Contra Callers

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3 participants
4416 discussions

by Jane Ewing

Ricky - The very reason it is very important for a caller to dance the opposite role on a somewhat frequent basis! I remember being at a callers workshop once and my partner (male) was going on and on about how great the dance was that we were in the middle of dancing. In my ever tactless way I swung him and put him in the ladies part. 60 seconds later he was complaining about how dizzy he was! However to directly answer your question,(in my opinion) to go from a Becket - circle left 3 places and pass thru to a Do-Si-Do works very smooth - don't worry. Jane Ewing Huntsville, AL

17 years, 10 months

labor of love

by Delia Clark

Hi, When I mentioned my dream of starting a new dance series in my community of Woodstock VT to Jeremiah McLane at Pinewoods a few summers ago, the main thing that I remember him saying is "Good luck, it's a labor of love." His comment has stuck with me as we've muddled along up to this point but, hey... Friday night we had OUR FIRST DANCE in the "Third Friday Woodstock Dance Series" and it was an awesome success, far exceeding our expectations!!! I thought I might share some of what went well and ask for your thoughts on starting new series in case you can help us to maintain momentum. The committee that finally came together with enough energy to make this happen included several parents of young children, Waldorf School parents, parents of kids with developmental disabilities and members of a newish contra band that has been performing irregularly over the past couple of years plus me as caller (my husband and son are in the band). Here's what we came up with Gradual Build-Up We held two private parties in this venue this fall and early winter that included members of the same band and me calling. Both attracted big crowds and we promoted our dance series at both, at least in concept. One of the parties was to celebrate my high school son's new film and a ton of local HS kids came, which helped build up a base of interest there and they turned out in force on Friday. Family Friendly We decided to make this a very family-friendly dance. We came up with a program that includes: 5:30 - dinner of vegetarian soup and bread. 6:30 - family dance 7:30 - break and pot luck desserts 8:00 - contra dance Notes on dinner: the soup is made by committee members using veggies bought from a local farmer and bread is donated by a local bakery. We gathered up a bunch of mismatched cups, bowls and spoons and we'll keep them together and use them each time. Affordable We are currently charging $5 per adult, with children and teens free. The cost includes both parts of the dance and dinner. We made enough on Friday to pay for the food ingredients plus enough for seed money for food for next time, some money to pay the guy who helped cook, plus a modest amount for each band member -- we were thrilled at how the finances came out, because of the large turn-out. Still, we think we might try putting out a donation bucket for extra donations next time to pay band members better (it's a big band), donate to local non-profits, and and maybe invest in better sound equipment over time. Local Business Sponsor One of our committee members owns two local businesses that recycle and make compost. He offered to sponsor the dances, covering the cost of the hall for the first five dances, which is $100 per night, which is a reduced rate from their usual $150. We promoted his businesses on all the posters and announced it at each part of the dance, encouraging folks to give his hand a squeeze as they passed him in line. We also plan to try choosing a local non-profit to co-host each dance, promoting it with their constituency and receiving a share of the proceeds. Promotion We advertised all five dances in the series on one poster, but I think we will also announce each separately again. A lot of the promotion happened through local organizations, churches, and schools. Problems - I can't make all the dances so I will need to find a substitute, which feels sad for me, but maybe it's a more sustainable pattern, given how much I travel for work. - A lot of the families with younger kids stayed through the break and were still there at 8:00 so it was a little challenging to meet their needs and still make all the high school students and adults who had come feel like this wasn't a little kid event. They mostly danced one or two dances, which I made appropriate for their level, though, so it worked out fine. - We jury-rigged our sound system, which was imperfect. More money/ attention needed for that as we go. Question Do you have any suggestions for us about starting a new series? We're all ears!! Sorry to miss you at Ralph Page -- I'm sure it was wonderful. Thanks! Delia Clark <>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<> Delia Clark PO Box 45 Taftsville, VT 05073 802-457-2075 delia_clark(a)comcast.net

17 years, 10 months

Fwd: discussion of "Big Easy" by Becky Hill

by Chris Weiler

A little more than a week ago, Chrissy Fowler called at the Scout House on a Thursday night with some rocking musicians. I wrote her an e-mail saying that there was a dance that I liked, wanted to get, but had a minor change for it. This is the discussion that followed, forwarded with her permission. Edited for clarity. Becky Hill's dance is in the Rosen-Hill collection. Chrissy and I thought that it would be fun to get other people's perspective on the stuff we were talking about. -Chris Chris: I wanted to get a dance from you that you called on Thursday. It was the second dance of the evening. It had a couple of ring balances (without twirls) and I think the B1 had a long lines, ladies allemande left 1+1/2. I thought that the allemande left was a little awkward, but I liked the rest of the dance. Thanks!! Chrissy: I'm interested to know that the ladies all. L felt awkward, even though the L hand is the near one to that other lady that one would allemande. (I'm guessing you danced it as a lady?) Do you think All R would be better? Other suggestions? I admit that I haven't danced it. The dance is one I have down as Becky Hill's "Big Easy", which I got from Diane Silver. Had to laugh when you named it as having "a couple of ring balances" since when I reviewed what was left of my program in the aftermath of the dance full of on-the-fly switches in the plan, I realized that I ended up calling several dances with ring balances of some sort or another. (holy repetition, batman!) Chris: Ladies allemande left from facing couples is a pet peeve of mine from the gent's perspective. When I'm dancing, I'm constantly giving cues and leads to my partner and neighbor, and even the neighbor gent, when necessary. Especially when they're new. From a long lines, ladies allemande left, it's almost impossible for the gent to lead it. If the ladies allemande right, then I can use her left hand to guide her out and across my body. Her right hand is free and she has the diagonal momentum to meet the other lady at the right angle. I can't speak to how it feels from the lady's perspective, but from mine ladies allemande left removes the feeling of connectedness from that part of the dance. Since it doesn't matter which hand they use in the dance, I would call it with an allemande right. It works either way, so call it the way you like. 8^) We all have those repetitive nights. I seem to have less of them, though, when I do my programming on the fly instead of having one worked out beforehand. I have notes on every programmed I've called, so I should analyze them someday and see just how repetitive I am. Unfortunately, I had to leave at the half. But the first half of the evening was great. Your dances worked, even for the beginners, and nothing got in the way of enjoying the music. 8^) Chrissy: Great explanation. I hadn't thought about it that way, but it makes a lot of sense. And yes, I was thinking to myself "Well, if he has some compelling reason why the all L 1.5 isn't good, I'll just call it as all R!" And I guess that's why the men's all L is so ubiquitous, because the woman can assist him to the center in that same way you explained. Interesting that you say you have less repetition when you program on the fly. For me it's the other way. When I am programming as it comes, or seriously reworking (on the fly) a program that I'd done ahead of time, I tend not to notice those repetition points until it's too late. (or even after the fact.) I'm glad the dances worked for the new folks. Always such a balancing act, to work both sides of that VFW/TNDC crowd - the throngs of new/young folks and the core of jaded/bored dancers who want spicy choreography. Also glad to hear your impression that nothing got in the way of the music - phenomenal as it was. Wowzer. It's so great to work with such talent. Mmmmm. I danced in Rehoboth the next night and had a blast, even doing the very simple dances required by the crowd. Such life-affirming stuff we get to do! Chris: When I create a program in advance, I nitpick it to death and put a lot of effort into it. When I need to change something on the fly, I am reluctant to change more than one or two dances. That makes it more likely that the dance that I substitute will repeat something later in the program. When I program on the fly, I'm more free to change the dances later to match (and not repeat) the earlier ones. To be honest, I haven't been doing my homework as a caller for a long time due to the rest of my life being pretty busy. I haven't been creating programs, so I've taught myself to program on the fly just by doing it. I do record all of my programs, so I should really go back and review to see how well I've been doing (or not!). Chrissy: Well, I don't do my homework every time either, especially if it's a dance where I can sort of get away with it. But I always like to have something planned for some dances, including Boston, and even if I change it a lot (which I do more than half the time) it changes my tension level to have some sort of program done in advance. (And I think I'm more attentive to the band and dancers when I'm less tense.) <http://biggestloser.msn.com/>

17 years, 10 months

Re: [Callers] Triple Minors in the Midwest

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

> I was considering adding some of the Chestnuts to my calling repertoire --- end of quote --- Huzzah! Do you have musicians who can learn the tunes that traditionally accompany these dances? Not every dance has an associated tune, but for those who do, part of the fun is hearing particular music accompany particulat patterns, as is common in English country dance. In this way, of course, the chestnuts remind us of the close linkage between early contras and their ECD ancestors. If you're in the part of the midwest where folks are accustomed to dancing contras to Appalachian old-time string band music, one of the challenges you'll face, possibly as great as teaching triple minor formation intricacies, is helping dancers appreciate a different style of music. I mean, Sackett's Harbor is typically played here to a jig, and that alone will sound alien to many ears accustomed to old-time bands, who generally don't do things in 6/8. 'Tain't natural! > I was considering calling a triplet or a duple minor dance with contra corners in the first half to make sure everyone was comfortable with that figure, and then calling "Sackett's Harbor" in the second half Hmm... contra corners (with one exception, described below) is actually more easily taught in a dance such as Sackett's, because the twos and threes only have to make one turn with the active couple. in a duple minor, the twos must be ready to turn as a corner twice, with an active One coming at them first from one direction and then from another. The exception mentioned above is in timing. Typically, at the end of contra corners the active couple meets in the middle for a balance and swing. In Sackett's, they need to be back in their own lines, man #1 with the men and woman #1 with the women, in time for the forward and back before the circle of six circles right back to long lines. This requires active couples to move through contra corners with greater "intentionality"-- i.e., no dilly-dallying! Your rules for triple minors are just fine. We usually encourage dancers to dance at the bottom with a ghost couple to carry out the progression. At the top of the set, the rule is to wait out twice, using that time to pay attention to the musicians or, if you're even slightly unsure about how to proceed, to watch the active couples ahead of you to see the pattern of their movements. Jerome, please let us know how it turns out. And for other chestnut fans, be advised that CDSS is in the process of publishing a book that contains all of David Smukler's "Cracking Chestnuts" columns from the CDSS news plus additional material that he and I have contributed. David Millstone Lebanon, NH

17 years, 10 months

Triple Minors in the Midwest

by Jerome Grisanti

Hello All, I was considering adding some of the Chestnuts to my calling repertoire, and I was wondering if I could get your best advice on approaching triple minor dances in the Midwest (Lawrence Kansas). I believe most of the contra dancers here have never seen such a critter, although a very few will have seen it at an English Country dance. I was considering calling a triplet or a duple minor dance with contra corners in the first half to make sure everyone was comfortable with that figure, and then calling "Sackett's Harbor" in the second half, which turns the minor set 90 degrees (or 270 degrees, to be technical) so all the men are all facing the stage and the women are facing down. I want to lay out the rules of triplets very succinctly: Ones remain ones all the way down the hall, while the twos become threes and then twos again as they progress up. Threes also alternate roles, becoming twos and then threes again. At the top, the first couple out waits out two iterations of the dance before becoming ones. At the bottom, the threes must trade places with the ones or they will remain out indefinitely. Are these rules accurate as stated? Any suggestions from New England? Elsewhere in the Midwest? Points beyond? --Jerome -- Jerome Grisanti 660-528-0858 660-528-0714 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com

17 years, 10 months

Winter Whirlwind Weekend and Callers Workshop with Becky Hill

by Jack Mitchell

Two Clarifications: 1) All dances cost $8 and are pay at the door. The callers workshop is $10 and requires advance registration 2) Friday's dance is at Pleasant Green Community Center in Durham, NC, Saturday afternoon and evening are at the Carrboro Century Center in Carrboro, NC.

17 years, 10 months

Winter Whirlwind Weekend and Callers Workshop with Becky Hill

by Jack Mitchell

Hello All-- The First Saturday Dance and Triangle Country Dancers will be hosting the Winter Whirlwind weekend February 29 - March 2 in Durham and Carrboro, NC. We will have three dances plus a callers workshop, all led by Becky Hill. On Friday 2/29, there will be a dance at Pleasant Green Community Center in Durham with the Elftones. On Saturday (3/1) afternoon, we will have an advance dance, also with the Elftones and Becky. Then on Saturday evening, we will have a dance with Footloose and Becky. Finally, on Sunday afternoon (beginning at 12:30), Becky will lead an intermediate level callers workshop (Becky's more detailed description of the workshop is at the end of this message. More information about the weekend can be found at www.winterwhirlwind.com. If you know if any other callers that might be interseted in attending, please pass this on to them! I hope that many of you will be able to join us for some or all of these events. If you are interested in attending the callers' workshop, please let me know as soon as possible. We do require advance registration for the workshop. Since I'm also the one that's coordinating housing for out of town folks, if you need housing with a local dancer, please let me know that as well (even if you think I already know!!!) So, I need the following information: Who you are That you're planning on coming to the workshop What calling experience (in a sentence or so) you've had (ie. "Called some single dances in an evening." "Been calling for 20 years." etc) If you need housing with a dancer (and if so, for which nights) --if you need housing, are you allergic to anything (cats, dogs, stupidity.....) Let me know if you have any questions!! Hope to see many of you next month. Jack Workshop Description/Details: 1. We will begin the workshop by pairing new callers with experienced ones. Each team of two will "chart" a dance which will enable callers to parse the dance for the walkthrus, including specifics such as who and where each person lands in the line, discovering shadows, and negotiating knotty end effects. 2. Programming: each team will be given 11 dances sequenced in the best order to program for a given evening. We will all share the outcome and explain how each team made their decisions. 3. Precision calling: the participants will be given dances with dicey timing issues. Using the empty timing sheets in the large handout, the participants will fill in the blanks so that the timing is precise with the music. 4. Voice control: breathing from the diaphragm and "on the fly" deep relaxation techniques in the face of adversity. We will do some exercises for both men and women, so that they may avoid shrill female voices and angry sounding male voices. 5. Positive teaching techniques; avoiding the use of negative words; praising the dancers and the band for a job well done. 6. Maintaining variety; the participants will fill out the "Dance-at -a Glance" sheets with a sample program using the previous programming exercise to check for variety of dance moves.

17 years, 10 months

Re: [Callers] Is there an editor in the house?

by Richie K.

Hi.... I'll give you some help.... grammar and spelling you can forget about ..I failed those subjects for years .. but I can check all but the most complicated contra dances for format.. sufficient timing etc....... I can even link you to my page at contrausa.com if you like after you get your website set up Also if you need any web help I may be able to give it to you.... but maybe not .....I'm not an expert at that just have had my feet gotten wet is all :) :) best.. Richie Katz Tampa -- "Chris Page" <chriscpage(a)gmail.com> wrote: 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 _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers _____________________________________________________________ Click to create your dream Las Vegas vacation now. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2121/fc/Ioyw6i3nKfcFqGK6RLSFP2iJI7KmFb6…

17 years, 10 months

Re: [Callers] Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend

by lynn ackerson

I'll be there, too. That makes three of us Californians flying to New Hampshire in January. Hmmmmm Lynn ----- Original Message ---- From: Cynthia Phinney <online(a)starleft.org> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 7:16:57 AM Subject: [Callers] Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend Hello all, Who will be attending the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend in Durham, NH this weekend and is there interest in again meeting as a group for lunch? I'll be there! Love, -cynthia _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

17 years, 10 months

Re: [Callers] Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend

by Chrissy Fowler

I'm looking forward to seeing all of the aforementioned at the RPDL weekend - a long-standing favorite! I agree with Jeremy that there's a wealth of interesting content this year -- dancing, Ralph Sweet retrospective, workshops, videos, tune jams -- perhaps we can spread ourselves out and go to different sessions and then do some debriefing during our lunchtime gatherings. (And by the way, much appreciation to Chris for initiating these SW gatherings at RP -- it's a perfect weekend to think about dances, share calling experiences in person, and really just hunker right down for a satisfying little "caller geek fest." Delicious! Speaking of delicious... Potluck lunch again for those bringing food? Safe travels all, Chrissy Fowler ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.belfastflyingshoes.org _________________________________________________________________ Get the power of Windows + Web with the new Windows Live. http://www.windowslive.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_powerofwindows_012008

17 years, 10 months

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