2 Dec
2013
2 Dec
'13
8:27 a.m.
Hi All,
A band I'm working with on an upcoming contra dance gig has asked me if I
can find a dance to fit some AABBCC tunes they have. They mentioned Real
Beatrice, and suggested that a balance at the top of C1 might work very
well.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
William
--
wjw1961(a)gmail.com
This is my bulk mail / mailing list address.
William J. Watson
2 Dec
2 Dec
1:46 p.m.
Hi William:
I had a similar request a few years ago, and wrote the following. There are two problems
with AABBCC contras:
1. They don't progress as often, so a double progression was suggested. But with all
double progressions, there is also the other issue of having significant activity with
each neighbor.
2. It can be a challenge to fill up 96 beats without repeating figures.
Triple Double Improper, double progression, 1/27/10
A1. 4,12 N1 balance, swing
A2. 4,4 Circle L 1/2, gents roll partner across
4,4 Circle L 1/2, gents roll N1 along
B1. 6,10 Cross trail through, N2 swing
B2. 8,8 Gents allemande L 1 1/2, 1/2 hey (PR, LL, N2R, GL)
C1. 4,12 Partner balance, swing
C2. 8,8 Ladies chain to N2, star L
As with any dance exceeding A1-B2, be prepared to call it all the way through. Most
contra dancers are not conditioned to remembering dances of this length well enough to go
on autopilot.
Bob
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 00:27:28 -0800
From: wjw1961(a)gmail.com
To: callers(a)sharedweight.net; trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Callers] Favorite AABBCC contra dances?
Hi All,
A band I'm working with on an upcoming contra dance gig has asked me if I
can find a dance to fit some AABBCC tunes they have. They mentioned Real
Beatrice, and suggested that a balance at the top of C1 might work very
well.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
William
--
wjw1961(a)gmail.com
This is my bulk mail / mailing list address.
William J. Watson
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
2:19 p.m.
Major Hey by Erik Hoffman. I think you can find it with a quick search; if
not, I'll write it out for you.
BTW, William, you wrote one of my favorite dances: Devil's Backbone. Thank
you!
-----Original Message-----
From: William Watson
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2013 3:27 AM
To: Caller's discussion list ; trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Callers] Favorite AABBCC contra dances?
Hi All,
A band I'm working with on an upcoming contra dance gig has asked me if I
can find a dance to fit some AABBCC tunes they have. They mentioned Real
Beatrice, and suggested that a balance at the top of C1 might work very
well.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
William
--
wjw1961(a)gmail.com
This is my bulk mail / mailing list address.
William J. Watson
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
4:16 p.m.
Major Hey is an AABBC dance, or 40-bars, not 48.
Just in case that's also include-able:
Major Hey
4-face-4 Becket
Line up as a four face four, identify your traveling partners (your "hey
buddy") then identify your direction of travel -- ones progressing down,
twos up. Then in circles of four, circle left one place. Now traveling
buddies are facing the "same wall," so identify "your original wall."
A1 Circle left 3/4, pass through up and down (direction of travel), and
swing the new neighbor end facing in (facing partner)
A2 Long lines forward and back (toward partner) (there are four lines,
sort of two contras); Men (in lines facing) allemande left 1-1/2 to
make waves of 8 -- partner in right (women in center lines that were
back to back join left hands)
B1 Rory O'More Balances towards and away from partner -- you know, twice
B2 Half hey for 8, start passing partner's right shoulder, when you
meet your partner the next time
C Partner Balance & Swing
Note that though I call it AABBC, there are tunes that work fine that
are played AABCC, like Little Billy Wilson or Three Thin Dimes.
I've had experiences calling this and having it run really smoothly --
with 1 walk through, and times when I've called it to dancers I thought
could do it, and couldn't successfully teach it -- even after 3
walk-throughs, thus watched it fall apart with confusion.
~erik hoffman
Oakland, CA
On 12/2/2013 6:19 AM, Bree Kalb wrote:
Major Hey by Erik Hoffman. I think you can find it
with a quick
search; if not, I'll write it out for you.
BTW, William, you wrote one of my favorite dances: Devil's Backbone.
Thank you!
-----Original Message----- From: William Watson
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2013 3:27 AM
To: Caller's discussion list ; trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Callers] Favorite AABBCC contra dances?
Hi All,
A band I'm working with on an upcoming contra dance gig has asked me if I
can find a dance to fit some AABBCC tunes they have. They mentioned Real
Beatrice, and suggested that a balance at the top of C1 might work very
well.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
William
--
wjw1961(a)gmail.com
This is my bulk mail / mailing list address.
William J. Watson
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
5:35 p.m.
My favorite 48 bar dance *as a dancer* is this dance of Seth Tepfer's,
http://www.dancerhapsody.com/calling/dances.html#PP40Years
It is a quintuple progression :-)
Les
On Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 8:16 AM, Erik Hoffman <erik(a)erikhoffman.com> wrote:
Major Hey is an AABBC dance, or 40-bars, not 48.
Just in case that's also include-able:
Major Hey
4-face-4 Becket
Line up as a four face four, identify your traveling partners (your "hey
buddy") then identify your direction of travel -- ones progressing down,
twos up. Then in circles of four, circle left one place. Now traveling
buddies are facing the "same wall," so identify "your original
wall."
A1 Circle left 3/4, pass through up and down (direction of travel), and
swing the new neighbor end facing in (facing partner)
A2 Long lines forward and back (toward partner) (there are four lines,
sort of two contras); Men (in lines facing) allemande left 1-1/2 to make
waves of 8 -- partner in right (women in center lines that were back to
back join left hands)
B1 Rory O'More Balances towards and away from partner -- you know, twice
B2 Half hey for 8, start passing partner's right shoulder, when you meet
your partner the next time
C Partner Balance & Swing
Note that though I call it AABBC, there are tunes that work fine that are
played AABCC, like Little Billy Wilson or Three Thin Dimes.
I've had experiences calling this and having it run really smoothly --
with 1 walk through, and times when I've called it to dancers I thought
could do it, and couldn't successfully teach it -- even after 3
walk-throughs, thus watched it fall apart with confusion.
~erik hoffman
Oakland, CA
On 12/2/2013 6:19 AM, Bree Kalb wrote:
Major Hey by Erik Hoffman. I think you can find
it with a quick search;
if not, I'll write it out for you.
BTW, William, you wrote one of my favorite dances: Devil's Backbone.
Thank you!
-----Original Message----- From: William Watson
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2013 3:27 AM
To: Caller's discussion list ; trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Callers] Favorite AABBCC contra dances?
Hi All,
A band I'm working with on an upcoming contra dance gig has asked me if I
can find a dance to fit some AABBCC tunes they have. They mentioned Real
Beatrice, and suggested that a balance at the top of C1 might work very
well.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
William
--
wjw1961(a)gmail.com
This is my bulk mail / mailing list address.
William J. Watson
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
11 Dec
11 Dec
7:09 a.m.
Hi Folks!
Thank you all for your very prompt responses to my inquiry! Of the several
suggestions you sent along, I opted to call Bob Isaac;s dance Triple
Double. I felt it provided the best match to the band's request. As Bob
advised, I did end up prompting at least some of the moves all the way
through (every more following the three swings). I think it all worked
well, and I'm happy to have the addition(s) to my repertoire!
In addition to the new dance, I was warned in advance of another potential
challenge: a fairly new dancer decided that she wanted to celebrate her
14th birthday by bringing all her friends to our dance. Luckily, they all
accepted the suggestion of arriving in time for the newcomers' session.
Almost all of them, nearly twenty, danced every dance of the first half. At
least a few danced in every dance, all the way to the end of the evening.
They received a warm welcome from our community, and all appeared to have a
good time. We very much hope to see them return.
Thanks again, and very best regards,
William
Portland, Oregon
P. S. Bree: Thank you for the kind words about The Devil's Backbone. I'm
delighted to see it occasionally surface, fifteen years after I composed it.
On Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 9:35 AM, Les Addison <les.addison(a)gmail.com> wrote:
My favorite 48 bar dance *as a dancer* is this dance
of Seth Tepfer's,
http://www.dancerhapsody.com/calling/dances.html#PP40Years
It is a quintuple progression :-)
Les
On Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 8:16 AM, Erik Hoffman <erik(a)erikhoffman.com> wrote:
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
--
--
wjw1961(a)gmail.com
This is my bulk mail / mailing list address.
William J. Watson
Major Hey is an AABBC dance, or 40-bars, not 48.
Just in case that's also include-able:
Major Hey
4-face-4 Becket
Line up as a four face four, identify your traveling partners (your "hey
buddy") then identify your direction of travel -- ones progressing down,
twos up. Then in circles of four, circle left one place. Now traveling
buddies are facing the "same wall," so identify "your original
wall."
A1 Circle left 3/4, pass through up and down (direction of travel), and
swing the new neighbor end facing in (facing partner)
A2 Long lines forward and back (toward partner) (there are four lines,
sort of two contras); Men (in lines facing) allemande left 1-1/2 to make
waves of 8 -- partner in right (women in center lines that were back to
back join left hands)
B1 Rory O'More Balances towards and away from partner -- you know, twice
B2 Half hey for 8, start passing partner's right shoulder, when you meet
your partner the next time
C Partner Balance & Swing
Note that though I call it AABBC, there are tunes that work fine that are
played AABCC, like Little Billy Wilson or Three Thin Dimes.
I've had experiences calling this and having it run really smoothly --
with 1 walk through, and times when I've called it to dancers I thought
could do it, and couldn't successfully teach it -- even after 3
walk-throughs, thus watched it fall apart with confusion.
~erik hoffman
Oakland, CA
On 12/2/2013 6:19 AM, Bree Kalb wrote:
> Major Hey by Erik Hoffman. I think you can find it with a quick search;
> if not, I'll write it out for you.
>
> BTW, William, you wrote one of my favorite dances: Devil's Backbone.
> Thank you!
>
> -----Original Message----- From: William Watson
> Sent: Monday, December 02, 2013 3:27 AM
> To: Caller's discussion list ; trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Callers] Favorite AABBCC contra dances?
>
> Hi All,
>
> A band I'm working with on an upcoming contra dance gig has asked me if
I
can find
a dance to fit some AABBCC tunes they have. They mentioned Real
Beatrice, and suggested that a balance at the top of C1 might work very
well.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
William
--
wjw1961(a)gmail.com
This is my bulk mail / mailing list address.
William J. Watson
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
2 Dec
2 Dec
3:03 p.m.
Hi William,
I think this might be my first (second?) post to this list.
A not-too-complex AABBCC dance which has seen a fair amount of use since 1986 or whenever
it was:
Shutesbury Reel
improper double progression
A1: circle left; swing neighbor; end progressed
A2: Down hall 4; wheel as couples; return to progressed place
B1: Hay for 4, ladies passing right shoulders to lead
B2: with brand new neighbor, dos-a-dos; right hand turn (or cross hand turn, which I now
prefer) 1 3/4 to a 4-person wavy line, gents joining left hands in center
C1: Balance the wave [works well with Reel Beatrice, among others]; gents left hand turn
1/2; swing partner
C2: Circle left 3/4; circle balance; w/partner, California twirl
Even after the dancers have the rest of it down, I tend to continue to prompt the
beginnings of A2 and C2 because both follow swings.
I made the dance up after fiddler Sue Sternberg (best known for her stint in Wild
Asparagus) returned from her big Ireland trip playing a heartbreakingly gorgeous rendition
of Charlie Lennon's "Kilty Town", a beautiful AABBCC tune. To cook
Sue's version down into standard contra dance length seemed unthinkable; I decided to
do the opposite: Tinker with the dance instead of the tune.
I intended the dance to be a tribute to Sue, a magnificent human being and already one of
my fiddle heroes, herself, but she was young and shy, so, to spare her the mortification
of being publicly honored by name, I called it Shutesbury reel in honor of the town where
she lived. A lot of wonderful tunes got played in her house, whose subsequent owners left
Sue's name on the mailbox on Montague Road for 20 years in her honor.
The dance is so basic that somebody else may well have thought it up earlier.
David Kaynor
On Dec 2, 2013, at 3:27 AM, William Watson wrote:
Hi All,
A band I'm working with on an upcoming contra dance gig has asked me if I
can find a dance to fit some AABBCC tunes they have. They mentioned Real
Beatrice, and suggested that a balance at the top of C1 might work very
well.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
William
--
wjw1961(a)gmail.com
This is my bulk mail / mailing list address.
William J. Watson
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
4010
days inactive
4019
days old
contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
6 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
-
Bob Isaacs -
Bree Kalb -
David A. Kaynor -
Erik Hoffman -
Les Addison -
William Watson