6 Mar
2008
6 Mar
'08
9:53 p.m.
At 04:40 PM 3/6/2008, you wrote:
[snip]
I try to call contra corners whenever I can --- whether it's Labor of
Love or Chorus Jig or Alternating Corners or something else -- and I
point out that 1) Contra Corners (and other dances with unequal
figures) are a good illustration of the fact that contra dancing is a
community dance -- you're dancing with all of the other folks in your
set. It's up to the "inactive" folks to be "active" in helping
the
1's to be where they need to be and to watch out for the 1's coming
out of contra corners. If folks want to be moving all the time, they
should go take swing dance lessons! (I know...that's a bit of a
simplification, but there's some truth there and in what David said.)
I guess what I'm trying to say (and would have said in my last email,
but David's spurred me on) is that you can use a chestnut dance like
this or chorus jig or petranella to both show folks where some of
these forms came from and to remind them that even when they're not
"active" they still have things to do in the dance, be it helping the
1's or just clapping and encouraging and having fun!!
Jack
And I am afraid I may be castigated for calling a
dance where the 2's are
completely inactive for more than 32 beats!
I think the only way to deal with this is to face it head on, rather than to
attempt to "slip it by." You might talk about how "we all enjoy dances
with
so-called Rory O'More balances. Here's an opportunity to dance the original,
from which the figure originates." You could highlight the key supporting role
that the twos play (see the final paragraph in David Smukler's
article). And you
might want to built into your program, later on in the evening, a more
contemporary dance with the Rory O'More balances, demonstrating how this move
has been revived in new contexts. I would recommend that you have folks line up in short
sets (eight
couples would
be ideal) so that everyone gets a chance to be an active dancer. I don't know
your Memphis scene, but if you have long lines, the twos are not going to be
very happy. Shorter lines will let everyone experience the thrill of the ones'
role.
My sense is that most dancers-- "most, " but certainly not all--
will willingly
try something out of the norm. If you tried to slip an entire evening of older
dances by your dancers, yes, you might be "caller non grata." Even here in New
England, where the chestnuts probably are called more than any other
part of the
country, few of us would do an entire program of older dances, unless it was
specifically advertised as such, a special event featuring classic
contras. And
elsewhere, where the contra tradition does not have such deep roots,
it may be a
harder sell, but keep in mind, we're talking one dance out of an
entire evening.
My (more than) 2 cents
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
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