Hi Lisa
I was at Medford Thursday night and you called a dance featuring a Mad
Robin Shuttle
I very much enjoyed it!( as well as all the dances you call!)
Would you be so kind as to give me the details of that dance? I would
like to add it to
my calling repertoire.
Thanks
Gale Wood
>From: <jerome23(a)bellsouth.net>
>How about this: Before a mixer, tell dancers that if they've booked ahead
>you will give them special dispensation to put off that partner for this
>one dance, since it will be a mixer. So go find someone you've never danced
>with (or not danced with tonight, or some schtick) because this is, after
>all, a MIXER dance.
It was dealing with this issue that got me married. The first time Christine
and I were partners for a dance slot, at the Glen Echo Friday Night Dance,
it turned out to be a mixer (with no prior announcement). So we booked the
next slot to do a contra together, even though I didn't regularly book
ahead. All of that gave us enough time to start talking . . . and now here
comes our 4th wedding anniversary.
Jeremy
Seth Tepfer wrote:
> So my original post asked for ... pointers about how to encourage
> dancing on the fly (or not booking ahead).
How about this: Before a mixer, tell dancers that if they've booked ahead you will give them special dispensation to put off that partner for this one dance, since it will be a mixer. So go find someone you've never danced with (or not danced with tonight, or some schtick) because this is, after all, a MIXER dance.
And if you choose to stay with a booked-ahead someone, well, it's your choice.
That might even work for a square, saying contra prebooks are suspended for this one dance. (But give them some warning, like during the previous dance's walk-thru).
I've never tried this, but the logic makes sense in this moment. (Ah, but what will next morning's logic bring? This may work only in areas with relatively high concentrations of Catholics, since I don't know if the term "special dispensation" is widely understood outside that religion.)
--Jerome Grisanti
As you probably heard, the Mill Yard was flooded earlier this week
during the huge amount of rainfall we had. But the Mill-a-Round dance
studio has been up and running since Tuesday, so we're having a dance
tonight!
Beginner lesson at 7:30, dance at 8:00. $7 per person, under 12 free.
More information and directions: http://www.nhdances.org/millcity/
The Mill-a-Round is located in the Millyard in Manchester. It is in the
Waumbec Mill, a renovated mill building with high ceilings, a wood floor
and plenty of space. It is a wonderful hall to dance in. It is air
conditioned in the summer time. Take a look at the link above for more
information.
Hope to see many of you tonight!
Chris Weiler
http://www.chrisweiler.ws/
H:603-668-1086
P.S. I need one or two people to volunteer to take money at the gate
during the first half. You will earn free admission to a future dance.
If two people volunteer, they can take shifts and still do some dancing
during the first half. Thanks!
People book ahead at our local dance. I despise the practice, but I
understand where it comes from, and have been prone to it myself (can I
have a witness?). It is a problem that is rife at our dance weekends and
our local dance.
I do not want to get into a religious discussion about whether booking
ahead is good or bad. Save that discussion for another time.
I would like to hear creative ideas for avoiding/sideswiping/eliminating
the booking ahead issue.
Here's what is in my [mostly ineffective] toybox:
* after a circle mixer (square, etc), have people take that last partner
(corner in square, last neighbor, etc) to be their partner for the next contra
* ask that everyone dancing ask someone who was sitting out last time to dance
* do a scatter mixer
* model good behavior [especially after Lisa called me out at SnowBall, 2004!]
* wear my 'I don't book ahead" button
What other creative ideas are there out in the dance ethos?
Thanks
seth
PS I really really really want to cross-post this to the trad-callers
listserv, because I know they'd have ideas there too. But I'm trying to be
good and not cross-post. Okay, climbing off martyr soapbox now. :-)
=========================================================================
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Oxford College of Emory University - 770-784-8487 - labst(a)emory.edu
For fast and easy computer help,
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"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought." -Dorothy
L. Sayers
hi all,
Richard said,
> Instead it may help to focus on the new people, the first time
> dancers in the room. Remind people to be inclusive and to ask
> someone they don't know or a new dancer to dance. New dancers
> need to do that all the time and it is a good idea to remind
> the regulars about that.
i'm responding to these comments, which i especially *loved*.
i specifically try to go out of my way to dance with at least
one new dancer in an evening. the way this usually happens for
me is i'll encounter someone in line and ascertain that it's
their first (or second, or third...) time dancing. i'll smile,
and tell them they did great, and then seek them out later in
the evening and ask them to dance. they're usually dumbfounded
-- but i smile (a lot) and teach them the two main things that
matter to me about dancing, those being giving weight and
smiling (you may have noticed that there's a theme here...).
and then we'll dance, and i'll give lots and lots of positive
feedback (more smiling and positive words), and ask them to come
dancing again (and again). and if i see them at another dance,
i'll make a point of trying to dance with them again.
imho this should be a general practice among experienced
dancers. as a newbie in the early 90s, i summoned up all my
anti-shyness and boldly asked very experienced dancers to dance
with me (i'm still not sure where i got the chutzpah for that!).
as an experienced dancer now, i believe that dancing with
others like me is one of the best ways for someone to fast-track
through what can be the painful early stages of learning. and
as a lover of dance and community, i want my dance community to
thrive; and so i try to bring new dancers into the fold.
> I find that the best dances are those where the new comers are
> accepted and drawn into the dance. Someone who comes to a
dance
> and spends the whole night sitting on the side is probably not
> going to return.
i think that asking experienced folks to do something along
these lines is essential to the survival of dance. this
describes how i came to love english country dance in philly; i
couldn't have sat out a dance if i had wanted to...
cheers,
melissa
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Thanks, Chrissy and Peter, for identifying the mystery dance. My version of
"Feet in Flight" matches this "official" version from Dale Rempert and from
the 2002 Ralph Page syllabus:
http://blake.prohosting.com/austinbd/dances/ftflight.shtml
So the version that Peter and Chrissy have seems to be a folk-processed
version, possibly by Dale himself! I'm happy to keep both versions in my
collection.
Best,
Jeremy
Hi Peter,
Thank you for identifying the dance! We had a great time dancing it at
Chrissy's "Woman's Prerogative" session at NEFFA this year.
To get an idea of how busy the SharedWeight list is, you can visit the
website and view the public archives there.
http://www.sharedweight.net/
There is also a couple of paragraphs talking about the focus of the list
and how it got started.
Thanks again!
Chris Weiler
Goffstown, NH
Peter Amidon wrote:
> Hi Chrissy,
>
> I learned that dance in Austin TX and I originally thought it was
> a Gene Hubert composition but did not have the name. I always
> announced this when I called the dance. Someone finally recognized
> it and let me know that it is a Dale Rempert dance called
> 'Feet in Flight'.
>
> The instructions are just as I transcribed it and taught it
> EXCEPT for B1. Here is the way I transcribed and the way I
> call B1:
>
> B1: Pass R & L through
> Circle L X1
>
> Obviously both ways work.
>
> How busy is the Callers discussion list?
>
> Best,
>
> Peter
>
>
>> Hi Peter and Mary Alice,
>>
>> I'm writing to see if I can get the title of a dance which I *may*
>> have collected from Peter at the Flurry some years ago (or maybe at a
>> Greenfield dance more recently?)
>>
>> Here it is, below. Look familiar? Any idea if it's one in your
>> box? If so, can you help with title and author? My scribbles
>> indicated that I thought it was a Gene Hubert dance, but no one I
>> know has been able to find it in his books or on the internet.
>>
>> If you have the data, great. If not, I'd also love to know that you
>> *don't* know. :-) And happy late spring to you both!
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Chrissy Fowler
>>
>>> >[Insert name here]
>>>
>>>> duple improper
>>>>
>>>> A1: Ring balance; women roll neigbor gent away with a half sashay
>>>> Ladies chain
>>>>
>>>> A2: Women gypsy
>>>> Swing P
>>>>
>>>> B1: Circle L x3/4
>>>> Ring balance, Petronella twirl
>>>>
>>>> B2: Ring balance, Petronella twirl
>>>
>>> >Ring balance, California twirl
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
Okay, I don't know the name of it either. I may have gotten it from Peter
Amidon at the Flurry some years ago. (at least that's what's scribbled on
the card, deciphered from the scrap of paper I came across recently when I
thought, "Hey, that's a cool dance," and wrote it on an actual card.)
So, really, what I ought to do is email Peter. Which I will do next.
I'll call some frequent emailer if I get an answer.
Cheers to all! (and SUCH fun to meet some of you for the first time at
NEFFA... and when I had my turn in the tent with the hip young dancers it
was pretty fun too.)
:-) Chrissy
Oh, and the "0+ sthg." on the card was my own code for titling it, so that I
would have something to call it in my program notes for dances at which I
called it. No connection to reality.
** IMPORTANT FYI **
My email use is sporadic.
If time-sensitive, please call:
home 207-338-0979
cell 603-498-3506
thanks!! :-) chf
>From: callers-request(a)sharedweight.net
>Reply-To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
>To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
>Subject: Callers Digest, Vol 21, Issue 4
>Date: Mon, 08 May 2006 12:00:01 -0400
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 4
>Date: Mon, 08 May 2006 06:57:49 -0400
>From: Chris Weiler <chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org>
>Subject: Re: [Callers] Dance identification needed
>To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
>Message-ID: <445F242D.8060905(a)weirdtable.org>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
>This is one of the dances that Chrissy posted here and I forwarded to
>trad-dance-callers. Unfortunately, no one has responded from either
>group with an answer.
>
>Chris
>
>Karen Fontana wrote:
>
> >Hi Jeremy,
> >
> > I have the same dance written down with the same question! I also
>looked through Gene Hubert's dances. What she wrote on the card is "Woman
>(the symbol for woman, so could be Ladies... Sthing" Gene Hubert....
> >
> > I've copied Chrissy.... HI CHRISSY! no more "lurking"... we need your
>input here! ....
> >
> > I danced this one in the tent in the lower hall with the young-uns when
>she called this one. It was rockin'!
> >
> > Looking forward to getting the name of the dance as well. It's a great
>dance.
> >
> > Karen
> >
> >J L Korr <jeremykorr(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> >In her splendid NEFFA session, Chrissy Fowler called the following dance.
> >She had it listed as probably by Gene Hubert, but with no name. I haven't
> >been able to find it in my first look thru Gene's dances. Can anyone help
>me
> >with the name and composer, so I can credit it properly when I call it
>this
> >weekend?
> >
> >[Insert name here]
> >duple improper
> >
> >A1: Ring balance; women roll neigbor gent away with a half sashay
> >Ladies chain
> >
> >A2: Women gypsy
> >Swing P
> >
> >B1: Circle L x3/4
> >Ring balance, Petronella twirl
> >
> >B2: Ring balance, Petronella twirl
> >Ring balance, California twirl
> >
> >Thanks!
> >Jeremy Korr
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 5
>Date: 08 May 2006 08:15:52 EDT
>From: David.Millstone(a)VALLEY.NET (David Millstone)
>Subject: Re: [Callers] Dance identification needed
>To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
>Message-ID: <11247382(a)retriever.VALLEY.NET>
>Content-Type: text/plain
>
>Chrissy checks e-mail less frequently than do many of us on this list. I'm
>sure
>she'll weigh in with an answer to share when she catches up with her mail.
>
>David
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>_______________________________________________
>Callers mailing list
>Callers(a)sharedweight.net
>http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
>
>End of Callers Digest, Vol 21, Issue 4
>**************************************
Chrissy checks e-mail less frequently than do many of us on this list. I'm sure
she'll weigh in with an answer to share when she catches up with her mail.
David
