20 Nov
2023
20 Nov
'23
10:35 a.m.
I think Chris Page got it right, as per usual:
"Rings of Spring" by Chris Ricciotti?
Cheers,
-Chris
It makes sense that I would have picked this up from Chris Ricciotti since
I was dancing in Boston for so long. That said, what I called is a bit of a
variant (possibly I folk-processed it myself, or someone else did,
intentionally or accidentally) from the original, here
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=3369>.
Some thoughts on my variant:
- There's a lot of extra time in the A1 in my version because I had the
"gents go in" bit written as a "meanwhile" move. The timing of the
original
would be better for a hall of more seasoned dancers; my dancers really took
advantage of the extra 4 beats to get their wave put together! Same for the
16 count promenade — figuring out how to end the swing with everyone in the
right place, and ending the promenade in the right place, took up all the
extra time (this is compared to the B2 of Bill Olson's A Night at the
Opera <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=95>,
which is also very similar)
- To Mac's point regarding balances, I inadvertently taught/called the
balances differently than I usually would, and it was a BIG success!
Describing balances as "step to your own individual right, then to your own
individual left" wasn't quite working, so I said/demoed that it was more
like "[looks/leans right] Hi! [looks/leans left] Hello!" The dancers
*loved* this, so much so that during the dance they all said it out loud
with me. The first balance, right and left, became "Hi! Hello!" and next
balance, left and right, went "Hello! Hi!" All smiles. Best teaching
accident in recent memory! Let me know if any of you try it!
On Sun, Nov 19, 2023 at 6:58 PM John Sweeney via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi Angela,
It looks like a simplified version of Bill Olsen’s “A Night
at the Opera”:
http://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=95
Circassian Circle is much simpler. I wouldn’t consider it
to be related. Did you know that most people only dance Part 2? Lots more
information at:
http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/EFDS4802-CircassianCircle.html
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
*From:* Angela DeCarlis via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* 19 November 2023 17:07
*To:* mjw(a)mowaddington.plus.com
*Cc:* Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* [Callers] Re: Favorite One Night Stand Dances
Hello all,
I called an *awesome* one-off gig on Friday night (honestly the most fun
ONS ever for me) and used a lot of the dances mentioned in this thread —
thanks everyone! I'll include my program below.
I also called a Circle Mixer that I've had in my box for a long time, but
I don't remember where I got it and don't know its name or author — maybe
one of y'all will recognize it? It goes:
A1: Ladies in 3 steps, clap on the fourth beat (4)
While Ladies back out, Gents in 3 steps, clap on the fourth beat (4)
Gents face out, return to place to form a wavy line (circle) (8)
A2: Balance wave R, L (4), Allemande R 1x (4)
Balance wave L, R (4), Allemande L 1x (4)
B1: New Partner (the person you turned by the Right) Balance & Swing
B2: All promenade CCW (Gents in the Center), face in as couples to reform
the circle
This dance was a little harder to teach than most of the other things I
called (it was also the only dance I called with two roles) but was easily
danced — the rhythm and timing makes sense, and if you emphasize who
promenades on the inside/outside in the B2, then everyone stays in the same
role regardless of the way the swing is done or where the dancers end it.
The timing overall has a lot of cushion, giving dancers plenty of time to
hit the beats in the A1 and (to a lesser extent) A2.
Here's the rest of my program:
1. Lucky Number Seven
2. Galopede
3. Do Si Three
4. Accretion Reel
5. Waves of the Sea
6. The Loon Dance
7. [Circle Mixer above]
This got us through about 2 hours of dancing with some beefier-than-usual
breaks in between each set. I walked through all the dances twice.
Best,
Angela
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