10 Sep
2019
10 Sep
'19
10:34 a.m.
Hi Jonathan,
Let me suggest this particular resource in particular for this event:
https://www.cdss.org/resources/how-to/contra-dance-resources#callers
It does not have all the dances you need, but it will give you a good
start.
From your description of the event, one factor seems
most important to me:
how many regular dancers will actually show. If there are not
many regulars
and the crowd is large, you will have difficulty even teaching a chain
while still keeping things moving. OTOH, attendees will not have the
expectations of "mandatory swings" and you can make use of that by calling
some very traditional contras (ones down the hall, return and cast off for
example) which are very accessible to a mixed crowd of ages, skill levels,
and degrees of inebriation. Speaking of down the hall, make sure your venue
has practical space for that move; you may need bystanders to clear out on
the bottom to permit dancing.
Hope your event goes great!
Greg
On Tue, Sep 10, 2019 at 4:07 AM Jonathan Janzen via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I will be calling a dance at our local State Fair next
month. It will be
open to the public, and we've also invited several Contra Communities
around the State to join us in helping to introduce people to Contra
Dancing, and other forms of Folk Dance. I suspect that most people of the
general public will stay and watch/join maybe 1 or 2 dances, and then they
will move onto the next exciting thing at the Fair.
We will have about 3.5 hours to fill, and I want a good variety of dances
to choose from.
So my question to you is, what simple, fun, beginner-friendly dances would
you recommend? Being able to "build up" to more advanced dances I don't
think will be very possible, simply because we expect a steady stream of
people joining and leaving at any given moment, so I need a variety of
simple and fun dances to share that don't require much prior experience.
I already have several ideas as to some dances to include, but I'd love to
hear your suggestions.
They don't have to be Contra-specific, as I'm planning to throw in a few
circle mixers, and a couple easy English Country Dances as well.
Maybe Hole in the Wall, or even the Virginia Reel... The genre of the
dances isn't that important.
Just any other fun, family dances that you can send my way. Many thanks in
advance.
I look forward to reading your suggestions.
Excitedly,
JJ.
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