17 Sep
2023
17 Sep
'23
4:08 p.m.
On Sun, 17 Sep 2023 07:26:50 -0700, Rich Goss via Contra Callers wrote:
Does anyone slip in a ceilidh style dance at a contra?
Some of the mixers work well at contra dances. Also,
it's an opportunity to give new dancers brains a break. I suspect this practice is
more common in the UK.
Colin, feel free to chime in.
I'm always happy to parade my prejudices! But it's very seldom in England that I
call a "contra dance". I call a
"dance", which will usually include contras, squares, Playford, modern English
(from either side of the pond) and
ceilidh-style (also called "traditional English") such as Morpeth Rant or Dorset
Four-hand Reel.
I am actually calling a "mainly American" dance for my local club the Hitchin
Staplers on 7th October:
https://staplers.org.uk/latest.html
Originally Geoff Cubitt was booked to call - he's probably the best caller of American
Squares and Contras in England -
but he had to pull out so I'll be doing a programme with a lot of American in it. But
I'm still planning to call two
genuine Playford (Grimstock and The Merry Merry Milkmaids), probably four modern English -
and actually no ceilidh!
Colin Hume