For all of you out there who want to get in touch with accessible
old time music, there is a good CD recently put out
by The Percolators (CW Abbott, Larry Edelman, Joe Herrmann,
Joe Fallon and David Cahn), called, "Alive in Prague!"
These are all dance musicians (plus one
caller, Larry Edelman, who plays a mean mandolin), and the CD was
made with dancing, calling and fiddle playing in mind.
The tunes are clearly presented,
and it's an excellent intro to anyone who wants to call squares
or contras to old time but isn't familiar with the genre.
The CD was recorded in Czechoslovakia while the
group was on tour there. It also has some French Canadian tunes,
believe it or not; it seems David Cahn, who is known for his bass
playing, has also taken up the button accordion, and he's really good.
So it's a fine CD for practicing any kind of calling.
The Percolators will be at American Week at Pinewoods, so you can get
the
CD there, or by contacting CW Abbott
cwabbott(a)aol.com
or from
home.earthlink.net/~thepercolators
It costs $17 , which includes postage.
Nope, they didn't ask me to do this. I worked with them down In
Florida and
had such a good time with their music (calling squares with Larry in
the band
was GREAT--I just told him the figures and he picked the tune!). Then
I listened
to the CD and realized it would be a good tool for callers of all
levels.
Enjoy,
Lisa Greenleaf
-- Lisa
Hi all,
I'm curious about this comment Sue Rosen made to Chris Weiler:
>But, before you spend your caller's earnings on a mic, please, please,
>please sign up for caller's insurance through CDSS if you haven't already.
>And may none of us ever need it!
I actually wasn't aware (until now) that such insurance existed, and I've
been calling for a while and have also been thinking about buying a cordless
mic. I'm looking at the CDSS website right now, at the note about this
coverage but am finding it somewhat confusing. I don't know whether Toronto
Country Dancers (TCD) has "group insurance" but I'll check that out. But if
they do, does that mean that I would be covered, and would I only be covered
if I was calling specifically at the TCD hall ?? The second line in the
first paragraph says :
"...but if you only need to insure your caller and hall, consider this
option. The policy provides for general liability, bodily injury and
property damage in the combined amount of $2,000,000."
Does anyone know if this insurance covers me if I'm calling in other halls,
meaning if I'm on tour ? Does this even extend to callers living in Canada,
calling in and outside of the home country ? Does anyone know of a caller
that's been named in a lawsuit ? While I have insurance for my home and
car, I must admit that it's never occurred to me to have insurance for
calling. Should I be setting this up a.s.a.p ?? I have requested an
application from CDSS but would appreciate any info from callers out there.
Thanks,
Bev
*****************************************
The Witful Turnip wturnip(a)sympatico.ca
"I'm 40-fucking-5, and I've got nothing to hide !"
- Samantha Jones (Sex in the City)
*****************************************
I asked Sue Rosen about microphones when I saw her on Thursday. She sent
me this note the next day:
Sue Rosen wrote:
>Hi Chris,
>
>I hunted through old emails and found this from Kathy Anderson in 1998:
>"My mic is the Shure vocal artist mic, and I love it."
>
>But, before you spend your caller's earnings on a mic, please, please,
>please sign up for caller's insurance through CDSS if you haven't already.
>And may none of us ever need it!
>
-snip-
AMEN!
I sent an e-mail to office(a)cdss.org with a request for an application form. It's only $34 per year.
Chris
Hello Everyone:
Just wondering if everyone could help me with the authors and names of some
dances.
Improper
A1:
Neighbors do-si-do
Neighbors allemende right 3/4
Gents allemende left 1
A2:
Hey
B1:
Neighbors gypsy and swing
B2:
Circle left 1
Active couples swing
____
Improper
A1:
Star left
Neighbors allemende left 1 1/2
A2:
Ladies allemende right 1 1/2
Partners swing
B1:
Circle left 3/4
Neighbors swing
B2:
Long line forward and back
Star right
____
Thanks,
Jeff
Jeffrey M. Petrovitch
jeffrey.m.petrovitch(a)usa.net
“Five night of contra dancing... through ‘top-notch’ style and
technique, with the love and passion for the dance, the title above all other
was awarded. I am an ‘Iron Dancer’. Two times the dancing, two times an
‘Iron Dancer’.” – J. M. Petrovitch
Okay, I've got:
"Hello My Baby" and "The Baby Rose" and "Crumbs in the Diaper". Possibly
"Rant and Roar".
What other baby/infant/child/sleep/diaper/nappy/crib/etc themed contra
(square, circle, sicillian) dance names can you come up with?
I'd love to call a baby themed program. Suggestions welcome.
seth
=========================================================================
Seth Tepfer: Director of Administrative Computing & Innovative Technology
Oxford College of Emory University - 770-784-8487 - labst(a)emory.edu
Jex Raven Eidson Tepfer - Born 6/5/05 00:52! Say hi at:
http://www.jexRaven.com/
=========================================================================
"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought." -Dorothy
L. Sayers
Hey Everyone!!!
After another amazing and wonderfull contra dance at the Nelson Town Hall, in
Nelson, New Hampshire, I just wanted to share a couple
interpretations/thoughts about calling. Every Monday Night, I usually call
about two or three dances (In Nelson, it is always open microphone for callers
and musicians), and last night, I decided to call a couple of my favorite
dances: "You Can't Get There From Here" by Carol Ormand and "Trip To
Lamberville" by Steve Zakon-Anderson. For me these dances are really fund to
call and dance, with great driving balances and beats.
The more and more I continue to call the more and more I learn about about
calling and dancing. After only six months of calling, I feel very confident
and strong as a caller, but after last night, I really feel like I am starting
to find myself as a caller, starting to find myself as an individual caller,
with an individual style and individual technique.
As a caller, I think perhaps one of the most important parts of calling is
being yourself, being yourself as a caller. After spending time thinking
about different callers, thinking about his or her style, his or her
technique, perhaps one things that seems so simple now, but did not seem so
simple before, was that every caller had a different style and technique...
I have learned that you can't be a "Peter Amidon", a "Lisa Greenleaf", a "Beth
Milaro", a "Don Primrose", a "Lisa Sieverts", a "Steve Zakon-Anderson", and
the list goes on... Each one of these callers is very different from
eachother, and that it is just not enought to observe, to learn, to apply a
style and technique of one of these callers, but to apply a style and
technique and to allow it to evolve your own style and technique.
Instead of doing that thing Peter Amindon does or doing that thing Lisa
Greenleaf does, allow that thing to evolve your own style and technique, to
evolve yourself as a caller, in other words it is about finding yourself as a
caller...
It seems like I am constantly thinking about contra calling and dancing,
different ways to call a certain call, the timing in between a call, the
transition from one call to the next, and how that is going to change from the
first time through to the second time to the third time. Going back to
"finding yourself as a caller" another thing that I believe that is important,
that I have worked very hard at, is feeling comfortable on stage. I remember
the very first time on stage calling a dance, I was very nervous and very
scared, and I decided to call "The Cookie Man" by Sue Rosen.
Since then, I really feel like I have found my groove on stage, perhaps my
calling is not always right on, but I feel confortable, relaxed, and perhaps
most importantly, I am having fun, a lot of fun.
I guess really all this stuff above comes down to a couple simple things: find
and be yourself as a caller and have fun... So there you, just some thoughts
I thought I wold share...
Sincerely,
Jeff Petrovitch
Jeffrey M. Petrovitch
jeffrey.m.petrovitch(a)usa.net
"Five nights of contra dancing... through 'top-notch' style and technique,
with the love and passion for the dance, the title above all others was
awarded. I am an 'Iron Dancer'." - J.M. Petrovitch
I wonder if we are going to see a resurgence of this dance over the next
couple of months. It will be in vogue to call it! (Yes, I am trying to spur
that resurgence by this email :-).
Title: Salute to Larry Jennings
Author:
<http://www.cambridgefolk.org.uk/contra/dances/ted_sannella/ted_sannella.html>Ted
Sannella
Formation: Improper contra
A1: l
ines go forward and back; ones swing, ending facing down.
A2:
circle left once; do si do on the side
B1:
Grand chain around the whole set, starting right with your neighbour, when
you get the the fourth person do a full allemande left and chain back to
your neighbour
B2:
balance and swing neighbour
=========================================================================
Seth Tepfer: Director of Administrative Computing & Innovative Technology
Oxford College of Emory University - 770-784-8487 - labst(a)emory.edu
Jex Raven Eidson Tepfer - Born 6/5/05 00:52! Say hi at:
http://www.jexRaven.com/
=========================================================================
"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought." -Dorothy
L. Sayers
Sad news...
Chris
Forwarded Message:
> To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
> From: millstone(a)valley.net
> Subject: [trad-dance-callers] Larry Jennings
> Date: 29 Jun 2005 15:11:24 EDT
> -----
> This news just reached me, forwarded from several folks and originating with
> Boston dance organizer Mark Jones:
>
> David
>
> --------
> Dear Friends,
>
> I wish to report to those who have worked and collaborated with Larry Jennings,
> long-time dance enthusiast, organizer, promoter, composer, book writer, critic,
> dance philosopher, and caller, that he died shortly before noon, of cardiac
> arrest, today, June 29, 2005 at the Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA.
>
> There will be more formal news as the family gathers.
>
> Best regards,
> Mark Jones
> ---------
>
>
If you have ever danced in Nelson, New Hampshire on Monday night then you know
about the famous Nelson Chorus Jig always called by Don Primrose. I have
heard Chorus Jig called and danced at many different halls accross New
England, and I have yet to find callers, dancers, and musicians as dedicated
to Chorus Jig as the "Nelson Faithfull" are... (I believe that you really
have had to dance a Nelson Chorus Jig, to understand what I am really talking
about...)
So with that said, anyone calling Chorus Jig in Nelson has some really big
shoes to fill when they do, so Monday night, I tried what few have tried, I
called Chorus Jig. I have to say in no way did I come close to filling the
shoes of Don Primrose with the great calling and voice for Chorus Jig, but I
gave it my all, unfortunately that night it was not my best...
Well anyway, I guess my real question would be does anyone have tips on
calling Chorus Jig. I have a called a lot of different dances before, but
calling and teaching contra corners can be a tough task, and just wondering
what people had to say about it...
Thanks,
Jeff Petrovitch
Jeffrey M. Petrovitch
jeffrey.m.petrovitch(a)usa.net
"Five nights of contra dancing... through 'top-notch' style and technique,
with the love and passion for the dance, the title above all others was
awarded. I am an 'Iron Dancer'." - J.M. Petrovitch
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and thank you for keeping me honest.
Perhaps, I have been quick in my assessment of "squares", and retract my
statement regarding contra lines being superior the square formation.
Perhaps one of the greatest things about contra dancing is that when you are
dancing up and down a contra line, you are always going to see a new face, a
new dancer, and if you asked me what I really love about dancing, the answer
would be simple, the people... Dancing in perhaps everyway bring people
together, people of all different background and that is truly a great thing.
In my opinion, that is perhaps what I personally dislike about squares the
most, four couples, four of the same couples, four of the same couples for
10-15 minutes or however long the square is going to be, of course this is my
personal opinion...
Perhaps, I have been to quick to throw contra dancing and square dancing in
the same boat, because I believe that there are two very different types of
dances, with different styles and techniques... I think it is interesting
that contra dancing and square dancing are so closely associated together, and
perhaps they should not be. There are a lot of different types of dances,
everything from contra dancing to square dancing, to swing, tengo, etc. but I
would pose the question how many swing dances are also going to have tengo???
Square dancing not doubt has a long history, with a great sense of community
and tradition behind it and in no way am I trying to take away from that, but
perhaps there should be contra dances and square dances, because I would not
expect to go to an English Country Dance and dance swing...
I think there are a lot of people that think of contra dancing and square
dancing as the same thing, and it simply is not... Of course one would make
the may argue that a triple minor is not contra dancing either, but I would
tend to debate the a triple minor is more of a formation then a style of
dance, much like proper, improper, and becket formation.
In closing, I would simply pose the idea, that maybe contra dancing and square
dancing should not be all group together, that perhaps contra dances should be
contra dances and square dances should be square dances... In perhaps keeping
with the peservation of that dance tradition.
Sincerely,
Jeff Petrovitch
Jeffrey M. Petrovitch
jeffrey.m.petrovitch(a)usa.net
"Five nights of contra dancing... through 'top-notch' style and technique,
with the love and passion for the dance, the title above all others was
awarded. I am an 'Iron Dancer'." - J.M. Petrovitch
