Contra Callers

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4391 discussions

Re: [Callers] Folk Festival - Easy Contra dances to teach Beginners

by Bill Baritompa

Hi Cheryl and all, I'm glad you like the dance, it's called Easy Progressive Contra 3 http://lists.sharedweight.net/pipermail/callers-sharedweight.net/2012-July/… I don't specify how much to move the circles or stars in A1 and A2 but just say to move for 8 beats. I tell them they will end of back where they started because moving both directions cancel out each time. Also I didn't specify the type of stars but stress the A1/A2 transition is to keep moving and put your 'inside' (left) hand in. This is to get them to learn to move the stars first and make the grip on the move. Also they don't need to know which hand is left, as they should use the hand closest to the center. If the dancer look up to it, I suggest the option to communicate with your Nbr in B2 and choose to allemand 1x or 2x. Cheers, Bill On 25/07/2018 11:33 a.m., Cheryl Joyal via Callers wrote: > One of my favorite is Easy Progressive Contra - I find it works better for me > with beginners, because the couples do-si-do 1+1/2 in Family Contra seems to > confuse people (or I dont teach it well!) > > Easy Progressive Contra (by ???) > > *A1*(8) Circle Left 1X > (8) Circle Right 1X > > *A2*(8) Star Left - Hands across > (8) Star Right - Hands across > > > > *B1*(8) Women Do-si-do > (8) Men Do-si-do > > *B2*(8) Neighbor allemande Right 1x > (8) Neighbor Balance and Pull by to New Ne’s > > Cheryl Joyal > clmjoyal(a)gmail.com <mailto:clmjoyal@gmail.com> > clmjoyal(a)aol.com <mailto:clmjoyal@aol.com> > 630-667-3284 (cell) > >

7 years, 1 month

Re: [Callers] New dance

by Charles

I'm posting a new dance of mine - the hook is a half hey into a long wavy line of gents in the center. Haven't seen it before, and I'm wondering if anyone knows of other dances with this figure. Also, I looked for other dances called the Portland Reel and couldn't find any, but if that name has been used let me know. Other feedback welcome: Dugan’s Duck Dynasty (Becket) Chuck Abell 7/18 (aka The Portland Reel) A1 Half hey, gents pass left to start (8) Same gents take left hands in center to make long wavy line of gents (4)* Gents bal left/right (4) A2 Gents alle left 1 1/4x (4) N swing (12) B1 On right diagonal ladies chain to shadow (if someone is there) (8) (w/ current N) LHS 1x (8) B2 P dosido and swing (16) w/ these N… *Gents be sure to take four full steps/beats to get into the middle

7 years, 2 months

New Dance - Hey Dreaming by Emma Azelborn

by Emma Azelborn

*Hi Everyone,I'm writing to share a contra dance I've written. We've tried it out twice, once at the Camp Sturtevant weekend and once at our 5th Saturday advanced dance. The interesting part is the progression, from a hey into a circle with new neighbors.Switching the 2nd half of A1 to Raven instead of Lark also works, it just flips the direction the dance progresses. I ended up choosing Larks because of the Raven alamande at the end.Any feedback or thoughts are welcome!Emma AzelbornLos AngelesHey DreamingContra Dance by Emma AzelbornBeckett, progresses to the leftWorks best with ample floor space for the orbitTeaching notes: - It helps to identify future neighbors before starting, so dancers know who to be looking for in the progression out of the hey (they're on the left diagonal)- Ravens turn over their left shoulder to progress & circle instead of looping right at the end of the hey- Larks keep going the same direction of travel into the orbitA18Long lines fwd & back8Larks right shoulder round 1½A216Neighbor balance and swingB18Larks in for half a left shoulder hey8Circle right 3 places with new neighbors (this is the progression)Larks assist Ravens to centerB28Ravens alamande right 1½ while Larks orbit halfway counterclockwise8Partner swing*

7 years, 2 months

Teaching Larks & Ravens

by Mary Collins

I call in primarily a traditional dance community but am investigating starting to call using larks and ravens. I am curious about what words you use and how you teach larks and ravens positioning. Thanks.

7 years, 2 months

Does a 1/2 figure 8 and cast off exist in ECD? In Contra?

by Luke Donforth

Hello all, I've been thinking about half figure eights, and variations on them. Is anyone familiar (in ECD, contra, or other traditions), where instead of the 1s or 2s half figure eight, having the gents or ladies do the move from improper formation? As soon as you have something like the ladies do a half figure eight from duple improper; they're either going to have to shift where they land, or the gents are going to have to get out of the way. It seems to me (during my insomnia, not with actual dancers in a house party) that you could have the gents cast off and over to a ladies place. i.e.: *Ladies half figure eight, passing left shoulder in the middle to take neighbor gents' place* *Meanwhile, gents cast over left shoulder to take partner's place* Which takes (head of hall) W1 M1 m2 w2 to (head of hall) M1 W1 w2 m2 Which ends in the same place as everybody doing a half figure eight, but without 4 people trying to go through the middle at the same time. I think it can still happen in 8 beats of music, with nobody standing around. Is that a sequence people have danced or used? Here's a wrapping to put the whole thing in context. Calliope's Cross Improper contra by Luke Donforth A1 Long lines forward and back Ladies half figure eight, passing left shoulder in the middle to take neighbor gents' place Meanwhile, gents cast over left shoulder to take partner's place A2 Neighbor Right Shoulder Gyre and Swing B1 Circle Left 3/4 Partner Swing B2 Promenade across set with partner, courtesy turn Ladies chain to neighbor The name, and idea, comes from my older daughter (4), who wanted a "Calliope's Cross" dance for herself after hearing about "Tamlin's Cross" for her sister. Calliope like riding figure 8s on her bicycle. I've deliberately kept this simple, instead of trying to get a gents figure 8 while ladies cast in for symmetry. I'm not sure how I'd teach that from the stage; and think I'd have to use a demo. I look forward to hearing the experience of the group! Thanks -- Luke Donforth Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>

7 years, 2 months

What is a contra?

by Richard Hopkins

The name of my local dance community, chosen >30 years ago, is Tallahassee Community Friends of Old-time Dance. Many dancers now prefer evenings made up entirely of contras, narrowly defined, but some still prefer our traditional mix of formations. When I advertise our dances on Facebook, I subtly call the events that I expect to be all-contras ‘contradances’, and the others ‘old-time dances’. I don’t know whether anyone notices. We aren’t the only such organization with ‘old-time’ in our name. Richard Hopkins 850-544-7614 hopkinsrs(a)comcast.net Sent from my iPhone > > ***************************************

7 years, 2 months

(no subject)

by Donna Hunt

http://develop.dravivdiet.com Donna Hunt

7 years, 2 months

What is a contra?

by Colin Hume

I'm in Germany, and I'm speaking for the next few days at a Conference run by the European Callers and Teachers Association. Several of my sessions are about Contras, and speaking to the Contra Coordinator as we drove to the hotel I realised we had very different ideas about what a contra is. I say it is an American (or American-style) dance, longways duple or triple. He classes three-couple dances (such as Ted's Triplets), four-couple dances and circles as contras. He even classes my dance "Sting in the Tail" as a contra. This is for two three-couple sets side-by-side and involves siding into line, set and turn single. I would regard this quite definitely as "Playford"-style, and I think Americans would categorise it as English. But what is a contra? I know the hot-shots would say that it's longways duple improper or Becket with a partner swing and preferably a neighbor swing, but is that your definition? What about an early American dance such as "The Young Widow" - is that a contra? Can a dance in waltz time be a contra? I think of a contra as mainly danced to reels or jigs, though I know there are a few to slip-jigs. Within reels I would include marches and American hornpipes, which are smooth, but not English hornpipes which I would dance to a step-hop. And not Strathspeys. I would say contras are done to a walking step, apart from the swing which is often a buzz step. But do you agree with me? Answers fairly quickly please! Colin Hume Email colin(a)colinhume.com Web site http://colinhume.com

7 years, 2 months

Fwd: What is a contra?

by Folk Dance

Also from ECTA's definition: "Contra Dance is mainly danced in two long, facing lines of couples, the longways. There are different setups relating to the position of the partner in the formation (e. g. Proper, Improper and Becket) and relating to the number of couples dancing together (Duple, Triple, Triplet). A different formation is the Sicilian Circle. Facing couples create a ring in which in each group one couple is dancing counter clockwise and the other clockwise. Contra Dances are mostly danced to reels and jigs, but also to hornpipes. The music consists of the melodies A and B, which each contain 16 bats and are repeated so that a melodic structure of AABB is created. The set of figures is danced to this AA BB structure of 64 beats. There also are deviant structures like AB BA. The Prompter explains each dance and calls the figures to the music a little ahead of time. Like this it is possible for both experienced and new dancers to dance. Through the repetition of the set of figures the dancers learn the dance and the Prompter can shorten his calls or reduce them bit by bit. The set of figures is written so that after dancing through it once a new group of dancers meet. This is called the progression. In formations with a fixed group of couples the position within the formation changes. "[sic] Bob

7 years, 2 months

New dance composition, star to next neighbor hey

by Luke Donforth

Hi folks, I ran this at a monthly dance, and it was well received; so I figured I'd share it around. To my knowledge it's new. Please correct me if you know of a prior. The interesting/odd bit is the transition from B2 to A1, where the ladies role comes out of a left hand star with old neighbors to start a hey by the left shoulder in the middle with new neighbors. It flows well, but is unexpected. *Hubert Humphrey Deserves More Than Just a Song By Tom Lehrer* by Luke Donforth Improper, duple minor contra A1 Ladies start full hey by the left A2 Neighbor gyre and swing B1 Circle Left 3/4 Partner Swing B2 Ladies chain across Left Hand Star 1x As for the title, well, I was on a presidents and folk music kick. Writing titles is harder than writing dances... Enjoy. -- Luke Donforth Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>

7 years, 2 months

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