16 Oct
2016
16 Oct
'16
3 p.m.
Hi Ron,
Here are some figures that might fit your needs. But you also need
some breaks/choruses that contra dancers will find easy; you dont have to
use ones shown with the figures.
Chippenham Square by Colin Hume
http://colinhume.com/insts.htm#ChippenhamSquare
Geezy Peezy by Larry Edelman
https://www.library.unh.edu/special/forms/rpdlw/syllabus2011.pdf
Banjos in Love by Erik Hoffman in Contradictions:
http://www.erikhoffman.com/dancescd.html
Deer Park Lancers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ1D5IZt_dc
The Lucky One by Tom Hinds in Bad Hair Decade
Perceptual Motion by Tom Hinds
https://www.library.unh.edu/special/forms/rpdlw/syllabus2007.pdf
Camilles Quadrille by Walter Lenk
https://www.cambridgefolk.org.uk/contra/dances/camilles_quadrille.html
Beaver Lake Jig by Ted Sanella
https://www.cambridgefolk.org.uk/contra/dances/ted_sannella/beaver_lake_jig.
html
(if the men mess up the first move, then get the ladies to go to their
left hand man for the allemande right instead the ladies are often much
better than the men!)
Western Quadrille (from Chip Hendrickson) based on Powells First Sett No.
3 1848
A1: Men Star Left (Hands Across); Star Right, take Left with Partner to form
intersecting Waves
A2: Balance the Wave (L/R), Partner Allemande Left 1/2
Balance the Wave (L/R), Partner Allemande Left 3/4
B1: All Four Ladies Chain Half Way x2 finish by sending the Lady around
the outside on to the next Man and turning Left to pick up your Corner
B2: Corner Promenade to Man's Home
(Original was Ladies Stars, but that makes the end of A2 an Allemande Left
1 & 1/4 in four beats)
Or for a slightly more complex one on the same theme:
Parisian Star https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzdwHF2EZ_k
Hope that helps. If you want any of the instructions please e-mail
me off-list.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802
940 574
http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events & DVDs
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
17 Oct
17 Oct
6:25 a.m.
New subject: Contra friendly squares
Though Banjos in Love, For Maxine & Brendan does fit the quality of
"Contra-like", it's not the easiest dance in the world. But it does have its
own intro/break:
Banjos in Love, for Maxine and Brendan Quadrille
Intro, Break, End
A1 Head women chain right;
Same four half hey
A2 Four women star right half way (4)
Swing the one you meet (12)
B1 New head women chain right (actually, same head women, new head men);
Same four half hey
B2 Four women star right half way (4)
Swing partner at home (12)
Figure
A1 Head couples lead right, split the sides, and cross trail through, around one to lines
(man man woman woman)
Lines of four, forward and back, center women roll away with a half sashay
A2 Forward and back
Women chain across, end courtesy turn with a roll away with a half sashay
B1 Swing the one coming your way (they're across from you at the ends of the lines,
and next to you in the center of the lines)
B2 Promenade this new partner to the man's home place.
Call: intro, heads, heads, break, sides, sides, end
A (slightly improved upon) square for the wedding of Maxine Gerber and Brendan Doyle, both
great banjo players from Berkeley. Either of these figures can be used as a quadrille
figure with a normal break, but they were conceived as a single dance.
11:06 a.m.
New subject: Contra friendly squares
Erik,
I really like the break and figure you sent! Is the promenade in the
figure about 3/4 of the way around?
When you say it's "not the easiest in the world" do you think it's
better for an all experienced crowd?
Tom
11:44 a.m.
New subject: Contra friendly squares
There are many reasons some contra dancers don't like squares. One
is that they take a long time to teach. For some squares it's a good
idea to walk through the figure for both the heads and sides.
Depending on the caller and dancers a full length break may be taught
as well.
When I call where there are both beginners and square haters, I look
for quick teach squares. One that comes to mind is Reel Your Partner
by Ted S.
I also highly recommend squares written by Tony Parkes. He's written
many that are accessible and a the same time interesting.
4:34 p.m.
New subject: Gender is a construct, Do-si-do
The next time we get into a gents/ladies, lead/follow, jets/rubies debate, someone needs
to remember to pull this one out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUKR4FpChcc
Tim KleinKnoxville, TN
5:35 p.m.
New subject: Gender is a construct, Do-si-do
On Mon, Oct 17, 2016, Tim Klein via Callers wrote:
The next time we get into a gents/ladies, lead/follow, jets/rubies
debate, someone needs to remember to pull this one out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUKR4FpChcc
+1
What I want to know is who created this? And how do they know so much
about square dancing and diversity politics?
--
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
<*> <*> <*>
Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html
9:51 p.m.
New subject: Gender is a construct, Do-si-do
It raises some interesting points that go to the heart of discrimination.
The reality is that you will always discriminate, and trying to eliminate discrimination
doesn't work.
What does work is moving towards a less discriminatory approach. Tackle the big ones, and
then move on to the new big ones.
I find it fascinating to look at the discrimination that used to be so pervasive that we
didn't even notice it, and now is totally unacceptable.
What will be the next shift in public perception?
Jeremy
From: Callers [mailto:callers-bounces@lists.sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Tim Klein via
Callers
Sent: 17 October 2016 17:35
To: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: [Callers] Gender is a construct, Do-si-do
The next time we get into a gents/ladies, lead/follow, jets/rubies debate, someone needs
to remember to pull this one out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUKR4FpChcc
Tim Klein
Knoxville, TN
7:31 p.m.
New subject: Contra friendly squares
I don’t dislike squares. But I hesitate to call them unless there are only four or maybe 8
couples left at the end of the dance for a number of reasons - one being the large
teaching to dancing ratio in general as mentioned below, another being the fact that you
can have two - seven people who want to dance that have to sit the whole thing out because
there are not enough people, and the last, and most important to my mind, is that if you
are in a square where you have one or two people who never ever ever get it right and
always screw up the square, or if you are the poor unfortunate person doing that, you have
a miserable time - irritable for never getting to dance it right, or feeling that everyone
blames you for never getting to dance it right. These are not emotions I want to elicit on
the dance floor. With contra, if you screw up, you move to the next couple, get another
chance, and people are gracious in helping you because it’s only one time through. It’s
different at one night stands where a dance like Birdie in the Cage is fun and funny and
people aren’t expecting great dancing and just like moving to the music and laughing at
their own and others mistakes, none of which usually results in the dance falling apart
completely because it’s so easy. Otherwise at the end of the night in a small contra crowd
usually the diehards and good beginners are left so the squares succeed. Other than that,
I only do them earlier in a contra for special occasions - like having an incredible band
that likes to play for squares - so I will be calling one soon with Patt and Possum here
in San Diego - and I’m so glad you all shared the contra friendly squares so I have some
new ones to choose from!
Martha
On Oct 17, 2016, at 4:44 AM, Tom Hinds via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
There are many reasons some contra dancers don't like squares. One is that they take
a long time to teach. For some squares it's a good idea to walk through the figure
for both the heads and sides. Depending on the caller and dancers a full length break may
be taught as well.
When I call where there are both beginners and square haters, I look for quick teach
squares. One that comes to mind is Reel Your Partner by Ted S.
I also highly recommend squares written by Tony Parkes. He's written many that are
accessible and a the same time interesting.
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
26 Oct
26 Oct
8:38 p.m.
New subject: A Question Re: Contra friendly squares
Among the "contra-friendly squares" suggested in John Sweeney's
message of October 16 (full message below) are "Chippenham
Square" by Colin Hume and "Geezy Peezy" by Larry Edelman.
The opening moves of "Chippenham Square" are:
A1: Heads right and left through;
sides swing opposite and face the nearest head couple.
"Geezy Peezy" begins with:
Head two couples go forward and back, up
to the middle and back like that
Forward again with your opposite swing
Face the sides and form a ring
Circle left and keep in time
*** My question is, have any of you ever seen something like this
happen?
The caller (whether you or someone else, and using whatever
words) instructs, say, the head dancers to swing their
opposites, face the nearest side couple, and circle with
that side couple. In some square, one of the following
misinterpretations occurs:
1. Instead of swinging in a spot directly in front
of one of the side couples, a pair of head dancers
swing either very near the gent's home place or
very near the lady's home place. (And you believe
that they aren't intentionally dancing offset from
their theoretical position to avoid crowding but
that they actually don't understand where they are
supposed to be.)
OR
2. Head dancers swing opposites, then fall back to
home places. Then they go together with their
*partners* to circle with whichever side couple
they consider "nearest".
OR
3. Somehow (whether or not you see exactly how it
happens) dancers end up in a circle of five and
a circle of three.
I'm not asking whether you see such things happen in most squares
most of the time. What I'd like to know is how many of you can
recall seeing, even once, one of the misinterpretations described
above, either while you were calling or while you were at a dance
with someone else calling.
My point in this message, and in my message of October 14 where
I pointed out potential trouble spots in some of the squares
suggested by Lind Leslie, is not to claim that the squares under
discussion aren't contra friendly. My point is that even bits of
choreography that aren't really difficult can take more care to
teach efficiently and effectively when they are unfamiliar to
many of the dancers present than when they are familiar to almost
all.
--Jim
On Oct 16, 2016, at 8:00 AM, John Sweeney via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi Ron,
Here are some figures that might fit your needs. But you also need
some breaks/choruses that contra dancers will find easy; you don’t have to
use ones shown with the figures.
Chippenham Square by Colin Hume
http://colinhume.com/insts.htm#ChippenhamSquare
Geezy Peezy by Larry Edelman
https://www.library.unh.edu/special/forms/rpdlw/syllabus2011.pdf
Banjos in Love by Erik Hoffman in Contradictions:
http://www.erikhoffman.com/dancescd.html
Deer Park Lancers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ1D5IZt_dc
The Lucky One by Tom Hinds in Bad Hair Decade
Perceptual Motion by Tom Hinds
https://www.library.unh.edu/special/forms/rpdlw/syllabus2007.pdf
Camille’s Quadrille by Walter Lenk
https://www.cambridgefolk.org.uk/contra/dances/camilles_quadrille.html
Beaver Lake Jig by Ted Sanella
https://www.cambridgefolk.org.uk/contra/dances/ted_sannella/beaver_lake_jig.
html
(if the men mess up the first move, then get the ladies to go to their
left hand man for the allemande right instead – the ladies are often much
better than the men!)
Western Quadrille (from Chip Hendrickson) – based on Powell’s First Sett No.
3 – 1848
A1: Men Star Left (Hands Across); Star Right, take Left with Partner to form
intersecting Waves
A2: Balance the Wave (L/R), Partner Allemande Left 1/2
Balance the Wave (L/R), Partner Allemande Left 3/4
B1: All Four Ladies Chain Half Way x2 – finish by sending the Lady around
the outside on to the next Man and turning Left to pick up your Corner
B2: Corner Promenade to Man's Home
(Original was Ladies’ Stars, but that makes the end of A2 an Allemande Left
1 & 1/4 in four beats)
Or for a slightly more complex one on the same theme:
Parisian Star https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzdwHF2EZ_k
Hope that helps. If you want any of the instructions please e-mail
me off-list.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802
940 574
http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events & DVDs
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
2739
days inactive
2749
days old
contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
8 comments
8 participants
participants (8)
-
Aahz via Callers -
Erik Hoffman via Callers
-
James Saxe via Callers
-
Jeremy Gmail via Callers
-
John Sweeney via Callers
-
Martha Wild via Callers
-
Tim Klein via Callers
-
Tom Hinds via Callers