[Callers] Re: Favorite One Night Stand Dances

I’ve been using Rural Felicity for quite a while. I learned it from Evo Bluestein. Two differences, one a difference in the figures, and one a teaching of safety: The difference in figures is in the B2 part we (Evo and I) teach the Arches, the tunnel lasts 8 beats and no more. On beat 9 the Archers clap twice, step back and step over (up). The difference in teaching comes from and experience years ago when I got to do a little dance during a tour. An older woman joined the dance, As I was calling the Virginia Reel, when she sashayed down the set it was clear she was trying to match the energy of other dancers when she fell. Pretty hard. That was terrifying. Now, whenever I teach a sashay I demonstrate a youthful sashay (which is getting harder for me to do: an arthritic knee). Then I demonstrate what an Old & Grey person might do, going about 4 small steps down the alley. I always say that, “we love it when the dance includes everyone, and we make sure our older and physically different dances be welcomed and included.” In Rural Felicity I teach: in the A1, if you don’t make it down to the bottom, just merge into the line to do the A2 F&B, since you then gig to sashay back to the top. Cheers, ~Erik *From:* Rich Sbardella via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; *Sent:* Wednesday, October 11, 2023 6:03 AM *To:* Katherine Kitching &lt;kat(a)outdooractive.ca&gt; *Cc:* mjw(a)mowaddington.plus.com; Shared Weight Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; *Subject:* [Callers] Re: Favorite One Night Stand Dances One of my favorites does have arches but I let the dancers know the arches can be drawbridges to accommodate different heights. Rural Felicity A1 LL F&B, Top pair (Quickly!) sashay to bottom A2 LL F&B, Same pair sashay back to top B1 Partner DSD, Partner 2-Hand Turn, and finish the turn by making an arch. B2 Top pair goes through the tunnel and remains at bottom. Others move up. When I call this at a wedding, I rename it to "The Tunnel of Love", and I ask the Bride and Groom to be the first top pair. Rich Sbardella Stafford Springs, CT On Wed, Oct 11, 2023 at 7:50 AM Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: I like this variant of Mo's. I think i've sent this suggestion out to the list in a different context, but I'll repeat it here- To add a bit more interest to these simple repetitive ONS dances, I do a Gallopede very similar to Mo's, but with a mixer element. I designate one line as the Larks and one as the Robins (or one as the Belugas and one as the Reindeer - anything silly and fun, perhaps relevant to the context of the event). I emphasize that if you're an X you must always stay in the X line, and if you're a Y you must always stay in the Y line. Then I demo the progression with a small group to make sure they've got it. When it's time for the sashaying/galloping down the middle, I say "make way for the top Reindeer and the bottom Beluga!" The top reindeer walks, skips, or does a silly dance down to the bottom of *their* line, while the bottom beluga comes up from the bottom of their line doing the same - sometimes they high five when they pass in the middle. Once they reach the ends (of their own respective lines - no switching lines!), everyone adjusts the line till everyone is facing a new partner. If you have a long line you can send the two tops and bottoms (walking in single file) together. this obviously adds a dimension of potential confusion, and some people do forget it's their turn, or try to join the opposite line - but it's a very forgiving dance and we never stay on the music to begin with - I find the mistakes produce tons of laughter and the dancers themselves are always able to sort the confused people out without any intervention from me. I've done this dance at a whole range of weddings and community events with great success. Sometimes i'll also add a "peel the banana" part between the partner interactions and the top-bottom switch - with the top couple splitting at the top, going down the outside, with everyone in their line following single file, and all joining inside hands to come up the middle and exactly back to where they started. I favour this type of thing over arching/ducking figures because it flows nicely for everyone - I find the arching/ducking a) brings ppl quite close - maybe uncomfortably so b) makes arms tired c) can be awkward instead of fun and flowy, trying to squeeze people through d) gets tricky with ppl of varying heights. This is not to say I think arching dances are bad/shouldn't be used - but I am always trying in my ONS dances to produce the same joyous, amusement-ride feel of a true contra dance, so I personally like to favour figures that keep people flowing always. My personal preference :) KK Oct 11, 2023 5:49:30 AM Mo via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt;gt;: I usually stat with Galopde as a whole set dance (or 2 long sets side by side). I dislike asking ONS, wedding guests to make sets of a particular number (and needing 1 more/less couple) When I walk it through it’s A1 F&B cross over A2 F&B cross back B1 swing partner B2 1s gallop to bottom, rest move up But I warn them that I might tell 2, or more couples to gallop down, then they need to move up more. Thanks for reminding me of the tunnel figure, I used to use that in a big circle as part of the snake dance *From: *frannie via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; *Sent: *10 October 2023 19:38 *To: *Erik Hoffman &lt;erik(a)erikhoffman.com&gt; *Cc: *Shared Weight - Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; *Subject: *[Callers] Re: Favorite One Night Stand Dances Notes: If lines are really long do a double toaster with top two couples each going over one of the lines trading at the bottom and coming back up. and Double Peel the banana with a 4 person arch at the bottom. On Mon, Oct 9, 2023 at 2:39 PM Erik Hoffman via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: I’d love to collect a few more whole set dances for one night stands. _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net