2 Jan
2013
2 Jan
'13
7:14 p.m.
Here is a spot that will give you about 150 to choose from....about 400 if
you want to extend it to English, squares and Morris... ;-) Hope some of
these are useful... http://dancevideos.childgrove.org/contra/contra-modern.
Good luck,
Bob Green
On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 3:16 PM, Leslie Gotfrit <lgotfrit(a)me.com> wrote:
I'm a new contra caller who does community/family
dances, kitchen parties
and one night stands. I'm calling a dance for about 60 adults, almost none
of whom have even heard of contra dancing, but they do know each other. The
organizers have asked for a YouTube that would convey the fun of contra
dancing, without scaring off newbies. I've looked at dozens and can't find
one where 1. The calls and music are heard (otherwise they'll really wonder
what they are paying me and the band for) 2. People are having fun (but not
twirling and flourishing so much people will think they need to be experts
3. The dancers look a bit "cool" and aren't all on the other side of
middle
aged (it's a young adult crowd and most people in my (red)neck of the woods
only know about western squares,/retired couples in costumes) 4. The
quality of the filming and music recording is good or great (again, to
avoid the hokey label). 5. Does all of that in under five minutes.
I know it's a tall order. Any suggestions? I'll take 4/5.
Leslie
Sent from my iPad
On 2013-01-02, at 7:00 PM, callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote:
as a
lead/follow dance.?? Is it the flourishes/dips that do indeed have a
lead/follow aspect to the dance, becoming the focal point of why they
dance?? Or is it something else?? Contra by its very nature is a community
dance, and while it does have some couple aspects, I find it difficult to
see where it could bring someone to view it as lead/follow.? In an evening
of dance, both men and women usually have their opportunities to "lead" a
move.? Even the swing is an equal move - both dancers move around a common
point and are both expected to carry their own weight, whereas in a couples
dance the lead does indeed guide the follow on where to go.?
others want to
make all
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: Alternate Role Terms (Jeff Kaufman)
2. Re: Alternate Role Terms (Perry Shafran)
3. Re: gender (Perry Shafran)
4. Re: Square Dance Tunes (rich sbardella)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 10:38:09 -0500
From: Jeff Kaufman <jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu>
To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Alternate Role Terms
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On Tue, Jan 1, 2013 at 5:52 PM, Chrissy Fowler <ktaadn_me(a)hotmail.com>
wrote:
It does seem that some women dancers depend on leadership
from the gent role, and some men dancers feel pressure to direct
the non-gent role dancers. But I don't think there's any lead/follow
component inherent in the contra dance form.
To some dancers the lead/follow aspect of contra dance is central
while to others it's a minor component or an unwelcome intrusion.
Viewing it as lead/follow is more common among younger dancers, more
frequent dancers, and varies by dance series (in MA it's common at the
Scout House and Greenfield, rare at Medway and Northboro.)
Jeff
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 08:08:35 -0800 (PST)
From: Perry Shafran <pshaf(a)yahoo.com>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Alternate Role Terms
Message-ID:
<1357142915.76089.YahooMailNeo(a)web120701.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
It would be interesting to know why some of these younger folks view it
Perry
________________________________
From: Jeff Kaufman <jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 2, 2013 10:38 AM
Subject: Re: [Callers] Alternate Role Terms
On Tue, Jan 1, 2013 at 5:52 PM, Chrissy Fowler <ktaadn_me(a)hotmail.com>
wrote:
It does seem that some women dancers depend on leadership
from the gent role, and some men dancers feel pressure to direct
the non-gent role dancers.? But I don't think there's any lead/follow
component inherent in the contra dance form.
To some dancers the lead/follow aspect of contra dance is central
while to others it's a minor component or an unwelcome intrusion.
Viewing it as lead/follow is more common among younger dancers, more
frequent dancers, and varies by dance series (in MA it's common at the
Scout House and Greenfield, rare at Medway and Northboro.)
Jeff
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 08:12:42 -0800 (PST)
From: Perry Shafran <pshaf(a)yahoo.com>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] gender
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There are several issues here.? One is the terminology that is used to
differentiate the two dance roles and second, whether we will ever move
contra dancing to a completely gender-free system.
I think that
we all have to understand that everyone has their own comfort zone.?
Some people do NOT want to dance with a same-gendered person no matter
how much you prod them, shame them, or even force them to do so.?? Some
are willing to try it from time to time, others enjoy it a lot, and contra dances completely gender free regardless
of whether or not it
will chase some members from the community.?
It is a strong
uphill battle to at least move from a heteronormative way of thinking.?
Just recently it was suggested that the way to get someone to contra
dance (a man) was to tell him that a
new woman will be thrown into his arms every 30 seconds.? Reason being
that most people are heterosexual and might be drawn to dance thinking
he's going to dance with women.? I suggested that this was a bad idea
due to the fact that in most dances you'll see men dancing with men,
women dancing with women, and people switching roles.?
I think
that the best compromise is to continue with the gents/ladies
terminology, but emphasize that these are merely titles of traditional
roles, but anyone can play them regardless of physical gender.? That is
what I say in my workshops, and it's usually generally understood.? Any
new terminology that you use will force people to translate which means
"man" and which means "woman".?? However, I do understand the
baggage
that these gender-loaded terms do bring.??
Perry
________________________________
From: JoLaine Jones-Pokorney <jolaine(a)gmail.com>
To: callers(a)sharedweight.net; callers-request(a)sharedweight.net
Sent: Wednesday, January 2, 2013 9:23 AM
Subject: [Callers] gender
In reply to Read who said "When gendered terms are used, people are more
likely to sort themselves by gender. Newcomers are unlikely to even
consider the possibility of not doing so."
I disagree.? When I teach the introductory workshop I say, "You will see
women dancing the men's role and men dancing the women's role."? They see
this happening immediately, even in the introductory workshop.? In our
community, men dancing the women's role is less common, but it will
happen
at least once at each dance so newcomers are
seeing it.
We often get new women who want to dance the men's role so that they can
dance with their women friends that they came with.? Of course this
isn't a
great plan since they're all newbies, but my
point is that they don't
hesitate to switch roles.
I find that the long-time contra dancers are often the ones who are less
willing.? At a dance just a few days ago, I asked a woman to dance.?
Right
beside us were two men dancing together.? She
declared that it was silly
for two men to dance together when there were women available to dance
with.? Another time I asked a woman to dance and she said she would if
she
couldn't find a man to dance with.? Another
time I was lined up with my
woman partner when two men came running over and declared "We know you'd
rather dance with us!" and one of them grabbed my partner away and the
other one grabbed me.? These are long time dancers who are operating
under
the notion that a couple equals one man and one
woman and anything else
is
only to be tolerated if the ideal cannot be had.
So perhaps a non-gendered term would help the long-time dancers more than
the new dancers!? I notice that in this conversation thread - no one has
actually proposed another option.? I've thought it ought to be something
totally random like "blue" and "yellow" but a shift that drastic
just
wouldn't happen I don't think.
I'm reminded of the time I was asked to call a gender-free dance where
where they were using "bands and bares."? I spent a tremendous amount of
time practicing calling bands and bares and getting dances I felt
comfortable calling that way.? IN the introductory workshop, I was
passing
out bandanas for the bands and one man was asking
his friend what I meant
by the "bands."? She said to him - "She means the mens part."? I
thought
why did I just bother to learn bare and band when they're just thinking
women and men?
--
JoLaine Jones-Pokorney
"We are as gods and might as well get good at it!"
- Stewart Brand
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------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 08:33:37 -0800 (PST)
From: rich sbardella <richsbardella(a)snet.net>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Square Dance Tunes
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Hello folks!
I am interested in finding some good modal tunes for squares.? Any
suggestions?
Rich Sbardella
Stafford, CT
------------------------------
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End of Callers Digest, Vol 101, Issue 4
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