28 May
2025
28 May
'25
8:57 a.m.
Hi from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada!
As some of you know, I write a lot of my own dances because of the
specific needs of our crowd- I'm always working on contra dances that
are simpler than what most of you folks consider a "simple" dance :)
For my upcoming dance I am doing a Hey as a "feature figure" - meaning
it is the one more complex figure we will focus on that night.
Am trying to write a dance that introduces the Hey, builds on other
simple things we've done that night, without introducing anything else
new or confusing.
Other notes:
- we are dancing only in Becket
- swings are not necessary in each dance
I like the flow of what I've written - which ends with a full Hey--
But my issue is that the Lark will be following the Robin and I need the
Lark to get ahead at the end -- so everyone can progress in the correct
order.
I've experimentally written that at the end of the hey, the Robin should
look behind them and see their partner following them - and reach a hand
to give them a little tug, to pull them ahead of them, back to home
place and then seamlessly progress onwards to the next couple.
But it's hard to predict if this will work ok or be too confusing.
Would welcome your thoughts on this and any other aspect of the dance.
I think I borrowed the Larks left hand turn 1.5 into a Hey from another
dance on Contra DB, though my memory is foggy now...anyhow happy to give
credit to that, if any is due :)
Simple (maybe?) Hey Dance
Becket, CW (progressing by sliding left)
Star right
Circle right - the #1 Lark leads out the line - at some point dropping
hands with their partner who will end up at the opposite end of the line
(This figure I've done before without any issues)
Lines of 4 down the hall,
Turn *alone*, come back up, bend line
LLFB (you will be facing your partner for this figure, if I am not
mistaken!)
Larks: Allemande left 1.5x to face partner
All start fuly Hey - partners pass right on the ends, then Robins pass
left in the middle...
Once Robins get back to their home side, turn over their right shoulder
to see their partner right behind them - Robins reach with their right
hand, to their partner's left hand (i.e. partners briefly take inside
hands) - and Robins give a tug on the hand, to guide their Lark ahead of
them, to progress to the next group - Robins follow the Larks in single
file.
Thank you for your thoughts, if any!
Kat Kitching
Halifax Contra Dances
28 May
28 May
12:40 p.m.
Hi,
It's fun and can be helpful to craft dances for specific purposes - you're
getting some good input on your composition here.
Back to your original purpose featuring the hey with only simple figures
around it and little fuss, a classic dance is The Carousel by Tom Hinds. If
you want to only do Becket, rotate it to start with the B2. (Note that
*new* Robins allemande in the A1.)
https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=10324
Tom's dance starts the hey in the same way as yours, with the first pass
being on the side with your partner. For your training consideration,
there's also the other hey start with the first pass being in the center,
e.g. following from a chain. FWIW, here's an easier becket dance which
features that start. It's at least the third generation of evolution on
this sequence:
Purple Haze - Becket LT/CW - Don Veino
Riff off Purple Hays Variant (David Kaynor), riffing off Purple Heys (Peter
Stix)
A1 Slice Left, Cir LT 1x
A2 LDY\RBN RH Chain, over and back
B1 Full Hey, LDY\RBN Pass RT Ctr
B2 PNR Bal Swing
The similarity of the chain and hey feel seems to help build
understanding/success with newer dancers.
-Don
Near Concord MA, family formerly from Lunenburg, NS
On Wed, May 28, 2025, 11:57 AM Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada!
As some of you know, I write a lot of my own dances because of the
specific needs of our crowd- I'm always working on contra dances that
are simpler than what most of you folks consider a "simple" dance :)
For my upcoming dance I am doing a Hey as a "feature figure" - meaning
it is the one more complex figure we will focus on that night.
Am trying to write a dance that introduces the Hey, builds on other
simple things we've done that night, without introducing anything else
new or confusing.
Other notes:
- we are dancing only in Becket
- swings are not necessary in each dance
I like the flow of what I've written - which ends with a full Hey--
But my issue is that the Lark will be following the Robin and I need the
Lark to get ahead at the end -- so everyone can progress in the correct
order.
I've experimentally written that at the end of the hey, the Robin should
look behind them and see their partner following them - and reach a hand
to give them a little tug, to pull them ahead of them, back to home
place and then seamlessly progress onwards to the next couple.
But it's hard to predict if this will work ok or be too confusing.
Would welcome your thoughts on this and any other aspect of the dance.
I think I borrowed the Larks left hand turn 1.5 into a Hey from another
dance on Contra DB, though my memory is foggy now...anyhow happy to give
credit to that, if any is due :)
Simple (maybe?) Hey Dance
Becket, CW (progressing by sliding left)
Star right
Circle right - the #1 Lark leads out the line - at some point dropping
hands with their partner who will end up at the opposite end of the line
(This figure I've done before without any issues)
Lines of 4 down the hall,
Turn *alone*, come back up, bend line
LLFB (you will be facing your partner for this figure, if I am not
mistaken!)
Larks: Allemande left 1.5x to face partner
All start fuly Hey - partners pass right on the ends, then Robins pass
left in the middle...
Once Robins get back to their home side, turn over their right shoulder
to see their partner right behind them - Robins reach with their right
hand, to their partner's left hand (i.e. partners briefly take inside
hands) - and Robins give a tug on the hand, to guide their Lark ahead of
them, to progress to the next group - Robins follow the Larks in single
file.
Thank you for your thoughts, if any!
Kat Kitching
Halifax Contra Dances
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
10:59 a.m.
What if the turn alone were turn as a couple? The larks would then do a right allemande
after the LLFB, ending by passing left shoulders with their partners. The robins would
start the hey with their right shoulders in the center (as is most common) and wind up
back to the right the larks in the correct position for the progression.
Dave Harding (Chicago)
On 05/28/2025 10:57 AM CDT Katherine Kitching via
Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada!
As some of you know, I write a lot of my own dances because of the
specific needs of our crowd- I'm always working on contra dances that
are simpler than what most of you folks consider a "simple" dance :)
For my upcoming dance I am doing a Hey as a "feature figure" - meaning
it is the one more complex figure we will focus on that night.
Am trying to write a dance that introduces the Hey, builds on other
simple things we've done that night, without introducing anything else
new or confusing.
Other notes:
- we are dancing only in Becket
- swings are not necessary in each dance
I like the flow of what I've written - which ends with a full Hey--
But my issue is that the Lark will be following the Robin and I need the
Lark to get ahead at the end -- so everyone can progress in the correct
order.
I've experimentally written that at the end of the hey, the Robin should
look behind them and see their partner following them - and reach a hand
to give them a little tug, to pull them ahead of them, back to home
place and then seamlessly progress onwards to the next couple.
But it's hard to predict if this will work ok or be too confusing.
Would welcome your thoughts on this and any other aspect of the dance.
I think I borrowed the Larks left hand turn 1.5 into a Hey from another
dance on Contra DB, though my memory is foggy now...anyhow happy to give
credit to that, if any is due :)
Simple (maybe?) Hey Dance
Becket, CW (progressing by sliding left)
Star right
Circle right - the #1 Lark leads out the line - at some point dropping
hands with their partner who will end up at the opposite end of the line
(This figure I've done before without any issues)
Lines of 4 down the hall,
Turn *alone*, come back up, bend line
LLFB (you will be facing your partner for this figure, if I am not
mistaken!)
Larks: Allemande left 1.5x to face partner
All start fuly Hey - partners pass right on the ends, then Robins pass
left in the middle...
Once Robins get back to their home side, turn over their right shoulder
to see their partner right behind them - Robins reach with their right
hand, to their partner's left hand (i.e. partners briefly take inside
hands) - and Robins give a tug on the hand, to guide their Lark ahead of
them, to progress to the next group - Robins follow the Larks in single
file.
Thank you for your thoughts, if any!
Kat Kitching
Halifax Contra Dances
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
9:14 a.m.
Apart from using terminology which bears no relationship to the real
world, I thoroughly approve of what you are trying to do.
My only concern with this dance is that the "signature figure" is the
most complex part of the dance, is therefore most likely to go wrong
and, as the last figure in each turn of the dance, could lead to a poor
or bad transition into the next turn through the dance.
Michael Barraclough
On 28/05/2025 16:57, Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers wrote:
Hi from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada!
As some of you know, I write a lot of my own dances because of the
specific needs of our crowd- I'm always working on contra dances that
are simpler than what most of you folks consider a "simple" dance :)
For my upcoming dance I am doing a Hey as a "feature figure" - meaning
it is the one more complex figure we will focus on that night.
Am trying to write a dance that introduces the Hey, builds on other
simple things we've done that night, without introducing anything else
new or confusing.
Other notes:
- we are dancing only in Becket
- swings are not necessary in each dance
I like the flow of what I've written - which ends with a full Hey--
But my issue is that the Lark will be following the Robin and I need
the Lark to get ahead at the end -- so everyone can progress in the
correct order.
I've experimentally written that at the end of the hey, the Robin
should look behind them and see their partner following them - and
reach a hand to give them a little tug, to pull them ahead of them,
back to home place and then seamlessly progress onwards to the next
couple.
But it's hard to predict if this will work ok or be too confusing.
Would welcome your thoughts on this and any other aspect of the dance.
I think I borrowed the Larks left hand turn 1.5 into a Hey from
another dance on Contra DB, though my memory is foggy now...anyhow
happy to give credit to that, if any is due :)
Simple (maybe?) Hey Dance
Becket, CW (progressing by sliding left)
Star right
Circle right - the #1 Lark leads out the line - at some point dropping
hands with their partner who will end up at the opposite end of the
line (This figure I've done before without any issues)
Lines of 4 down the hall,
Turn *alone*, come back up, bend line
LLFB (you will be facing your partner for this figure, if I am not
mistaken!)
Larks: Allemande left 1.5x to face partner
All start fuly Hey - partners pass right on the ends, then Robins pass
left in the middle...
Once Robins get back to their home side, turn over their right
shoulder to see their partner right behind them - Robins reach with
their right hand, to their partner's left hand (i.e. partners briefly
take inside hands) - and Robins give a tug on the hand, to guide their
Lark ahead of them, to progress to the next group - Robins follow the
Larks in single file.
Thank you for your thoughts, if any!
Kat Kitching
Halifax Contra Dances
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to
contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
9
days inactive
9
days old
contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
3 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
DAVID HARDING -
Don Veino -
Katherine Kitching -
Michael Barraclough