12 Jun
2023
12 Jun
'23
10:54 p.m.
Greg Frock in a Jun 9 thread, 'Dance Modules,' suggested " the
'mandatory swing requirements' these days, more and more choreographic sequences
are just coming up with new ways to interestingly connect the swings"
I disagree. A mandatory partner swing requirement seems to exist, but no neighbor swing
requirement.
Instead of a neighbor swing, either (a) substantial non-swing interaction with either or
both neighbors (stars, allemandes, shoulder rounds, dosidos, chains or heys), or (b)
distinctive choreography, can result in a great dances.
(1) Last time I danced an evening to Darlene Underwood's calling, she called 4
excellent dances without a neighbor swing. (As a dance composer I notice such dances.)
(2) The May Heydays festival held in England, just posted on this list (thread 'May
the Serpent Be With you') the winners of its annual dance competition. The second
place winner, Cherry Season, (3) The Callers' Box has 3525 duple minor dances without
a neighbor swing including 9 by me. Clearer descriptions of some of mine may found at
my web page
13 Jun
13 Jun
10:11 a.m.
but no neighbor swing requirement.
I've
had another caller, who I'll leave unnamed, explicitly tell me that they never call
more than one dance in an evening without a neighbor swing. I don't think I'm as
stringent in that regard, but it's definitely informed my dance choreography.
I've also seen/heard dancers hassle callers on more than one occasion for putting two
dances in a row without a neighbor swing, so even if you're not being as firmly
anti-no-neighbor-swing as the caller above there does seem to be a limit.
I personally am more inclined to agree with you, however, that the swing
"requirements" are certainly a bit limiting when searching for novel dance
sequences.
Isaac Banner
On Mon, Jun 12, 2023, at 10:54 PM, Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers wrote:
Greg Frock in a Jun 9 thread, 'Dance Modules,'
suggested " the 'mandatory swing requirements' these days, more and more
choreographic sequences are just coming up with new ways to interestingly connect the
swings"
I disagree. A mandatory partner swing requirement seems to exist, but no neighbor swing
requirement.
Instead of a neighbor swing, either (a) substantial non-swing interaction with either
or both neighbors (stars, allemandes, shoulder rounds, dosidos, chains or heys), or (b)
distinctive choreography, can result in a great dances.
(1) Last time I danced an evening to Darlene Underwood's calling, she called 4
excellent dances without a neighbor swing. (As a dance composer I notice such dances.)
(2) The May Heydays festival held in England, just posted on this list (thread 'May
the Serpent Be With you') the winners of its annual dance competition. The second
place winner, Cherry Season, (3) The Callers' Box has 3525 duple minor dances without
a neighbor swing including 9 by me. Clearer descriptions of some of mine may found at
my web page
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10:46 a.m.
I was surprised to discover, like maybe two decades ago, that the caller
guidelines for a certain very well known dance requested: "A good amount of
neighbor interaction, especially early in the evening. The dancers prefer
no more than two dances without neighbor swings." Those words are still
there. Not saying I agree, just pointing out that this isn't new.
Remember that it's about the dancers, not the callers!
--jh--
On Tue, Jun 13, 2023 at 1:54 AM Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Greg Frock in a Jun 9 thread, 'Dance Modules,'
suggested " the
'mandatory swing requirements' these days, more and more choreographic
sequences are just coming up with new ways to interestingly connect the
swings"
I disagree. A mandatory partner swing requirement seems to exist, but no
neighbor swing requirement.
Instead of a neighbor swing, either (a) substantial non-swing
interaction with either or both neighbors (stars, allemandes, shoulder
rounds, dosidos, chains or heys), or (b) distinctive choreography, can
result in a great dances.
(1) Last time I danced an evening to Darlene Underwood's calling, she
called 4 excellent dances without a neighbor swing. (As a dance composer
I notice such dances.)
(2) The May Heydays festival held in England, just posted on this list
(thread 'May the Serpent Be With you') the winners of its annual dance
competition. The second place winner, Cherry Season, (3) The Callers'
Box has 3525 duple minor dances without a neighbor swing including 9 by
me. Clearer descriptions of some of mine may found at my web page
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5:48 p.m.
I think also that dancers may have different opinions depending on how
interesting the dances are. If you have two no-neighbor swing dances
back-to-back, I think it is a little boring if both are relatively basic
choreo.
Also, early in the evening, neighbor swings help me mitigate the "what if a
new dancer has a mediocre partner?" issue, so they aren't as likely to
develop bad swing habits from the getgo if they are exposed to a variety of
ways people swing.
In dance,
Julian Blechner
Western Mass
On Tue, Jun 13, 2023, 1:47 PM Joe Harrington via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I was surprised to discover, like maybe two decades
ago, that the caller
guidelines for a certain very well known dance requested: "A good amount
of neighbor interaction, especially early in the evening. The dancers
prefer no more than two dances without neighbor swings." Those words are
still there. Not saying I agree, just pointing out that this isn't new.
Remember that it's about the dancers, not the callers!
--jh--
On Tue, Jun 13, 2023 at 1:54 AM Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Greg Frock in a Jun 9 thread, 'Dance
Modules,' suggested " the
'mandatory swing requirements' these days, more and more choreographic
sequences are just coming up with new ways to interestingly connect the
swings"
I disagree. A mandatory partner swing requirement seems to exist, but
no neighbor swing requirement.
Instead of a neighbor swing, either (a) substantial non-swing
interaction with either or both neighbors (stars, allemandes, shoulder
rounds, dosidos, chains or heys), or (b) distinctive choreography, can
result in a great dances.
(1) Last time I danced an evening to Darlene Underwood's calling, she
called 4 excellent dances without a neighbor swing. (As a dance composer
I notice such dances.)
(2) The May Heydays festival held in England, just posted on this list
(thread 'May the Serpent Be With you') the winners of its annual dance
competition. The second place winner, Cherry Season, (3) The Callers'
Box has 3525 duple minor dances without a neighbor swing including 9 by
me. Clearer descriptions of some of mine may found at my web page
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to
contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
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14 Jun
14 Jun
8:24 p.m.
"no more than two dances without neighbor swings"
https://www.neffa.org/thursday-contras-caller-info/
(A search for the words, enclosed in quotes, revealed the source)
8:41 p.m.
(A search for the words, enclosed in quotes, revealed
the source)
I'm sure anyone curious did the same. Was it really relevant or beneficial
to the discussion to name them publicly? I appreciate it when dances post
their internal documents so I can study them, as a new organizer of a new
dance series. Some may be less likely to do it if they think they'll be
discussed and maybe publicly criticized. Did I really need to spell out
why I didn't post the group's name?
--jh--
On Wed, Jun 14, 2023 at 11:24 PM Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> "no more than two dances without neighbor swings"
> https://www.neffa.org/thursday-contras-caller-info/
(A search for the words, enclosed in quotes, revealed
the source)
> _______________________________________________
> Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>
7:01 a.m.
Limiting the number of no-neighbor-swing dances in a program seems prudent.
But Greg's comment seemed focused on dance choreography
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7 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
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Isaac Banner -
Joe Harrington -
Julian Blechner -
Michael Fuerst