After making such a big deal, I forgot to copy the balance before the
star! Here's the correct transcription for those who might want it:
Daybreak Reel, by Michael McKernan
(Duple Improper)
A1: Allemand L below 1-1/2; women dosido
A2: Men balance, dosido, allemand R 1-1/4 to form wave by joining L hands
with partners
B1: Balance wave, swing partners
B2: Women chain 1/2 to R-hands across star position; BALANCE; turn star
1/2 and
look for next neighbor
(Note to myself: read carefully before submitting)
Greetings!
I've been asked to lead a short workshop session for folks possibly
interested in starting calling. While I have a number of handouts from
callers' sessions at different camps I've attended, I don't really feel that
I should hand out copies of those notes. I've started pulling together some
material of my own, but thought I'd ask the list members if they know of any
materials already on-line. I did check the "contra dance links" page, did
a quick scan, and picked a few items from the list to include on mine.
If you want to see what I have so far, you can look here:
http://www.quiteapair.us/calling/<http://www.quiteapair.us/calling/resources.html>
Please let me know of any materials you found helpful when starting, or that
you recommend I suggest to new callers.
Thanks!
William
--
wjw1961(a)gmail.com
William J. Watson
I've been asked to let folks know that
I'll be repeating my contra tune discussion/workshop
at Neffa, but this time it will be geared towards musicians.
I'll also be joined by Jaige Trudel and Adam Broome from
Crowfoot.
This is a good opportunity for callers and musicians to learn
about choosing tunes for contras, and how different kinds
of tunes affect dancers. I'll have pre-recorded examples,
and I expect Jaige and Adam will contribute a few
riffs of their own.
The workshop is called "Bands and Contra Tunes" and is Sunday
at 1PM in High School Room 103.
See you soon at Neffa,
-- Lisa
Howdy folks! Newbie back with a question.
I've written a few dances lately. At least, I think I have! I'm not
sure how one finds out if the same combination of dance steps already
exists.
Also, yes they all work on paper, but I haven't tried them out on
anyone yet. Those of you who write dances- how do you get your Guinea
pigs?
Would posting dances to this list be appropriate? If they work and
are fun I would love for them to be used, and if they were already
written by someone else, I'd like to have their proper names on the
card!
In reply to another thread- one of the dances has a star promenade,
if you would like me to post it.
Thanks,
Alison Murphy in Memphis TN
Hi everyone,
It's NEFFA time again, and last year we had three different "Shared Weight" informal gathering times... one was Friday evening up in the bleechers (split across the 1/2 hrs to be fair to the programs!), another was Saturday morning at 9 am (!) Bring your own Bagles and another in the cafeteria at 3 pm Saturday ....
I'll have to take a closer look at the Grid but just wanted to express interest in claiming a few times during the weekend when we can chat face to face, (aside from all the neighbor and partner swinging!). Last year, my 3 pm Saturday suggestion conflicted with the Beattles sing along! -- sorry!
I'll take another look at the schedule, but just wanted to get a message out before getting on a plane (in a few hours).
Hope to see many of you soon!
Karen
<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>
Karen Fontana
www.karenscontracorner.com
650-691-9663
<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>
Hi everyone,
Please excuse this slightly off-topic post, but we want to make sure
everyone knows about the parking changes for NEFFA.
-Seth
Begin forwarded message:
> The New England Folk Festival is this week: Friday - Sunday, April
> 20-22, 2007
> (If you're not attending NEFFA this year, you may ignore this email.)
>
> The parking arrangements for NEFFA 2007 have changed from what was
> printed on the fliers (and what was originally on the website).
> Revised parking information is on the NEFFA web site. Save yourself
> some trouble and check it out.
>
> Parking and Directions: http://neffa.org/getting_there.html
>
> And remember, NEFFA is at a new place this year: Mansfield,
> Massachusetts.
>
> We apologize if you've already gotten a message about this. We're
> reaching far and wide to let as many people as possible know about
> the change.
>
> Seth Seeger
> NEFFA Volunteering Comittee
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> NEFFA Festival schedule grids, in a variety of formats:
> - http://neffa.org/grid/index.html
>
> VOLUNTEERING: NEFFA can always use volunteers. Especially this
> year, at a new place. Visit the volunteer table at the festival to
> sign up.
Hi All,
I have a dance which I remember dancing in Montpelier Vermont with Charles
Woodard, probably in the 1980s. It is below. It is a duple proper dance.
(A1) Actives Balance and allemande right 1 ½
(A2) Ladies Chain over and back
(B1) Left Hand Star Above, Right Hand Star Below
(B2) Actives Swing, end facing up and cast off.
I do not have a name for this dance. There does not seem to be enough to do
in A1, so Ive changed it to Actives Balance and Do-si-do and allemande
right 1 ½.
But the biggest problem is with the ladies chain. My wife tells me that she
has never started a ladies chain from the left side of the gent, which is
what happens here. I thought that this was a common way to set up a ladies
chain when starting from a duple formation, but I cannot find any where the
woman does start from the gents left. I have written a fix that eliminates
the ladies chain altogether, but I was wondering if anyone is familiar with
this dance. Do I have part of it wrong? What might your fix be, or do you
have any other dances that are fairly easy that have a star with old
neighbors flowing into a star with new neighbors (since this is the part I
like best). If it was also without a hey that might be ideal. Got too many
heys programmed into the evening already I suspect.
Thanks,
Rickey Holt.
In reference to "Sounds Like a Match" by Lynn Ackerson, it seems to
me like the A1 would be a little smoother with a Southern style star
than a New England style? Has anyone found this to be the case?
Our local dance must have been started by Yankees as we typically
use the wrist grip. I've been enjoying Bill Olson's "The Eggbeater"
http://www.megalink.net/~pweeks/eggbeater.htm
but I have to remember to specify the Southern grip for it when
teaching the walkthrough.
Are there any dances that you all enjoy dancing/calling that do
better with one particular style of star?
-Alison Murphy in Memphis TN
-- mavis mcgaugh <yankeecalls(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
I have used this dance several times:
Sounds Like a Match Lynn Ackerson
{bkt 1/4 left]
A1 Balance Ring
Ladies Trade by Left Hand
ALL - Left hand star 1x
----- Progression
A2) w/ Next Neighbor D-S-D & Swing
B1 Men Left AL 1 1/2
W/ Parner Star Promenade
B2 Ladies Right AL 1x
Partner Swing
Hi Rickey,
I suspect the dance you're thinking of is Dandies' Hornpipe. Charles certainly
included many of the older dances in his repertoire.
David Smukler discussed the dance at length in his "Cracking Chestnuts" column
in the Jan/Feb, 2007, issue of the CDSS News, and you can find it on David's
website here:
http://www.davidsmukler.syracusecountrydancers.org/dandies.htm
When Ralph Page published the dance in Northern Junket in 1968, he printed the
triple minor version, but added that he preferred it as a duple minor. Here's a
link that will take you to a scanned version of the dance as it appeared in
Northern Junket:
http://www.izaak.unh.edu/dlp/NorthernJunket/pages/NJv09/NJv09-02/NJv.09.02.…
tm
This is from the University of New Hampshire's Library of Traditional Music and
Dance, which maintains the Ralph Page collection. The dance also appeared in
_The Ralph Page Book of Contras," a slim booklet published in 1969 by the
English Folk Dance and Song Society.
Here's the triple minor version:
Dandies' Hornpipe
Couples 1 - 4 - 7 etc. active. Don't cross over
(Counts)
Active couples forward and back (8)
Turn by the right hand once and a half around (8)
Go below one couple and the opposite ladies chain (8+8)
Left hand star with the couple below (8)
Right-hand star with the couple above (8)
Active couples swing in the center (stop facing UP) (8)
Up the center and cast off one couple (8)
In his article, David suggests making the first figure in A1 be "Long lines,
forward and back," instead of just the active couple, and he offers a few other
modifications that you may wish to consider.
Hope this helps.
David Millstone
