4 Oct
2016
4 Oct
'16
5:27 p.m.
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
"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 <
callers(a)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
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