Hi all,
I was thinking about standard transitions; and how similar flows could
possibly be created while still adding variation to our dance diet.
Chain-> (1x or 1/2) hey -> balance and swing works well; but gyre & swing
doesn't work well there, because you've set up left shoulder at the end of
the hey.
allemande left -> (1x or 1/2) hey -> (gyre &) swing works reasonably,
because you've set up the other shoulder in the hey.
What about coming into the hey from a Sea-Saw? For instance:
Contra/Improper
A1 -----------
(16) Neighbor gyre and swing
A2 -----------
(8) Promenade across the Set
(8) Ladies Sea-Saw 1.5x
B1 -----------
(8) 1/2 Hey, ladies passing partner right shoulders
(8) Partner swing
B2 -----------
(8) Long lines, forward and back
(8) Ladies allemande Left 1-1/2
I think that flows well, but I don't have dancers to play with at the
moment. If anyone more used to dancing the traditional ladies roll wants to
talk about muscle memory and flow, I'd appreciate it. Would the sea saw and
left allemande just be too outside the realm of familiar to be fun?
Assuming this is a new composition that works, I'll call it Sinister Ravens.
Thanks for your thoughts.
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
Would love to get suggestions for simpler contras containing a
hey-for-three with 3 people. Looking to set a foundation with the sequence
in the earlier part of an evening. Ideally a duple minor but willing to
consider other settings.
Yes, I'm working through the Caller's Box listings but it would be great to
have suggestions from personal experience.
Thanks,
Don
Trying to track down name + author for two deliiightful dances I had at
Dance Flurry, can anyone help?
Dance the first, improper:
A1: circle L 1x
N two-hand turn 1.5
A2: larks alle. L 1.5
half hey (P by R)
B1: P balance and swing
B2: long lines, lark roll partner away
circle R 3/4
Dance the second, improper, starts in short waves:
A1: bal. wave, spin R
N pull by L, ravens chain
A2: full hey (ravens by R)
B1: P balance and swing
B2 ...? (circle L 3, pass thru and dosido I think?)
Thanks all!
- Maia
I called George's dance at the Charlotte NC dance Monday night. One of our dancers wore yellow suspenders in George's honor.And we danced with each other as if each next person in line was our favorite dancer - George made us feel that way.Gretchen Caldwell
On Tuesday, February 26, 2019, 4:07:36 PM EST, callers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net <callers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: In honor of George Rettie (Polly Minstrel)
2. Re: In honor of George Rettie (Lisa Greenleaf)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 20:05:15 -0500
From: Polly Minstrel <minstrel.polly(a)gmail.com>
To: Emily Rush <em.rush(a)gmail.com>
Cc: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] In honor of George Rettie
Message-ID:
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Hi all,
Thanks for the info. I did not know George but these dance events run on
the work of volunteers and I appreciate them.
I will be calling Dean's dance on Friday, along with a short introduction
commemorating George.
Condolences to all who called him friend.
Polly
On Fri, Feb 22, 2019, 10:55 AM Emily Rush via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net wrote:
> Hi all,
> George Rettie, the NC dancer in the yellow ruler suspenders, passed away
> unexpectedly this week. He'd been dancing since at least the 1980's, and it
> was a rare dance that he didn't attend. He was always the first to
> volunteer (and did, more hours than I can count), personally thanked the
> musicians and callers, danced with beginners, dipped everyone beautifully
> and frequently, flirted with us all, could call one dance (Gene Hubert's "A
> Nice Combination"), brought his children into the dance community, and was
> a favorite partner to many, many dancers.
>
> Myra, Adina, and JoLaine are calling a dance that Dean Snipes wrote for
> George some years ago. If you're calling sometime soon and are so moved, I
> would like to invite you to call it too. If you're dancing, I hope you'll
> go up to the stage and thank the musicians and callers, welcome the
> beginners, and have an extra-good time.
>
> Love,
> Emily
>
> ----------------------------------------------
>
> George is Rettie, Willing, and Able
> by Dean Snipes
> Indecent (2s crossed), double progression
>
> A1.
> Neighbor balance & swing
>
> A2.
> Pass thru across, turn alone
> Star R 1x, pull by up and down with your neighbor
>
> B1.
> New ladies allemande L 1x while gents orbit 1/2 clockwise
> Partner swing
>
> B2.
> Long lines forward & back
> Ladies right hand pull by, neighbor allemande L 1.5
> _______________________________________________
> List Name: Callers mailing list
> List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
>
Hi all,
George Rettie, the NC dancer in the yellow ruler suspenders, passed away
unexpectedly this week. He'd been dancing since at least the 1980's, and it
was a rare dance that he didn't attend. He was always the first to
volunteer (and did, more hours than I can count), personally thanked the
musicians and callers, danced with beginners, dipped everyone beautifully
and frequently, flirted with us all, could call one dance (Gene Hubert's "A
Nice Combination"), brought his children into the dance community, and was
a favorite partner to many, many dancers.
Myra, Adina, and JoLaine are calling a dance that Dean Snipes wrote for
George some years ago. If you're calling sometime soon and are so moved, I
would like to invite you to call it too. If you're dancing, I hope you'll
go up to the stage and thank the musicians and callers, welcome the
beginners, and have an extra-good time.
Love,
Emily
----------------------------------------------
George is Rettie, Willing, and Able
by Dean Snipes
Indecent (2s crossed), double progression
A1.
Neighbor balance & swing
A2.
Pass thru across, turn alone
Star R 1x, pull by up and down with your neighbor
B1.
New ladies allemande L 1x while gents orbit 1/2 clockwise
Partner swing
B2.
Long lines forward & back
Ladies right hand pull by, neighbor allemande L 1.5
Hi all, first time posting here!
I'm new-ish to calling and I've yet to call contra corners. I think I'm up
for the challenge and could teach the figure itself, but I still think it's
a tricky one for dancers in all but the most experienced crowds. A few
callers I know have advised me to build up to a challenging figure like
contra corners over the course of an evening by calling dances that echo
the skills the dancers will need later.
With that in mind, what dances would you call early in the evening in a
mixed-level group that would help "teach" dancers the skills they need to
be successful at contra corners?
I've been thinking I should include an easy proper-ish dance, and maybe a
dance with allemandes outside the minor set... anything else come to mind?
Thanks in advance,
Hannah Chamberlain
Westbrook, ME
Linda posted many of her dances on her website. With the original site gone, I’d like to share the copy I preserved. I plan to keep it up for a very long time.
http://lindalesliecaller.contracorner.com/
If you have bookmarks that used to point to http://www.lindalesliecaller.website/, you should be able to use change them to this new site.
Peace, through dance,
\Bob Peterson
bob(a)contracorner.com
Hi, Hannah!
I very much second Alex Deis-Lauby's recommendations. The difficulty in a
contra corners figure in contra formation is two-fold: the out-of-minor-set
interaction and the short allemandes. If you can get the dancers to do
short allemandes earlier in the evening and use a dance without interaction
outside the minor set (as in, a triplet or 3-face-3), then you've prepared
them for one point of difficulty and removed the other.
My favorite triplet for contra corners is "Microcasmic Triplet" by Ann
Fallon and my favorite in 3-face-3 formation is "Down by the Riverside" by
Melanie Axel-Lute. The choreography for both are in others' responses.
If you determined to call contra corners in contra formation, I recommend
"Labor of Love" by Kathy Anderson (choreography here:
http://dancevideos.childgrove.org/contra/contra-modern/196-labor-of-love)
because it uses a box-the-gnat to get actives to trade places before the
contra corners figure, rather than a half-figure-eight, which is much more
difficult for newer dancers. "Labor of Love" also allows ones and twos to
trade off being active.
Good luck!
Dugan Murphy
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy.comwww.DuganMurphy.comwww.PortlandIntownContraDance.comwww.NufSed.consulting
>
> Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:37:54 -0500
> From: Hannah Chamb <hannahchamb(a)gmail.com>
> To: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> Subject: [Callers] Building to Contra Corners
>
> Hi all, first time posting here!
>
> I'm new-ish to calling and I've yet to call contra corners. I think I'm up
> for the challenge and could teach the figure itself, but I still think it's
> a tricky one for dancers in all but the most experienced crowds. A few
> callers I know have advised me to build up to a challenging figure like
> contra corners over the course of an evening by calling dances that echo
> the skills the dancers will need later.
>
> With that in mind, what dances would you call early in the evening in a
> mixed-level group that would help "teach" dancers the skills they need to
> be successful at contra corners?
>
> I've been thinking I should include an easy proper-ish dance, and maybe a
> dance with allemandes outside the minor set... anything else come to mind?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Hannah Chamberlain
> Westbrook, ME
>
Can anyone ID this dance?
Thanks, Rich
Untitled Easy R&L Thru
1s in Center, Down in Fours
Turn Alone, Come Back
Face Across & Circle Left
(Full Around)
Neighbor Swing
Promenade Across
Right and Left Thru
Lines Fwd & Bk
1s Swing
1s in Center, Down in Fours
I have successfully called "Almost Sackett's Harbor," a triple minor, triple progression dance.with the Contra Corners figure in a triplet formation, and there is no waiting out at the top.
-----Original Message-----
From: Alexandra Deis-Lauby via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
To: Ann Fallon <aefallon(a)verizon.net>
Cc: callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>; hannahchamb <hannahchamb(a)gmail.com>
Sent: Wed, Feb 20, 2019 5:49 pm
Subject: Re: [Callers] Building to Contra Corners
In my dance community a proper dance won’t help because everyone dances all the roles so training folks to look for certain genders isn’t a good idea (and in my opinion never is). Instead, I’d suggest something with short Allemandes (half, 3/4) or diagonal waves (dr Blums delight).
If the figure is new to your dancers, use a triplet (by David smuckler) or a three facing three (Melanie axel lute wrote one). Contra corners is much easier in that formation.
A
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 20, 2019, at 5:06 PM, Ann Fallon via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi, Hannah
I like your idea of teaching a proper dance earlier in your program. If you are going to choose a contra corners dance in which the active couple has to do a half-figure eight to get proper, you might want to teach the half-figure eight in an earlier dance, too.
Here's a triplet which I also find useful for teaching/learning contra corners. I am the author, but don't mean to be self-promoting here.
Microchasmic Triplet
Proper Formation, all facing partnerThe middle couple is the "active" couple, so there is no need to get them into position before starting the contra corners.
A1 Forward and Back, DSD PartnerA2 Middle couple turn contra cornersB1 ALL balance and swing Partner, end facing upB2 Top couple lead a cast off to the bottom. When they reach the bottom they make a two-handed arch and the other two couples go below them and come through the arch.
It's a peel the banana, come through the arch figure as in the Virginia Reel. Encourage the dancers to come to the top of their set before casting off to the bottom, or the sets will move too far down the hall.
Here's a link to a video.
Good luck!
Ann
-----Original Message-----
From: Hannah Chamb via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
To: callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Wed, Feb 20, 2019 4:38 pm
Subject: [Callers] Building to Contra Corners
Hi all, first time posting here!
I'm new-ish to calling and I've yet to call contra corners. I think I'm up for the challenge and could teach the figure itself, but I still think it's a tricky one for dancers in all but the most experienced crowds. A few callers I know have advised me to build up to a challenging figure like contra corners over the course of an evening by calling dances that echo the skills the dancers will need later.
With that in mind, what dances would you call early in the evening in a mixed-level group that would help "teach" dancers the skills they need to be successful at contra corners?
I've been thinking I should include an easy proper-ish dance, and maybe a dance with allemandes outside the minor set... anything else come to mind?
Thanks in advance, Hannah ChamberlainWestbrook, ME_______________________________________________
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Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
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