27 Jan
2025
27 Jan
'25
2:28 p.m.
My complaint about Sicilian circles (as a dancer) is you only dance with half the hall
unless you find neighbors that you can switch directions with.
Ben W
ABQ, NM
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 27, 2025, at 6:04 AM, John Sweeney via Contra
Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi Claire,
You can see the Zia formation at
https://contrafusion.co.uk/Formations.html#other if you scroll down a bit. It is a square
with contra lines radiating from the sides. There are some example dances there as well.
I set Sicilian Circles up by getting the dancers to make a Circle, then
tell one couple to face another couple and work around the circle telling each couple
which way to face. Experienced dancers will see what is happening and quickly start
sorting themselves out.
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
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28 Jan
28 Jan
10:55 a.m.
New subject: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
UK clubs using recordings dance 7 times or 9 on newer CDs. Personally I
find I lose concentration if the dance goes on too long, and since
contras can be similar I might start dancing the previous dance. Maybe
UK club members are older than US contra dancers too.
On 27/01/2025 21:05, John Sweeney via Contra Callers wrote:
Hi Jeff,
It depends on the venue, the country, the style of the evening, the
skill levels of the dancers and the ability of the band to play 17
times through and keep it interesting.
So, yes, I might call a contra 17 times, but more likely 13 or 15 at
an American contra event. But I wouldn’t normally call a Sicilian
Circle that many times. The complexities of working out of set on a
curve, where the next neighbour may be some distance away and at a
slightly different angle, means that most of the Sicilian Circles are
slightly less complex and more likely to bore the dancers if I run
them for too long.
Well, that’s what I think anyway. Happy to be proved wrong! :-)
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
*From:*Jeff Kaufman <jeff.t.kaufman(a)gmail.com>
*Sent:* 27 January 2025 20:51
*To:* John Sweeney <john(a)modernjive.com>
*Cc:* Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* Re: [Callers] Re: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
Hi John,
Would you also not run a contra 17x? Or is it that you generally run
Sicilian circles shorter?
Jeff
On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 10:38 AM John Sweeney via Contra Callers
<contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I wouldn’t run a Sicilian Circle 17 times through! :-)
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
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27 Jan
27 Jan
9:05 p.m.
New subject: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
Hi Jeff,
It depends on the venue, the country, the style of the evening, the skill
levels of the dancers and the ability of the band to play 17 times through and keep it
interesting.
So, yes, I might call a contra 17 times, but more likely 13 or 15 at an
American contra event. But I wouldn’t normally call a Sicilian Circle that many times.
The complexities of working out of set on a curve, where the next neighbour may be some
distance away and at a slightly different angle, means that most of the Sicilian Circles
are slightly less complex and more likely to bore the dancers if I run them for too long.
Well, that’s what I think anyway. Happy to be proved wrong! :-)
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
From: Jeff Kaufman <jeff.t.kaufman(a)gmail.com>
Sent: 27 January 2025 20:51
To: John Sweeney <john(a)modernjive.com>
Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Re: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
Hi John,
Would you also not run a contra 17x? Or is it that you generally run Sicilian circles
shorter?
Jeff
On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 10:38 AM John Sweeney via Contra Callers
<contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> > wrote:
I wouldn’t run a Sicilian Circle 17 times through! :-)
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com <mailto:john@modernjive.com>
01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
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8:51 p.m.
New subject: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
Hi John,
Would you also not run a contra 17x? Or is it that you generally run
Sicilian circles shorter?
Jeff
On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 10:38 AM John Sweeney via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I wouldn’t run a Sicilian Circle 17 times through!
:-)
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
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To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
3:38 p.m.
New subject: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
I wouldn’t run a Sicilian Circle 17 times through! :-)
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
3:24 p.m.
New subject: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
In 8-9min <https://www.jefftk.com/p/contra-dance-lengths> you're going ~17
times through, so if your Sicilian circle has more than ~68 people [1]
you're not going to go all the way around and start repeating.
And if your contra dance has more than 36 [2] people per set it also
doesn't matter how many sets you divide the hall into.
Jeff
[1] 17 progressions * 2 couples per hands four * 2 people per couple
[2] 17 progressions * 2 people per couple + 2 for yourselves
On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM John Sweeney via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Whereas if you dance in one of four longways sets you
only get to dance
with a quarter of the hall! :-)
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
*From:* Ben Werner via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* 27 January 2025 14:29
*To:* John Sweeney via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Cc:* Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* [Callers] Re: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
My complaint about Sicilian circles (as a dancer) is you only dance with
half the hall unless you find neighbors that you can switch directions
with.
Ben W
ABQ, NM
_______________________________________________
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To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
2:59 p.m.
New subject: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
Whereas if you dance in one of four longways sets you only get to dance with a quarter of
the hall! :-)
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
From: Ben Werner via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: 27 January 2025 14:29
To: John Sweeney via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: [Callers] Re: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
My complaint about Sicilian circles (as a dancer) is you only dance with half the hall
unless you find neighbors that you can switch directions with.
Ben W
ABQ, NM
2:49 p.m.
New subject: Sicilian circle to tame end effects?
You only cross paths with half the dancers if you have two contra
lines. It's even fewer if you have three or four lines. And if the
lines are long you, you might not even dance with everyone in your own
line.
On 1/27/2025 8:28 AM, Ben Werner via Contra Callers wrote:
My complaint about Sicilian circles (as a dancer) is
you only dance
with half the hall unless you find neighbors that you can switch
directions with.
Ben W
ABQ, NM
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 27, 2025, at 6:04 AM, John Sweeney via
Contra Callers
<contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi Claire,
You can see the Zia formation at
https://contrafusion.co.uk/Formations.html#other if you scroll down a
bit. It is a square with contra lines radiating from the sides.
There are some example dances there as well.
I set Sicilian Circles up by getting the dancers to make a Circle,
then tell one couple to face another couple and work around the
circle telling each couple which way to face. Experienced dancers
will see what is happening and quickly start sorting themselves out.
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
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to
contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
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5 participants
participants (5)
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Ben Werner -
David Harding -
Jeff Kaufman -
John Sweeney -
Mo Waddington