A few people reported that the Caller's Box wasn't working today.
(It looks like the problem started at about midnight Eastern time.
Some kind of networking weirdness at ibiblio.)
It should be working now.
Thanks for the reports!
-Michael
Hi Folks,
I'm going to be leading a series of caller discussions/workshops in the
next while. (This is a new thing for me. I'm very excited as there's always
so much to learn from each other. :))
I'm wondering....
-->Are there any activities that stood out as being really awesome from
caller workshops you've attended/led?
-->Any discussion topics/ways to frame discussions that excited you?
I've been sketching things out and as of right now, I'm really excited to
have a series of questions that prompt discussion among the group. (Maybe
stickies/stickers on poster boards as part of this.) The questions range
from the why of it all, presentation/performance considerations, teaching,
prompting, repertoire, etc.... ... I'm trying to figure out some key
questions to prompt the discussion. Here are just a few of the many prompts
I'm thinking about....
What do you see as the value of trad dances/dancing? What do you get out of
dancing? What do you think others get out of it?
What is your motivation for calling? What do you think you get/might get
out of calling? Characteristics of a great caller? Callers you like (AND
why)?
What do the dancers need in the prompting? (Anything specific for beginner
dancers in particular?)
What need to/should know to know about a dance to call it really well?
What is key in band communication…. At the start of the evening?
Before/during/at end of each dance? At the end of the evening? Before the
day of the gig?
I'll also be creating a framework for safe feedback while we practice
teaching and prompting dances.
Thanks!
:) Emily in Ottawa
I was curious about the origins of the "Brooms/Fan/Roses/Umbrellas" being used as props, and found this.
Looks like others have wondered about the origins of this silliness - but no mention of rubber chickens!
Ben
https://www.kickery.com/2008/04/three-chairs-a.html#more
Three Chairs: A Genre of Civil War Era Dance Games
* Era: America, 1840s into early 20th century
"My friend Patricia asks in email:
Do you know of any documentation for a dance that is known to many as the "hat", "flower", "broom", "paddle", or "fan" dance? It is described as having two lines of people (usually men in one line and ladies …
… He/she looks back & forth between them, hands the item to one of them and sashays or dances down the between the lines with the other person. Sometimes it's done with three chairs, sometimes with no chairs.
I know several dances with most of those names (all but paddle), none of them what Patricia had in mind. The dance she's describing is a variation on several of the mid-19th century cotillion figures also known as "Germans". These were not cotillions in the 18th-century sense of a chorus/verse-structured dance for couples in a square. Instead they were party games with dancing, some of which were quite silly and seem to us today more like children's games than pastimes for a formal ballroom. By the end of the 19th century, the role of these games had evolved from an amusing way to end a ball into the entire point of the evening, and hostesses vied to run the best "Favor-Germans", with elaborate trinkets as game props and party favors for their guests.
American dancing master Allen Dodworth, writing in 1885, explained the nomenclature of these dance games as follows:
> This dance was introduced in New York about the year 1844. At that time the quadrille was the fashionable dance, but was known as the cotillion. To make a distinction between that and this dance, which was known in Europe by the same name, this was called the "German Cotillion;" gradually the word cotillion was dropped, the dance becoming simply "The German."
>
>
The German connection is not fantasy: the earliest definitive source I have for the this sort of dance game is an 1820 manual published in Berlin and does include a version of what I call the "three chairs" genre of figures as part of a larger list of figures under the heading "Cotillion" or "Codillon".
Given Dodworth's dating of their introduction, these games are appropriate for Americans reenacting the mid-19th century (Civil War era) and later 19th century. While many of the games used in Germans were probably in existence earlier (musical chairs, blind man's buff, etc.), there is no evidence of their incorporation into ballrooms of earlier eras outside of Germany. Their history there, to the best of my knowledge, awaits further research.
The hat - or other object - dance as described above is clearly folk-processed. 19th-century dancers would not have lined up like that for a German; they would have waited patiently in their chairs for the dance leader to direct them a few at a time. Sashaying down the room would not have been used; couples would have taken the opportunity to really waltz or polka. Dance manuals from the 1840s onward often contained lists of cotillion figures, sometimes hundreds of them, often identical from manual to manual. I don't pretend to have done a comprehensive survey, but there are clear roots for the hat dance in at least four different Germans, all of which use three chairs as a setup, as shown at right in an illustration from Coulon. Note that the outer chairs face in the opposite direction from the middle one. This is also specified in some of the descriptions below.
All the dancers would be seated in a large circle. The dance leader, or conductor, selects the figures and directs the dancers, choosing a small group (as few as two, depending on the figure) to start each figure, which is then repeated until everyone in the company has had a chance to participate to the extent practical given size, balance of ladies and gentlemen, etc. Each figure is done to music - polka, waltz, and mazurka were common - and involves actual dancing around the room with whatever dance fits the music...."
Hi Colin,
Oh my goodness! Your website is AMAZING!
Pre-pandemic I called a few squares but since then, I've fallen in love
with calling them. I'm also a sucker for history, and have done a bit of
reading of the Northern Junket. I've dreamed of a website like yours that
would have the squares from NJ together. This is SOOOOOOOO great!
What a wonderful way to bring part of that history forward in an accessible
way. :)
Emily in Ottawa
On Tue, Jul 25, 2023 at 1:00 AM <
contracallers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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> 1. Squares from Northern Junket (Colin Hume)
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> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Colin Hume <colin(a)colinhume.com>
> To: Contra Callers <contracallers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2023 09:01:04 +0100
> Subject: [Callers] Squares from Northern Junket
> Northern Junket was a magazine which Ralph Page edited from 1949 to 1984.
> I've now finished copying out the Squares he published there, sometimes
> with my own
> comments and suggestions.
>
> I know some of you dance and call Squares as well as Contras.
> If you're interested, please read my page at:
> https://colinhume.com/instnj.htm
> and let me have any corrections and comments either through the list or by
> email.
>
> Colin Hume
>
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Northern Junket was a magazine which Ralph Page edited from 1949 to 1984.
I've now finished copying out the Squares he published there, sometimes with my own
comments and suggestions.
I know some of you dance and call Squares as well as Contras.
If you're interested, please read my page at:
https://colinhume.com/instnj.htm
and let me have any corrections and comments either through the list or by email.
Colin Hume
Hi all,
In the 20th century the English Folk Dance & Song Society published over 200
dances in its English Dance & Song magazine, and its predecessor E.F.D.S.
News. In 2016 Chris Turner very kindly gave me a large collection of the
magazines. Once I realised how many dances there were and that they were
not only of historical interest, but also should be made available so that
they could be danced again, I contacted the EFDSS and got their permission
to publish the dances from the beginning, in 1921, up to 1989. I contacted
as many of the original authors as I could and started work. There were
delays caused by COVID and in getting some of the approvals. With the help
of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library to scan the relevant pages from the
missing issues, I have finally finished the project:
http://contrafusion.co.uk/DancesEDS.html.
There are some great dances, some new and some historical interpretations,
of all genres and styles, both simple and complex, plus some that may never
be danced again, either because of their quality or their obscure
directions. Each dance is presented on its own page, with a scan of the
original article plus an interpretation using modern terminology, and
historical analysis where relevant.
Some of the dances had interesting articles associated with them. These
articles are all indexed at the top of the Web page.
I hope you enjoy some of the dances and articles. Please let me know of any
insights or corrections.
Thanks.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802
940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
Hi All,
Years ago I was making up dances with what I was calling a "Sling Shot Hey." Then cam the Ricochet Hey. Many of us have noted that a Ricochet Hey starting with robins or larks passing in the center by the right then ricocheting to swing doesn't work. The Sling Shot Her does:
Coyote Road on Christmas (2022) Becket Erik Hoffman
Start facing across: Robin on Left, Lark on Right
A1 W/ Nbr: Balance, Box Gnat; Right & Left Thru
A2 Half Sling-Shot Hey: Robins pass Right, Nbr, Left
Larks "sling-shot" (allemande Rt) to Neighbor Swing
B1 Give & Take (Larks fetch) Partner Swing
B2 Petronella w/ Overspin to Face New Neighbors
Petronella w/ New Neighbors to A1 Face Across
This dance got certified approval when local dance caller, choreographer, and organizer asked me for the dance told me that it worked fine.
Although I think I might have come up with this idea independently, if my memory serves, it's been discussed earlier on this list and has been explored with other choreographers and might have been given another name.
That said, it is a way to choreograph a "pass right in the middle" hey to a right allemande in the middle to "sling shot" into a swing.
Cheers,
~Erik Hoffman
Hi folks :)
As a dancer, I remember loving the feel of waves lines that balance forward
and back. However, I don't have any dances that specifically call for
that.
Might you have suggestions of dances that specifically call for Bal F&B or
which often get modified for that feel of a balance?
Thank you!
:) Emily in Ottawa
*Mountain Hoot Appalachian Music, Dance, Culture Day at the Folk School*
Olive’s Porch is excited to bring back percussive dance powerhouse *Becky
Hill* to host a day featuring folklorist Gerry Milnes, callers Ellen &
Eugene Ratcliffe, and band Golden Shoals. Mountain Hoot: Appalachian Music,
Dance, & Culture Day will take place at the Open House covered pavilion by
the Folk School Gardens on *August 26, 2023*. Register now for $100 at
olivesporch.org or call 828-837-1885. Spots are limited, and prices
increase on August 1.
Mountain Hoot offers a window into traditional mountain square dance,
stories of mountain songs and the people who sing them, partner and
percussive dance, and more. The daylong workshop series runs in
conjunction with a concert performance, community dance, and old-time jam
throughout the weekend which are open to the public by donation. The events
are open to beginners, budding pickers, and avid dancers alike. Our special
guest dance callers are husband and wife duo *Ellen and Eugene Ratcliffe*
of Highland County Virginia. They are super dynamic and energetic dancers
and callers; you can’t help but bust a move when they’re on the floor.
Hosted by * Becky Hill*, former Olive’s Porch Artist in Residence who spent
four months in the area focusing on her craft while working within and
building community. She’s joined by her longtime mentor, folklorist
musician *Gerry Milnes*. Gerry was the Folk Art Coordinator at the Augusta
Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College for twenty-five years and has
taught at the Center since 1976. He produced 26 albums of Appalachian music
and 16 films about West Virginia traditional life; receiving the WV
Governor’s Arts Award, Vandalia Award, Robert C. Byrd Fiddling Award,
Footbridge Award, and WV Filmmaker of the Year.
All are welcome. We hope to see you there!
Workshop registration and schedule information is found at
bit.ly/mountainhoot <http://www.bit.ly/mountainhoot>
T-Claw Crawford, (he/they)
Music & Dance Events Coordinator
John C. Campbell Folk School
1 Folk School Rd
Brasstown, NC 28902
828-837-2775, ext. 154 <+1-828-837-2775,%20154>
800-FOLK-SCH
folkschool.org <https://www.folkschool.org/>
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