Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

On Oct 4, 2016, at 5:27 PM, Jerome Grisanti via Callers &lt;callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: Jacqui, I have called proper longways dances (without diagonals or out-of-minor-set interactions) for two couples, switching active couples with every other iteration but maintaining the same orientation in the room. Works well with many English dances -- for example Softly Good Tummas -- because they are proper. Improper is tougher. The idea is similar to Dale's calling party orientation, but the mechanics are a bit different, and the one he describes is better for improper dances. My group (Maryville MO) is accustomed to smaller attendance, and thus ready to switch to three-couple longways English when another couple shows up, then into old-time squares when a fourth couple shows up. A fifth couple or more puts us into longways duple minors. And always ready to mix it up with a circle mixer. --Jerome Jerome Grisanti 660-528-0858 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com <http://www.jeromegrisanti.com/> "Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe On Tue, Oct 4, 2016 at 2:09 PM, QuiAnn2 via Callers &lt;callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: I recently called at a contra dance where we had exactly 6 dancers for almost the entire evening (one joined us later but only occasionally danced). This was unexpected as they usually have attendance in the 12-20 range. I was able to piece together a night of mixers, triplets, and oddball dances to make it work and the dancers were game for anything so it ended up being a fun night. But it got me thinking about what to do if only 4 dancers came to a dance (meaning even if I jumped in, we would only have 5 total dancers). In order to be better prepared for next time, I have a couple of questions. 1) Do you have any dances you can share that would work for 4 or 5 dancers? Or also dances for 6 dancers that are not triplets (have plenty of triplets). I have already collected Do-Si-3 and Haste to the Divorce, both of which I modified so that they would not progress. 2) Could a whole evening (3 hours) of dance be put together for just 4-5 dancers? 3) What preparation can be done by me in advance to help with this situation? It’s possible to talk with the organizer in advance about canceling the dance if only 4 or 5 dancers show up, however, this particular dance is a 75 minute drive one-way and I’d prefer to avoid the round trip if there won’t be enough dancers. For various reasons, any dance promoting that I do myself would be largely ineffective for this particular dance. Would love to hear about any ideas you can share. Thanks! Jacqui Grennan _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net <http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net> _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net