4 Oct
2016
4 Oct
'16
7:09 p.m.
I recently called at a contra dance where we had exactly 6 dancers for almost the entire
evening (one joined us later but only occasionally danced). This was unexpected as they
usually have attendance in the 12-20 range. I was able to piece together a night of
mixers, triplets, and oddball dances to make it work and the dancers were game for
anything so it ended up being a fun night. But it got me thinking about what to do if only
4 dancers came to a dance (meaning even if I jumped in, we would only have 5 total
dancers). In order to be better prepared for next time, I have a couple of questions.
1) Do you have any dances you can share that would work for 4 or 5 dancers? Or also dances
for 6 dancers that are not triplets (have plenty of triplets). I have already collected
Do-Si-3 and Haste to the Divorce, both of which I modified so that they would not
progress.
2) Could a whole evening (3 hours) of dance be put together for just 4-5 dancers?
3) What preparation can be done by me in advance to help with this situation? It’s
possible to talk with the organizer in advance about canceling the dance if only 4 or 5
dancers show up, however, this particular dance is a 75 minute drive one-way and I’d
prefer to avoid the round trip if there won’t be enough dancers. For various reasons, any
dance promoting that I do myself would be largely ineffective for this particular dance.
Would love to hear about any ideas you can share. Thanks!
Jacqui Grennan
4 Oct
4 Oct
7:19 p.m.
We have something we call the "calling party progression" because we
sometimes try out new dances with only four people present (or four + a
caller).
We form one set with "Up" being "North" (for example). At the end of
the
dance we progress by changing "Up" to be "East." and turning to face
the
new direction. This swaps neighbors for partners, but everyone ends up
standing in the right place (although not facing the right direction until
after the turn) for the next time through the dance.
I'm not sure how well this would work with inexperienced dancers, though
(and it certainly doesn't work with out-of-set dances, diagonal chains,
etc.) but for a lot of dances its actually quite fun.
Dale
On Tue, Oct 4, 2016 at 2:09 PM, QuiAnn2 via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I recently called at a contra dance where we had
exactly 6 dancers for
almost the entire evening (one joined us later but only occasionally
danced). This was unexpected as they usually have attendance in the 12-20
range. I was able to piece together a night of mixers, triplets, and
oddball dances to make it work and the dancers were game for anything so it
ended up being a fun night. But it got me thinking about what to do if only
4 dancers came to a dance (meaning even if I jumped in, we would only have
5 total dancers). In order to be better prepared for next time, I have a
couple of questions.
1) Do you have any dances you can share that would work for 4 or 5
dancers? Or also dances for 6 dancers that are not triplets (have plenty of
triplets). I have already collected Do-Si-3 and Haste to the Divorce, both
of which I modified so that they would not progress.
2) Could a whole evening (3 hours) of dance be put together for just 4-5
dancers?
3) What preparation can be done by me in advance to help with this
situation? It’s possible to talk with the organizer in advance about
canceling the dance if only 4 or 5 dancers show up, however, this
particular dance is a 75 minute drive one-way and I’d prefer to avoid the
round trip if there won’t be enough dancers. For various reasons, any dance
promoting that I do myself would be largely ineffective for this particular
dance.
Would love to hear about any ideas you can share. Thanks!
Jacqui Grennan
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9:25 p.m.
Dale,
Thanks for answering my query. This sounds like a great idea!
Jacqui
On Oct 4, 2016, at 12:19 PM, Dale Wilson
<dale.wilson(a)gmail.com> wrote:
We have something we call the "calling party progression" because we sometimes
try out new dances with only four people present (or four + a caller).
We form one set with "Up" being "North" (for example). At the end
of the dance we progress by changing "Up" to be "East." and turning to
face the new direction. This swaps neighbors for partners, but everyone ends up standing
in the right place (although not facing the right direction until after the turn) for the
next time through the dance.
I'm not sure how well this would work with inexperienced dancers, though (and it
certainly doesn't work with out-of-set dances, diagonal chains, etc.) but for a lot of
dances its actually quite fun.
Dale
On Tue, Oct 4, 2016 at 2:09 PM, QuiAnn2 via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
<mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
I recently called at a contra dance where we had exactly 6 dancers for almost the entire
evening (one joined us later but only occasionally danced). This was unexpected as they
usually have attendance in the 12-20 range. I was able to piece together a night of
mixers, triplets, and oddball dances to make it work and the dancers were game for
anything so it ended up being a fun night. But it got me thinking about what to do if only
4 dancers came to a dance (meaning even if I jumped in, we would only have 5 total
dancers). In order to be better prepared for next time, I have a couple of questions.
1) Do you have any dances you can share that would work for 4 or 5 dancers? Or also
dances for 6 dancers that are not triplets (have plenty of triplets). I have already
collected Do-Si-3 and Haste to the Divorce, both of which I modified so that they would
not progress.
2) Could a whole evening (3 hours) of dance be put together for just 4-5 dancers?
3) What preparation can be done by me in advance to help with this situation? It’s
possible to talk with the organizer in advance about canceling the dance if only 4 or 5
dancers show up, however, this particular dance is a 75 minute drive one-way and I’d
prefer to avoid the round trip if there won’t be enough dancers. For various reasons, any
dance promoting that I do myself would be largely ineffective for this particular dance.
Would love to hear about any ideas you can share. Thanks!
Jacqui Grennan
_______________________________________________
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http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
<http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net>
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There are only two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things,
and off-by-one errors.
10:27 p.m.
The Appalachian dance tradition has a bunch of two-couple
figures. See, for example,
http://www.bubbaguitar.com/squaredance/littletoc.html
http://round.soc.srcf.net/round/dances/krs/guts
Usually they'd usually be used in a context where pairs of
couples dance together and then one or both couples in each
pair move on to dance with a new couple, either by orderley
progression around the a square or a big circle or by a
scatter promenade. In a pinch, ypu can use them wit just
two couples.
Teach a few figures. Call them in any order. For asymmetric
figures let give both couples turns at the "active" role.
Mix in some use of "I'll swing yours and you swing mine" (or
whatever words you want to use to say that) then "Swing your
own; leave mine alone" (or some other way of saying the same
thing), or just call the first swing and then have them keep
that one as parter for a while and dance some figures in the
new pairings.
--Jim
10:18 p.m.
On Tue, Oct 4, 2016 at 12:19 PM, Dale Wilson via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
We have something we call the "calling party
progression" because we
sometimes try out new dances with only four people present (or four + a
caller).
We form one set with "Up" being "North" (for example). At the end
of the
dance we progress by changing "Up" to be "East." and turning to face
the
new direction. This swaps neighbors for partners, but everyone ends up
standing in the right place (although not facing the right direction until
after the turn) for the next time through the dance.
I'm not sure how well this would work with inexperienced dancers, though
(and it certainly doesn't work with out-of-set dances, diagonal chains,
etc.) but for a lot of dances its actually quite fun.
Dale's set-rotation progression here is one I've used before. It's fun with
dances where not everybody swings. And you can use it on a huge number of
regular contras.
Other ideas:
- Rory O'More, Petronella, and other classic chestnuts. (It's ok if the
band doesn't know the tune. Not sacrilegious.) Proper dances make the
2-couple progression easy.
- Use other progressions (e.g. for 4 couples, promenade across the set can
become promenade to meet any other couple).
- Do 4-person dances and let the 5th person cut in wherever they please.
- The most fun I've ever had was at Camp Sturtevant where Cis Hinkle was
calling a square, and one square had only 4 dancers, all dancing the gents
role, with ghosts. Some squares can also be done with just 2 couples in
some position or other.
- Teach wacky square dance figures and use them in a simple dance.
- The Humors of Bandon and other Irish ceili and set dances. Lots of set
dances are typically done just for the heads, then just for the sides, in a
square formation; just do it for the heads.
- Call family dances, community dances, etc.
- Borrow some of the musicians, if they are willing to dance.
Try not to cancel the dance unless you all literally would rather go have
some ice cream. Dancers don't go to a dance like this expecting the contra
contra contra experience, but simply that you will lead them in dance and
help them have fun.
Yoyo Zhou
10:51 p.m.
On Oct 4, 2016, at 3:18 PM, Yoyo Zhou via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
wrote:
- Do 4-person dances and let the 5th person cut in
wherever they please.
The notion of cutting in can also apply to other situations
where you have a fixed-size set or sets and an extra person
(or more than one, but not enough for another whole set).
At the risk of stating the obvious, this works best when
everyone involved understands what's going on and is
willing to play and not to get their nose out of joint
if they get separated from original partners for the
duration of the dance. It's not so good if a cut-out
person stumps off to the sidelines and sits there moping
instead of cutting back in on someone else.
--Jim
6 Oct
6 Oct
1:47 p.m.
On Tue, Oct 04, 2016, Yoyo Zhou via Callers wrote:
Try not to cancel the dance unless you all literally would rather go have
some ice cream. Dancers don't go to a dance like this expecting the contra
contra contra experience, but simply that you will lead them in dance and
help them have fun.
Just to put up a contrary opinion: even though I'm a pretty hard-core
dancer, I might well prefer to choose the ice cream with six or fewer
people. That applies even to folk dancing, where there are LOTS of
options for just a few dancers -- line dances can obviously be done with
only one person.
There's an energy that comes from something that feels like a group that
for me is an important part of "going to a dance".
--
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
<*> <*> <*>
Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html
4 Oct
4 Oct
8:03 p.m.
There are many, many 2-couple English Country Dances. I have
successfully run a whole program with just 3 other dancers and myself
as caller. "Thank this partner and ask another" gets interesting.
Michael Barraclough
www.michaelbarraclough.com
--
On Tue, 2016-10-04 at 12:09 -0700, QuiAnn2 via Callers wrote:
I recently called at a contra dance where we had
exactly 6 dancers
for almost the entire evening (one joined us later but only
occasionally danced). This was unexpected as they usually have
attendance in the 12-20 range. I was able to piece together a night
of mixers, triplets, and oddball dances to make it work and the
dancers were game for anything so it ended up being a fun night. But
it got me thinking about what to do if only 4 dancers came to a dance
(meaning even if I jumped in, we would only have 5 total dancers). In
order to be better prepared for next time, I have a couple of
questions.
1) Do you have any dances you can share that would work for 4 or 5
dancers? Or also dances for 6 dancers that are not triplets (have
plenty of triplets). I have already collected Do-Si-3 and Haste to
the Divorce, both of which I modified so that they would not
progress.
2) Could a whole evening (3 hours) of dance be put together for just
4-5 dancers?
3) What preparation can be done by me in advance to help with this
situation? It’s possible to talk with the organizer in advance about
canceling the dance if only 4 or 5 dancers show up, however, this
particular dance is a 75 minute drive one-way and I’d prefer to avoid
the round trip if there won’t be enough dancers. For various reasons,
any dance promoting that I do myself would be largely ineffective for
this particular dance.
Would love to hear about any ideas you can share. Thanks!
Jacqui Grennan
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
8:37 p.m.
I've had this dance for years to use when there are only 2 couples. Can't
remember which contra dance it comes from, but it's modified by adding a
square thru 5-hands (zesty) instead of 4-hands to take you back to your
partner for the Balance & Swing. It's fun and can be exhausting depending
on the tune.
*UNKNOWN* (2 cpls)
Tune: Zesty
16 R&L Thru across & back
16 Star R/L
16 Square thru 5 hands (opp R, P L)
16 B&S P
On Tue, Oct 4, 2016 at 3:03 PM, Michael Barraclough via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
There are many, many 2-couple English Country Dances.
I have successfully
run a whole program with just 3 other dancers and myself as caller. "Thank
this partner and ask another" gets interesting.
Michael Barraclough
www.michaelbarraclough.com
--
On Tue, 2016-10-04 at 12:09 -0700, QuiAnn2 via Callers wrote:
I recently called at a contra dance where we had exactly 6 dancers for almost the entire
evening (one joined us later but only occasionally danced). This was unexpected as they
usually have attendance in the 12-20 range. I was able to piece together a night of
mixers, triplets, and oddball dances to make it work and the dancers were game for
anything so it ended up being a fun night. But it got me thinking about what to do if only
4 dancers came to a dance (meaning even if I jumped in, we would only have 5 total
dancers). In order to be better prepared for next time, I have a couple of questions.
1) Do you have any dances you can share that would work for 4 or 5 dancers? Or also
dances for 6 dancers that are not triplets (have plenty of triplets). I have already
collected Do-Si-3 and Haste to the Divorce, both of which I modified so that they would
not progress.
2) Could a whole evening (3 hours) of dance be put together for just 4-5 dancers?
3) What preparation can be done by me in advance to help with this situation? It’s
possible to talk with the organizer in advance about canceling the dance if only 4 or 5
dancers show up, however, this particular dance is a 75 minute drive one-way and I’d
prefer to avoid the round trip if there won’t be enough dancers. For various reasons, any
dance promoting that I do myself would be largely ineffective for this particular dance.
Would love to hear about any ideas you can share. Thanks!
Jacqui Grennan
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing
listCallers@lists.sharedweight.nethttp://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
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Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
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*Looking forward,Linda S. Mrosko*
*102 Mitchell Drive*
*Temple, Texas 76501*
*(903) 292-3713 (Cell)*
*(903) 603-9955 (Skype)contradancetx.com <http://www.contradancetx.com>*
8:59 p.m.
On 10/4/2016 12:09 PM, QuiAnn2 via Callers wrote:
I recently called at a contra dance where we had
exactly 6 dancers for almost the entire evening (one joined us later but only occasionally
danced). This was unexpected as they usually have attendance in the 12-20 range. I was
able to piece together a night of mixers, triplets, and oddball dances to make it work and
the dancers were game for anything so it ended up being a fun night. But it got me
thinking about what to do if only 4 dancers came to a dance (meaning even if I jumped in,
we would only have 5 total dancers). In order to be better prepared for next time, I have
a couple of questions.
1) Do you have any dances you can share that would work for 4 or 5 dancers? Or also
dances for 6 dancers that are not triplets (have plenty of triplets). I have already
collected Do-Si-3 and Haste to the Divorce, both of which I modified so that they would
not progress.
2) Could a whole evening (3 hours) of dance be put together for just 4-5 dancers?
3) What preparation can be done by me in advance to help with this situation? It’s
possible to talk with the organizer in advance about canceling the dance if only 4 or 5
dancers show up, however, this particular dance is a 75 minute drive one-way and I’d
prefer to avoid the round trip if there won’t be enough dancers. For various reasons, any
dance promoting that I do myself would be largely ineffective for this particular dance.
Would love to hear about any ideas you can share. Thanks!
Domino 5 by Derek Haynes
5-person set, 4 in a square and one in the middle, thusly:
Top of hall
#2 #1
#5
#3 #4
A1 1-4 #5 dances RH star with the dancers on the right (1,4)
5-8 #5 dances LH star with the dancers on the left (2, 3)
A2 1-8 #5 passes #1 by R to start whole hey for 3 (5, 1, 3).
Skip-change step is fun in the heys.
B1 1-8 #5 passes #2 by L to start whole hey for 3 (5, 2, 4).
B2 1-8 In 4 steps, 5 and 1 pass R shoulders to change places. Then 1
and 2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4.
9:27 p.m.
Jacqui,
I have called proper longways dances (without diagonals or out-of-minor-set
interactions) for two couples, switching active couples with every other
iteration but maintaining the same orientation in the room. Works well with
many English dances -- for example Softly Good Tummas -- because they are
proper. Improper is tougher. The idea is similar to Dale's calling party
orientation, but the mechanics are a bit different, and the one he
describes is better for improper dances.
My group (Maryville MO) is accustomed to smaller attendance, and thus ready
to switch to three-couple longways English when another couple shows up,
then into old-time squares when a fourth couple shows up. A fifth couple or
more puts us into longways duple minors. And always ready to mix it up with
a circle mixer.
--Jerome
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
"Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power
and magic in it." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
On Tue, Oct 4, 2016 at 2:09 PM, QuiAnn2 via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I recently called at a contra dance where we had
exactly 6 dancers for
almost the entire evening (one joined us later but only occasionally
danced). This was unexpected as they usually have attendance in the 12-20
range. I was able to piece together a night of mixers, triplets, and
oddball dances to make it work and the dancers were game for anything so it
ended up being a fun night. But it got me thinking about what to do if only
4 dancers came to a dance (meaning even if I jumped in, we would only have
5 total dancers). In order to be better prepared for next time, I have a
couple of questions.
1) Do you have any dances you can share that would work for 4 or 5
dancers? Or also dances for 6 dancers that are not triplets (have plenty of
triplets). I have already collected Do-Si-3 and Haste to the Divorce, both
of which I modified so that they would not progress.
2) Could a whole evening (3 hours) of dance be put together for just 4-5
dancers?
3) What preparation can be done by me in advance to help with this
situation? It’s possible to talk with the organizer in advance about
canceling the dance if only 4 or 5 dancers show up, however, this
particular dance is a 75 minute drive one-way and I’d prefer to avoid the
round trip if there won’t be enough dancers. For various reasons, any dance
promoting that I do myself would be largely ineffective for this particular
dance.
Would love to hear about any ideas you can share. Thanks!
Jacqui Grennan
_______________________________________________
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Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
6 Oct
6 Oct
1:20 p.m.
“Improper is tougher”
It certainly sounds like an opportunity for people to switch roles, and that it’s tougher
suggests it’d be a new experience. If they’ve never done that before, even familiar and
simple dances will seem new and newly challenging.
Read Weaver
Jamaica Plain, MA
http://lcfd.org
On Oct 4, 2016, at 5:27 PM, Jerome Grisanti via
Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Jacqui,
I have called proper longways dances (without diagonals or out-of-minor-set interactions)
for two couples, switching active couples with every other iteration but maintaining the
same orientation in the room. Works well with many English dances -- for example Softly
Good Tummas -- because they are proper. Improper is tougher. The idea is similar to
Dale's calling party orientation, but the mechanics are a bit different, and the one
he describes is better for improper dances.
My group (Maryville MO) is accustomed to smaller attendance, and thus ready to switch to
three-couple longways English when another couple shows up, then into old-time squares
when a fourth couple shows up. A fifth couple or more puts us into longways duple minors.
And always ready to mix it up with a circle mixer.
--Jerome
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com <http://www.jeromegrisanti.com/>
"Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and
magic in it." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
On Tue, Oct 4, 2016 at 2:09 PM, QuiAnn2 via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
<mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
I recently called at a contra dance where we had exactly 6 dancers for almost the entire
evening (one joined us later but only occasionally danced). This was unexpected as they
usually have attendance in the 12-20 range. I was able to piece together a night of
mixers, triplets, and oddball dances to make it work and the dancers were game for
anything so it ended up being a fun night. But it got me thinking about what to do if only
4 dancers came to a dance (meaning even if I jumped in, we would only have 5 total
dancers). In order to be better prepared for next time, I have a couple of questions.
1) Do you have any dances you can share that would work for 4 or 5 dancers? Or also
dances for 6 dancers that are not triplets (have plenty of triplets). I have already
collected Do-Si-3 and Haste to the Divorce, both of which I modified so that they would
not progress.
2) Could a whole evening (3 hours) of dance be put together for just 4-5 dancers?
3) What preparation can be done by me in advance to help with this situation? It’s
possible to talk with the organizer in advance about canceling the dance if only 4 or 5
dancers show up, however, this particular dance is a 75 minute drive one-way and I’d
prefer to avoid the round trip if there won’t be enough dancers. For various reasons, any
dance promoting that I do myself would be largely ineffective for this particular dance.
Would love to hear about any ideas you can share. Thanks!
Jacqui Grennan
_______________________________________________
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Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net>
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
<http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net>
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4 Oct
4 Oct
9:37 p.m.
Jacqui --
I feel your pain. (I spent a couple of years trying to run an English Ceilidh series -
bouncy sweaty dances with swings - and while we once had 42 people we more typically had 6
or fewer. I collected and made up a bunch of five person dances, but most of them
aren't very contra-y. Once I had a set of five person dances I barely needed them.)
Over the years I've gotten a lot of use from "Polka Dots", which is almost
the same dances as "Domino 5", which Kalia posted.
Anyway, here's a couple of two-couple contra dances which should work with whatever
the band wants to play for it, plus a five person dance and something that goes to the
English tune "Sellenger's Round' but accommodates 3 to about 7 people.
(Ended up doing it with 9 recently because 3 people came late and joined in.)
Its really tempting to cancel a contra if you only have a few people, but you don't
want to punish the people who showed up - they may have foregone other options for their
evenings. And there's a sense of triumph if you can show them a good time. I think
its important to have options ready to go, so you can start on an energetic note and keep
things happening, and if any new person shows up they see something going on rather than
nothing and maybe stick around to get in the next one.
------------------------------------------------------------
PROMENADE FOUR
Two couples facing, improper, up and down.
duple-meter 32 bar music
Alan Winston, 9.10.2016
(Came up with at Civil War Dance when I had only two couples left.)
Beginner-ish.
A1: forward to meet the other couple and retire
1s cast down, 2s lead up, face other couple again (now indecent)
A2: Repeat with the 2s casting down.
B1: Ladies chain up and down the set
B2: From courtesy turn with partner continue into a promenade and wheel to face
the other couple from new places, improper.
If time, swing partner.
--------------------------------------------------------
X MARKS THE SPOT
Antony Heywood, 1992 (in "An Enchanted Place")
Possible ceilidh use. NIB: 4x32-bar American reels
Two couple set, partners side-by-side facing across (Becket)
A1: 1-4: Right-hand star once round
5-8: Ladies chain over, not back (men cast L out of the star)
A2: 1-8: Women coming back pass right shoulder to start a straight hey for 4.
B1: 1-4: Opposites swing
5-8: Partners back-to-back by right shoulder
B2: 1-4: Partners swing (progressive)
5-8: Left hand star once round.
(Everybody's progressed one place clockwise; repeat 3x until all are home.)
----------------------------------------------
SELLENGER'S WHEEL
Alan Winston, 11/16/2003
cut-down version of Sellenger's Round for 3-7 people, no partners needed.
Formation: circle of people facing in
Tune in Barnes, 5x.
I:
A: Slipping circle (*really* slipping) left and back to the right.
B: Chorus (same each time).
Set forward right and left
fall back straight
still facing in, set right and left
turn single
Repeat
II:
A: Lead into the center and back
Repeat
B: As above
III:
A: right hand star (contra style wrist grip keeps you from having a mess)
left hands back
B: As above
IV:
A: Basket left and _keep going_, not back to the right.
B: As above
(Finish with slipping circle again, but if you're repeating don't do slipping
circle twice in a row - it's lame).
---------------------------------------------------------
PEGGING THE NEEDLE
12/3/2004 Alan Winston
5-person-set, in a line holding hands, facing to right of line.
32-bar jig, reel, polka
A1: Thread the needle: keeping hold of hands, #1 leads line
through arch made by 4+5. Finish in circle facing in.
A2: #2-#5 join hands in ring, raise to make four arches;
they sidestep slowly left throughout WHILE
#1, with any stepping and path, goes in and out through the arches.
B1&2: (0) #2 and #5 break; #1 takes #2s hand, and the other arches stay up.
1&2 go under the 2-3 arch;
1&2&3 go under the 3-4 arch;
1&2&3&4 go under the 4-5 arch and draw the line straight in any
direction.
#1 and #2, holding hands only with each other, raise the joined hands
as an arch and take it over the heads of 3-5, finish at bottom and turn
into line, with #1 in fourth place, #2 in fifth place.
NOTE: This has the potential to wander all over the floor.
-- Alan
11:35 p.m.
On 10/4/2016 2:37 PM, Winston, Alan P. via Callers wrote:
Its really tempting to cancel a contra if you only
have a few people,
but you don't want to punish the people who showed up - they may
have foregone other options for their evenings. And there's a sense
of triumph if you can show them a good time. I think its important
to have options ready to go, so you can start on an energetic note
and keep things happening, and if any new person shows up they see
something going on rather than nothing and maybe stick around to get
in the next one.
This is reminding me of a dance I did last year. I had hauled my way
through 2 hours of grisly Bay Area traffic and got there just barely in
time, completely frazzled, set list in hand, to find 3 dancers plus the
dance manager. (Bay Area folks will know about the Canyon Contra, which
ran for many, many years in the 1-room schoolhouse in Canyon, CA. Teeny
but cool.) Just as I was about to pull out a couple of 2-couple English
dances one more person showed up, so I danced in and we did a couple of
triplets, then a waltz-time 3-couple English and a bouncy 3-couple
English. I was mentally riffling through my triplet collection again
when 3 more dancers showed up. Hooray, I had a dance for 9 (Pride of
Dingle)! We took a little break after that, got 1 more dancer on the
floor and did a few teeny contras, then another waltz-time dance for 3
couples. After the next break the manager had to go do manager things
and we lost a couple of early-to-bed dancers so we did Domino 5 (I
dearly love that dance), another triplet and ended with a goofy
French-Canadian dance called Le Brandy. The folks who were first-timers
were impressed that there were dances in "so many different shapes," and
the experienced dancers were impressed that I was able to find ways to
keep us all dancing. It ended up being a really, really enjoyable night.
A couple of years ago I took all of the dances I use for one night stand
gigs and put them into a single document with ultra-compressed notation.
I've sorted them by numbers, style, level of difficulty and a few
other ways. That document has saved my butt a few times. If you've got
a handful of go-to dances for odd situations, it's worth putting them
all onto one easy-to-grab page for those times of need.
Kalia
5 Oct
5 Oct
4:07 a.m.
Thanks to everyone for your great responses! I’ve taken notes, looked up dances, watched
videos, and will be ready (without panic) for the next dance where we have very few
dancers.
Kalia, I love Pride of Dingle and did call it that night as a 7-person dance. I had Dingle
skip the last left-hand allemande and no one was any wiser. I ran it through so all the
ladies could be Dingle twice and the last time I had Dingle join the line on the gents’
side of the set so all the gents had a chance to be Dingle one time through.
Jacqui
4:58 a.m.
I am sure that Kalia will kill me for this (as I know she knows) but
the dance is really Pride of the Pingle by the late Ken Alexander (UK).
Someone from the USA saw it in the UK, misheard the name, assumed it
was Irish and called it Pride of the Dingle when they called it in the
USA. Such is the folk process! BTW the 'Pingle' referred to is a local
housing estate (neighborhood) near where Ken lived.
Michael Barraclough
www.michaelbarraclough.com
--
On Tue, 2016-10-04 at 21:07 -0700, QuiAnn2 via Callers wrote:
Thanks to everyone for your great responses! I’ve
taken notes, looked
up dances, watched videos, and will be ready (without panic) for the
next dance where we have very few dancers.
Kalia, I love Pride of Dingle and did call it that night as a 7-
person dance. I had Dingle skip the last left-hand allemande and no
one was any wiser. I ran it through so all the ladies could be Dingle
twice and the last time I had Dingle join the line on the gents’ side
of the set so all the gents had a chance to be Dingle one time
through.
Jacqui
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6:21 a.m.
On 2016-10-04 2158, Michael Barraclough via Callers wrote:
I am sure that Kalia will kill me for this (as I know
she knows) but
the dance is really Pride of the Pingle by the late Ken Alexander (UK).
Someone from the USA saw it in the UK, misheard the name, assumed it
was Irish and called it Pride of the Dingle when they called it in the
USA. Such is the folk process! BTW the 'Pingle' referred to is a local
housing estate (neighborhood) near where Ken lived.
Michael Barraclough
www.michaelbarraclough.com
Thanks for broaching the subject Michael. I wasn't sure whether to bring
it up, however discovered it a few years ago when on a general dance
churn on the interwebs.
I turned up one rendition of the story in the newsletters at
American Dance Circle - Lloyd Shaw Foundation
http://www.lloydshaw.org/american-dance-circle.html
The edition in question is that of May 1982
http://www.lloydshaw.org/Resources/adc/198205i.pdf
Cheers, John
--
J.D. Erskine
Victoria, BC
Island Dance - Folk & Country
dance info - site & mail list
Vancouver Island & BC islands
http://members.shaw.ca/island.dance/
7:44 p.m.
On 10/4/2016 9:58 PM, Michael Barraclough via Callers wrote:
I am sure that Kalia will kill me for this (as I know
she knows) but
the dance is really Pride of the Pingle by the late Ken Alexander (UK).
Someone from the USA saw it in the UK, misheard the name, assumed it
was Irish and called it Pride of the Dingle when they called it in the
USA. Such is the folk process! BTW the 'Pingle' referred to is a local
housing estate (neighborhood) near where Ken lived.
Michael Barraclough
www.michaelbarraclough.com
I do know it, and I had a feeling someone would call me on the name :>)
To do honor to the choreographer I should probably start using the
correct name, but I can't help enjoying the word "dingle."
Kalia
7:46 p.m.
I deliciously enjoy dangling that dingle in full view of everyone, know the jangle of that
jingle will cause someone to single out that angle.
Seth Tepfer
Director of Administrative Computing
Oxford College
770-784-8487
seth.tepfer(a)emory.edu
Use AskIT for fastest response:
Oxford.emory.edu/AskIT<https://app.oxford.emory.edu/WebApps/OCIT/forms/A…
<https://app.oxford.emory.edu/WebApps/Directories/index.cfm?fuseaction=v.searchresults&searchname=tepfer>
________________________________
From: Callers <callers-bounces(a)lists.sharedweight.net> on behalf of Kalia Kliban via
Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Wednesday, October 5, 2016 3:44:45 PM
To: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?
On 10/4/2016 9:58 PM, Michael Barraclough via Callers wrote:
I am sure that Kalia will kill me for this (as I know
she knows) but
the dance is really Pride of the Pingle by the late Ken Alexander (UK).
Someone from the USA saw it in the UK, misheard the name, assumed it
was Irish and called it Pride of the Dingle when they called it in the
USA. Such is the folk process! BTW the 'Pingle' referred to is a local
housing estate (neighborhood) near where Ken lived.
Michael Barraclough
www.michaelbarraclough.com<http://www.michaelbarraclough.com>
I do know it, and I had a feeling someone would call me on the name :>)
To do honor to the choreographer I should probably start using the
correct name, but I can't help enjoying the word "dingle."
Kalia
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3:53 a.m.
blockquote, div.yahoo_quoted { margin-left: 0 !important; border-left:1px #715FFA solid
!important; padding-left:1ex !important; background-color:white !important; } I have a
few dances - I'm tight on time, will send soon. I want more though so I hope others
continue to share.
Laur
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
On Tuesday, October 4, 2016, 3:09 PM, QuiAnn2 via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I recently called at a contra dance where we had exactly 6 dancers for almost the entire
evening (one joined us later but only occasionally danced). This was unexpected as they
usually have attendance in the 12-20 range. I was able to piece together a night of
mixers, triplets, and oddball dances to make it work and the dancers were game for
anything so it ended up being a fun night. But it got me thinking about what to do if only
4 dancers came to a dance (meaning even if I jumped in, we would only have 5 total
dancers). In order to be better prepared for next time, I have a couple of questions.
1) Do you have any dances you can share that would work for 4 or 5 dancers? Or also dances
for 6 dancers that are not triplets (have plenty of triplets). I have already collected
Do-Si-3 and Haste to the Divorce, both of which I modified so that they would not
progress.
2) Could a whole evening (3 hours) of dance be put together for just 4-5 dancers?
3) What preparation can be done by me in advance to help with this situation? It’s
possible to talk with the organizer in advance about canceling the dance if only 4 or 5
dancers show up, however, this particular dance is a 75 minute drive one-way and I’d
prefer to avoid the round trip if there won’t be enough dancers. For various reasons, any
dance promoting that I do myself would be largely ineffective for this particular dance.
Would love to hear about any ideas you can share. Thanks!
Jacqui Grennan
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7:39 a.m.
Hi Jacqui
I have several five person dances in a diamond formation that fit Contra
music:
http://www.dancekaleidoscope.org.au/dance.html#ButterfliesInClover
http://www.dancekaleidoscope.org.au/dance.html#Chinook
http://www.dancekaleidoscope.org.au/dance.html#Crossroads
Cheers
Keith Wood
I recently called at a contra dance where we had
exactly 6 dancers for almost the entire evening (one joined us later but only occasionally
danced). This was unexpected as they usually have attendance in the 12-20 range. I was
able to piece together a night of mixers, triplets, and oddball dances to make it work and
the dancers were game for anything so it ended up being a fun night. But it got me
thinking about what to do if only 4 dancers came to a dance (meaning even if I jumped in,
we would only have 5 total dancers). In order to be better prepared for next time, I have
a couple of questions.
1) Do you have any dances you can share that would work for 4 or 5 dancers? Or also
dances for 6 dancers that are not triplets (have plenty of triplets). I have already
collected Do-Si-3 and Haste to the Divorce, both of which I modified so that they would
not progress.
2) Could a whole evening (3 hours) of dance be put together for just 4-5 dancers?
3) What preparation can be done by me in advance to help with this situation? It’s
possible to talk with the organizer in advance about canceling the dance if only 4 or 5
dancers show up, however, this particular dance is a 75 minute drive one-way and I’d
prefer to avoid the round trip if there won’t be enough dancers. For various reasons, any
dance promoting that I do myself would be largely ineffective for this particular dance.
Would love to hear about any ideas you can share. Thanks!
Jacqui Grennan
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Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
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20 comments
15 participants
participants (15)
-
Aahz via Callers -
Dale Wilson via Callers
-
James Saxe via Callers
-
JD Erskine via Callers
-
Jerome Grisanti via Callers
-
Kalia Kliban via Callers
-
Keith Wood via Callers
-
Laur via Callers
-
Linda S. Mrosko via Callers
-
Michael Barraclough via Callers
-
QuiAnn2 via Callers
-
Read Weaver via Callers
-
Tepfer, Seth via Callers
-
Winston, Alan P. via Callers
-
Yoyo Zhou via Callers