Contra Callers

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4298 discussions

Fwd: [trad-dance-callers] Revue of a great weekend

by markjones＠busybusy.org

I thought this item from the [trad-dance-callers] list would interest and amuse. Mark Jones Ralphsweet(a)aol.com wrote .. > > I just survived (as a dancer) another of the first (and best) > weekends of the month , Friday and Saturday nights at the Guiding Star > Grange in > Greenfield, MA. Friday night, one of our favorite bands (The Moving > Violations) and callers - (Sue Rosen) - 200 people, including 2, 75 > year old guys, > 1, 79, and 1 80-year old couple, a van-load of 15 girls from Mt Holyoke, > some more from Smith, Hampshire, & U-Mass. A few college guys too. > Even a > car load from Wesleyan Univ in CT - a 1 1/2 hour drive. This helped > to > offset the usual gender imbalance of 10 -20 extra guys. Of course this > forced > us older men to dance with younger women most of the time, but we bore > this > hardship cheerfully. > Everyone was in high spirits - Cheers would ring out from the crowd > spontaneously whenever the band changed keys or tunes. Everyone clapped > on the > petronella twirls, and the caller didn't even try to stop us! One medley > consisted of 3 tunes of GYPSY music from classical sources. Between dances > I > discussed with the lead fiddler, Van Kaynor, and Sue, the caller, > whether > this might put them "over the edge" as to Political Correctness, but > she > called several dances with gypsies anyway, saying that she was not concerned > - > had too much to think about to worry about it. (Sue is on this message > board, but seldom replies to the discussions. I told her I would report > this, > she was amused and said OK) > During the break, to celebrate the holiday season, we were treated > to a > sword dance-mummer's play, and on Saturday night, to a Morris dance > demonstration by a team of teens from Northern VT, who of course danced > with us > all night. > Saturday Night was just as much fun, same attendance, plenty of > cheers, gypsies, claps, even more college girls, many beginners, some > high > school boys AND girls. Wild Asparagus played, George Marshall called, > - it was > great! > We are so fortunate to have such a great hall within easy reach of 5 > colleges, and a vast reservoir of dancers from CT, MA, VT, and NH, > and close to > a major highway, with what we believe are the best bands and callers > in the > USA twice each week!! Ralph Sweet > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> > Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. > Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! > http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/uAiolB/TM > --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> > > The J. Appleseed Society > E-Mail Discussion Lists to nurture the growth of participatory art and > cultural activities. > > The Traditional Dance Callers List: For participatory dance callers, teachers, > leaders and interested friends. Subscribe by sending a blank e-mail message > (no subject, no message) to: trad-dance-callers-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com > Yahoo! Groups Links > > <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/trad-dance-callers/ > > <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > trad-dance-callers-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com > > <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ >

19 years, 11 months

program

by Tom Hinds

I think that your advanced planning will really pay off. I like many of these dances and want to try them out in the future. I have a question about two of them. I think it's Roll 11 that has a B2 with 1/2 promenade, circle left 3/4, calif twirl. If anyone has danced this does it fits 16 beats? If so, is it rushed and would the tempo of the music make a difference (a bit too fast would cause the dances to get behind)? Rockin' Robin has a B2 that includes circle left 1 1/4, veer left , veer right. I really like the flow of this. I assume that the circle 1 1/4 takes 10 beats. Therefore the veer left and veer right would take 6 beats. I'm guessing it's danceable but not at a fast tempo. Has anyone danced Rockin Robin? I think that I'd like to know much more about the abilities of the dancers before I could make any comments about the program. What percentage of the dancers will be beginners? When I plan a dance I like the first 2-3 dances of the evening to be bomb proof so that the beginners will build confidence and start to trust me. If there'll be a high percentage of beginners, might you be taking a chance with the circle mixer as a second dance? Much confusion can occur in the grand right and left-turn back. I look forward to finding out how your evening goes. Tom callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote: > Send Callers mailing list submissions to > callers(a)sharedweight.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > callers-request(a)sharedweight.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > callers-owner(a)sharedweight.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..." > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Seth--how was your first full dance? (Seth Seeger) > 2. Program for 12/4 (Linda A. Leslie) > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 16:33:37 -0500 > From: Seth Seeger <seth(a)seeger.ws> > Subject: Re: [Callers] Seth--how was your first full dance? > To: Shared Weight <callers(a)sharedweight.net> > Message-ID: <7F0B72A8-4317-11D9-BBA9-000A959CF174(a)seeger.ws> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed > > Thanks for asking! I've been meaning to get this out for a few days > now. > > My first full calling gig in East Sandwich, MA went VERY well! East > Sandwich is a wonderful dance community with fun people. Sadly, it is > one where attendance can greatly fluctuate. Fortunately, I brought > along 10 friends which brought the dance up to about 20 people. > > I think programming the dance was one of the hardest parts. Mostly > because my collection of dances is still pretty small, I didn't have a > nice library to pull dances from. (While I do have a good number of > book resources, it's hard to pull dances out of them - I prefer dances > that I've danced before.) Half way through the planning, I realized > that all but one dance had allemandes in them! Linda Leslie was > wonderful and spent a few hours on the phone with me helping me through > dance placement and ordering. > > I started out using the planning matrix from the back of Give & Take, > but found that it had too much information on it. I ended up using a > grid that I got from Lisa Greenleaf that only has 14 criteria, instead > of the 35 in G&T. I am planning on moving all my dances to white index > cards, so I can highlight moves (all in different colors). That will > allow me to plan out my evening visually, instead of on a paper. > (Rearranging cards on a table is easier than having to continually > re-write the planning matrix.) > > Here is what I ended up with: > > 1. Cascades - Orace Johnson > 2. Al's Safeway Produce - Robert Cromartie > 3. Simplicity Give & Take - Linda Leslie (was Simplicity Swing by > Becky Hill) > 4. Carousel - Tom Hinds > 5. Square Affair - Becky Hill > 6. Roll Eleven - Sue Rosen & Larry Jennings > *break* > 7. Ramsey Chase - Joseph Pimentel > 8. Mary Cay's Reel - David Kaynor > 9. Happy As A Cold Pig In Warm Mud - Mike Boerschig > 10. Rockin' Robin - Rick Mohr > 11. Marian's Delight - Carol Kopp > > The evening was fun - surprisingly I wasn't nervous! Working with Amy > and John Larkin was fantastic. Very flexible and easy to work with. I > didn't worry at all about what kind of music to put to each dance. > Just show Amy the card and she makes great picks. > > A few times, I found myself calling an incorrect call (during the > dance). It would happen without me even knowing! (Fortunately, the > dancers weren't listing to me by that point!) One dance did start to > fall apart - I don't know if I said something incorrect or if the dance > was just hard to keep track of. Luckily, one of my trusty dancers knew > where we were supposed to be and the dance continued on. (I had lost > my place too!) By the end of the evening, I was completely exhausted, > but I felt great. > > For three of the dances, I had written out the patter (because I had a > lot to say). However, I found reading off of this different format > difficult and disorienting. In the future, I will work harder to > memorize the patter I want say so I can just call of my card like I did > for the rest of dances. > > One last piece of difficulty I had was remembering where dancers had > started in the line. It must have just been one too many things for me > to keep track of. I tried remembering who was at the top of the line, > and I tried picking one person and always looking to see where they > started. Neither worked with great success. Everything worked out > just fine in the end, though. Amy was great about extending the dance > out one more time through when I had miscalculated having everyone in > for the last time through the dance. > > Now that all is said and done, I am pretty happy with my program. It > had a lot of dances in it that I really like to dance. I still felt > that it had a bit of repetition in the moves, but it can't always be > avoided. > > Seth > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 17:13:23 -0500 > From: "Linda A. Leslie" <laleslierjg(a)comcast.net> > Subject: [Callers] Program for 12/4 > To: <Callers(a)sharedweight.net> > Message-ID: <BDD25AB3.891A%laleslierjg(a)comcast.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > So sorry that I will be out of town on December 4th! Looks as though all of > you will have a great time....my best wishes to all of you: Seth, Chris, and > Nathaniel. > > The program looks terrific! Two notes for Nathaniel, in "It's a Pirate's > Life..." At the A2, a pass through to a wave only takes 4 beats of the > music, then a wave balance (also 4 beats), and the Rory O'More spin (also 4 > beats); this means there are 4 beats still left. The gent's allemande will > then start during the A2, rather than the beginning of the B1. So that > partner swing will be a nice long one (unless you put a Balance in there). > > Also a question about American Gothic: Is the Mad Robin oriented toward your > neighbor (along), or toward your partner (across)? The pass through along at > the end of the dance makes me think that is with neighbor; otherwise, when > passing through, each dancer must turn to face partner in order to > accomplish the Mad Robin. I enjoy doing Mad Robins a lot! So your dance > intrigues me, so I want to understand it in the way you intended it. Thanks! > > Linda Leslie > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > End of Callers Digest, Vol 4, Issue 1 > *************************************

19 years, 11 months

Program for 12/4

by Linda A. Leslie

So sorry that I will be out of town on December 4th! Looks as though all of you will have a great time....my best wishes to all of you: Seth, Chris, and Nathaniel. The program looks terrific! Two notes for Nathaniel, in "It's a Pirate's Life..." At the A2, a pass through to a wave only takes 4 beats of the music, then a wave balance (also 4 beats), and the Rory O'More spin (also 4 beats); this means there are 4 beats still left. The gent's allemande will then start during the A2, rather than the beginning of the B1. So that partner swing will be a nice long one (unless you put a Balance in there). Also a question about American Gothic: Is the Mad Robin oriented toward your neighbor (along), or toward your partner (across)? The pass through along at the end of the dance makes me think that is with neighbor; otherwise, when passing through, each dancer must turn to face partner in order to accomplish the Mad Robin. I enjoy doing Mad Robins a lot! So your dance intrigues me, so I want to understand it in the way you intended it. Thanks! Linda Leslie

19 years, 11 months

Seth--how was your first full dance?

by Lisa Greenleaf

Seth Seeger recently called his first full evening down in Sandwich, MA (on Cape Cod). So how did it go? Details, details! Lisa

19 years, 11 months

Re: [Callers] Seth--how was your first full dance?

by Chris Weiler

19 years, 11 months

Open Mike Contra Calling Opportunity, March 5, 2005

by Robert Golder

The Medway Contra Dance series will sponsor an Open Mike evening on Saturday, March 5, 2005, 7:30 - 10:30 pm. This is the second of Medway's open mike evenings that I have MC'd. The first evening was a great success, and I am looking forward to even better results with participation from members of this list! The number of dances that each individual caller will lead depends upon the number of participating callers. Last time we had four callers so each participant called at least two dances. My requests to participants are few: 1) Contact me if you're interested. 2) After contacting me, develop a list of three or four dances that you'd like to call. I'll then edit the selections so that we have varied choreography throughout the evening (for example, we don't want six of the evening's dances to have a hey-for-four). 3) If possible, I'd like participants to stay and dance for the whole evening, so that you can support the other callers when they're at the microphone. For over five years, I have very much enjoyed calling contras at Medway. Medway is a small dance, held in a lovely hall. It is a true community dance. Your dance choices should be at an easy to moderate dancing skill level. The band will be Heathen Creek (this is a change from earlier posted information). If you enjoy calling at Medway, and Medway's dancers enjoy your calling, I'm confident that the dance organizers will consider you for a full evening of calling in next season's schedule. For more information about the Medway dance, including the 2004-2005 schedule and directions to the hall, go to: http://www.contradancelinks.com/medway.html Please let me know if you'd like to call at Medway! .... Bob ---------------------------------------------------- Robert Jon Golder 164 Maxfield Street robertgolder(a)comcast.net New Bedford, MA 02740 (508) 999-2486 voice

19 years, 12 months

[Fwd: Dec 4 dance program]

by Chris Weiler

Hi Everyone, Below is our dance program for the New Caller's dance on Dec. 4th. We'd be happy to answer any questions about how we arrived at this program. Those of you who are coming to the dance can tell us how well it works and see if we have to change it at all... 8^) Chris Dance sequences follow. CHRIS 1) Forgotten Treasure (reels) 2) Love and Kisses Mixer (French Canadian reels) 3) The Carousel (reels) 4) Another Nice Combination (hot reels) SETH 5) You're Already There (chunky jigs) 6) Roll 11 (reels) 7) Rockin Robin (zesty reels) waltz ------- hambo SETH 8) Joel's in The Kitchen (driving, downbeat reels) NATHANIEL 9) Chorus Jig 10) Pirates Life (groove jigs) 11) American Gothic (smooth reels) 12) Square Affair (hot reels) Forgotten Treasure Beth Parkes DI (16) B&S N (8) Down 4, as couples (8) Up, bend line (8) CL 3/4 (8) Sw P (8) F&B (8) LC 1/2 Love and Kisses Ted Sannella Circle Mixer (4,12) B&S P (8) W to center and back (8) M to center turn around and come back to wavy ring (4,4) Balance, P Allem L (8) Corner DSD, give RH to corner (#1) (16) #1 pull by R, #2 pull by L, #3 pull by R, #4 Allem L #3 pull by R, #2 pull by L, #1 is new partner Carousel, The Tom Hinds DI (8) F&B (8) W Allem L 1-1/2 (16) Hey, P R (16) B&S P (8) CL 3/4 (8) Sw N Another Nice Combination Tom Hinds DI (16) B&S N (orig Gyp and Sw) (8) CL 3/4, face P, pass thru (8) DSD Shadow (16) B&S P (8) LC 1/2 (8) Star L You¹re Already There LG DI (4) Bal Wave X (R to N) (4) Al R N 3/4 to long ws, W face in (4) Bal (4) Al R 3/4 to w X, M in ctr (16) B&S N (8) M Al L 1-1/2 (8) Sw P (8) 1/2 Prom (R&L) (8) CL 3/4 pass, thru to new w Roll Eleven Sue Rosen & Larry Jennings DI (4) CL 1/2! (12) Sw N on other side (8) F&B (8) LC 1/2 to P make a ring (4) Bal ring; (4) Roll N X (8) Catch P and Sw (8) 1/2 Prom (8) CL 3/4, Calif Twirl Rockin Robin Rick Mohr DI (8) C Right once (8) Al L N once, M pull by R (16) Hey, P L (16) B&S P (12) CL 1-1/4 (orig place) Hold on to P (4) Veer L, veer R to next cple Joel¹s in the Kitchen Sue Rosen B L1 (8) F&B (8) LC1/2 to N make a ring (8) Bal and Petronella Twirl (8) Bal and Petronella Twirl now P is X from you (8) Bal and X Trail! (pass R, pass L) P R, N L (8) Sw next N (8) CL 3/4 (8) Sw P Chorus Jig Trad DP * (8) 1s down outside (8) Up (8) 1s down middle, alone (8) is up, cast off w/ same role (16) CC (16) 1s B&S end facing up and roll down A Pirate's Life for Me (Really Bad Eggs): (Improper) NJ A1 4,12 Neighbor Bal + Swing A2 8 Pass through to a wave 8 Balance the wave, Rory O'More spin R--BUT the men go past N adn the oterh man--catch the other man by the L! B1 4 Men Allemande left once 12 Partner Swing B2 8 Ladies Dos a dos 1-1/2 in the center 8 Neighbor gypsy 3/4 to new neighbors American Gothic: (Improper) NJ A1 Mad Robin Women Al left 1-1/2 A2 Star Promenade 1/2 (women in the center) w/ whirl Men start 1/2 hey by right B1 Partner Balance and Swing B2 Long Lines F+B Circle Left 3/4, Pass through to next Square Affair Becky Hill B L1 X (8) F&B (8) LC (8) Bal P, Pull by, Pull by N (8) Bal P, Pull by, Pull by N (16) B&S Next N (8) CL 3/4 (8) Sw P

20 years

down the hall

by Tom Hinds

That's a great question. I've gotten into many discussions about this very issue. I think that your first example is the one to go with. Just for fun, go down the hall with a partner and keep your joined hands down during beats1 through 6. Then, on beats 7 and 8, turn as a couple. You'll probably find that allowing 2 beats to turn as a couple is rushed. So I think of turning as a couple as a 4 beat move. Turning alone in 2 beats works but I'd still call it on 5-8. Calling in fours fits the music nicely and sounds good. Tom callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote: > Send Callers mailing list submissions to > callers(a)sharedweight.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > callers-request(a)sharedweight.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > callers-owner(a)sharedweight.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..." > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Timing on calling a 4 in line down the hall (Chris Weiler) > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2004 23:03:26 -0500 > From: Chris Weiler <chris(a)sharedweight.net> > Subject: [Callers] Timing on calling a 4 in line down the hall > To: callers(a)sharedweight.net > Message-ID: <41982A8E.8040305(a)sharedweight.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed > > Hey all, > > We sat down today and programmed our dance on Dec. 4th. > (http://www.seeger.ws/dec4_contradance.pdf) > > We're all pretty excited. I was going through my dances tonight doing a > little thinking ahead and realized that I'm not sure about timing the > calls for a 4 in line down the hall. Do you time the call to end on the > 6th beat to encourage dancers to use the final 2 beats to turn around, > or do you time it to end on the eighth beat? > > Beat - Call > 5 - Down the > 6 - Hall > 7 - 4 in > 8 - Line > 1 - > 2 - > 3 - > 4 - > 5 - Turn as a > 6 - Couple > 7 - C'mon > 8 - Back > > Or: > 5 - Down the > 6 - Hall > 7 - 4 in > 8 - Line > 1 - > 2 - > 3 - > 4 - > 5 - > 6 - > 7 - Turn as a > 8 - Couple > 1 - C'mon > 2 - Back > > I think that I answered my own question, but I'm interested in hearing > what people say about it. > > Thanks! > Chris > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > End of Callers Digest, Vol 3, Issue 3 > *************************************

20 years

Timing on calling a 4 in line down the hall

by Chris Weiler

Hey all, We sat down today and programmed our dance on Dec. 4th. (http://www.seeger.ws/dec4_contradance.pdf) We're all pretty excited. I was going through my dances tonight doing a little thinking ahead and realized that I'm not sure about timing the calls for a 4 in line down the hall. Do you time the call to end on the 6th beat to encourage dancers to use the final 2 beats to turn around, or do you time it to end on the eighth beat? Beat - Call 5 - Down the 6 - Hall 7 - 4 in 8 - Line 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - Turn as a 6 - Couple 7 - C'mon 8 - Back Or: 5 - Down the 6 - Hall 7 - 4 in 8 - Line 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - Turn as a 8 - Couple 1 - C'mon 2 - Back I think that I answered my own question, but I'm interested in hearing what people say about it. Thanks! Chris

20 years

Re: New Callers Dance in Arlington, MA

by The Witful Turnip

You guys are going to be terrific ! I wish I could be there, but alas, I was already double booked for that dated. And unfortunately, I had to cancel on the dance in order to do the politically correct thing and attend the company Christmas party. Too many events and not enough time, or air miles. Break a leg, and I know I'll want a full report afterwards ! Bev ***************************************** The Witful Turnip wturnip(a)sympatico.ca "If you're gonna eat shit, don't nibble." - said by Tom Hinds re: calling square dances ***************************************** > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 09 Nov 2004 06:04:55 -0500 > From: Chris Weiler <chris(a)sharedweight.net> > Subject: [Callers] New Callers Dance in Arlington, MA > To: callers(a)sharedweight.net > Message-ID: <4190A457.8070005(a)sharedweight.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed > > For those of you in the Boston area: > > A New Callers Dance > Saturday, December 4th, 2-5pm > in Arlington, MA > > Introducing callers: > Chris Weiler > Seth Seeger > Nathaniel Jack > > Flyer: > http://www.seeger.ws/dec4_contradance.pdf > > We hope that people can come and support us! > > Thanks! > Chris > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > End of Callers Digest, Vol 3, Issue 1 > ************************************* >

20 years

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