[Callers] Re: How to run The Fan Dance?

Hi, Lisa, et al. Karen Missavage (as was; she's Karen Dunnam now) posted on rec.folk-dancing in 1999. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Favors the Rose (aka The Fan Dance) Formation: Line of gents on one side of hall, line of ladies on the other. Your honored person (costume contest winner? the President? the host?) is placed at the top of the set in the middle, and presented with the favor. (Fake roses work well, and are more durable than a fan. This weekend we'll be using a plastic pumpkin.) Two people of the complimentary gender leave their line and stand on either side of the victi--I mean, the first whatever. S/he assesses the two others, makes a decision, and hands the favor to the first runner-up. The selected one and the selector dance down the set, and join their respective lines. The FRU steps to the center of the set, and the process is repeated for the other gender. The CW people go nuts over this. It's the only dance some of the younger & shyer ones will do. I usually tell them that under no circumstances may they toss the favor to the third person in line and then take the top four people, so this puts the idea in their heads. Sometimes there is pantomined pleading, down on one knee, sweeping hat gestures, outrageous flirting (fanning, ankle displays). A couple weeks ago a woman took a look at the guy on the left, then the one on the right. She tossed the flower up in the air and ran away from them down the set! Yours truly has been known to abscond with a handsome soldier, or the favor-holder. This can be a work-out for the band, but it's a nice break from calling and instructing and teaching. N.B. do not bring out three chairs for them to sit in. They get too comfy and it takes too long. --Karen M. in Ann Arbor Here's a video Karen posted in 2020: https://pie.yt/?v=https://youtu.be/9LBLZejhpnU?si=X38-ALXBLts5p5yo&pies… ------------------------------------------------------------ Here's what Neil Schein posted on this list in 2023: Favor of the Rose -Line up three chairs and get a rose (or whatever). -Form two lines of people, one on either side (any criteria, inequal is 💯 fine). -Position the bride or groom in the middle chair and give them the rose. -Bring two people from one line and have them sit. Center person gives rose to one, dances up center with the other. -Remaining person moves to center chair. Repeat, alternating lines. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To answer your question: There is no set tune, there is no timing, there is no phrasing. Have the band play something lively that won't wear them out becauses it might go on a long time - I'd thikn they could do a medley they'd use for a contra dance, or whatever they like. Crooked tunes are okay. I don't think this dance is really a dance in the sense you're thinking of. It's a game. (That is, there's hardly any figures and there's not necessarily any set timing, depending on the crowd.). It's more of an improv opportunity where the people at the head of the line try to get the one holding the token to choose them. If you want it to be strict timing and very active, you can get people doing the whole thing in 8 bars (seen in the video, I think.). If it's a playful crowd and they want to goof with "choose me!", etc, etc, phrasing goes completely to hell and you as caller may have to urge them to make a decision. I've only called it a couple of times, for CIvil War dances. And it turned out that the reenactors around here had no tradition of doing it and didn't want to do do drama or improv, so we got htings moving pretty fast. At 8 bars a time,; you can do it a lot of times. If I were doing it now for a wedding / ONS etc - here in the SF Bay Area, where all our contras are "larks and robins" I would really consider the crowd if I were going to do it at all, and I'd strongly consider whether the business of lining up gender-presentations should really be a thing. -- Alan ________________________________________ From: Lisa Sieverts via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2025 11:55 AM To: Shared Weight Callers Subject: [Callers] How to run The Fan Dance? BEWARE: This email originated outside of our organization. DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hi all, I’m doing a wedding anniversary dance in a week and I think The Fan Dance would be good. But I can’t remember the details of how it goes. I’m thinking of the dance where there are three chairs in a row and two lines of people. One person sits in the middle chair, and one from either line sits next to them. The middle person holds a fan or other chotke. The middle person chooses one person to give the fan to and then dances with the other person. But what’s the timing and what kind of music? I used to do this a lot when I lived in Idaho but haven’t called it in eons. Thank you! Lisa Nelson, NH Lisa Sieverts 603-762-0235 lisa(a)lisasieverts.com _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net