18 Jan
2008
18 Jan
'08
2:36 a.m.
Hello All,
I was considering adding some of the Chestnuts to my
calling repertoire, and
I was wondering if I could get your best advice on approaching triple minor
dances in the Midwest (Lawrence Kansas). I believe most of the contra
dancers here have never seen such a critter, although a very few will have
seen it at an English Country dance.
I was considering calling a triplet or a duple minor
dance with contra
corners in the first half to make sure everyone was comfortable with that
figure, and then calling "Sackett's Harbor" in the second half, which
turns
the minor set 90 degrees (or 270 degrees, to be technical) so all the men
are all facing the stage and the women are facing down.
I want to lay out the rules of triplets very
succinctly: Ones remain ones
all the way down the hall, while the twos become threes and then twos again
as they progress up. Threes also alternate roles, becoming twos and then
threes again. At the top, the first couple out waits out two iterations of
the dance before becoming ones. At the bottom, the threes must trade places
with the ones or they will remain out indefinitely.
Are these rules accurate as stated?
No, because triplets are three-couple sets, and the progression is different;
typically, you'll dance each of the three roles in three times through the
dance.
Substituting "triple minors" I think these are essentially correct, as stated.
I tend to lay out the rules with somewhat different verbiage (when calling to
English dancers, anyway; I haven't called triple minors for contra dancers).
I say to the ones "you can't come in until you have two couples of your very
own to dance with."
"Ones have it easy - they do the same thing all the way down. Eventually
you'll only have one other couple - dance with a ghost couple, or at least
trade places with them, or they'll *never* get in."
"The secret to triple minors", I'll say, "is not to fuss about whether
you're a
two or a three. If you're not a one, you want to look *up* the set to where
the 1s are, and then do what they need. If somebody's trying to do a
right-hand star with you, do it." [What I'm trying to do here is to get the
dancers out of their heads and out of counting, and into their senses, looking
outward and seeing the whole dance. I *think* this is at least marginally
helpful, although some people are still going to spend the whole dance looking
inward and constantly being surprised when they're supposed to do something.]
I think you are correct not to mention the rather peculiar process of going
from being a 2 to being a 1. You've gotten up near the top, you do the dance
as a 2, your 1s migrate past you, and you're out one round even though you have
a couple above you. Then you're in one round, then you're out two rounds and
come back as 1s. I generally try not to discuss this and just use the "until
you have two couples of your very own" rule.
Any suggestions from New England? Elsewhere in the
Midwest? Points beyond?
I hope you'll accept California. I'd suggest, as a first-ever triple minor,
"Young Widow", if your band knows the tune. No swings, but a killer fun dance
with balancing, etc, and it isn't all solos for the 1s.
-- Alan
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Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025
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