Seth, thats an idea..As I recall they may not play it to fit but I will give that some more thought. Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad <https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/?.src=iOS> On Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 4:27 PM, Tepfer, Seth &lt;labst(a)emory.edu&gt; wrote: Hey Laur (and Bill) I've danced "Levi Jackson Rag" many times to the tune Beaumont Rag, and it works fine. I would be surprised if it didn't work for a contra dance. HOWEVER, it could well be the way this band plays the tune just isn't supportive of contra dancing. Seth Tepfer, MBA, CSM, PMP Manager of Software Engineering, Oxford College Schedule an appointment: oxford.emory.edu/SethBooking <https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/SethTepfer@mscloud.emory.net/bookings/> 770-784-8487 Pronouns: he, him, his <https://app.oxford.emory.edu/WebApps/Directories/index.cfm?fuseaction=v.searchresults&searchname=tepfer> ------------------------------ *From:* Laur via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; *Sent:* Wednesday, April 27, 2022 4:21 PM *To:* Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)sharedweight.net&gt; *Subject:* [External] [Callers] Fw: Need help fitting to a tune Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Foverview.mail.yahoo.com%2F%3F.src%3DiOS&data=05%7C01%7Clabst%40emory.edu%7Cac4f968273ec414530a208da288b8f79%7Ce004fb9cb0a4424fbcd0322606d5df38%7C0%7C0%7C637866877116818301%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=iOr6unzYOb5ihbY6bZtFbHREVj61hHWJija%2BAJT2AMk%3D&reserved=0> Begin forwarded message: On Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 4:20 PM, Laur &lt;lcpgr(a)yahoo.com&gt; wrote: Yes Bill I agree. I plan on asking the band not to include that tune, but thought I would give it a good sport try and ask here first. They play it for show, as a jazzy tune. It just doesn't work. And no the band isnt suggesting anything - the band always plays the tune during a dance. the caller does what they do, walks the dancers through the dance and the band picks a tune. But the band will play that tune at some point during the night. Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Foverview.mail.yahoo.com%2F%3F.src%3DiOS&data=05%7C01%7Clabst%40emory.edu%7Cac4f968273ec414530a208da288b8f79%7Ce004fb9cb0a4424fbcd0322606d5df38%7C0%7C0%7C637866877116818301%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=iOr6unzYOb5ihbY6bZtFbHREVj61hHWJija%2BAJT2AMk%3D&reserved=0> On Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 4:08 PM, Bill Olson &lt;callbill(a)hotmail.com&gt; wrote: Laur, where are you? Not quite sure I understand here.. The BAND is suggesting the* dance that you should call *to a tune they want to play?? uhhhh... That ain't how it works. Make it easy on yourself.. You are in control here.. Just tell the band NOT to play the tune.. That all said, there are SO many ways Beaumont Rag is played. Not all of them are 32 bars long. and it is often played as a "show off' tune at Bluegrass festivals, i.e. REALLY FAST!!! the tune is pretty much fun if played AABB at a reasonable tempo.. Not sure what your local band does with it in a contra dance setting, but I'd just politely say 'we're not gonna use that one'.. my $.02 - bill ------------------------------ *From:* Laur via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; *Sent:* Wednesday, April 27, 2022 7:50 PM *To:* Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)sharedweight.net&gt; *Subject:* [Callers] Need help fitting to a tune A local band here plays Beaumont Rag As a part of their routine dance set. It’s a popular band. I’ve never experienced a contra dance The band has chosen to play for a dance work. It doesn’t work for the dancers and it’s agonizing for the caller. Can anyone suggest a dance that could fit? At this point I’m planning to request they don’t include the tune. I know there’s an English dance written to match but not interested in that for this set. Laurie Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Foverview.mail.yahoo.com%2F%3F.src%3DiOS&data=05%7C01%7Clabst%40emory.edu%7Cac4f968273ec414530a208da288b8f79%7Ce004fb9cb0a4424fbcd0322606d5df38%7C0%7C0%7C637866877116818301%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=iOr6unzYOb5ihbY6bZtFbHREVj61hHWJija%2BAJT2AMk%3D&reserved=0> _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net

On Wed, 27 Apr 2022 16:46:36 -0400, Jacob or Nancy Bloom via Contra Callers wrote: dance, usually done as a Sicilian Circle, so it That's the one I was going to suggest. Here's how I explain it: https://barndances.org.uk/detail.php?Title=Balance_the_Star and the vital phrase is "turn your back on your partner" - if callers can't get that across there is general confusion. Also a contra by Susan Kevra where she actually specified "Beaumont Rag and similar": Country of Marriage Longways Becket, single prog. 32 bar rags A1: Circle left 3/4. Do-si-do neighbour to a wave. A2: Balance right and left; ladies allemande left all the way (rapidly). Swing neighbour, finish facing across. B1: Right & left through. Men allemande right 3/4 to meet next man; allemande left with him 3/4 while ladies move to left. B2: Balance and swing partner. Dance: Susan Kevra -- English Dance & Song, Winter 1992. Colin Hume Email colin(a)colinhume.com Web site http://colinhume.com _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net

Balance the Star qualifies as a chestnut and works well. The stars encourage a little hand jive action that is a lot of fun. Here's my go-to dance for raggy tune sets which stole a good bit from Balance the Star -- and Beaumont would work just fine with it. (And per what I think others said, tembo matters. It's no fun -- not even very raggy at -- warp speed.) Ragtime Sammy Contra, Duple, Improper Ridge Kennedy 20 A-1 Right Hands Across Star (8) Left Hands

Star (8) A-2 Gents Turn Back over right shoulder (peel off) make eye contact and and swing Neighbor (a short gypsy) (4-6) Long Swing (12-10) B-1 Circle Left Three Quarters (8) Partner Swing (8) B-2 Ladies Allemande Right 1 1/2 (8) Neighbor Allemande Left 1 1/2 (8) Notes: The first version of this dance was made up in about 2013 for a dance with Big Phat American K-Lee Band in Glen Echo. Early in the

– maybe first dance, the band was going to do a set of rags. So we

a dance that would work well with rags and that was pretty easy – a

upper. The only tricky bit here is moving from the allemande left with neighbors to the next star. Just keep dancers mindful of which way they will be going to progress, and it will work out fine. The idea behind using the hands across stars was to encourage dancers to use their free hands to do a little hand jive if the music so inspired them. And so it did. The final ending sequence for the dance was

locked in place during 2015, I think. For all the time the dance was evolving it was my “raggy, starry hand jive dance.” Recently though, noting that bands frequently included Ragtime Annie in their raggy sets

since (little known secret here) my first name is Samuel – well Ragtime Sammy seems like a fitting title. Yeah, it’s a silly little dance, but

the music is right, dancers really do feel encouraged to get into the

jive and more. Ridge Kennedy [Exit 145] Hey -- I wrote a book! *Murder & Miss Austen's Ball. * It's a novel with musical accompaniment. Now that's different. Read all about it here! <https://www.hedgehoghousebooks.com>

On Thu, Apr 28, 2022 at 3:17 AM Colin Hume via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: