21 Jun
2023
21 Jun
'23
8:57 p.m.
Well, there's always this one...
https://contradb.com/dances/355
I know, someone is going to say they are sensitive about height. It's a
contra mixer nonetheless. When it stops mixing, it's over.
I actually start all my workshops with Accretion Reel (Chris Page), because
the "scatter and find a partner" totally breaks that ice for new dancers.
I tell them, "You have eight beats to find a partner. That's FOUR
SECONDS! Just find ANYBODY!! Wave if you can't find someone, they'll find
you!" After the dance, after saying how marvelously they danced, I demo
asking someone to dance for real, talk about yes or no, and being kind
either way, etc. The swing is a two-hands-around swing, so I get to talk
about whether that should be done quickly or slowly, depending on who your
partner is, and how to communicate and negotiate that preference, too.
It's amazing what that one little dance holds! The version I have (gotten
from JoLaine Jones-Pokorney) is different from the one in The Caller's Box:
https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=10253
JoLaine's version:
Accretion Reel (var)
Chris Page
JoLaine Jones-Pokorney gave me this dance in early 2022
Intro
Scatter
Mixer - random
Start solo, in circle
A1 Into middle and back (with woo!)
Scatter find partner
A2 Swing etc. 2-hand, elbow fine*
B1 Promenade to circle
B2 Circle left
Circle right
* Since many don't know how to swing, they should just elbow swing or
two-hand swing or play pattycake or do anything.
Prevent the experienced dancers from trying to teach a swing now, you'll do
it in a minute.
--jh--
On Wed, Jun 21, 2023 at 9:22 PM Claire Takemori via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Thanks so much for this review Lisa! I love this
dance (shout out to
Susan Michaels who wrote Kaboom!) and call it whenever I have mostly new
dancers.
For the Teen Music camp I called at last week, I added in the B2, Left
hand star AND Right hand star, 3,2,1 boom!
I got feedback from some non-dancers (who found contra dances too hard),
who said that when they show up without friends or a date to a public
dance, that they usually feel awkward about asking someone to dance who
they don’t know. So the next time I called our local community barn
dance, I started with more mixers to get folks easily mingling. This
worked like a charm.
I even made longways sets by having folks line up in 2 long lines (no
partners) then pairing them with someone across for a partner. I heard no
groans or complaints. The single friends said they loved having more
mixers to start, then most seemed comfortable asking someone after I showed
them how it’s done (no dive bombs from the rear, eye contact, ask if they
want to dance, and the answer can be yes or no)
I also tried to write a longways where folks were not paired with a
partner, and make it a mixer…. Still In the testing phase. I know Luke
Donforth wrote a longways line mixer !
Claire Takemori
(Asheville NC)
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2023 09:20:51 -0400
From: Lisa Sieverts <lisa(a)lisasieverts.com>
Subject: [Callers] Good dance for teens/familly dance
To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Message-ID: <DDDCFBF3-D576-446E-9C1C-BF58A26E02C4(a)lisasieverts.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; markup=markdown
I used this dance recently (I was an emergency substitute) and was very
pleased with how well it went. Not only is it a no-partner dance, it
doesn’t even matter how big the circles are (though I did have them start
out in circles of 4). So no one gets left out even if the scatter to make
new circles is chaotic. It’s also easy to get them into one big circle for
the last time through and that’s a very nice way to end.
I think I got it here on Shared Weight, thanks Claire!
Beaumont Boom!
By Claire Takemori (8/26/19)
*Any number in scattered circles
A1 Bal ring 2x, CL
A2 Bal ring 2x, CR
B1. LHS (pile of LH in the middle, keep walking same direction after CR)
countdown 3-2-1
B2 Boom! Throw hands up and all twirl out of the star and make new
circles.
Can end with one big circle
Claire says: I wrote a dance with no Partners that I love for family or
parties where you start with a few and folks keep dropping in, but it also
works for a large group.
Lisa Sieverts
603-762-0235
lisa(a)lisasieverts.com
On Jun 21, 2023, at 1:00 AM, contracallers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net
wrote:
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Today's Topics:
1. Good dance for teens/familly dance (Lisa Sieverts)
2. Re: Good dance for teens/familly dance (Jimmy Akin)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2023 09:20:51 -0400
From: Lisa Sieverts <lisa(a)lisasieverts.com>
Subject: [Callers] Good dance for teens/familly dance
To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Message-ID: <DDDCFBF3-D576-446E-9C1C-BF58A26E02C4(a)lisasieverts.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; markup=markdown
I used this dance recently (I was an emergency substitute) and was very
pleased with how well it went. Not only is it a no-partner dance, it
doesn’t even matter how big the circles are (though I did have them start
out in circles of 4). So no one gets left out even if the scatter to make
new circles is chaotic. It’s also easy to get them into one big circle for
the last time through and that’s a very nice way to end.
I think I got it here on Shared Weight, thanks Claire!
Beaumont Boom!
By Claire Takemori (8/26/19)
*Any number in scattered circles
A1 Bal ring 2x, CL
A2 Bal ring 2x, CR
B1. LHS (pile of LH in the middle, keep walking same direction after CR)
countdown 3-2-1
B2 Boom! Throw hands up and all twirl out of the star and make new
circles.
Can end with one big circle
Claire says: I wrote a dance with no Partners that I love for family or
parties where you start with a few and folks keep dropping in, but it also
works for a large group.
Lisa Sieverts
603-762-0235
lisa(a)lisasieverts.com
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2023 07:58:56 -0700
From: Jimmy Akin <jimmyakin01(a)gmail.com>
Subject: [Callers] Re: Good dance for teens/familly dance
To: Lisa Sieverts <lisa(a)lisasieverts.com>
Cc: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Message-ID:
<CAEXFEH0KY1aPEVFkYQjso4DLf7n4ozgnHNzH_CJn4iwTV28-TQ(a)mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="00000000000099da0405fe90e4ac"
Interesting! I'll give it a try!
(I'm always looking for simple, no partner circle dances.)
Jimmy Akin
On Tue, Jun 20, 2023 at 6:21 AM Lisa Sieverts via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I used this dance recently (I was an emergency substitute) and was very
pleased with how well it went. Not only is it a no-partner dance, it
doesn’t even matter how big the circles are (though I did have them start
out in circles of 4). So no one gets left out even if the scatter to make
new circles is chaotic. It’s also easy to get them into one big circle for
the last time through and that’s a very nice way to end.
I think I got it here on Shared Weight, thanks Claire!
Beaumont Boom!
By Claire Takemori (8/26/19)
*Any number in scattered circles
A1 Bal ring 2x, CL
A2 Bal ring 2x, CR
B1. LHS (pile of LH in the middle, keep walking same direction after CR)
countdown 3-2-1
B2 Boom! Throw hands up and all twirl out of the star and make new
circles.
Can end with one big circle
Claire says: I wrote a dance with no Partners that I love for family or
parties where you start with a few and folks keep dropping in, but it also
works for a large group.
Lisa Sieverts
603-762-0235
lisa(a)lisasieverts.com
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