Regardless of the value of encouraging dancers to develop the musical discernment needed to recognize the eight-count phrases with the 16-count phrases, the caller needs considerable skills and experience to teach material that's unusual to any particular dance community.* For example, I teach several squares in which the promenade ends with something other than wheeling 1/4 to face into the center (the habitual end of a square's promenade). It takes skill to anticipate the habitual behavior, warn dancers that they're going to deviate from that pattern, and then use words that dancers can interpret on the fly to execute the alternate pattern. These are things a new caller can be made aware of, but are probably best avoided as one is still learning the basics of teaching and cueing a dance. In other words, initial flight time for new callers is best used with familiar patterns so as to limit the variables. I'd encourage the new caller to try Baby Rose or another "glossary" sequence. * Standards vary between communities. Callers unfamiliar with a community must develop judgment about what calls the dancers can execute with one word, which need a bit of teaching, and which require more teaching or even workshopping. As well, the crowds vary from one evening to another within the same dance series. Jerome Grisanti On Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 10:35 AM John Sweeney via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

Hi Jeff, It was just the first dance that came to mind. I’m sure there are lots of others. To me the eight-beat sections are the most important, since most moves are based on eight beats. To get the dancers to listen to the music and hear the eights seems an important skill to me. Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent From: Jeff Kaufman &lt;jeff.t.kaufman(a)gmail.com&gt; Sent: 22 January 2025 15:07 To: John Sweeney &lt;john(a)modernjive.com&gt; Cc: Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)sharedweight.net&gt; Subject: Re: [Callers] Re: Identify another dance? Hi John, Hexitation is an unusual formation (a "square" with four head couples and two side couples). While I haven't danced it, I'm guessing the caller wouldn't drop out, in which case the issue with ending a swing halfway through the B1 (or B2 in Hexitation's case) isn't a big concern. Lots of squares have short swings that end in the middle of the phrase, or in some traditions are danced unphrased (where, then, ending in the middle of a phrase isn't a meaningful concept). But I really disagree on this being a valuable thing to teach in a contra dance context. Swinging until the music tells you to stop (by ending the 8-bar phrase) does much more to promote musicality. Jeff On Wed, Jan 22, 2025 at 4:21 AM John Sweeney via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> > wrote: There are some excellent dances that have a swing which ends in the middle of a phrase (Hexitation springs to mind straight away for me). It is a skill worth learning and helps teach the dancers about musicality. (Actually I wrote one yesterday, before I saw this discussion!) :-) Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com <mailto:john@modernjive.com> 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net>

There are some excellent dances that have a swing which ends in the middle of a phrase (Hexitation springs to mind straight away for me). It is a skill worth learning and helps teach the dancers about musicality. (Actually I wrote one yesterday, before I saw this discussion!) :-) Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent

The dance below has signs of being old-school. These days, in modern choreography, many caller state what can almost be considered universal rule: in a swing, the Robin/Lady ends always on the right. In the old days, as recently as the mid 90s, we still did dances where swings ended as below, where the swing ends with dancers backing into their lines, facing each other. I’ve been on a sort of personal mission to occasionally call Petronella, which modern dancers adapt too readily, and many seem to like learning about the Chestnuts and it seems the tune, Petronella is still in the jamming lexicon. I’m starting to ask bands if they are willing to play Rory O’More, and teach what we used to call the best dances in the world for the active couples. It seems, since callers say, “as in Petronella,” or, “as in Rory O’More,” and I look around seeing may one or often no one who has danced either of these Chestnuts that fell out of favor. I think, at the very least, it’s good to see where these signature figures come from. Cheers, ~Erik Hoffman From: Jeff Kaufman via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2025 2:09 PM To: Allison and Hunt Smith &lt;huntandallison(a)gmail.com&gt; Cc: Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)sharedweight.net&gt; Subject: [Callers] Re: Identify another dance? I'd pretty strongly discourage a new caller from trying out that dance, regardless of name: ending a swing in the middle of the phrase is not something the dancers will be expecting, and they&#x2 Caution: External (contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>) Misleading Reply-To Details<https://protection.inkyphishfence.com/details?id=bmV0b3JnZnQxNTA… Report This Email<https://protection.inkyphishfence.com/report?id=bmV0b3JnZnQxNTA4MD… FAQ<https://www.godaddy.com/help/report-email-with-advanced-email-securi… GoDaddy Advanced Email Security, Powered by INKY<https://www.inky.com/protection-by-inky> I'd pretty strongly discourage a new caller from trying out that dance, regardless of name: ending a swing in the middle of the phrase is not something the dancers will be expecting, and they'll keep having issues with people swinging to the end of the B1 when they try to drop out. Jeff On Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 4:56 PM Allison and Hunt Smith via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: Hello, all. I am mentoring a wanna-be caller who took notes when she first went to dances 40 years ago and wants to try one of those dances. She thinks it went like the following. Can anyone identify it? Thanks!! A-1 Neighbor balance and swing (16) A-2 Circle left (8) Partners do-si-do (8) B One's swing in center (end up where you started!) (8) Chain over and back (16) Star Right - around to NEW neighbor (8) -- www.huntandallison.net<https://shared.outlook.inky.com/link?domain=www.h… http://thsmaritime.com/<https://shared.outlook.inky.com/link?domain=thsm… www.centralhallcommons.org<https://shared.outlook.inky.com/link?domain=w… _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net>

Thanks, all. I've been calling for about 8 years, and I still miss some crucial details. I'm passing this info along to my friend. On Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 5:26 PM Donna Calhoun &lt;tncontracaller(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: -- www.huntandallison.net http://thsmaritime.com/ www.centralhallcommons.org

I'd pretty strongly discourage a new caller from trying out that dance, regardless of name: ending a swing in the middle of the phrase is not something the dancers will be expecting, and they'll keep having issues with people swinging to the end of the B1 when they try to drop out. Jeff On Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 4:56 PM Allison and Hunt Smith via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: