5 Sep
2024
5 Sep
'24
1:30 p.m.
Kat
In response to your question of "how many times to run a typical improper duple minor
contra" definitely depends upon context. At a dance festival/weekend, the dances run
longer. If you have very long lines - or very short lines - the dance will run a different
amount.
As I say in caller classes, the perfect answer is to run the dance until people are
getting tired, and then stop 2 times before that. Ha!
My standard is to run it until the top couple (at the beginning) gets to the bottom, and
then start the process of going out. So if you had 5 duples, at around 10x through be
looking at the band to tell them 3 times or something like that. So 11-13 times through.
BUT that number is dependent upon context. How hard is the dance? If people got it right
away, then fewer times. How exciting is the music? If the music is driving the dancers,
maybe a few more times.
And as always, "less is more". Use the old showbiz maxim, "Leave them
wanting more"
Seth
Seth Tepfer, MBA, CSM, PMP (he, him, his)
Senior IT Manager, Emory Primate Center
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On Sep 5, 2024, at 8:43 AM, Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers
<contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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(a)lists.sharedweight.net>et>:
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(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
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