3 Mar
2014
3 Mar
'14
10:01 p.m.
Jim Saxe gives a long discussion about how to "teach" getting into the
basket.
After looking at Dummer's Reel, which is altogether more complicated
than the Cottotail Rag, perhaps teaching it well is a good idea. For the
Cottontail Rag, however, I try to barely teach it. I learned, from Sandy
Bradley, that these type of dances are actually more fun if you don't
really know how it works, and then get the Joy of Getting It. I remember
her teaching the Cottontail Rag -- I think she called it the Jack Dance
then. She'd say, "no matter how spaghetti armed you get, when I say,
'Break the Basket, Left Hand Star,' let go!" And, I've come to believe
her: there are many of these dances where, when dancers actually know
how to do it, and do it exactly right, it looses a lot of the fun of it.
Thus, I say: don't over teach these things, let dancers play with
discovery and a likely 'aha!' moment.
~erik hofffman
oakland, ca
On 3/3/2014 10:49 AM, James Saxe wrote:
On Mar 2, 2014, at 6:46 PM, Jacob Bloom wrote:
General Dummer's Reel (for five), my dance
Shira's Seven (for seven),
and
Cornish Six Hand Reel (for six) are three other dances I've found
useful.
They are described in the archives, at:
http://www.sharedweight.net/pipermail/callers/2013-February/005742.html
The page Jacob cites references the description of Dummer's Reel
in the syllabus from the 2006 Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend:
http://www.library.unh.edu/special/forms/rpdlw/syllabus2006.pdf
(page 38). In the version as called by Jacob, one dancer--the
one designated as "Jack" in the current round--leads a maneuver
by which a circle of five is transformed into a basket without
anyone releasing hands:
"Jack" lift left hand, turn over own right shoulder to back
under the arch, and pull two other dancers under the arch as
well; all joined hands inside the circle are raised and the
outside dancers duck under them to form a basket
This move is very cool when it works, but often some dancers will
have difficulty with it. Here are a few things you can do about
that:
1. You could just relax about it and encourage the dancers to
be mellow about it as well. Let them know that if they get into
a tangle trying to make the basket, or if someone want's to let
go instead of twisting their shoulder out of its socket, they can
just let go and form the basket any old how (or skip it and go on
to the circle if it's time). As different people take turns
being "Jack", the action of making the basket can start working
better and batter (with occasional regressions), If dancers
succeed at making the basket (at least some of the time)by the
end of the dance after fumbling around with it at first, they
can get a satisfying feeling of accomplishment from it.
2. You could dispense with the fancy method of forming the
basket. In this rec.folking-dancing thread from 1998
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.folk-dancing/91ANPzO7apQ
Chris Brady describes what he says is an older version Dummer's
reel, with no mention of pulling two dancers under an arch to form
the basket. Presumably the dancers all face the middle, and each
dancer simply reaches behind the backs of the adjacent dancers on
either side to take hands with the next ones around the ring.
3. If you do want to teach the fancy way for forming the basket,
here's an idea that may make it a little easier. Perhaps the most
common mistake dancers make in trying to form the basket is that
"Jack" will lift his (or her) left hand and then turn to the left
(ccw) as if to walk forward under the arch instead of turning
right (cw) and backing under the arch. The idea of forming an
arch and turning your back on it can seem so counterintuitive as
to be rejected apparently without even being considered. One time
when I was in a set while another caller was walking us through
this dance, I suggested to "Jack" that she she needed to "turn the
other way." She took the suggestion, but as she did so, she
lowered her left had and raised her right hand to form a different
arch! Oops. Thinking about that afterwards, I arrived at the
idea I now share: During the walkthrough have "Jack" raise *both*
arms to form arches. Now "Jack" can successfully turn around (180
degrees) either way. In either case, "Jack" will end up in the
middle of the ring facing out with one hand crossed over the other,
and can use whichever arm is lower to pull tow dancers through the
arch made by the higher arm. After that, the dancers still have to
figure out which arms go over which heads to finish forming the
basket, so the opportunities to get into a tangle aren't entirely
eliminated, though I think they're reduced.
* * * * * * * * * *
Another dance that uses the idea of pulling two dancers through an
arch to form a basket of five is "Cottontail Rag" by Steve Schnur.
You can find it described in the 2007 RPDLW syllabus
http://www.library.unh.edu/special/forms/rpdlw/syllabus2007.pdf#page=19a
under the title "Jack Turn Back" and in the 2012 syllabus
http://www.library.unh.edu/special/forms/rpdlw/syllabus2012.pdf#page=15b
under the title "Hot Tub Rag" (based on the idea the the basket
resembles a group of people sitting around a hot tub).
You can see a video of the dance (or something like it) here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EiPQhvD0QM
[As I write this, I see that Martha Wild has just posted about
the same dance.]
--Jim
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