On 3/14/2014 6:26 PM, Linda Mrosko wrote: And it's good to make it a dance where the caller can shut up early. Many bands want to play one of their hottest sets so that's what people will go home with, and the more you can stay out of the way of that, the better. (This suggests a dance which ends naturally with a partner swing rather than one where you come in at the end and change the figure. Also, for everyone to have room to swing their partner comfortably, Becket formation is handy.) -- Alan

I think it's thrilling for the dancers if the last dance of the evening is no-walk-thru. That's not always possible (i.e. a flock of brand new dancers arrived at 10:00 PM and we already have lots of newcomers) but when it is, I call something really easy (Nice Combination, Midwest Folklore, etc.) and let the band fly. -----Original Message----- From: Jeff Kaufman Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2014 10:06 AM To: Caller's discussion list Subject: Re: [Callers] Good ending dances One difference with the last dance of each half is that you don't need to worry as much about tiring out the dancers. As a dancer and a musician I like it when the last set is pretty energetic, with lots of balances, so when I'm calling that's what I'll request. _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

I agree. I like to call Camp Harlem Reel. It gives partners one last gypsy/swing while the band can fly. Barbara G -----Original Message----- From: Bree Kalb <bree(a)mindspring.com> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Sent: Sat, Mar 15, 2014 10:13 am Subject: Re: [Callers] Good ending dances I think it's thrilling for the dancers if the last dance of the evening is no-walk-thru. That's not always possible (i.e. a flock of brand new dancers arrived at 10:00 PM and we already have lots of newcomers) but when it is, I call something really easy (Nice Combination, Midwest Folklore, etc.) and let the band fly. -----Original Message----- From: Jeff Kaufman Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2014 10:06 AM To: Caller's discussion list Subject: Re: [Callers] Good ending dances One difference with the last dance of each half is that you don't need to worry as much about tiring out the dancers. As a dancer and a musician I like it when the last set is pretty energetic, with lots of balances, so when I'm calling that's what I'll request. _______________________________________________ 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

I don’t know the dance but I know a tune called “Barrel of Sugar”. I learned it from Bob Hubbach. I think he learned it from Dudley a long time ago. Jim T:Barrel of Sugar M:C| L:1/8 K:G D>G|"G"B2 B2 "D"A2 A2|"G"B2 B>c "D"d2 g2| "G"G2 B>G "Am"A>B c>A|1 "G"B>G "D"A>F "G"G2:|2 "G"B>G "D"A>F "G"G2 B>d||! "G"g2 f2 "D"(3efe d2|"G"g>g f>g "D"e2 d2|"C"c2 B2 "Am"A>B c>A|"G"B>G "D"A>F "G"G2 B>d|! "G"g2 f2 "D"(3efe d2|"G"g>g f>g "D"a2 d2|"C"c2 B2 "Am"A>B c>A|"G"B>G "D"A>F "G"G2||! On Mar 17, 2014, at 11:11 PM, rich sbardella <richsbardella(a)snet.net> wrote:

Rich, Hi! First thing that comes to mind is "Cracking Chestnuts" by David Millstone & David Smuckler. This is an excellent collection of dances w/ fine historical (and ed) notes. Paul Wilde

Can someone explain the dance below?  Also, is this dance 128 steps and 64 bars? Rich ________________________________ From: Jonathan Sivier <jsivier(a)illinois.edu> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 12:10 PM Subject: Re: [Callers] 1820s-1830s Dances On 3/17/2014 10:11 PM, rich sbardella wrote:   Authentic dances of the period and ones easy enough for children may be two different things.  In a small New England town they might have been doing contra dances.  Check Cracking Chestnuts by David Smukler and David Millstone.  The popular dances of that period would have been quadrilles.  The waltz was also being done as a couple dance, but was consider scandalous until the polka became popular in the mid-1840's. The Gallop came into popularity around 1829 so I suppose Galopede (or other similar dances) might be considered authentic for this period.   It's in A Choice Selection of American Country Dances of the Revolutionary Era 1775-1795 by Kate Van Winkle Keller and Ralph Sweet. Barrel of Sugar triple proper AA 1's hey on opposite sides, 1's cross back and cast to 2nd place at the end of the hey BB 1's and 2's rights and lefts AA 1's set to contrary corners BB 1's lead out at the sides Jonathan ----- Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html ----- Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call! _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

Here it is. Jim On Mar 18, 2014, at 2:17 PM, Dave Casserly <david.j.casserly(a)gmail.com> wrote:

On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 1:17 PM, Dave Casserly <david.j.casserly(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote: http://mandolintab.net/abcconverter.php It will display it in standard music notation. Here's the ABC again so you don't have to search old mail messages for it: T:Barrel of Sugar M:C| L:1/8 K:G D>G|"G"B2 B2 "D"A2 A2|"G"B2 B>c "D"d2 g2| "G"G2 B>G "Am"A>B c>A|1 "G"B>G "D"A>F "G"G2:|2 "G"B>G "D"A>F "G"G2 B>d||! "G"g2 f2 "D"(3efe d2|"G"g>g f>g "D"e2 d2|"C"c2 B2 "Am"A>B c>A|"G"B>G "D"A>F "G"G2 B>d|! "G"g2 f2 "D"(3efe d2|"G"g>g f>g "D"a2 d2|"C"c2 B2 "Am"A>B c>A|"G"B>G "D"A>F "G"G2||! Dale -- *So if you knew what was broken...how long would it take you to fix it?*

Rich, Two books come to mind that might have material somewhat relevant to your request, though not exactly on target: _Heritage Dances of Early America_ by Ralph Page (abbreviated HDoEA below) and _Colonial Social Dancing for Children: Social Dancing of Washington’s Time arranged for Today’s Young People_ by Charles Cyril ("Chip") Hendrickson [CSDfC below]. Here's a little more information about them, with the caveat that I don't have my copy of either book at hand and my memory may be faulty on some of the details. * * * * * * * * * * HDoEA was published in or about 1976 by the Lloyd Shaw Foundation. It appears to be out of print. It's indexed in Michael Dyck's contra dance index, and many of the dances in it (or versions of them) appear in other sources. You can find them by going to http://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/index/by_title.html and searching for the string "HDoEA". (The page http://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/index/sources.html is a key to the source abbreviations.) IIRC, the dances in HDoEA are from sources dating from the 1790s through the first decade or two of the 1800's, so a little earlier the period you asked about, though some may have remained popular for some time after. All or almost all are longways triple minors, though some might be of the sort that are readily adapted to duple minor form. For each dance, Page give both the description as it appeared in the original source and an interpretation in modern terminology. The part about being "easy enough for children" could be problematical to say the least, for reasons that will be evident to anyone who has tried teaching relatively "easy" contras to groups (whether children or adults) where almost all are unfamiliar with how progression works, dancing to the phrase, etc. Even experienced contemporary contra dancers could have difficulties with things like triple-minor progression, right-and-left four from proper position (in communities where older dances like "Petronella" and "Hull's Victory" have disappeared from repertoire), crossover heys for three, or choreography that asks you to turn a four-person star just halfway around in eight beats. * * * * * * * * * * CSDfC and a companion CD appear to be currently available from the Colonial Music Institute http://www.colonialmusic.org/CSD-bkcd.htm As the title implies, the book is specifically oriented to presenting the material to children. But (without having the book at hand to refresh my memory) I'm pretty sure it's mainly about situations where the material can be presented over multiple sessions and not just a single afternoon or evening. I have essentially no experience teaching/leading dance for children (except for occasions when a small number of children show up among a mostly-adult group), and no experience using the material in CSDfC with dancers of any age. And, while I'm a dabbler in dance history, I don't know enough about the early American era to have a clear idea of the similarities and differences in the dancing of the era covered CSDfC vs. that of small town New England in 1820-1840. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who does have experience using CDSfC, or from anyone who can offer knowledgeable comments about how either the choreography or the general teaching methods it offers would transfer to 1820-1840 era. --Jim On Mar 17, 2014, at 8:11 PM, rich sbardella wrote: