17 Sep
2023
17 Sep
'23
10:26 a.m.
Does anyone slip in a ceilidh style dance at a contra? Some of the mixers work well at
contra dances. Also, it’s an opportunity to give new dancers brains a break. I suspect
this practice is more common in the UK. Colin, feel free to chime in.
Rich
17 Sep
17 Sep
10:34 a.m.
My band frequently requests that callers do this when we play, at least
once or twice in a night. We'll be doing that this coming Friday at Glen
Echo, with Greg Frock calling. Gives us a chance to play our hornpipe /
48-bar-jig / slip jig, or whatever, sets. If you'd like, I'd be happy to
put you in touch with some of the callers who have accommodated that
practice. Some contra dancers complain if it's more than a dance or two in
a night, but most of them enjoy it, particularly if you don't tell them
it's not a contra dance. They're certainly not any more liable to complain
about a ceilidh mixer than about any other mixer.
On Sun, Sep 17, 2023 at 10:27 AM Rich Goss via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Does anyone slip in a ceilidh style dance at a contra?
Some of the
mixers work well at contra dances. Also, it’s an opportunity to give new
dancers brains a break. I suspect this practice is more common in the
UK. Colin, feel free to chime in.
Rich
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David Casserly
(cell) 781 258-2761
he/him
11:13 a.m.
I'd love if you could include the dance notes here, for a few of the most favourite!
I know one can always google such things, but it's always so nice to get handpicked
ones written out here :)
(Whenever I am asked to call a "contra dance" at a wedding or community event, I
usually use ceilidh-inspired dances but using more typical contra figures - lots of
allemandes and balances-- for the fun centripetal and pushme-pullyou forces that my
dancers enjoy at our monthly dances and likely inspires them to ask for contras at their
wedding or community event).
Sep 17, 2023 11:34:48 AM Dave Casserly via Contra Callers
<contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>et>:
My band frequently requests that callers do this when
we play, at least once or twice in a night. We'll be doing that this coming Friday at
Glen Echo, with Greg Frock calling. Gives us a chance to play our hornpipe / 48-bar-jig /
slip jig, or whatever, sets. If you'd like, I'd be happy to put you in touch with
some of the callers who have accommodated that practice. Some contra dancers complain if
it's more than a dance or two in a night, but most of them enjoy it, particularly if
you don't tell them it's not a contra dance. They're certainly not any more
liable to complain about a ceilidh mixer than about any other mixer.
On Sun, Sep 17, 2023 at 10:27 AM Rich Goss via Contra Callers
<contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Does anyone slip in a ceilidh style dance at a
contra? Some of the mixers work well at contra dances. Also, it’s an opportunity to
give new dancers brains a break. I suspect this practice is more common in the UK.
Colin, feel free to chime in.
Rich
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--
David Casserly
(cell) 781 258-2761
he/him 
11:08 a.m.
On Sun, 17 Sep 2023 07:26:50 -0700, Rich Goss via Contra Callers wrote:
Does anyone slip in a ceilidh style dance at a contra?
Some of the mixers work well at contra dances. Also,
it's an opportunity to give new dancers brains a break. I suspect this practice is
more common in the UK.
Colin, feel free to chime in.
I'm always happy to parade my prejudices! But it's very seldom in England that I
call a "contra dance". I call a
"dance", which will usually include contras, squares, Playford, modern English
(from either side of the pond) and
ceilidh-style (also called "traditional English") such as Morpeth Rant or Dorset
Four-hand Reel.
I am actually calling a "mainly American" dance for my local club the Hitchin
Staplers on 7th October:
https://staplers.org.uk/latest.html
Originally Geoff Cubitt was booked to call - he's probably the best caller of American
Squares and Contras in England -
but he had to pull out so I'll be doing a programme with a lot of American in it. But
I'm still planning to call two
genuine Playford (Grimstock and The Merry Merry Milkmaids), probably four modern English -
and actually no ceilidh!
Colin Hume
12:26 p.m.
Chiming in as another UK-based caller. My experience is different to
Colin's, I often call evenings in the UK styled as "contra dances" in which
I would typically call either all contras, or contra plus a couple of
squares. I'd be very unlikely to call a ceilidh dance at one of those
evenings.
But, in the last couple of years, I've been asked to call a few
"contra-ceilidhs" at dance series that usually just dance ceilidh dances.
Then I'll do a mix of ceilidh and simple contras as well as simple squares.
The biggest challenge is the swing, as ceilidh dancers tend to use
symmetrical swings rather than ballroom and so often end up switching roles
unintentionally in the contra dances.
Best wishes,
Charlotte Rich-Griffin
On Sun, 17 Sept 2023, 16:08 Colin Hume via Contra Callers, <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
On Sun, 17 Sep 2023 07:26:50 -0700, Rich Goss via
Contra Callers wrote:
Does anyone slip in a ceilidh style dance at a
contra? Some of the
mixers work well at contra dances. Also,
it's an opportunity to give new dancers
brains a break. I suspect this
practice is more common in the UK.
Colin, feel free to chime in.
I'm always happy to parade my prejudices! But it's very seldom in England
that I call a "contra dance". I call a
"dance", which will usually include contras, squares, Playford, modern
English (from either side of the pond) and
ceilidh-style (also called "traditional English") such as Morpeth Rant or
Dorset Four-hand Reel.
I am actually calling a "mainly American" dance for my local club the
Hitchin Staplers on 7th October:
https://staplers.org.uk/latest.html
Originally Geoff Cubitt was booked to call - he's probably the best caller
of American Squares and Contras in England -
but he had to pull out so I'll be doing a programme with a lot of American
in it. But I'm still planning to call two
genuine Playford (Grimstock and The Merry Merry Milkmaids), probably four
modern English - and actually no ceilidh!
Colin Hume
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1:07 p.m.
Rich,
I call primarily in southern New England, and I often insert mixers, reels,
and squares into Contra Dances.
I seldom do this at the bigger "contra" venues, but I would feel free at
most smaller venues, especially if there are lots of newbies or children.
Other than Squares, I would probably never use more than one of each in any
particular evening, but my experience is that many local contra dancers
love singing squares.
Rich Sbardella
Stafford, CT
On Sun, Sep 17, 2023 at 10:27 AM Rich Goss via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Does anyone slip in a ceilidh style dance at a contra?
Some of the
mixers work well at contra dances. Also, it’s an opportunity to give new
dancers brains a break. I suspect this practice is more common in the
UK. Colin, feel free to chime in.
Rich
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2:26 p.m.
Just be sure to warn them first... 😉
https://youtu.be/1msu8iQT3kw?si=wikww-DafmNCAi10
On Sun, Sep 17, 2023, 10:27 AM Rich Goss via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Does anyone slip in a ceilidh style dance at a contra?
Some of the
mixers work well at contra dances. Also, it’s an opportunity to give new
dancers brains a break. I suspect this practice is more common in the
UK. Colin, feel free to chime in.
Rich
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Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
5:04 p.m.
I run a dance at a "smaller venue" in central Maine, and always do at least
one ceilidh and/or ECD, and at least one square dance. It does indeed rest
the brains of both new and more experienced dancers, and expands the
repertoire of potential figures as well.
The Other Allison
On Sun, Sep 17, 2023 at 2:26 PM Don Veino via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Just be sure to warn them first... 😉
https://youtu.be/1msu8iQT3kw?si=wikww-DafmNCAi10
On Sun, Sep 17, 2023, 10:27 AM Rich Goss via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
--
www.huntandallison.net
www.info@thsmaritime.com
www.centralhallcommons.org
Does anyone slip in a ceilidh style dance at a
contra? Some of the
mixers work well at contra dances. Also, it’s an opportunity to give new
dancers brains a break. I suspect this practice is more common in the
UK. Colin, feel free to chime in.
Rich
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contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
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18 Sep
18 Sep
5:24 a.m.
Hi Rich,
I have called my version of Fast Packet at contra dances in America and it seems to have
gone down well. The biggest challenge is getting an American contra dance band to play a
suitable tune at 80-90 bpm when they are used to playing everything at 110-125bpm!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3IBzoifL0M
I have also called the Waltz Country Dance at contra dances in America for a change of
pace: http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/WaltzCountryDance.html
I love Cumberland Square Eight
(http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/EFDS3911-CumberlandSquareEight.html ) so I wrote a
contra dance which includes all the moves from that dance:
The Cumberland Contra: http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/CumberlandContra.html
I have called that at contra dances in America and in England with great success.
I also use Appalachian Big Set. I have called that at contra dances in America,
especially when a dance goes badly wrong. I just grab a partner, tell the band to play
and say, "Follow me". No teaching, just straight into the dance. It also works
well at the end of an evening if there is a few minutes left, but not long enough for a
contra - finish with everyone promenading up to the band and clapping to the music.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
-----Original Message-----
From: Rich Goss via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: 17 September 2023 15:27
To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
Subject: [Callers] Ceilidh dances at a contra
Does anyone slip in a ceilidh style dance at a contra? Some of the mixers work well at
contra dances. Also, it’s an opportunity to give new dancers brains a break. I suspect
this practice is more common in the UK. Colin, feel free to chime in.
Rich
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8 comments
9 participants
participants (9)
-
Allison and Hunt Smith -
Charlotte Rich-Griffin -
Colin Hume -
Dave Casserly -
Don Veino -
John Sweeney -
Katherine Kitching -
Rich Goss -
Rich Sbardella