11 Dec
2007
11 Dec
'07
3:48 p.m.
A friend in Seattle (Alan Cheetham) has written a contra dance with substantially weird
end effects called broken corners. The dance is below, but the gist of the hook is you
start contra corners, but with your first corner you allemande left 1.5 to have the TWOs
complete the contra corners.
I'm gathering some people together tomorrow night to walk through that dance. I've
got a couple of other weird dances, but while I've got some dancers gathered together
for some experimental dancing, do YOU have any weird contras you've had hanging around
and you need an in-depth, fully studied, deliberated upon walk thru?
If so, please send them on. Tomorrow is a great time for us to work on your dance for
you!
Also, if you happen to be in Atlanta Wed, stop on by Janet's house from 7:45 - 9 to
help us parse this and other dances out!
Note: I have neither danced nor called this dance. I can make no recommendations about it
being callable, danceable, understandable. It should be danceable. I just haven't
proven it yet.
Broken Corners
Author: Alan Cheetham
Start: Beckett O=men, X=women
[After hands-four improper rotate right 1 / 4 so the "Ones" are on the right
(men's proper side)]
X
O
X
O
X
O
"Ones"
O
X
O
X
O
X
Circle Left 3/4 (8)
O
X
O
X
O
X
A1a
X
O
X
O
X
O
Swing Neighbor (8)
X
O
X
O
X
O
A1b
O
X
O
X
O
X
Long Lines F&B (8)
X
O
X
O
X
O
A2a
O
X
O
X
O
X
"Ones" half Figure 8 up around Twos (8)
X
X
X
X
X
X
A2b
O
O
O
O
O
O
First broken corner - part 1 (part of 8)
"Ones" start contra corners - Alamand partner by the right ½ to first corner
(standard contra corner first corner)
X
X
X
B1a-1
OX
OX
OX
O
O
O
First broken corner - part 2 (rest of 8)
Alamand corner by the left 1 ½ (which will end in a position to send the corner
"Twos" into the middle)
X
O X
O
X
B1a-2
O X
O X
O
X
Second broken corner - part 1 (part of 8)
Former corners alamand the one you meet in the middle ¾ (to go to what would have been the
standard second corner for the original people in the middle)
O
O
B1b-1
OX
OX
OX
X
X
X
Second broken corner - part 2 (rest of 8)
Alamand second corner position person by the left once around (to head back along the
side)
O
X
O
X
O
X
B1b-2
X
O
X
O
X
Along the set gypsy the one you meet by the right ½ to ¾ changing places (part of 8)
O
X
O
X
O
X
B2a-1
O
X
O
X
O
X
Men gypsy across the middle by the left ½ ending facing your partner (rest of 8)
X
X
O
X
B2a-2
O
O
O
O
X
X
X
X
O
X
O
X
O
B2a-2
O
X
O
X
O
X
Swing partner (8) (may need to swing slightly to the right, or remember the circle will be
with the couple slightly to the right)
X
O
X
O
X
O
X
O
B2a-2
O
X
O
X
O
X
Seth Tepfer
Director of Administrative Computing
Oxford College of Emory University
seth.tepfer(a)emory.edu
770-784-8487
11 Dec
11 Dec
5:10 p.m.
Here is a dance I wrote that is a little weird. It has been danced at
least three times, and was moderately successful. The dancers needed
some help with the walk through. Please let me know if you are able to
use it and if it is indeed weird enough for you.
Janet Levatin
California Twirlin' by Janet Levatin 3/2007
Duple improper
A1: Balance the ring
Partner California Twirl and face back in
Balance the ring
Neighbor California Twirl and face back in
A2: Balance the ring
Partner California Twirl and face new neighbors
This new neighbor swing
B1: Circle left 3/4
Partner swing
B2: Ladies chain with courtesy turn
Long lines forward and on the way back…
Neighbor roll away with half sashay: women rolling left
Double progression variation:
B2: omit roll away, start dance with next neighbors
The thing that is weird about this dance is that you face back in to
your current group of four after the first two California twirls
instead of facing away as you usually do after a California twirl. As a
teaching point, you can tell the dancers to use their joined hands to
generate a bit of leverage to propel each other back in towards their
group of four. Some dancers will want to add a full circle twirl as a
flourish. The impetus for this can be generated by using those joined
hands to propel each other.
On Dec 11, 2007, at 3:48 PM, Tepfer, Seth wrote:
A friend in Seattle (Alan Cheetham) has written a
contra dance with
substantially weird end effects called broken corners. The dance is
below, but the gist of the hook is you start contra corners, but with
your first corner you allemande left 1.5 to have the TWOs complete the
contra corners.
I'm gathering some people together tomorrow night to walk through that
dance. I've got a couple of other weird dances, but while I've got
some dancers gathered together for some experimental dancing, do YOU
have any weird contras you've had hanging around and you need an
in-depth, fully studied, deliberated upon walk thru?
If so, please send them on. Tomorrow is a great time for us to work on
your dance for you!
Also, if you happen to be in Atlanta Wed, stop on by Janet's house
from 7:45 - 9 to help us parse this and other dances out!
Note: I have neither danced nor called this dance. I can make no
recommendations about it being callable, danceable, understandable. It
should be danceable. I just haven't proven it yet.
Broken Corners
Author: Alan Cheetham
Start: Beckett O=men, X=women
[After hands-four improper rotate right 1 / 4 so the "Ones" are on the
right (men's proper side)]
X
O
X
O
X
O
"Ones"
O
X
O
X
O
X
Circle Left 3/4 (8)
O
X
O
X
O
X
A1a
X
O
X
O
X
O
Swing Neighbor (8)
X
O
X
O
X
O
A1b
O
X
O
X
O
X
Long Lines F&B (8)
X
O
X
O
X
O
A2a
O
X
O
X
O
X
"Ones" half Figure 8 up around Twos (8)
X
X
X
X
X
X
A2b
O
O
O
O
O
O
First broken corner - part 1 (part of 8)
"Ones" start contra corners - Alamand partner by the right ½ to first
corner (standard contra corner first corner)
X
X
X
B1a-1
OX
OX
OX
O
O
O
First broken corner - part 2 (rest of 8)
Alamand corner by the left 1 ½ (which will end in a position to send
the corner "Twos" into the middle)
X
O X
O
X
B1a-2
O X
O X
O
X
Second broken corner - part 1 (part of 8)
Former corners alamand the one you meet in the middle ¾ (to go to what
would have been the standard second corner for the original people in
the middle)
O
O
B1b-1
OX
OX
OX
X
X
X
Second broken corner - part 2 (rest of 8)
Alamand second corner position person by the left once around (to head
back along the side)
O
X
O
X
O
X
B1b-2
X
O
X
O
X
Along the set gypsy the one you meet by the right ½ to ¾ changing
places (part of 8)
O
X
O
X
O
X
B2a-1
O
X
O
X
O
X
Men gypsy across the middle by the left ½ ending facing your partner
(rest of 8)
X
X
O
X
B2a-2
O
O
O
O
X
X
X
X
O
X
O
X
O
B2a-2
O
X
O
X
O
X
Swing partner (8) (may need to swing slightly to the right, or
remember the circle will be with the couple slightly to the right)
X
O
X
O
X
O
X
O
B2a-2
O
X
O
X
O
X
Seth Tepfer
Director of Administrative Computing
Oxford College of Emory University
seth.tepfer(a)emory.edu
770-784-8487
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5:39 p.m.
New subject: weird contra dances Take 2
Title: Broken Corners
Author: Alan cheetham
Formation: Becket (CCW - circle right 1 place)
A1: circle left 3/4; neighbor swing
A2: long lines; 1's 1/2 fig 8 around 2s
B1: 1s alle partner R .5 to first corner (2), alle first corner 1.5 (6);
2s (now in center, but not with partner) alle R.75 (4);
2s alle second corner (well, not THEIR 2nd corner, but in the
place
The 1s second corner would have been) one time, to head back
along
The side (4)
B2: gypsy by the one you meet by the right .5-.75 (4), men gypsy across
the set by the left .5 (4) to partner; parner swing (8)
May need to swing slightly to the right, or remember the circle will be
with the couple slight to the right
6:47 p.m.
New subject: weird contra dances Take 2
Seth, Alan, and SW;
Thanks for sharing this interesting idea. However, I have a few comments/questions,
assuming I'm reading this correctly.
After walking this through, it appears that all progress CW, not CCW, and also that all
finish away from their original side (which would create a back-and-forth dance). If so,
the fix is either;
A1. Gents allemande L 1 1/2, neighbor swing
A2. Long lines, 1's 1/2 figure 8 above 2's
or;
A1. Circle L 3/4, neighbor swing
A2. R and L through, 1's 1/2 figure 8 above 2's
The timing in B1 looks very tight, in particular the "2nd" corner allemande L
and "head back along the side" in 4 beats. Perhaps a better way to make this
work is 1st corner pull by L instead of allemande L 1 1/2. By the way, the 2's
allemande R 3/4 are with shadows.
For the gents to pass L in B2 the gypsy R is more like 3/4-once around. I'd prefer a
gents pass R to make the partner swing a little longer. Finally, after the partner swing
all face across at the one they gypsied R by to begin the dance again, so it shouldn't
be much to the R and L.
Yours in the folk process -
Bob> Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:39:45 -0500> From: LABST(a)emory.edu> To:
callers(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: Re: [Callers] weird contra dances Take 2> >
> > Title: Broken Corners> Author: Alan cheetham> Formation: Becket (CCW -
circle right 1 place)> A1: circle left 3/4; neighbor swing> A2: long lines; 1's
1/2 fig 8 around 2s> B1: 1s alle partner R .5 to first corner (2), alle first corner
1.5 (6);> 2s (now in center, but not with partner) alle R.75 (4); > 2s alle second
corner (well, not THEIR 2nd corner, but in the> place> The 1s second corner would
have been) one time, to head back> along > The side (4)> B2: gypsy by the one you
meet by the right .5-.75 (4), men gypsy across> the set by the left .5 (4) to partner;
parner swing (8)> > May need to swing slightly to the right, or remember the circle
will be> with the couple slight to the right>
_______________________________________________> Callers mailing list>
Callers(a)sharedweight.net> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
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Don't get caught with egg on your face. Play Chicktionary!
http://club.live.com/chicktionary.aspx?icid=chick_wlhmtextlink1_dec
6:12 p.m.
New subject: "weird" contra dances
Here's one that you can try. It's a contra corners dance entitled "Whose
Turn?" It is an advanced, and somewhat "weird", dance. Any feedback is
welcomed. Thanks,
Dave Colestock
www.davecolestock.com
where you can find most of my dance compositions.
Whose Turn? - Duple, Becket
Dave Colestock - 02/07/03
A1 Go Halfway Down the Hall in a Line of 4, about 4 steps
Whose Turn each couple can either turn alone or turn as a couple and come back up
the hall
Center 2 people cast off around the outside 2 people, and start
A2 Contra Corners (Neighbor with Neighbor), coming out of CC, pass by Neighbor
B1 Swing Partner on the Side
B2 R&L Thru on Left Diagonal if no one there, stay put
Promenade Across the set, end facing down the Hall in a Line of 4
This is an alternating corners dance where each couple gets to decide who in that couple
will do contra corners with the neighbor person.
RE: Seth -
I'm gathering some people together tomorrow night to walk through that dance. I've
got a couple of other weird dances, but while I've got some dancers gathered together
for some experimental dancing, do YOU have any weird contras you've had hanging around
and you need an in-depth, fully studied, deliberated upon walk thru?
If so, please send them on. Tomorrow is a great time for us to work on your dance for
you!
7:30 p.m.
I'm gathering some people together tomorrow night
to walk through that dance. I've got a couple of other weird dances, but while
I've got some dancers gathered together for some experimental dancing, do YOU have any
weird contras you've had hanging around and you need an in-depth, fully studied,
deliberated upon walk thru?> > > > If so, please send them on. Tomorrow is a
great time for us to work on your dance for you!>
Seth;
Here's one for your guinea pig dancers that I have yet to try;
March of the Triplets Triplet, proper BI, 6/7/06
A1. 8 1's cast to bottom as 2's move up
8 1's 1/2 figure 8 above 2's (1)
A2. 8 2's gate 1's above
8 3's gate 1's below as 2's move down - form a line of 6 (2)
B1. 8 Down hall in line of 6 - turn alone (3)
8 Up hall and bend line
B2. 4,12 Partner balance, swing - face up
(1) - After this the 1's are below the 2's and are improper
(2) - L to R facing down the line is 3L-1G-2L-2G-1L-3G. After the 2's have gated the
1's they can join hands with each other and take a couple of steps down to get in the
middle of the line of 6. Or perhaps the 1's and 2's can keep hands joined and the
3's can gate both of them, although this might take too much time unless all give
serious weight.
(3) - I'm figuring the line can go a maximum of 6 steps so there will be enough time
to bend this longer-than-usual line on the way up. So all can face someone, the etiquette
on the turn alone should be ladies look R and gents look L.
Bob
_________________________________________________________________
Get the power of Windows + Web with the new Windows Live.
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12 Dec
12 Dec
4:55 a.m.
Below is a dance that Mark Hillegonds contributed to the list a few months
ago. I am not sure that Mark would appreciate it being called 'weird', but
I sure would appreciate some help with the timing and track in B2. The best
I have managed to do is actives pull by (4) and box the gnat with 1st
corners (4), I then have 4 beats to pull by with this corner, pass my
partner right shoulder to get to 2nd corner for swat the flea (4). A few
managed (just) to do it with going straight across from 1st corner to 2nd
corner (ie passing left shoulder) but in the end we gave up.
Any help would be appreciated.
Michael Barraclough
http://www.michaelbarraclough.com
Hi all,
I wrote a dance for someone who loves the feel and momentum changes of Box
the Gnat and Swat the Flea. She also loves Contra Corners, so I combined
them.
I have found it interesting that even though the dancers are following
an virtually identical path to contra corners in B2, it sometimes takes
some additional teaching and a few more
times through the sequence before they become comfortable with where
they are supposed to go.
It's probably been discussed ad nauseum already, but it's an
interesting struggle to keep dances within a certain norm vs. pushing
boundaries and asking dancers to think once in a while. Anyway, here is the
dance:
Rosie the Welder
Composed: Mark Hillegonds, May 22, 2007
Formation: Contra, duple minor, improper
A1 (16) Actives balance and swing
A2 (8) Circle left
(8) Neighbor do si do
B1 (8) Take right hands with neighbor, balance and box the gnat
(8) Take left hands with partner, balance and swat the flea
B2 (8) Actives pull by and box the gnat with first corner
(8) Pull by with that 1st corner, actives pass by the right shoulder swat
the flea with 2nd corner.
Pull by 2nd corner to start the dance with the partner balance and swing.
Notes:
B2 Explain to the
dancers that this is just a contra corners with corner twirls instead of
allemandes.
Mark Hillegonds
Ann Arbor, MI
mhillego(at)yahoo(dot)com
2:39 a.m.
On 12/11/07, Tepfer, Seth <LABST(a)emory.edu> wrote:
A friend in Seattle (Alan Cheetham) has written a
contra dance with substantially weird end effects called broken corners. The dance is
below, but the gist of the hook is you start contra corners, but with your first corner
you allemande left 1.5 to have the TWOs complete the contra corners.
Sure, I'll throw in one I don't see myself testing
in the near or distant future. One of the problems
is that it may require a large set to test which
shadows you do the up-the-hall with.
Numbers in parentheses are estimated beats. Numbers
in brackets are footnotes. It's no coincidence there's
lots of those.
Interwoven Promenades (working title)
Chris Page, 4/2007
Improperish [*1]
A1 Down the hall in a line of four (6?)
Couples on the women's side turn as couples,
couples on men's side keep going. [*2] (2?)
Promenade/lead counterclockwise around the set [*3] (6?)
Couples currently on the men's side turn as couples,
couples on women's side keep going [*4] (2?)
A2 Up the hall in a line of four [*5] (6?)
Couples currently on women's side turn as couples,
others keep going [*6] (2?)
Promenade clockwise around the set. [*7] (8??)
B1 Women allemande right 1 & 1/2 (8)
Swing partner (8)
B2 With partner shift left (2)
New couple circle left 3/4 (6)
Swing neighbor, face down (8)
[1] Logically, where B2 would end. Same
starting point as the beginning of the A2
of "Nice Combination" -- facing down the hall,
next to neighbor, woman on the right.
[2] Men's and woman's side -- sides named
as per proper dance. "Promenade with men in the middle."
[3] While this is a promenade, you're still
working with the handholds of the line of four,
so it's better as a lead around the set holding
inside hands. But it's equivalent to a promenade.
[4] End effect curiousity -- some of the couples
that started out on the men's side are now on the
women's side, and verse vica. Best call for this
would be "all face up."
[5] Here, promenades merge into lines of four.
Your shadow's in the line of four. Which shadow?
That's where the testing is most needed -- I'm guessing
shadow number 3, 4, or 5.
[6] "Promenade with women in the middle."
[7] Is it short here by two beats?
-Chris
San Diego
5985
days inactive
5986
days old
contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
7 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
-
Bob Isaacs -
Chris Page -
Dave Colestock -
Janet Levatin -
Michael Barraclough -
Tepfer, Seth