I took Luke's Double Contra and, since I often work with small groups, made
it into a Four Couple Dance:
Luke's Tunnel (by John Sweeney/Luke Donforth)
Four Couples; Longways; Becket
Start in Side Lines; Number the positions as in a Square Dance
A1: Neighbour Balance & Box the Gnat - keep right hand high to make a Tunnel
Couple at #1s position go through the Tunnel
Other End Couple go through the Tunnel
A2: Ends (went through Tunnel together) & Sides (i.e NOT the person you are
holding hands with): Dosido & Swing - finish in a Square
B1: Into the Middle, on the way back Men Roll Current Partner Away with a
Half Sashay
Men Star Right to Partner
B2: Partner Gypsy & Swing - finish in Head Lines
Next time those in #2s position go through first and you finish in Side
Lines - four times through lets everyone be the first Tunneler
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802
940 574
http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events & DVDs
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
Michael Dyck and I have done a thing:
http://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/
This (mostly) contra dance database 12,000 dances:
5,000 dances with viewable instructions
4,000 more dances with links to instructions
Current search options include author, title, formation, and figures.
You can search the figures of dances even when we don't have
permission to show the figures.
This will always be a work in progress, but hopefully it's good enough to use.
Have fun!
(and a lot of questions should be answerable by the FAQ on that site.)
-Chris Page and Michael Dyck
p.s.
This has been (and continues to be) a long-term project. Michael and I
started formally working on this back in April of 2015, but I started
building my database back in November of 2010.
Friends,
The 21st Annual Pourparler Gathering will be in San Antonio, TX, November 1-4, 2018 (http://nfo-usa.org/pourparler/). Quite a few Sharedweight folks are Pourparler veterans. The Pourparler is a gathering of several dozen dance and music leaders, who share dances, songs, games, and tips with each other in an egalitarian format (everyone is a participant and leader, without hired "experts"). Pourparler rotates around the country each year: 2017 was in Maryland, 2018 is in Texas, and 2019 will be in Minnesota.
Pourparler covers a panoply of genres, with the common theme being material that's accessible and easily taught and learned. Material presented last year in Maryland included simple longways dances, contras, circles, squares, groups of three, sword dancing, a Romanian stick dance, international folk dances from all over, a variety of songs, and an Afghani musical game involving three rolling balls and lots of jumping, among much else. At my previous times attending Pourparler, I've learned more about dance leadership, and gleaned more material to use at one-night events and community/wedding/school type dances, than from anyplace else. Additional invaluable material and strategies are shared on the Pourparler Google Group, a group for alumni of one or more of the annual gatherings.
Traditionally, Pourparler has been run under the auspices of the National Folk Organization (NFO), which is the national umbrella organization for international folk dance and other dance genres, with additional support from the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) and the New England Dancing Masters (NEDM). My fellow Steering Committee members and I are all members of NFO, CDSS, or both, as are many of you. I encourage you to consider joining us at Pourparler this November in Texas or in Fall 2019 in Minnesota!
Jeremy Korr, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Earlier today, I resurrected a draft dance from (almost exactly) this time
last year which I'd put aside as probably being too crazy. In looking at it
again, I started wondering if it is... too crazy... and wrote up a more
specific description to get it across to others. The magnet people show me
it works, but they don't say much about how it felt. :-)
As I'm still up due to the caffeine I drank to drive home after a gig
tonight, I thought I'd type this up and throw it out there for input. Is it
too crazy? How would you teach the A2 if you attempted it?
Thanks,
Don
Demolition Derby (DRAFT) - 4 Face 4 - Don Veino 20170823 (updated
description 20180817)
[starts in lines/4, so G1, L1, G2, L2]
A1 Give & Take up/down to Gents (opposites Swing) [ends in line/4 facing
up/down: G1, OpL2, G2, OpL1]
A2 "Crazy Eights" [Fig 8 in current lines/4 done a la a Mad Robin - all
trace path of a figure 8, equidistant rel. to Partner, whom you face
up/down in the other line/4]:
(3,1 or 4) Mad Robin CW 1/2x around opposite N you swung [G thru center
first], OpL1 pass in front of G1 in middle to swap ends [to OpL2, OpL1, G1,
G2]
(3,1 or 4) All Pass Same Role Trail Buddy in Fig 8 arc (same arc, but
opposite dir.) to trade places [G1 and OpL1 take outside path - "insides
out"], OpL2 pass in front of G2 in middle to swap ends [to OpL1, G2, OpL2,
G1]
(3,1 or 4) Mad Robin CCW 1/2x around opposite N [G thru center first], OpL1
pass in front of G1 in middle to swap ends [to G2, G1, OpL1, OpL2]
(3,1 or 4) All Pass Same Role Trail Buddy in Fig 8 arc (same arc, opposite
dir.) to trade places [G1 and OpL1 take outside path - "insides out"], OpL2
pass in front of G2 in middle to swap ends [to end in same positions as
start of A2: G1, OpL2, G2, OpL1]
B1 w/Opposites Circle/4 Left 3/4x to (face & Pass Partner Right to start)
Weave the Ring/8 1/2x
B2 Partner Balance (or Gypsy) and Swing, face progression
BTW, it was this dance idea that fed what became another related dance on
my site, Wild Mouse: http://veino.com/blog/?p=1879 . Neither of these have
I dared to attempt to date.
Hi everyone!
I will be calling a dance on Halloween and would like to know if anyone can share some Halloween themed dances with choreography if possible.
I do have :
Halloween Twist
Chainsaw
Thanks and keep on calling...
Barbara G
Both of these have been road tested on tour with Polaris.
*Serving REELness*
Andy Shore
Type: Contra
Formation: Duple-Improper
Level: Intermediate
A1 -----------
(16) Neighbor balance and swing
A2 -----------
(8) Revolving Door - Ladies in center by the right but**
(8) 1/2 Hey, pass partner by left
B1 -----------
(16) Partner balance and swing
B2 -----------
(8) Circle Left 3/4 and pass through along the set
(8) [Next] Neighbor Do-si-do
Notes: **release revolving door a little early so that Gents are in the
opposite Lady’s spot & have time to turn toward their right (tight loop) to
come in for the left shoulder pass
I'd introduce Revolving Doors with a simpler dance that goes into a Swing.
E.g., the RD variation of Bronwyn Wood's "The Missing Piece"
The world premiere with walk thru & dance was captured on video by Doug
Plummer here: https://youtu.be/uAZCZzm1tI8
Not mentioned in that debut was the early release of the Gents from
Revolving Door and their tight loop to the right
The title comes from the FX TV show "Pose".
*Alpha Ursae Minoris*
Andy Shore
Type: Contra
Formation: Becket-CCW [no circle]
Level: Advanced (Weekend/Challenging level)
* ID shadow beyond partner in becket
A1 -----------
(8) Promenade across the Set (J hook to progress)
(8) Mad Robin - ladies in front
A2 -----------
(8) Neighbor RH Across - Balance & Box the Gnat (don't let go)
(8) with N & Shadow, Square Thru 4 (no balances) - make the 4th hand an
Allemande Left 1/2 w/ Shadow
[to long waves with Gents facing OUT, partner in RH, shadow in LH]
B1 -----------
(4,4) Balance the Wave, Box Circulate
(8) Neighbor swing
B2 -----------
(4,2) [1/4 ricochet hey] Gents go in and push back on diagonal, Ladies
Cross passing Left
(10) Swing Partner
Notes: ** when out with partner, cross over & be ready for Balance & Box
the Gnat to be there for Square thru with Shadow & P
Take time to ID N & Shadow for square thru = the ONLY 2 people you touch!
This is outside your minor set!
This is a high piece count dance with little chance for recovery. *Not for
the faint of heart! *Probably should introduce figures in other dances
first - Mad Robin, Square Thru, ricochet hey, Box Circulate
Named after Polaris (the band) who helped me finalize this dance. Alpha
Ursae Minoris is another name for Polaris, the pole star.
Enjoy!
/Andy Shore
This is tangentially related to calling, but apparently the percentage of
weddings hosted in barns has grown from 2% to 15% in the last decade (
https://tinyurl.com/ycbm9god). While the article doesn't specific that
called dancing has increased as well, I'd be surprised if it hadn't.
A decade ago is about when I started calling. I'd appreciate hearing from
folks with longer records how they feel the prevalence of wedding gigs has
shifted over time; and how that varies geographically.
Although possibly the fluctuations are too large to get a decent signal out
of the small sample size. From my own records:
2017: I had 14 One-Night-Stand gigs, and 1 of those was a wedding.
2016: I had 14 family level dances, and 4 of those were weddings.
2015: 10 ONS, 3 weddings.
2014: 14 ONS, 7 weddings
2013: 13 ONS, 2 weddings
2012: 4 ONS, 1 wedding
As an aside, I really think the 15% of couples having their wedding party
in a barn should be framed as a rebound from a longer historic decline. But
if it's getting noticed and push-back from banquet hall trade groups, it
may be coming to a close.
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
Hello all,
I've had an idea for a 4 facing 4 dance rattling around, and it seems
unlikely I'll have enough dancers to house-party it anytime soon, so I'd
appreciate feedback on an untested dance.
4 facing 4 contra
A1
(4) Lines of 4 go forward, take right hand with the one in front of you
(4) box the gnat, keep and lift right hand to make a tunnel
(4) couple at stage right side of line of couples duck through to far side
(4) couple that was at stage left side of line of couples duck through to
far side
A2
(16) Initial corner balance and swing
(end couples, it's the one they tunneled with, middle folks it's their
trail buddy)
B1
(4) All 8 go into the middle
(4) On the way out, gents roll the one they swung with away with a half
sashay
(8) Gents right hand star ~1x (ladies adjust position as needed, stepping a
little to left)
B2
(16) Partner balance and swing, end facing new couple
Questions for those so inclined:
Would you be interested in dancing and/or calling this dance? Why, or why
not?
The inspiration for the tunnel came from "plow the row", a (to my
knowledge) traditional square (at least, it's traditional enough to have
lots of variations). Anyone know of a tunnel figure in a 4x4 contra?
In the B1, I wrote it as the gents roll the ladies, and the gents star. It
could instead be the ladies roll the gents and ladies star. Preferences?
There are two places where what would normally be "balance+move" have been
replaced with "in to the middle+move"; is the four steps forward before the
box the gnat and the roll away going to throw folks?
How would you prompt the couples on the end going through the tunnel so
that there's only one couple in the tunnel at a time? Or would you prompt
it as both going through and let them figure it out inside the tunnel?
Thanks for feedback.
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
>
> Hi folks,
Had a busload of beginners at my dance last night and realized I have a
hole in my program -- I don't have any good glossary/beginner-friendly
dances with a promenade but no chain or RL through. Any suggestions?
>
Thanks!
Maia
>
>
