10 Feb
2020
10 Feb
'20
3:56 p.m.
Hi Becky,
Lots of good references and advice here. Three things I would add are:
1. If you are diagramming, you will have better results using items with
"faces". For a lot of dances, which direction each dancer is facing can
also be important (think of box circulates and the like).
2. Like many things, diagramming is a skill that gets better with practice.
Even if you find a good app online, keep diagramming at least a few dances
on your own. You will find it easier over time.
3. If a dance is really difficult to diagram, it's most likely not worth
it, except as diagramming practice. Consider that all the trouble you have
diagramming is likely to extend as you figure out how to teach a particular
dance.
Best of luck in your search,
Greg
On Sun, Feb 9, 2020 at 2:02 PM Becky Liddle via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I doubt this exists, but thought I’d ask:
I have seen on-line apps that demonstrate just one particular move (a
ravens chain or whatever) showing how each dancer moves in that single
call/move.
But has anyone yet programmed something that allows you to put in all the
moves of a full contra dance, so you can see how all the dancers in a
contra line interact?
I’m trying to figure out movements and end effects using a magnetic
whiteboard, moving magnets around, but it is both painstakingly slow and I
keep screwing it up.
I know the ideal way to figure out end effects and make sure a dance works
before calling it is to get a few friends together to walk it thru, but
short of getting that many contra dancers in a room (I have one friend who
offers them pie as incentive, but I’m no pastry chef!), has anyone figured
out a better system for visualizing dancer interactions and end effects
other than magnets on a whiteboard?
Assuming an on-line simulator doesn’t exist, I’m about to go that
magnet/whiteboard route, so if anyone cares to suggest the least
mind-boggling way to set that up (Lark 1A, Raven 1A, Lark 2A, Raven 2A,
etc?) do chime in! I need some way to label each dancer so that when they
leave their minor set, and then, say, do a left diagonal ravens chain back
to their partner I can tell if it really IS their own partner or if I’ve
screwed up again. :-(
I find online videos can sometimes help me visualize the interactions in
the middle of the line (if the videographer will hold still long enough for
me to see a whole run-thru of the dance with one minor set), but I can
almost never see end effects in those.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Becky Liddle, Toronto
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10 Feb
10 Feb
4:56 p.m.
New subject: Is there an on-line simulator to visualize/observe contra dance moves/interactions?
Thanks, everyone, for your great suggestions!! I checked out 3 options and
Personally, I’ve fallen in love with Cary Ravitz’s Micro Robot Dance animator:
https://www.dance.ravitz.us/mrd.php <https://www.dance.ravitz.us/mrd.php>
Things I love about it:
—You can tell which way the dancers are facing (they sort of have beaks).
—One pair of dancers is highlighted so you can tell when partners separate (e.g., into
other minor sets) then come back together.
—You can control the speed of the animation (so when I want to get the highlighted dancers
to the ends to study end effects I don’t have to wait so long, and then once they get
there I can slow them down to watch closely.)
Challenges:
It uses a text-box to enter the commands/moves so the text has to be exactly right. Cary
suggested I find dances that are already in the data bank and copy & paste the
appropriate commands from there to avoid typos. My last computer coding class was in the
1970s (BASIC) so that is totally my speed anyway. :-)
I suspect if I use it a lot I’ll get to the point where I can just type in the commands
(Cary seems to be able to do it instantly!)
To give you an idea what it looks like, below is the dance I wanted to animate, followed
by the coded version Cary coded so you can plug into the text box in the “dance builder.”
Roger’s New Contra Roger Auman Becket-L
A1. 8 Ravens chain across
8 Circle Left 3 places and pass through (pass partner by R shoulder)
A2. 8 Star Left 3 places with shadow
8 Right diagonal ravens chain to partner
B1. 16 Hey across (full hey--ravens start passing right shoulders)
B2. 4,12 Partner balance & swing
to watch robots dance it:
go to https://www.dance.ravitz.us/mrd.php <https://www.dance.ravitz.us/mrd.php>
and put this in text box:
Roger's New Contra - Roger Auman
becket
chain
circlepassthrough
starleft.75
chainright
heypassright
balanceandswing
Watching the robots for a while I was able to see these end effects which will be useful
when teaching the dance:
End effects (checked on dance.ravitz.us/red.php Micro Robot Dance animator)
When booted out separate from your partner, wait on Right side for the (almost immediate)
diagonal chain back to them.
When booted out again with your partner, wait improper ½ the dance and you’re back in on
the shadow star.
For last little pause: As in all Becket dances, if you’re on the side with your partner
and no one is there for the move, do nothing. You’re right back in on next move (the
hey).
Watching the end effects also allowed me to see which 3 moments in the dance the folks who
are out will need a prompt to know how to get back in (diagonal chain, shadow star, and
hey) so I will call those moves longer than the others to avoid confusion at the ends of
the lines.
THANK YOU CARY for this amazing resource!!!!
Becky Liddle (Toronto)
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Gregory Frock