Lynn,
I'm glad you're looking at your dances in detail. You've made me think about an aspect of programming that I've forgotten about. There was a time when I used to program most of my dances of the evening to be flowing and having good transitions. In the DC area I'd throw in a dance or two that had an awkward moment. Many of the dancers in that area dance 1-4 nights a week. They dance the dances that flow and have good transitions all of the time. You might even say that many of them could be a little bored by some of the common transitions that flow (and therefore are used in many dances) The awkward move or transition was a new puzzle for them to play with. It made them think and adjust. Of course the level of the dance had to fit the skill level of the crowd.
I can remember as a dancer enjoying the non flowing or bad transition on occasion (one an evening). Sounds strange but I've heard others mention the same thing. And of course not everyone will enjoy this. As we all know you can't please everyone 100%. Maybe it's save to say that we try to please the average.
By the way, Bob Dalsemer once made a good point in this regard. He said that many of the transitions that we now consider as good transitions were considered awkward years ago when they were first introduced.
Tom
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> 1. Questionable figure transitions (lynn ackerson)
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> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 15:07:33 -0800 (PST)
> From: lynn ackerson <callynn1(a)pacbell.net>
> Subject: [Callers] Questionable figure transitions
> To: callers <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <20051212230733.60116.qmail(a)web81608.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> Hi all. Several times a year I go through my cards and try to throw out dances that turned out not to be as great as I thought they were when I collected them. This round, several transitions are sticking out for me as being awkward. The first is a ladies chain to a circle L with the same group of 4. The courtesy turn ends with both dancers' momentum going more toward a circle R than circle L. I find this transition even worse when the ladies chain is on the L diagonal followed by a circle L with the couple across. On a R&L through followed by a circle L, I recommend that the dancers use a California twirl instead of a courtesy turn and that gets around that courtesy turn to circle L transition. Am I being a bit too anal about this? There are just so many dances available, I feel like I need to get down to this level of detail to weed some out.
>
> The second transition that I see a lot, especially in Cary Ravitz dances is swing to star (L or R) in same group of 4. For this one, one of the swingee's needed hand will be around their swinging partner and it's awkward to extricate it to make the star. In some dances, depending on what follows the star, I can replace the star with a Long Lines F&B which fixes it.
>
> I talked to several of you at NEFFA about another transition that really bugs me: from a hey which has a R shoulder pass in the middle to a swing on the side. Whoever finishes the hey first, has to make an immediate change in momentum (since they just passed L on the side) to get into a swing. Some dances alleviate the problem by using a balance and swing instead of just a swing, but that only works if there's enough time.
>
> Any thoughts? Like I said, I'm getting way down to the details to come up with reasons to weed out dances. Do you have suggestions for making these transitions smoother? Are there other transitions you personally try to avoid?
>
> Thanks,
> Lynn
>
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Hi all. Several times a year I go through my cards and try to throw out dances that turned out not to be as great as I thought they were when I collected them. This round, several transitions are sticking out for me as being awkward. The first is a ladies chain to a circle L with the same group of 4. The courtesy turn ends with both dancers' momentum going more toward a circle R than circle L. I find this transition even worse when the ladies chain is on the L diagonal followed by a circle L with the couple across. On a R&L through followed by a circle L, I recommend that the dancers use a California twirl instead of a courtesy turn and that gets around that courtesy turn to circle L transition. Am I being a bit too anal about this? There are just so many dances available, I feel like I need to get down to this level of detail to weed some out.
The second transition that I see a lot, especially in Cary Ravitz dances is swing to star (L or R) in same group of 4. For this one, one of the swingee's needed hand will be around their swinging partner and it's awkward to extricate it to make the star. In some dances, depending on what follows the star, I can replace the star with a Long Lines F&B which fixes it.
I talked to several of you at NEFFA about another transition that really bugs me: from a hey which has a R shoulder pass in the middle to a swing on the side. Whoever finishes the hey first, has to make an immediate change in momentum (since they just passed L on the side) to get into a swing. Some dances alleviate the problem by using a balance and swing instead of just a swing, but that only works if there's enough time.
Any thoughts? Like I said, I'm getting way down to the details to come up with reasons to weed out dances. Do you have suggestions for making these transitions smoother? Are there other transitions you personally try to avoid?
Thanks,
Lynn
Hi All,
Thanks for mentioning the dance, Perry. It's called
"A Nifty Fifty". Here it is, and yes, I just copied
and pasted it from my website at www.DaveColestock.Com
There's a dozen or so dances there. Bob Isaacs also
has written a dance called "50/50", which I will also
include here (I hope you don't mind, Bob). Hope you
all enjoy these dances.
Dave Colestock
> "A Nifty 50" - 04/02/2004 Dave Colestock
>
> Improper
>
> A1 As Couples, Weave to the Right, passing by
> current
> N1 to a new N2, Lady Leads
> As Couples, Weave to the Left, passing by N2 to
> new N3, Gent Leads
> Circle Right Once Around with N3
>
> A2 Balance in a Ring of 4
> CA Twirl (to face N2)
> Swing Neighbor N2
> (this becomes the new neighbor)
>
> B1 Give RH to Partner Across the Set and Balance
> with
> Partner
> Box the Gnat with Partner
> Just the 1's, Swing Partner, end facing down
> with
> same N2
>
> B2 RH Star
> Circle Right back to improper position
> (N2 becomes known as N1 at top of dance - still
> current neighbor)
>
> The dance has a nice flow to it, and has a 2 up, 1
> back style of progressing. If you follow the path
> the
> couple makes on the dance floor, it looks like a 5
> (with the weaves) followed by a circle right for the
> 0. It's a rather nifty way to trace a fifty on the
> dance floor. Hence, "A Nifty Fifty". I wrote it
> for
> my good friend John P. for his 50th birthday in
> April
> 2004.
>
>
> "50/50" - 11/20/2002 Bob Isaacs
>
> Becket L
>
> A1 CL 3/4
> Neighbor Swing
> A2 Ladies Chain to Partner
> 1/2 Hey, Ladies pass RS to start
> Give RH to Partner
>
> B1 RH Balance w/Partner
> Box the Gnat
> 1/2 Hey, Gents pass LS to start
> B2 Balance and Swing Partner, (or Gypsy and Swing)
> end facing new couple of left Diagonal to slide
> left and circle with.
>
> The dance was written for Bob Hofkin and Naomi
> Weiner's 50th Birthdays in late 2002. It gives
> everyone a chance to lead and follow in the heys,
> and
> maintaining eye contact during the dance is lots of
> fun. Tip: If you tell the dancers to finish they
> hey
> in the A2 slightly to the Left of straight it will
> help set them up positionally for the return hey
> after
> the box the gnat.
>
>
> --- Perry Shafran <pshaf(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > I know that Dave Colestock has a dance called
> Nifty
> > Fifty. If he's around he might want to share it
> > with
> > us; otherwise I think it's on his webpage, which I
> > think is simply davecolestock.com.
> >
> > Perry
> >
> > --- Seth Tepfer <labst(a)emory.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > This weekend I'm calling a special dance
> (modern,
> > > urban contra) for Karen
> > > Parker, who turns 50. You have any interesting
> > > dances featuring over the
> > > hill, 50, Karen, or Parker? Listed below is what
> > > Michael Dyck's fabulous
> > > index came up with.
> > >
> > > Any help welcome.
> > > seth
> > >
> > > PS: I've already got "Dennis' 50 Years of
> > > Enlightenment" and "The Turning
> > > Point", though other punny ideas are welcome!
> > >
> > >
> > > Old as the Hills
> > > Lm 2x2 ip Ted Sannella
> > > GaT p130h
> > > StN p104
> > >
> > >
> > > E50
> > > Lm 2x2 becket Al Olson
> > > GaT p106a
> > >
> > > Not Quite Fifty
> > > Lm 2x2 becket Michael Fuerst
> > >
> > >
> >
>
<http://web.archive.org/web/20011128124517/http://www.advancenet.net/%7Emfue…>wMF
> > >
> > > NotQuiteFifty
> > >
> > > Number Fifty
> > > Lm 2x2 ip Henry Garfath
> > > KKiC p14f
> > >
> > > Karen's Beginning
> > > Lm 2x2 ip Erik Hoffman
> > > C p14b
> > >
> > > Karen's Treasure
> > > Lm 2x2 ip James Hutson
> > > sCT p63
> > >
> > > Karin's Quadrille
> > > C 4x2 mixer Roger Whynot
> > >
> > >
> >
>
<http://www.cambridgefolk.org.uk/contra/dances/roger_whynot/karins_quadrille…>wHS
> > >
> > > roger_whynot/karins_quadrille.html
> > >
> > >
> > > Miss Parker's Fancy
> > > Lm 3x2 ppp trad
> > > HDoEA p40
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
=========================================================================
> > > Seth Tepfer: Director of Administrative
> Computing
> > &
> > > Innovative Technology
> > > Oxford College of Emory University -
> 770-784-8487
> > -
> > > labst(a)emory.edu
> > >
> > > For fast and easy computer help,
> > > try...
> > > <http://help.emory.edu>http://help.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
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been
> > > removed]
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> > interested friends. Subscribe by sending a blank
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This weekend I'm calling a special dance (modern, urban contra) for Karen
Parker, who turns 50. You have any interesting dances featuring over the
hill, 50, Karen, or Parker? Listed below is what Michael Dyck's fabulous
index came up with.
Any help welcome.
seth
PS: I've already got "Dennis' 50 Years of Enlightenment" and "The Turning
Point", though other punny ideas are welcome!
Old as the Hills
Lm 2x2 ip Ted Sannella
GaT p130h
StN p104
E50
Lm 2x2 becket Al Olson
GaT p106a
Not Quite Fifty
Lm 2x2 becket Michael Fuerst
<http://web.archive.org/web/20011128124517/http://www.advancenet.net/%7Emfue…>wMF
NotQuiteFifty
Number Fifty
Lm 2x2 ip Henry Garfath
KKiC p14f
Karen's Beginning
Lm 2x2 ip Erik Hoffman
C p14b
Karen's Treasure
Lm 2x2 ip James Hutson
sCT p63
Karin's Quadrille
C 4x2 mixer Roger Whynot
<http://www.cambridgefolk.org.uk/contra/dances/roger_whynot/karins_quadrille…>wHS
roger_whynot/karins_quadrille.html
Miss Parker's Fancy
Lm 3x2 ppp trad
HDoEA p40
=========================================================================
Seth Tepfer: Director of Administrative Computing & Innovative Technology
Oxford College of Emory University - 770-784-8487 - labst(a)emory.edu
For fast and easy computer help,
try... <http://help.emory.edu>http://help.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
Seth,
This is not what you asked for but what comes up for me.
First; a tune called Karen's Walk by Sarah Bauhan recorded on her
CD Broad Waters. It is played as a processional/recessional, but its
form and style lend it well to dance. Nancy & I have played around
putting ECD figures to it but haven't come up with just the correct
combination. Admittedly, we haven't put much effort into the project.
Perhaps you'll do better.
Second; as a person who had a very public celebration of 50 almost
6 years ago, I think the "over the hill" thing is over done. I'm
reminded of a dance Ted Sannella composed about 11 years back on the
occassion of Marianne Taylor's 65th birthday, "65 and very much
alive". The dance figures are widely available and if taught well, is
a crowd pleaser. Might be a god way to inspire Karen to keep going
rather than "slide downhill".
Marianne, by the way, continues to dance circles around folks 10
years her junior. She does so much dance leading it is difficult to
keep track of her but she will be at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy
Weekend in Durham NH, along with a good many other notable callers and
musicians, on Jan 13-15, 2006. check it out at [1]www.neffa.org .
BTW; Nice pics and bio of Jex. Hope all is going well some 6
months later.
Cheers, John
John C McIntire
323 Crosby Brook Rd
Unity ME 04988-4023
207-567-7597
References
1. http://www.neffa.org/
A fellow dancer sent this question to me and thought it would be a good
thing to discuss. As dancers on the floor, how far do we go to protect
the friends that we bring from the less pleasant side of the contra
dance scene and provide them with a more pleasant experience?
Chris
>I was wondering if I could ask your both your thoughts
>and/or provoke a discussion on the callers discussion
>list.
>
>Last night I brought a guest to the VFW, who had never
>contra danced before. When I have done this before I
>have usually been able to teach them a few basic
>steps, dance the first couple of dances with them,
>then let them (and myself!) loose to dance with
>whomever. But last night I first went to the restroom,
>and came out to find someone teaching my friend the
>basics. I had no problem with this as such, but, as
>far as I could gather from everyone elses reaction, he
>wasnt a particularly good dancer, and I noticed from
>then on that my guest seemed to be quite a magnet for
>so-so dancers. So this leads to a question of - what
>should I have done? Made lots of booking for her with
>guys I know are good dancers? I also wasn't quite sure
>what to do about the person who was showing her the
>steps - I think it is a good part of the scene that
>people notice new faces and try to get them into the
>dance, but what can you do if you realise those same
>people aren't the best introduction, especially if you
>dont want to be rude by telling them they aren't a
>good enough dancer, etc. He was quite persistent about
>trying to dance with her later, which she was trying
>to avoid.
>
>There is also the inherent problem of - I know who the
>good female dancers are, but who the good male dancers
>are is more from an impression or reputation.
>
>Any thoughts appreciated! Actually I had hoped to
>bring another couple of people last night, one of whom
>is truely statuesque, and would I am sure have
>produced a feeding frenzy amongst the male (and
>perhaps some of the female!) dancers...
>
>
re: chris's question:
speaking as a not-really-a-caller, but a very experienced
dancer:
1) i always give friends who i'm bringing to their first dance a
basic tutorial before we go to the dance. i usually try to
include playing a dance tune so they have an idea of what to
expect. if they have any sort of musical inclination, i also
explain how dance tunes are arranged (4 parts of 16 beats) and
how dances are made up of figures that are in multiples of 4. i
explain giving weight *very carefully* since i'm convinced that
this is the key to most dance figures, and then i go through the
list of figures, trying to arrange things by similarities of
number of beats, eye contact, etc. i do swing last, and explain
that it takes a while to "get it". i tell them that the most
important things they can do (especially at the beginning) are
to smile, have fun, and remember that every single person they
see was a bumbling beginner at some point.
(i also sometimes tell my own sad beginner story: at NEFFA 1992,
i did my first two dances on saturday with friends; on sunday, i
did one dance with a stranger (who was very friendly) and got
-completely- confused by a ladies' chain on a diagonal, every
single time. i became convinced that people on the other side
of the hall had been screwed up by my continual screwing up, and
was so mortified that i refused to go back to a dance until i
was dragged back in october of 1994, whereupon i become hooked.)
2) once at the hall, i explain facing "up" or "down"; the
organization of the sets; the way that a #1 couple moves down
the set or a #2 couple moves up the set; etc.
3) i introduce them to a couple of good dancers, by which i mean
people who are competent, friendly, forgiving, and will give
appropriate feedback and *lots* of encouragement. i ask them
for the first, and usually also the second dance, and give
recommendations for who they might ask for the next dance.
4) and i check in with them throughout the night as much as
possible, and try to do another dance with them later in the
evening, and give them lots of compliments on how well they're
picking it up.
one other more general thing that i keep trying to remind myself
to do but don't always remember: if every experienced dancer
asked just *one* new person to dance one dance per night,
imagine how that new person's experience would be improved over
the course of the evening! they would be approached by all
kinds of wonderful people, given smiles and encouragement, and
have a really good chance at experiencing what contra dancing
can be all about, and their dancing would be improved
tremendously by having had dances with a wide variety of folks.
for the experienced folks, it would be one out of perhaps 10 or
12 dances in an evening, leaving plenty to be given to SOs,
friends, etc.
something(s) to think about...
melissa
__________________________________
Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
http://farechase.yahoo.com
1) If I want to introduce a friend to the pleasures of traditional contras and
squares, I'll think hard about which dance series I'd like them to experience
first. Some are more beginner-friendly than others. Similarly with callers--
some are more attentive to the presence of beginners in the midst and program
accordingly.
2) Having made that decision, when we arrive I'll make a point of introducing my
friend to several experienced dancers whom I know. "So-and-so is here for the
first time," I say, and the others fall right into line, each clamoring for the
honor of having the first dance. In short, there are several excellent dancers
who are going to be looking for opportunities to dance with this person.
Similarly, as a caller at my home dance, when I see a group of newcomers arrive,
in addition to greeting them myself if they come in the minutes before the dance
starts, I'll alert some of the experienced dancers of the presence of the new
folks and, if possible, will facilitate introductions.
And by "experienced" I don't mean hot-shot dancers or folks who simply know how
to do the figures, but rather dancers who have what I think of as a friendly,
welcoming and supportive attitude, who understand the community basis of this
kind of dancing.
3) And finally, it's worth telling your friend ahead of time that it's perfectly
acceptable to say "no" if she doesn't want to dance with someone.
> I know who the good female dancers are, but who the good male dancers are is
more from an impression or reputation.
Aha! An excellent argument for dancing the other sex's role from time to time!
In addition to making oneself a better dancer, it's a chance to interact with
the other half of the universe. When I dance the woman's role, for example,
there's nothing like going down the set in a dance with lots of swings to give
me a much better idea of dancers' skills and attitudes. Some guys simply smile
and swing in a welcoming manner, while others seem to take it as a personal
challenge to show how vigorous they can be. On a ladies chain, I quickly
discover who gives a friendly courtesy turn, and who insists on cranking me
around in twirls. I might even note particular individuals to speak with at a
later time about dance etiquette.
David Millstone
Hi
I was at David Millstones Callers wkshp in Oct. he handed out a flyer
with a list of Square Dance Breaks.
I have either misplaced that flyer or left it in Norwich.
If someone has that info and could fax it to me I will appreciate it.
My email address is gtwood(a)worldpath.net ;please write and I will send
you my phone #
If you are looking for a dance to attend this Friday there is a GOOD one
in Kingston NH featuring:
Old New England with Tony Parks calling, Tony will be calling Ted
Sennella dances, Well worth the trip
Over to hear a master caller at work (and the band is pretty damn GOOD
also!)
Thanks
Gale Wood
Hi everyone,
I am a new member of this group and have enjoyed the postings in the last
few weeks. I participated in David Millstone's calling workshops and look
forward to practicing more and getting up on stage to call some day.
The origin of my question comes from my role as a dance organizer, but I am
wondering what you all think a caller might have done to respond to this
situation.
At a recent dance, the sound was not working correctly. From the floor, we
could hear the caller and the one instrument that was plugged in. The two
other instruments that were unplugged were barely heard. The sound quality
was very poor.
I witnessed the caller notify the band of a sound problem and the band was
trying to solve the problem between dances, but it wasn't working. During
the break, they moved the speakers off the stage and onto the floor and the
problem was solved and the sound during the second half of the dance went
really well.
As the caller, what would you all have done in this situation?
Nancy Turner
Vermont
