I second what Ann says. I love Microcasmic Reel. It is a fabulous dance for introducing contra corners. I've used it with groups with a large mix of first time dancers. I've used it at our regular local dance group. It is a versatile, fun dance. Highly recommended.


Seth Tepfer, MBA, CSM, PMP (he, him, his)

Senior IT Manager, Emory Primate Center
Book time to meet with me
From: Ann Fallon via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2024 8:09 AM
To: contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>; Peter Foster <pfoster@pcug.org.au>
Subject: [External] [Callers] Contra corners
 
Here is a triplet that I wrote years ago that works well for teaching the contra corners figure. 

 I believe I used to program an evening by first teaching a dance with a half-figure 8 (can't remember which one specifically right now).  A little farther on in the program I'd use the triplet below for the contra corners figure. Ultimately I'd do a longways modern contra corners dance.  

MICROCHASMIC TRIPLET   (Tune "Off She Goes" works well)
Active couple in center of line of 3

A1 F & B, DSD P

A2 Actives turn contra corners

B1 All B and S P, face up

B2    Top couple turn away from your partner, lead down the outside, everyone follow.   Top couple make an arch at the bottom, others come through the arch to the top, to make new lines of three, with a new top couple ( as in Virginia Reel)

Here is a version of the same dance adapted to be more of an English dance:

OFF WE GO ....
 Music, Off She Goes    D 6/8 Three couple set
ECD VERSION of  MICROCHASMIC TRIPLETT 

 Proper dance

 A1    -        Set towards your partner, turn single back

                   Back to back with partner

 A2    -        Center couple (#2) contra corners

 B1     -        All take R hand with P, balance, hold on and take L hand and balance again,  Cross-hand swing (as in Yellow Stockings)    End facing up

 B2     -        Top couple turn away from your partner, lead down the outside, everyone follow.   Top couple make an arch at the bottom, others come through the arch to the top, to make new lines of three, with a new top couple ( as in Virginia Reel)






On Friday, September 13, 2024 at 03:18:57 AM EDT, Peter Foster via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:


For Those Who Cared  is a good dance, but the second circle left
makes it a bit too much clockwise for the actives. It also makes
for a fairly rushed start to the half figure 8.

Virtually the same dance is Fruit Harvest Reel by Luther Black

http://www.quiteapair.us/calling/acdol/dance/acd_277.html

This changes the second circle to LLFB, which is a lot nicer.

Peter

On 13/09/2024 3:20 pm, Jonathan Sivier via Contra Callers wrote:
> The first hurdle in introducing contra corners to dancers these days
> is to get them to know which side of the dance is their proper side. 
> I've been trying to do a few proper dances when I call and many
> dancers don't know how to handle it.
>
> Here is a contra corners dance that I like.  There are some aspects
> that are a bit tricky for today's dancers.  Circling all the way
> around is a bit of a challenge.  Half-figure 8 is unknown to most
> contra dancers these days, though English and Scottish dancers will
> have no trouble.  Then there is the whole bit of doing the contra
> corners figure while everyone is on their proper side.
>
> For Those Who Cared
> Tony Parkes
> duple improper
>
> 1 - circle left 1 time
> 2 - swing neighbor, end facing across
> 3 - circle left 1 time
> 4 - actives half figure 8 above, around inactives
> 5-6 contra corners
> 7-8 actives balance and swing
>
> Chorus Jig can certainly be done to a different tune, though if the
> band can play the Chorus Jig tune you might as well use it. As I
> mentioned above a proper dance is a bit of a challenge these days, and
> no one knows how to cast off anymore.  I've been trying to bring some
> of those dances back and have had a little luck in doing so.
>
> One suggestion I have heard is to use a triplet with contra corners to
> get the dancers up to speed on the figure and then put it into a
> longways dance.
>
> Jonathan Sivier
> Champaign, IL
>
> On 9/12/2024 11:41 PM, Abbie Sorg via Contra Callers wrote:
>> Any suggestions on contra corners dances? None have been called at
>> our local dance for years now, and I want to try and re-introduce the
>> move. I've been calling for a few years and think it's a good time to
>> try, but I haven't collected any contra corners dances yet so I'd
>> like to start with something as straightforward as possible.
>>
>> Chorus Jig seems like the natural choice, but I noticed that
>> basically every video I could find of it uses the same tune. How
>> rigid is this tradition? What if the band doesn't have this in their
>> repertoire? Will the contra police raid the dance hall if I call this
>> choreography to a different tune?
>>
>> Abbie Sorg
>> Tucson, AZ
>>
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