10 Oct
2016
10 Oct
'16
8:37 a.m.
Jeff Kaufman wrote a paper on regional variations in contra dance. Here's what
he found
<https://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/linguistics/2007_kaufman_jeff.pdf>
for wrist-grip stars (page 31 of the link). Basically, they're common
everywhere in the US except in some parts of the South. This is based on
data from ten or more years ago, so I'm not sure if that's still true. I
would not be surprised if it isn't-- there's enough cross-contamination
that wrist-grips could have taken over even in the South. We do have
people from Georgia and North Carolina on the list; hopefully they'll chime
in.
-Dave
Washington, DC
On Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 4:31 AM, John Sweeney via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi all,
I have been to contra dances and festivals all over America and
everywhere I have danced everyone automatically uses a wrist-lock star
(unless the caller has specified hands-across because of the subsequent
choreography).
But I am constantly challenged in England by people claiming that
wrist-lock stars are not the standard in America.
When I go to somewhere like The Flurry and see 600 people from all
over the country all doing wrist-locks it seems to me that it must be the
standard way of doing things.
And obviously it has been common in America for a long time; this
video is from 1964 in Northern Vermont and shows wrist-lock stars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZubTju7g_s
So, are there still significant communities that don't use
wrist-locks?
Is the wrist-lock the de facto standard?
Thanks.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802
940 574
http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events & DVDs
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
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