Walk the Plank - Contra Callers - Shared Weight Lists

Alan Winston

1 Nov 1 Nov

1:47 a.m.

On 10/31/2012 6:29 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote:

Hi all Just wondering about a transition in Nathaniel Jack's "Walk the Plank." It looks like a nice bouncy dance with good rebound, but there's a transition from a petronella twirl into a LH star at the end, and in the absence of a group of guinea pigs here at the house I thought I'd ask if anyone's tried this and what they think.

Haven't tried it but will give an uninformed opinion anyway. This looks like a terrific dance. It resolves the awkwardness of bend-the-line circle left (which always gives a nasty momentum change to the person on the right end of the line) by having a balance the ring next. Petronella one place into star with the same people should go pretty smoothly. I'd be inclined to make that a hands-across star and tell them to start moving right away rather than wait to catch hands; that would somewhat reduce the problem of momentary disorientation causing the whole start to start late, which you really don't want because you need to finish on time to hit the neighbor balance. If it goes smoothly it should feel great. -- Alan

...

Here are the notes: Walk the Plank Duple Imp. A1 4,4 Neighbor balance, Al right 3/4 8 Men Al left 1-1/2 A2 16 Partner Bal + Swing, end facing down B1 8 Down the hall in lines of 4, turn alone 8 Come back up, bend the line to a circle B2 8 Balance the ring, spin right one place 8 Star left 1ce around. Is it comfortable to come from that twirl into catching L hands for a star? Kalia _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

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Jack Mitchell

3:06 a.m.

Does this start in a wave? Or is it just with a RH to your neighbor for a balance, and then allemande R? Jack On 10/31/2012 9:29 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote:

...

Hi all Just wondering about a transition in Nathaniel Jack's "Walk the Plank." It looks like a nice bouncy dance with good rebound, but there's a transition from a petronella twirl into a LH star at the end, and in the absence of a group of guinea pigs here at the house I thought I'd ask if anyone's tried this and what they think. Here are the notes: Walk the Plank Duple Imp. A1 4,4 Neighbor balance, Al right 3/4 8 Men Al left 1-1/2 A2 16 Partner Bal + Swing, end facing down B1 8 Down the hall in lines of 4, turn alone 8 Come back up, bend the line to a circle B2 8 Balance the ring, spin right one place 8 Star left 1ce around. Is it comfortable to come from that twirl into catching L hands for a star? Kalia _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

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Andrea Nettleton

1:55 a.m.

There are several dances which begin with a RH bal, BTG, then M pull by (as in G. Hubert's Sarah's Journey) or Allenande L 1 1/2 as in J. Hutson's Treasure of Sierra Madre), and I have not noted an urge to orbit. All the spring just gets loaded into the gents' inward motion. So I am sure a BTG would be fine, even without an orbit. -Andrea Sent from my iPhone On Nov 14, 2012, at 7:07 PM, Chris Lahey <clahey(a)clahey.net> wrote:

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I imagine this would be RH to your neighbor for the balance. I wonder if the dance would work well with a box the gnat there instead of a 3/4 alamain. One possible issue with that might be that the women might expect to do an orbit. On the other hand, if they're really skilled, maybe you could get them to do a full orbit while the men alamain left. On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 11:06 PM, Jack Mitchell <jamitch3(a)mindspring.com> wrote:

Does this start in a wave? Or is it just with a RH to your neighbor for a balance, and then allemande R? Jack On 10/31/2012 9:29 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote:

Hi all Just wondering about a transition in Nathaniel Jack's "Walk the Plank." It looks like a nice bouncy dance with good rebound, but there's a transition from a petronella twirl into a LH star at the end, and in the absence of a group of guinea pigs here at the house I thought I'd ask if anyone's tried this and what they think. Here are the notes: Walk the Plank Duple Imp. A1 4,4 Neighbor balance, Al right 3/4 8 Men Al left 1-1/2 A2 16 Partner Bal + Swing, end facing down B1 8 Down the hall in lines of 4, turn alone 8 Come back up, bend the line to a circle B2 8 Balance the ring, spin right one place 8 Star left 1ce around. Is it comfortable to come from that twirl into catching L hands for a star? Kalia _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

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Joy Greenwolfe

2:14 a.m.

Minor point: There are no balances in Sarah's Journey. Neither box the gnat starts with a balance. It's a smooth dance rather than bouncy. -Joy On Nov 14, 2012, at 8:55 PM, Andrea Nettleton wrote:

...

There are several dances which begin with a RH bal, BTG, then M pull by (as in G. Hubert's Sarah's Journey) or Allenande L 1 1/2 as in J. Hutson's Treasure of Sierra Madre), and I have not noted an urge to orbit. All the spring just gets loaded into the gents' inward motion. So I am sure a BTG would be fine, even without an orbit. -Andrea Sent from my iPhone On Nov 14, 2012, at 7:07 PM, Chris Lahey <clahey(a)clahey.net> wrote:

I imagine this would be RH to your neighbor for the balance. I wonder if the dance would work well with a box the gnat there instead of a 3/4 alamain. One possible issue with that might be that the women might expect to do an orbit. On the other hand, if they're really skilled, maybe you could get them to do a full orbit while the men alamain left. On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 11:06 PM, Jack Mitchell <jamitch3(a)mindspring.com

wrote: Does this start in a wave? Or is it just with a RH to your neighbor for a balance, and then allemande R? Jack On 10/31/2012 9:29 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote:

Hi all Just wondering about a transition in Nathaniel Jack's "Walk the Plank." It looks like a nice bouncy dance with good rebound, but there's a transition from a petronella twirl into a LH star at the end, and in the absence of a group of guinea pigs here at the house I thought I'd ask if anyone's tried this and what they think. Here are the notes: Walk the Plank Duple Imp. A1 4,4 Neighbor balance, Al right 3/4 8 Men Al left 1-1/2 A2 16 Partner Bal + Swing, end facing down B1 8 Down the hall in lines of 4, turn alone 8 Come back up, bend the line to a circle B2 8 Balance the ring, spin right one place 8 Star left 1ce around. Is it comfortable to come from that twirl into catching L hands for a star? Kalia _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

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Andrea Nettleton

1 Nov 1 Nov

3:14 a.m.

It works great as long as everyone spins the appropriate way. If you have new dancers in the crowd, it is worth teaching that when spinning R, one points one's chin to the R and follows it around. I have seen even dancers who have danced for awhile spin them selves the other way. When spinning the 'right' way, your left hand is free and momentum easily swings it to the center for a star L. If you happened to have spun the other way, there is no way to flow gracefully into the star. If I hadn't seen this awkward spinning from the stage, I would not have believed people could keep choosing what looks to me like such a counter intuitive motion, but they do. If this is the second spin to the R dance of the night or you have a crowd of at least somewhat experienced dancers, they will enjoy the flow very much. A Sent from my iPhone On Oct 31, 2012, at 9:29 PM, Kalia Kliban <kalia(a)sbcglobal.net> wrote:

...

Hi all Just wondering about a transition in Nathaniel Jack's "Walk the Plank." It looks like a nice bouncy dance with good rebound, but there's a transition from a petronella twirl into a LH star at the end, and in the absence of a group of guinea pigs here at the house I thought I'd ask if anyone's tried this and what they think. Here are the notes: Walk the Plank Duple Imp. A1 4,4 Neighbor balance, Al right 3/4 8 Men Al left 1-1/2 A2 16 Partner Bal + Swing, end facing down B1 8 Down the hall in lines of 4, turn alone 8 Come back up, bend the line to a circle B2 8 Balance the ring, spin right one place 8 Star left 1ce around. Is it comfortable to come from that twirl into catching L hands for a star? Kalia _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

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Bob Isaacs

7:19 p.m.

Ron and All: Local tastes may vary, but if you're calling at a series where Petronella clapping is automatic, you can mention not clapping on the Petro/star transition (first seen in Becky Hill's Kitchen Stomp, I believe), but I wouldn't push that too hard. If one of the four claps, the other three have to wait for the clapper. It's different on Petro/allemande or Petro/swing transitions, where only two dancers need to agree on valuing flow over flourishes - Bob > From: contraron(a)gmail.com > Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:06:34 -0500 > To: callers(a)sharedweight.net > Subject: Re: [Callers] Walk the Plank > > I have a Petro-spin-to-star in a dance of mine, a move I stole from another > dance (Middle School Drama, or something like that?). People are going to > clap, so I recommend mentioning in the walkthrough that the dance is > smoother if the hands go right in sans-clap. > > -Ron > >

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Jack Mitchell

8:28 p.m.

Rather than saying "Don't clap" I have found that it can work well to put the emphasis on what they can do to make the dance work well...Balance the ring and twirl straight into your partner's arms for a swing. Or in this case, balance and twirl to the right, letting the twirl send your left hand into the center for a star....or something like that. On 11/14/2012 3:18 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote:

...

I called this the other night and noticed that as the clap crept in during the course of the dance the star got later and later, and more ragged. In some dances the clap is fine. In this dance it definitely gets in the way. That clap can be hard to quash, though. Next time I call this, I'll make the point during the teaching and see if it sticks. Clapping isn't an absolute given here (SF Bay Area) but it tends to spread if anyone does it even once. Kalia On 11/14/2012 11:19 AM, Bob Isaacs wrote:

Local tastes may vary, but if you're calling at a series where Petronella clapping is automatic, you can mention not clapping on the Petro/star transition (first seen in Becky Hill's Kitchen Stomp, I believe), but I wouldn't push that too hard. If one of the four claps, the other three have to wait for the clapper. It's different on Petro/allemande or Petro/swing transitions, where only two dancers need to agree on valuing flow over flourishes - Bob > From: contraron(a)gmail.com > > I have a Petro-spin-to-star in a dance of mine, a move I stole from > another > dance (Middle School Drama, or something like that?). People are > going to > clap, so I recommend mentioning in the walkthrough that the dance is > smoother if the hands go right in sans-clap. > > -Ron

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Chris Lahey

15 Nov 15 Nov

12:04 a.m.

I call in the Cambridge area where clapping for a Petronella is ubiquitous. When I called Kitchen Stomp recently though, I mentioned the possibility of not clapping because I love the feeling of going smoothly into that left hand star. I specifically told them that usually I encourage clapping and talked about how nice it felt and actually got most of them to clap for the first petronella and not for the second. I think I may have kept prompting the star and if I'm remembering correctly, that helped them remember not to clap. On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM, Maia McCormick <maia.mcc(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

A la "The Cure for the Claps"? http://www.sharedweight.net/pipermail/callers/2007-September/001024.html On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 3:28 PM, Jack Mitchell <jamitch3(a)mindspring.com>wrote;wrote:

Rather than saying "Don't clap" I have found that it can work well to put the emphasis on what they can do to make the dance work well...Balance the ring and twirl straight into your partner's arms for a swing. Or in this case, balance and twirl to the right, letting the twirl send your left hand into the center for a star....or something like that. On 11/14/2012 3:18 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote:

I called this the other night and noticed that as the clap crept in during the course of the dance the star got later and later, and more ragged. In some dances the clap is fine. In this dance it definitely gets in the way. That clap can be hard to quash, though. Next time I call this, I'll make the point during the teaching and see if it sticks. Clapping isn't an absolute given here (SF Bay Area) but it tends to spread if anyone does it even once. Kalia On 11/14/2012 11:19 AM, Bob Isaacs wrote:

Local tastes may vary, but if you're calling at a series where Petronella clapping is automatic, you can mention not clapping on the Petro/star transition (first seen in Becky Hill's Kitchen Stomp, I believe), but I wouldn't push that too hard. If one of the four claps, the other three have to wait for the clapper. It's different on Petro/allemande or Petro/swing transitions, where only two dancers need to agree on valuing flow over flourishes - Bob From: contraron(a)gmail.com > > I have a Petro-spin-to-star in a dance of mine, a move I stole from > another > dance (Middle School Drama, or something like that?). People are going > to > clap, so I recommend mentioning in the walkthrough that the dance is > smoother if the hands go right in sans-clap. > > -Ron > ______________________________**_________________

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Richard Mckeever

3:06 p.m.

In my opinion - this is getting too regimented again. I never tell dancers if they should clap or not. I have been known to let them know how I feel about it in light hearted way. Just let them dance and focus on the important stuff Mac ________________________________ From: Jeff Kaufman <jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 8:57 AM Subject: Re: [Callers] Walk the Plank Chris Lahey wrote:

...

I specifically told them that usually I encourage clapping and talked about how nice it felt and actually got most of them to clap for the first petronella and not for the second.

I think presenting yourself as being on the pro-clapping side is probably key to why that worked for you. Many callers don't like clapping on petronellas and dancers who like the clapping know that callers think this. So when a caller says "don't clap", even if it really is specific to this particular dance, a lot of people think "don't tell me how to dance" and ignore them. Jeff _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

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Bob Green

6:28 a.m.

In the Missouri tradition of Gene Hubert.... http://dancevideos.childgrove.org/contra/contra-modern/318-drama-in-middle-… ..... On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 1:06 PM, Ron T Blechner <contraron(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

I have a Petro-spin-to-star in a dance of mine, a move I stole from another dance (Middle School Drama, or something like that?). People are going to clap, so I recommend mentioning in the walkthrough that the dance is smoother if the hands go right in sans-clap. -Ron On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 11:14 PM, Andrea Nettleton < twirly-girl(a)bellsouth.net> wrote:

It works great as long as everyone spins the appropriate way. If you

have

new dancers in the crowd, it is worth teaching that when spinning R, one points one's chin to the R and follows it around. I have seen even

dancers

who have danced for awhile spin them selves the other way. When spinning the 'right' way, your left hand is free and momentum easily swings it to the center for a star L. If you happened to have spun the other way,

there

is no way to flow gracefully into the star. If I hadn't seen this

awkward

spinning from the stage, I would not have believed people could keep choosing what looks to me like such a counter intuitive motion, but they do. If this is the second spin to the R dance of the night or you have a crowd of at least somewhat experienced dancers, they will enjoy the flow very much. A Sent from my iPhone On Oct 31, 2012, at 9:29 PM, Kalia Kliban <kalia(a)sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Hi all Just wondering about a transition in Nathaniel Jack's "Walk the Plank."

It looks like a nice bouncy dance with good rebound, but there's a transition from a petronella twirl into a LH star at the end, and in the absence of a group of guinea pigs here at the house I thought I'd ask if anyone's tried this and what they think. Here are the notes:

Walk the Plank Duple Imp. A1 4,4 Neighbor balance, Al right 3/4 8 Men Al left 1-1/2 A2 16 Partner Bal + Swing, end facing down B1 8 Down the hall in lines of 4, turn alone 8 Come back up, bend the line to a circle B2 8 Balance the ring, spin right one place 8 Star left 1ce around. Is it comfortable to come from that twirl into catching L hands for a

star?

Kalia _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

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