5 Sep
2024
5 Sep
'24
5:41 p.m.
Duples = duple minor = hands four
Seth Tepfer, MBA, CSM, PMP (he, him, his)
Senior IT Manager, Emory Primate Center
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________________________________
From: Amy Wimmer via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2024 1:06 PM
To: Katherine Kitching <kat(a)outdooractive.ca>
Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: [External] [Callers] Re: Resources to turn musicians into dance musicians? -
length of a typical dance?
Can someone please help my vocabulary? I've seen "duples" mentioned here
several times. In my personal dictionary that means two people, as in a couple, or two
moves. I think the usage here may be referring to a pair of couples, or 4 people. Either
way, it's not the way I'm accustomed to thinking.
I won't be using the term, but would appreciate understanding the word as used here.
-Amy Wimmer
Seattle
On Thu, Sep 5, 2024, 5:43 AM Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers
<contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
wrote:
Hi John (and everyone), just catching up on the listserv and went to your "Callers
and Music" page--
very helpful info there!
I wish I had found it last year when I was looking for resources for this
caller-and-musician workshop that we did.
In particular, I had searched all over the internet last year for some clue as to how many
times through a typical improper duple contra dance would run, and had a real hard time
finding that info.
I had concluded that with 5 duples in a set (our usual), we might dance through up to 17
times, which would take about 9 minutes at 117bpm..... so that those who started at the
top would get back to the top.
Do you think that's too long?
I was under the impression that in the US the lines are often longer than 5 duples, and
that the convention was to dance long enough to let everyone travel up and down the line
the whole way....so I was thinking that in a seasoned contra dance group the dance might
go on 15 minutes or more?
Very curious about this now!
Kat Kitching in Halifax NS
Sep 4, 2024 3:16:24 PM John Sweeney via Contra Callers
<contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>:
Hi Seth,
Linda Game (English Contra Dance Band) ran a session for the Irish musicians
who were going to play for the first contra dance that we ran in Paris. I have put a copy
of her notes at https://contrafusion.co.uk/documents/LindaGameMusicianWorkshop.jpg - I
hope Linda won’t mind.
One interesting exercise that she did was to get four dancers to do some
Rory O’Mores to a Reel, then the same sequence to a Jig so that the band could see the
effect on the dancers.
This is meant for callers: https://contrafusion.co.uk/CallersandMusic.html
but you might find some useful points there.
I have danced (ceilidh, but same challenge) to a band who seemed to think
that they were playing for a concert. They put in extra beats and ran improvisations
across the phrases. They went so wild that you couldn’t hear the phrasing. It was
fantastic to listen to, but a nightmare to try to dance to!
It is crucial that the band understand that the dancers are listening to the
beat and the phrasing. They especially want to hear the beginning of A1 and B1 clearly
and unambiguously.
Good luck!
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john@modernjive.com<mailto:john@modernjive.com>
01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk<http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/> for Dancing in Kent
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