A Shadow Swing and New moves for contras... - Contra Callers

24 Jan 2008

Greetings!
I very much agree with Greg's list of "thoughts about contra dance  
moves".  This is an area that begs for lots of wonderful  
conversations among callers...we have a responsibility to keep a  
healthy balance between the traditions, and the evolution of dancing.  
I encourage one of you to apply for NEFFA 2009 (the schedule for 2008  
is all done!), with this as a topic for discussion!

And as for shadow swings, three cheers to Chris Weiler for his  
thoughts! One of the most satisfying venues for me to call is the  
community dance, where dancers are happy to dance with each other,  
regardless of skill. There is a recognition of the need to "take  
care" of one another in order for the joy of the dance to be shared  
by all, and an understanding that the dancing will continue only if  
we make sure that new dancers feel welcome. The dance in Rehoboth,  
MA  is probably one of the best community dances that demonstrates  
this commitment. I, like Chris, when dancing, tend to wait until the  
last minute, and ask someone I don't know, or who seems shy, to  
dance. If is works out to be fun, then it is great for both of us; if  
is was not so pleasurable, thus is life....and after all, a dance is  
*only* 12 minutes or so!  The same can be said for having a shadow  
that you do not choose: there is the potential serendipity of making  
a new friend, or the possibility of a less than thrilling experience.  
I am willing to take the risk! Certainly only one dance in an evening  
with a shadow swing would be advisable, but not calling any at all  
also seems to me to be a mistake.

I am also reminded of an experience at a very small dance on Cape  
Cod. A not so skilled dancer (gent) who had trouble hearing the  
calls, was a fervent attendee at the dance in Sandwich. Because the  
number of dancers is small (though high in energy!), it was obvious  
that this gent was left out until the end or entirely, and often  
would be paired with new dancers. The experienced women got together  
and decided that they would each take a turn asking him to dance one  
dance on any given evening. What a marvelous plan! He was as happy as  
could be, smiling the whole evening, and the dance in general was  
more enjoyable for all as a consequence. He may not have been on  
time, or skilled, but the joy from him made everybody feel great!

So Jeremy, I would say don't be shy about calling a dance with a  
shadow swing!
warmly, Linda Leslie

...

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

 Message: 1
 Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:48:49 -0800 (GMT-08:00)
 From: Greg McKenzie &lt;gregmck(a)earthlink.net&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] What did he say !??? MWSD
 To: Caller's discussion list &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID:
 	<20647868.1201114129207.JavaMail.root@elwamui- 
 polski.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

 Jerome wrote:
  One other thing I might mention about bringing
Modern Western  
 Square moves
 into Contra crowds: ... 
 Then there is also the other, more basic, discussion about both the  
 advisability of this course and the responsibilities it entails.

 The contra dance tradition, as it currently stands, is still one of  
 the most effective means of bringing a roomfull of people with  
 widely varying skill levels together in a joyful evening of social  
 dance to live music, without the requirement of separate lessons.

 For some of us this is the most attracive quality of contras.  An  
 effort to increase the number of calls and the skills necessary to  
 participate at any evening of contra dance is a bold course that  
 could do violence to the traditional role of contras.  An effort to  
 do so should be pursued with caution.  Each step in this direction  
 should be precluded with a series of questions:

 - How will this addition affect the confidence level of first-time  
 dancers in the hall?

 - How will it affect their ability to participate and the  
 likelihood that they will return?

 - How should I characterize this addition to make it clear that it  
 varies from the basic tradition of contras?

 - What is the appropriate venue to introduce this kind of  
 variation?  (Dance camps, special events, festivals, or regular  
 contra dance series?)

 - Are my variations significant enough over the course of the  
 evening that I have a responsibility to distinguish this event, in  
 the publicity, from a regular evening of contras?

 - Would I like to see this variation become a part of the contra  
 dance tradition?

 Just a thought,
 Greg McKenzie

 . . . and Chris did an excellent job calling a fun dance he co- 
 wrote. Will you consider posting it on SharedWeight, Chris?

 During the same open mike session, I enjoyed dancing Nils  
 Fredland's "Head of the Bed" to Dave Eisenstatter's calling, and it  
 got me thinking. I've called dances with shadow swings  
 infrequently, because in the back of my head I think about the  
 following excerpt from Cary Ravitz's notes on contra choreography:  
 "Watch out for excessive trail buddy interaction. People don't  
 choose their trail buddy and they are stuck with them for the  
 entire dance. . . . Trail buddy swings are not allowed."

 However, Cary also emphasizes that those are his personal  
 preferences, and others' preferences may vary. So I'd appreciate  
 others' thoughts on this -- are shadow swings as strongly negative  
 an issue for you as they are for Cary? Clearly they were not an  
 issue for Nils when writing "Head of the Bed" or Seth T. when  
 writing "Meg's a Dancing Fool," for instance.

 Thanks,
 Jeremy

 Jeremy Korr
 East of Los Angeles

 _________________________________________________________________
 Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live.
 http://www.windowslive.com/share.html? 
 ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008

 ------------------------------

 Message: 3
 Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:37:56 -0500
 From: "Koren A. Wake" &lt;koren.a.wake(a)gmail.com&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings
 To: "Caller's discussion list" &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID:
 	&lt;99d834190801231337t76308643w47506638aed005a0(a)mail.gmail.com&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

 This is my opinion mainly as a dancer, not so much as a caller, but  
 I'm
 inclined to agree with Cary - especially when you consider that the  
 more
 shadow interaction there is, the less partner interaction!  A nice  
 shadow
 move that bounces me back to my partner can be very cool, and when  
 my shadow
 is a good dancer or good friend of mine, I'm happy to have more shadow
 interaction, but it's a gamble.  I might be stuck with a shadow  
 who's a
 terrible dancer, or smells bad, or is generally just not someone  
 I'd want to
 dance with, and not only are you (the choreographer and caller)  
 forcing me
 to swing him every time through the dance, you're also taking me  
 away from
 the person who I *did* choose to dance with.

 On the other hand, there are really cool dances with lots of shadow
 interaction, too.  If the dance itself is cool enough, I'm willing  
 to let
 myself get pulled away from my partner more.

 - Koren

 On 1/23/08, J L Korr &lt;jeremykorr(a)hotmail.com&gt; wrote:

  Message: 4
 Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:35:16 -0500 (EST)
 From: Greg McKenzie &lt;gregmck(a)earthlink.net&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings
 To: Caller's discussion list &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID:
 	<11856886.1201127716708.JavaMail.root@elwamui- 
 karabash.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

 Jeremy,

 I enjoy shadow swings.

 Greg

 ********
> Chris Weiler wrote:

 Message: 5
 Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:47:16 -0800 (PST)
 From: Mark Galipeau &lt;red72impala(a)yahoo.com&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings
 To: Caller's discussion list &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID: &lt;897118.62150.qm(a)web83611.mail.sp1.yahoo.com&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

 I love it when I have a shadow, without a swing, and
 the caller throws in in the last iteration of the
 dance, swing your shadow, just as a final good bye
 gesture!  Makes for a nice finish to a dance.

 Message: 7
 Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:23:38 -0500
 From: Chris Weiler &lt;chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org&gt;
 Subject: [Callers] Give the Scout a Hand
 To: Shared Weight &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID: &lt;4798915A.2030804(a)weirdtable.org&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

 Jeremy,

 Here is the dance that you asked for:

 Give the Scout a Hand          Becket-L
 Bob Isaacs and Chris Weiler

 A1.  Circle L 3/4, neighbor swing
 A2.  Long lines, gents allemande L 1 1/2 - give R to partner
 B1.  Balance, box the gnat, 1/2 hey with hands (partner pull by R,  
 gents
 pull by L, neighbor pull by R, ladies pull by L)
 B2.  Partner balance, swing, then slide L, etc.

 Written for a fundraiser auction for the Concord Scout House in  
 Concord,
 MA. Written 6/17/07. I prefer the 1/2 hey with hands to a standard hey
 since it gives the whole dance a connected feeling. I have used it  
 with
 mixed crowds before with success.

 Best,
 Chris

 ------------------------------

 Message: 8
 Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:35:52 -0500
 From: Chris Weiler &lt;chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings
 To: Caller's discussion list &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID: &lt;47989438.5050705(a)weirdtable.org&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

 Jeremy,

 I agree with Koren that it's a crap shoot when you call a shadow  
 swing.
 I definitely would never call one with a crowd that has more than a
 minimal number of beginners. I also would never call more than one  
 in an
 evening.

 That said, I like the gamble. I think that I'm a little unusual in  
 that
 I very often in the evening wait until the last minute to find a  
 partner
 and take whoever is available. I've met some wonderful dancers and
 friends that way. Sometimes I get to dance with someone I haven't  
 danced
 with in a long time. I think it's fun. The shadow swing can be the  
 same
 way. Quite often when I have shadow interaction in a dance, I'll  
 ask my
 shadow to be my next partner when the dance is done.

 Head of the Bed is unusual with it's 3 swings (Neighbor, Partner and
 Shadow). When I first danced it at the Flurry, I knew I had to collect
 it. But I haven't had more than one opportunity to call it. 8^) It's a
 fun dance!

 Happy Dancing!
 Chris