Here is a dance with lots of balance through A and smoother B that I wrote a while ago that I think could work well.
Leftovers, Becket
Ben Werner
A1: (16) Rh to neighbor, Balance Square through 2
A2: (16) Petronella x 2
B1: (16) Balance & Swing Partner
B2: (8) Promenade & fishhook (can think of it like promenade across then slide right, but flows better to make a nice wide loop over left shoulders)
(8) Star left 1 time around w new neighbors
Inspired by Carol Ormand’s Contra Connection set @ Stellar Days and
Nights 2014 in Buena Vista
Entire dance can be done without ever losing left hand connection with
your partner for 1 of 2 couples if you’re creative. (either 1s or 2s, just not both)
Cheers,
Ben
Sent from my iPhone
On May 13, 2023, at 11:20 AM, Jim Thaxter via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I think the tunes would be easy to dance to. Some moves would go better with some phrases, as some others have pointed out, but a good band would be able to adapt a tune to the dance itself, doing things to emphasize balances, smooth out places with lots of walking (lines fwd and back, circles). The tunes sound like they should be speedy enough, as many notey Irish-y tunes do, but they’re only playing at 110 bpm. Even with all the notes, they’ll still feel to the dancers like they’re just plodding along.
Hi friends! You may remember I asked a while ago about what sort of dance I could call to a specific quebecois tune that one of our bands always played and I hate to call to. In the end that conversation shifted into one regarding how to communicate with bands generally, and what sort of expectations I could have of a band that doesn't get into the business of choosing tunes to match dances themselves. It was all very helpful and I am pleased to report that my relationship with the band I was previously having some friction with has improved! And- at our upcoming dance they're doing a wonderful thing - they've invited any interested and aspiring musicians to come and play along unmic'd behind them - and they've set up a google drive folder with the tunes, containing both recordings and sheet music,. This is great for me because finally I can preview all the tunes and be ready with the desired order they will be played in! But listening to the Aime-Gagnon-Telephone tune set, I realized this is the other set this band plays that really bums me out. I just can't get a dance of mine to feel good to it. Could you folks have a listen and let me know your thoughts? I can't really put my finger on it other than ... it kinda feels plodding to dance to at this speed, and yet it feels like the musicians are playing really fast already? and....it has a bit of a stressful and on edge feel- rather than a "sit back and enjoy" feel of other tunes? I will close by saying this band also plays LOTS of great tunes, which I love, and they are fabulous musicians :) here is the tune in the google drive.... https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qsoLthlIYvBNRqD2Kvd0JyYzSjwj4KS4/view?usp=drivesdk or if you prefer, on spotify! https://open.spotify.com/track/7fAJSwoKsQQC1cqlAmouLJ?si=nijl2dibR6Ktupc-w08IbA thank you for thoughts and/or dance suggestions :) Kat in Halifax
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