuquerque, NM
> In response to the question posed by Beth about what I'd like to
> learn as a new caller.
Figures other than contras. E.g. squares, quadrilles, triplets. I've
had a brief introduction to these other forms, but would find it
helpful to understand their format more fully and to practice them.
I'm still getting used to the fact that as the caller "I am in
charge." As I call more dances, I'm facing new situations and
responding. Perhaps a session that poses "difficult" or atypical
situations and then talk about options for responding to them. E.g.,
you have a room that is way too crowded. What do you do?
Nancy Turner
Waitsfield VT
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 20:54:24 GMT
> From: "crunchymama(a)juno.com" <crunchymama(a)juno.com>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Callers discussion / workshop topics
> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Message-ID: <20071207.145424.14416.0(a)webmail21.vgs.untd.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> I've been calling for a little over a year now, on a volunteer
> basis here in Memphis TN. What that works out to is calling at one
> or two dances a month, and programming and calling half that
> evenings dances- between 4-5 individual dances each time. So I
> don't feel like I have a year's experience with the limited
> opportunities to practice with an audience.
>
> What I am most interested in, that could possibly be taught or
> explored in that time frame, is teaching walkthroughs. IME some of
> the greatest dances just don't go well or are slow starters if I
> don't give a good walkthrough.
>
> Things I'm working on that aren't as easily taught:
> personality and presence in dealing with the crowd,
> enunciation,
> and matching music to the dance and the dance to the music.
>
> For that last one I found Amy Cann's long post a few months back
> very helpful!
>
> -Alison Murphy
> Memphis TN
>
>
> "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
> it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
> ~ James Madison
> HTTP://WWW.RONPAUL2008.COM
>
>
> -- "Beth Parkes" <beth(a)hands4.com> wrote:
> A question for newer callers:
>
> Since this is a list specifically to support new callers, I thought
> I'd ask
> what you would like to have covered in a callers discussion workshop.
> Specifically, a single session of not more than a couple of hours, so
> there's really not time to do a lot of serious teaching. I have
> lots of
> ideas, but it's been a long time since I was a new caller and I
> want to know
> what YOU want to know.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Beth
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
> _____________________________________________________________
> Boost your business with a small business loan. Click now!
> http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2111/fc/
> Ioyw6iigEfXeQ2Vf7XVWG0liAF7hBZC1EjZEsGe0iuIDKr4gonKVYf/
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 17:18:48 -0800 (PST)
> From: mavis mcgaugh <yankeecalls(a)yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Major Hey
> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <766503.87706.qm(a)web36411.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> Erik Hoffman has a dance called Major Hey.
> Done as Becket 40 Bar
>
> A1 Circle Left 3/4 Pass through up & down
> Swing neighbor you meet
>
> A2 long lines forward & back
> Men Left AL 1 1/2 end in waves of eight Men
> Have Left hands joined - and ALL have Right hand w/
> Partner - ladies in center have left with each other
>
> B1 Rory O Moore balances
>
> B2 Half Hey for eight
>
> C1 Partner Balance & Swing
>
> Very clear description of all the unusual moves in his
> book Contradictations
> --- Chris Page <chriscpage(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On 12/5/07, Bob Isaacs <isaacsbob(a)hotmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi All;
>>>
>>> I'm looking for the moves and author of a 4 facing
>> 4 named Major Hey, which has a 1/2 a hey for 8 in
>> it. Any teaching points would also be helpful.
>> Thanks, and a Happy Holidays to everyone -
>>> Bob
>>
>> "The Devil's Duty" by Al Olson, hidden in Zesty
>> Contras, also has a
>> hey for eight. It also has both swings ending in the
>> middle of the
>> phrase, so this past Friday I tried the following
>> clean-up, and it worked
>> pretty well:
>>
>> The Dancer's Duty
>> Chris Page variant of an Al Olson dance
>> Four-face-four
>>
>> A1 Lines of four forward and back [1] [2]
>> Neighbor (person across from you) allemande right
>> 1 & 3/4
>> to line of eight
>> A2 Half hey for eight, start by pulling past that
>> neighbor by right
>> B1 Swing same neighbor [3]
>> B2 Circle left 1/2 in groups of four [4]
>> Swing partner, face next
>>
>> [1] Stretch out the lines of four a little to make
>> room for everyone
>> allemanding and swinging in the center.
>> [2] At this point, you can tell the dancers to turn
>> ninety degrees left.
>> Then remember which wall they'll be facing for the
>> end of the allemande
>> and entry into the hey.
>> [3] To shorten the swing length, make it a gypsy and
>> swing. Or if you
>> want the hey to be an exercise in timing, make it a
>> balance and swing.
>> [4] You face your partner coming out of the swing.
>> There's other
>> variants for the circle left 1/2 -- for instance
>> balance the ring and
>> roll away your neighbor.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Callers mailing list
>> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
>> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>>
>
>
> Mavis L McGaugh
> 510-814-8118 (answering machine-leave message)
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> ______________
> Looking for last minute shopping deals?
> Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/
> newsearch/category.php?category=shopping
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 40, Issue 3
> **************************************
