22 Feb
2013
22 Feb
'13
5:37 p.m.
I haven't actually had a chance to road test this (and my thanks, by the
way, to Bob Isaacs, who was his usual gracious and helpful self when I asked
him to look at it before I posted it). James is correct that the opposite
sex person one passes in stepping into the wave is the same person both
times. If I'm L1, my current neighbor -- M2 -- passes me by the right shoulder
and is facing the same direction as I face in the first wave. After the
swing, M2 is still across from me (with his shadow on his right). He passes
me again by the right shoulder and is facing the same direction in the
second wave as well. (So it's a little like the progression up and down the
line in Flapjack Express -- you travel away from your partner in parallel with
your current opposite sex neighbor, come back in parallel with that
neighbor, and each of you finds your respective partner for a swing.) I do think
(from a safety standpoint) that it's a good idea to keep the couples out
of the center of the set during the short swing -- we've all had the
experience of the joined-hands-swing-bonk, I assume -- and my "make the ladies
come to you" instruction really had that purpose in mind.
If anybody else calls this, I would love to know how it went. I wrote it
as a smooth "cool down" dance after something particularly vigorous -- hence
the name. I think reels would suit, with an absolutely identical and
slightly bouncy A1 and 2, and a very smooth B1-2? It would have a very different
feel with jigs, I think, but I hope to try it both ways.
April Blum
In a message dated 2/22/2013 12:00:46 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
callers-request(a)sharedweight.net writes:
Today's Topics:
1. Re: Does this dance already exist? (Michael Barraclough)
2. Re: Does this dance already exist? (James Saxe)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:42:41 -0500
From: Michael Barraclough <michael(a)michaelbarraclough.com>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Does this dance already exist?
Message-ID: <1361468561.2881.9.camel@The-Beast>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
I called this in Baltimore last night (? world premier).
It is a good dance but it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to ensure that the men
do not move from where they are in the swings in A1/A2. I taught it
emphasizing this and called it thus. However, as I reduced my calling,
so the men started moving. The result is that the positions move and
couples don't know who the opposite couple is with ultimate chaos as odd
couples get left out in the middle of the dance. I stopped the dance,
re-emphasized the need for the men to stay put and we were just fine
when they heeded the advice!
Michael Barraclough
www.michaelbarraclough.com
On Mon, 2013-02-18 at 17:10 -0500, Hgrastorf(a)aol.com wrote:
Wrote this one on my way back from calling Norfolk.
Slow M'Ocean Becket
A1 Pass thru to an Ocean Wave (Ps are facing in opposite directions).
Balance forward and back. Swing your SHADOW (who is facing you in the
next
wave). (Gents, make the ladies come to you.) End
facing across.
A2 Pass thru to an Ocean Wave. Balance F/B -- swing your Partner, who
is
facing you in the next wave. End facing your original
Ns.
B1 Ladies chain to your N. Ladies allemande R 1.5 (continue to hold Rt
hands)
B2 Ladies pick up your partner, star promenade across
with a butterfly
whirl (to the lady's side). Promenade across (to gent's side), with
ladies
passing RIGHT shoulders, and curl RIGHT to face the
next neighbor,
ready to
pass the Ocean.
I can't think of another dance that starts this way -- anybody?
April Blum
_______________________________________________
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-----------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:23:30 -0800
From: James Saxe <jim.saxe(a)gmail.com>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Does this dance already exist?
Message-ID: <FE997E49-8469-4AF6-8B6E-C0056CD488A9(a)gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
I've never called "Slow M'Ocean", but from diagramming it on paper it
seems to me that the A1/A2 should work perfectly well (and leave dancers back
in their original starting positions at the end of A2) if men and women
advance EQUALLY to get into the swings. In this case, the "Pass thru to an
Ocean Wave" actions in A2 will have everyone passing the same opposite-sex
neighbor as in A1 (but the same-sex neighbors will be different for both men
and women). In Michael's interpretation, if I understand it correctly, the
Ocean Waves have the same pairs of men in A2 as in A1. I suspect very s
trongly that my interpretation is the one the author (April Blum) intended,
but I invite her to speak for herself on the matter.
The progression in B2 where couples pass by W's R shoulder and loop R
(relative to out-facing direction, i.e., clockwise around a big oval) is rather
unusual and is the part that I'd expect to give the most difficulty.
--Jim______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
End of Callers Digest, Vol 102, Issue 17
****************************************
22 Feb
22 Feb
6:04 p.m.
April,
This is if both the gents and ladies move to their shadow rather than just the ladies
moving, as originally written, yes? Because the way it's originally written (and the
way we danced it on Wednesday), when the gents don't move, then it's the same
same-sex neighbor each time. Did you intend for the gents and ladies to both move towards
their shadow and stay with their neighbors?
I thought it was a REALLY nice and fun dance, BTW, and magic when everyone finally got
it.
Perry
________________________________
From: "Hgrastorf(a)aol.com" <Hgrastorf(a)aol.com>
To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2013 12:37 PM
Subject: [Callers] Slow M'Ocean
I haven't actually had a chance to road test this (and my thanks, by the
way, to Bob Isaacs, who was his usual gracious and helpful self when I asked
him to look at it before I posted it). James is correct that the opposite
sex person one passes in stepping into the wave is the same person both
times. If I'm L1, my current neighbor -- M2 -- passes me by the right shoulder
and is facing the same direction as I face in the first wave. After the
swing, M2 is still across from me (with his shadow on his right). He passes
me again by the right shoulder and is facing the same direction in the
second wave as well. (So it's a little like the progression up and down the
line in Flapjack Express -- you travel away from your partner in parallel with
your current opposite sex neighbor, come back in parallel with that
neighbor, and each of you finds your respective partner for a swing.) I do think
(from a safety standpoint) that it's a good idea to keep the couples out
of the center of the set during the short swing -- we've all had the
experience of the joined-hands-swing-bonk, I assume -- and my "make the ladies
come to you" instruction really had that purpose in mind.
If anybody else calls this, I would love to know how it went. I wrote it
as a smooth "cool down" dance after something particularly vigorous -- hence
the name. I think reels would suit, with an absolutely identical and
slightly bouncy A1 and 2, and a very smooth B1-2? It would have a very different
feel with jigs, I think, but I hope to try it both ways.
April Blum
In a message dated 2/22/2013 12:00:46 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
callers-request(a)sharedweight.net writes:
Today's Topics:
1. Re: Does this dance already exist? (Michael Barraclough)
2. Re: Does this dance already exist? (James Saxe)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:42:41 -0500
From: Michael Barraclough <michael(a)michaelbarraclough.com>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Does this dance already exist?
Message-ID: <1361468561.2881.9.camel@The-Beast>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
I called this in Baltimore last night (? world premier).
It is a good dance but it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to ensure that the men
do not move from where they are in the swings in A1/A2. I taught it
emphasizing this and called it thus. However, as I reduced my calling,
so the men started moving. The result is that the positions move and
couples don't know who the opposite couple is with ultimate chaos as odd
couples get left out in the middle of the dance. I stopped the dance,
re-emphasized the need for the men to stay put and we were just fine
when they heeded the advice!
Michael Barraclough
www.michaelbarraclough.com
On Mon, 2013-02-18 at 17:10 -0500, Hgrastorf(a)aol.com wrote:
Wrote this one on my way back from calling Norfolk.
Slow M'Ocean Becket
A1 Pass thru to an Ocean Wave (Ps are facing in opposite directions).
Balance forward and back. Swing your SHADOW (who is facing you in the
next
wave). (Gents, make the ladies come to you.) End
facing across.
A2 Pass thru to an Ocean Wave. Balance F/B -- swing your Partner, who
is
facing you in the next wave. End facing your original
Ns.
B1 Ladies chain to your N. Ladies allemande R 1.5 (continue to hold Rt
hands)
B2 Ladies pick up your partner, star promenade across
with a butterfly
whirl (to the lady's side). Promenade across (to gent's side), with
ladies
passing RIGHT shoulders, and curl RIGHT to face the
next neighbor,
ready to
pass the Ocean.
I can't think of another dance that starts this way -- anybody?
April Blum
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
-----------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:23:30 -0800
From: James Saxe <jim.saxe(a)gmail.com>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Does this dance already exist?
Message-ID: <FE997E49-8469-4AF6-8B6E-C0056CD488A9(a)gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
I've never called "Slow M'Ocean", but from diagramming it on paper it
seems to me that the A1/A2 should work perfectly well (and leave dancers back
in their original starting positions at the end of A2) if men and women
advance EQUALLY to get into the swings. In this case, the "Pass thru to an
Ocean Wave" actions in A2 will have everyone passing the same opposite-sex
neighbor as in A1 (but the same-sex neighbors will be different for both men
and women). In Michael's interpretation, if I understand it correctly, the
Ocean Waves have the same pairs of men in A2 as in A1. I suspect very s
trongly that my interpretation is the one the author (April Blum) intended,
but I invite her to speak for herself on the matter.
The progression in B2 where couples pass by W's R shoulder and loop R
(relative to out-facing direction, i.e., clockwise around a big oval) is rather
unusual and is the part that I'd expect to give the most difficulty.
--Jim______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
End of Callers Digest, Vol 102, Issue 17
****************************************
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
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23 Feb
23 Feb
12:08 a.m.
On Feb 22, 2013, at 9:37 AM, Hgrastorf(a)aol.com wrote, re the
A1/A2 of "Slow M'Ocean":
...James
[That would be me, Jim Saxe]
is correct that the opposite
sex person one passes in stepping into the wave is the same person
both
times. If I'm L1, my current neighbor -- M2 -- passes me by the
right shoulder
and is facing the same direction as I face in the first wave. ...
I do think
(from a safety standpoint) that it's a good idea to keep the
couples out
of the center of the set during the short swing -- we've all had the
experience of the joined-hands-swing-bonk, I assume -- and my "make
the ladies
come to you" instruction really had that purpose in mind. ...
[*** NOTE: To understand the following remarks, read carefully
instead of just skimming.]
In other words, if I understand correctly, when April wrote
"(Gents, make the ladies come to you.)" in her original dance
description, she was referring to motion (or lack thereof)
*away from (or towards) the center of the set*. That is, she
was advising that as dancers advance up or down the set to
swing their shadows in A1 or their partners in A2, the ladies
veer slightly (a foot or so) away from the center of the set
in order to get into the gents' arms for the swing, rather
than gents veering inward to engage the ladies. If swinging
dancers have their centers of gravity closer together than
adjacent dancers in wavy lines of four do, then somebody has
to do some veering towards or away from the center of the set
to make up that difference. April's point in suggesting that
the ladies veer out to meet the gents is to keep people from
being dangerously close to the other swinging couple across
set.
Apparently Michael (and perhaps others, including Perry)
came up with a different, and unintended, reading of April's
comment "(Gents, make the ladies come to you)", reading it
as referring to motion (or lack thereof) *up or down the
set*. Interestingly, this reading results in a dance that
is technically workable (albeit a bit demanding to teach)
but different from what April intended.
To be clear, I can't much fault Michael or anyone else for
misinterpreting April's comment. Indeed I might have come
up with the very same *mis*interpretation if I had read the
dance description carefully instead of skimming past the
comment. On the other hand, I can't much fault April for
the ambiguity of her comment (unless she continues to
circulate the same dance description without making it
clearer now that the ambiguity has been noticed). Often
these sorts of ambiguities in callers' or choreographers'
or anyone else's words are far more evident in hindsight
than when the words are first spoken or written.
--Jim
1:19 a.m.
I am not sure that I am any the wiser after all this discussion!
What I do know is that the dance works brilliantly if the men stay
exactly where they are and the ladies come to them for the swing. Since
the men are on the outside of the waves that means that all the swings
will take place on the (out) side of the set and there are no
collisions.
Michael Barraclough
www.michaelbarraclough.com
On Fri, 2013-02-22 at 16:08 -0800, James Saxe wrote:
On Feb 22, 2013, at 9:37 AM, Hgrastorf(a)aol.com wrote,
re the
A1/A2 of "Slow M'Ocean":
...James
[That would be me, Jim Saxe]
is correct that the opposite
sex person one passes in stepping into the wave is the same person
both
times. If I'm L1, my current neighbor -- M2 -- passes me by the
right shoulder
and is facing the same direction as I face in the first wave. ...
I do think
(from a safety standpoint) that it's a good idea to keep the
couples out
of the center of the set during the short swing -- we've all had the
experience of the joined-hands-swing-bonk, I assume -- and my "make
the ladies
come to you" instruction really had that purpose in mind. ...
[*** NOTE: To understand the following remarks, read carefully
instead of just skimming.]
In other words, if I understand correctly, when April wrote
"(Gents, make the ladies come to you.)" in her original dance
description, she was referring to motion (or lack thereof)
*away from (or towards) the center of the set*. That is, she
was advising that as dancers advance up or down the set to
swing their shadows in A1 or their partners in A2, the ladies
veer slightly (a foot or so) away from the center of the set
in order to get into the gents' arms for the swing, rather
than gents veering inward to engage the ladies. If swinging
dancers have their centers of gravity closer together than
adjacent dancers in wavy lines of four do, then somebody has
to do some veering towards or away from the center of the set
to make up that difference. April's point in suggesting that
the ladies veer out to meet the gents is to keep people from
being dangerously close to the other swinging couple across
set.
Apparently Michael (and perhaps others, including Perry)
came up with a different, and unintended, reading of April's
comment "(Gents, make the ladies come to you)", reading it
as referring to motion (or lack thereof) *up or down the
set*. Interestingly, this reading results in a dance that
is technically workable (albeit a bit demanding to teach)
but different from what April intended.
To be clear, I can't much fault Michael or anyone else for
misinterpreting April's comment. Indeed I might have come
up with the very same *mis*interpretation if I had read the
dance description carefully instead of skimming past the
comment. On the other hand, I can't much fault April for
the ambiguity of her comment (unless she continues to
circulate the same dance description without making it
clearer now that the ambiguity has been noticed). Often
these sorts of ambiguities in callers' or choreographers'
or anyone else's words are far more evident in hindsight
than when the words are first spoken or written.
--Jim
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3 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
Hgrastorf＠aol.com -
James Saxe -
Michael Barraclough -
Perry Shafran