16 Nov
2020
16 Nov
'20
4:52 p.m.
Hi All,
At work, we have a Fun Friday thing where someone does a 1/2 hr
presentation on something of interest. It could be travel, a hobby, or
whatever. They're asking me to do one on contra dance. In the before times
when we could do it in person, I would have taught them a simple dance to
recorded music. But I'm trying to think about what to say about contra in
1/2 an hour that'll be fun. Someone else did latin ballroom dancing and
they tried to share their screen and play a bunch of videos, which was a
total fail, but then they shared the youtube links and people loved it.
Contra isn't quite as sexy as that, and he was doing performances rather
than taking videos of salsa at the club, so it was pretty impressive.
Thoughts? I know a little about contra history, but I'm not super
passionate about it. I can certainly play a bunch of the great music. I can
show clips of large events (Folklife), techno contra, family dances, and
other variants (tractor contas, anyone).
One thing I'd love to do is to get people up and dancing, but I realize
that's probably not going to work. I regularly attend Zoom dances, but I
don't think a bunch of non-dancers will just get up and have fun having
never learned any of the moves. If anyone's got a great dance that
beginners can do (no terminology) and that's designed for singles or the
occasional couple, please share. Luckily a bunch of singles dances are
being written now, but they mostly assume an experienced audience.
Cheers,
Adam
16 Nov
16 Nov
6:54 p.m.
What an exciting opportunity!
A half hour is a very tight period of time but also very workable if you
keep it simple. If it were me, I'd talk less, show more and get them
dancing to something really simple so they recognize the freedom of Contra
dance (no fancy steps, unlike the Ballroom dance). Agreed regarding the
virtual dance compositions so far being tailored to existing dancers... so
here's a couple that I'd feel comfortable using in your situation.
Be sure to test your tech for calling over music beforehand - many
platforms fail to handle both without specific tricks.
Good luck - let us know how it goes!
Don
Easiest:
Haste to the Video Call - Solo/Singlet - Don Veino 20201116
No need to care about separate PNR roles. Obv. riff off *Haste to the
Wedding* & for that tune.
A1 Line/2 Forward & Back;
(w/PNR) Sashay to Camera & Back (or repeat Fwd & Back)
A2 Allemande/Star Left to fill music; Right
B1 PNR Dosido 1x; Clap, 2-Hand Turn 1x
B2 PNR Dosido 1x; Clap, 2-Hand Turn 1x & face to camera
As solo, can omit any mention of Partner and face camera instead. Should be
very robust, most moves can be reversed in direction with no negative
outcome.
A Notch Higher:
Bubbly Starter - Solo/Singlet - Don Veino 20201116
No need to care about separate PNR roles. A1/B2 riff off my *Sourdough
Starter* to make it easier.
A1 Line/2 Forward & Back;
PNR Dosido (or repeat Fwd & Back)
A2 Circle Left; Right
B1 Star/Allemande Right; Left
B2 Loop Single Right (away from PNR & back); PNR Swing
(can substitute Dosido for Swing if A1 done as 2x Line/2 Fwd & Back)
As solo, can omit any mention of Partner and face camera instead.
On Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 11:52 AM Adam Carlson via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi All,
At work, we have a Fun Friday thing where someone does a 1/2 hr
presentation on something of interest. It could be travel, a hobby, or
whatever. They're asking me to do one on contra dance. In the before times
when we could do it in person, I would have taught them a simple dance to
recorded music. But I'm trying to think about what to say about contra in
1/2 an hour that'll be fun. Someone else did latin ballroom dancing and
they tried to share their screen and play a bunch of videos, which was a
total fail, but then they shared the youtube links and people loved it.
Contra isn't quite as sexy as that, and he was doing performances rather
than taking videos of salsa at the club, so it was pretty impressive.
Thoughts? I know a little about contra history, but I'm not super
passionate about it. I can certainly play a bunch of the great music. I can
show clips of large events (Folklife), techno contra, family dances, and
other variants (tractor contas, anyone).
One thing I'd love to do is to get people up and dancing, but I realize
that's probably not going to work. I regularly attend Zoom dances, but I
don't think a bunch of non-dancers will just get up and have fun having
never learned any of the moves. If anyone's got a great dance that
beginners can do (no terminology) and that's designed for singles or the
occasional couple, please share. Luckily a bunch of singles dances are
being written now, but they mostly assume an experienced audience.
Cheers,
Adam
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9:59 p.m.
As someone who's deeply interested in dance history, I can tell you that approximately
nobody cares, at least until they're invested in the dance form. If you want you can
spend 10 seconds mentioning that it's an American cultural hybrid with roots from
before the Revolution and has contributions from different ethnicities/races including
Black, White, and Native American. Or not. If you go historical, avoid suggesting that
it's an exclusively-White cultural product.
It might be worth mentioning that it's fun we make for ourselves, that there are
regional styles, that callers and musicians are usually community members and can be found
dancing when they're not calling or playing.
I've seen at least one pretty sexy contra video from Asheville.
-- Alan
________________________________
From: Adam Carlson via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2020 8:52 AM
To: callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: [Callers] How to talk about contra dance to the uninitiated on Zoom
Hi All,
At work, we have a Fun Friday thing where someone does a 1/2 hr presentation on something
of interest. It could be travel, a hobby, or whatever. They're asking me to do one on
contra dance. In the before times when we could do it in person, I would have taught them
a simple dance to recorded music. But I'm trying to think about what to say about
contra in 1/2 an hour that'll be fun. Someone else did latin ballroom dancing and they
tried to share their screen and play a bunch of videos, which was a total fail, but then
they shared the youtube links and people loved it. Contra isn't quite as sexy as that,
and he was doing performances rather than taking videos of salsa at the club, so it was
pretty impressive.
Thoughts? I know a little about contra history, but I'm not super passionate about it.
I can certainly play a bunch of the great music. I can show clips of large events
(Folklife), techno contra, family dances, and other variants (tractor contas, anyone).
One thing I'd love to do is to get people up and dancing, but I realize that's
probably not going to work. I regularly attend Zoom dances, but I don't think a bunch
of non-dancers will just get up and have fun having never learned any of the moves. If
anyone's got a great dance that beginners can do (no terminology) and that's
designed for singles or the occasional couple, please share. Luckily a bunch of singles
dances are being written now, but they mostly assume an experienced audience.
Cheers,
Adam
11 p.m.
Hi all,
I have a playlist of contra videos for the uninitiated. One of them might
be from Asheville but I'm not sure.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhxCPUBwPBkHaBPxyYs1crMkCmDzAH9rE&am…
Enjoy,
Sarah
On Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 4:59 PM Winston, Alan P. via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
As someone who's deeply interested in dance
history, I can tell you that
approximately nobody cares, at least until they're invested in the dance
form. If you want you can spend 10 seconds mentioning that it's an
American cultural hybrid with roots from before the Revolution and has
contributions from different ethnicities/races including Black, White, and
Native American. Or not. If you go historical, avoid suggesting that it's
an exclusively-White cultural product.
It might be worth mentioning that it's fun we make for ourselves, that
there are regional styles, that callers and musicians are usually community
members and can be found dancing when they're not calling or playing.
I've seen at least one pretty sexy contra video from Asheville.
-- Alan
------------------------------
*From:* Adam Carlson via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* Monday, November 16, 2020 8:52 AM
*To:* callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* [Callers] How to talk about contra dance to the uninitiated on
Zoom
Hi All,
At work, we have a Fun Friday thing where someone does a 1/2 hr
presentation on something of interest. It could be travel, a hobby, or
whatever. They're asking me to do one on contra dance. In the before times
when we could do it in person, I would have taught them a simple dance to
recorded music. But I'm trying to think about what to say about contra in
1/2 an hour that'll be fun. Someone else did latin ballroom dancing and
they tried to share their screen and play a bunch of videos, which was a
total fail, but then they shared the youtube links and people loved it.
Contra isn't quite as sexy as that, and he was doing performances rather
than taking videos of salsa at the club, so it was pretty impressive.
Thoughts? I know a little about contra history, but I'm not super
passionate about it. I can certainly play a bunch of the great music. I can
show clips of large events (Folklife), techno contra, family dances, and
other variants (tractor contas, anyone).
One thing I'd love to do is to get people up and dancing, but I realize
that's probably not going to work. I regularly attend Zoom dances, but I
don't think a bunch of non-dancers will just get up and have fun having
never learned any of the moves. If anyone's got a great dance that
beginners can do (no terminology) and that's designed for singles or the
occasional couple, please share. Luckily a bunch of singles dances are
being written now, but they mostly assume an experienced audience.
Cheers,
Adam
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To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
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4 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
Adam Carlson -
Diane Silver -
Don Veino -
Sarah Bustin -
Winston, Alan P.