The discussion about rollaway/rollaway half sashay has been very interesting to follow. Claire asked what is going on in contraland, and with all that's been said, it seems like a summary might be in order.
MWSD is meticulous. In that context a rollaway is always right hand dancer rolling, and always includes a half sashay for an exact swap, which is why it is incorrect to add half sashay to the call. They are policed, as it were, by callerlab, who decided it should be thus to avoid exactly the kind of confusion the more unusual rollaway contras cause. They also get to train the dancers to be as meticulous as the caller in executing the call.
On to trad squares. Clearly the folk process is messier, and rollaways can go the other direction, include or not include a half-sashay, and are not getting precise execution.
And finally Contra.
Chris Page may not have many in his box, but more choreographers are now writing dances with rollaway, no 1/2 sashay, and I have a number.
Despite this, it's quite true that most dancers will assume the half sashay, so careful teaching is required. No matter the dance, it has become necessary to indicate who is rolling, who half sashaying if there is one, or who holding their ground if not.
Teaching is extra tricky because, as someone mentioned in another post, the command Rollaway! has been interpreted sometimes as a command for the half sashayer to roll the rollee, and sometimes as a command for the roller to roll themselves, with the implication that the other person half sashays.
This all raises the question of how we as callers can clarify things for our dancers. For sure, being succinct and precise is necessary. I offer my own strategy for comment. We are all here because we believe we are never done learning.
In the case (in contra or trad squares) where I want a half sashay, I include that call. I also say who is rolling away, and for extra clarity, what direction the roll is going. This seems to help a lot. So a teach might sound something like this:
(From improper, facing across)
Long Lines Forward
On the way back, with ladies rolling L to R, rollaway with a half sashay to swap.
Or, after a N Sw:
In a ring, balance,
Drop hands with N
Partners, with ladies rolling L to R across, rollaway with a half sashay to swap.
If there are new dancers in the room, I might preface those by describing where people are, where they are going, and then the how.
If the rollaway does not include the half sashay, I tell those not rolling to stand their ground, there is no half sashay, and only those rolling will ...
(trade with each other, or move to a new place where the lady/gent on the other side of their N/P is standing), for example:
From Becket
In one hand is your partner, in the other is your shadow.
Long lines forward, on the way back, working with your shadow, gents hold your ground, ladies rollaway, L-R, to stand where you shadow's partner just was.
In a ring balance. In a moment the gents will trade places, via a rollaway. Now, Ladies hold your ground, and assist the N gent in your R hand through a rollaway to your L hand, across, then L up or down. Everyone is across from Sh, next to N, with the gents on L, Ladies still on their home side. (I could equally say gents roll across to your N and along to her other side, so the lady is on the right in each couple, but I do want the ladies to fully participate..)
All the above instructions assume people already know what a rollaway is and how to connect well.
I realize this is more words than any of us really want to have to say, but the folk process isn't neat, and as long as there is no regularized meaning to a call like rollaway, as in MWSD, we are going to have to work for the desired result. If everyone consistently called rollaway to mean there is one stationary dancer and one rolling, and to get a swap, we have to also call half sashay, then maybe we could say a bit less. I don't see that happening. The other option would be to rename the move where there is no half sashay. So we'd have rollaways (implied half sashay), rollswaps (where a pair of dancers are being rolled into each other's places by stationary dancers in a ring), and siderolls? rollovers? rolloffs? (where the rolled person goes to the other side of a stationary person along the line). That last really wants the name rollaway, so maybe the sashay included version could become roll and sashay? As Lisa Greenleaf has pointed out however, it is so much nicer not to add vocabulary if you don't have to.
One final point. The original term I really do think was gendered. The men rolled the woman on their R away, and half sashayed behind her. Contra is an egalitarian dance, and I think it's important that we encourage all dancers to be equally in charge of the dance, knowing where to go, getting there on time, and offering zesty enough connection to all other dancers that momentum is effectively and thoroughly transferred. A rollaway should feel snappy, no matter who is rolling. I prefer language which does not imply that one dancer is more active in a move than another. Both have to know where they are going, both have to offer springy and firm connection. Sure, I can roll myself unaided. Sure I can roll someone away who doesn't know what to do. But neither of those actions will feel like dancing, only expedients to move people to the right place. We are there to teach people how to make those movements feel like dance.
I'm glad we aren't bound by the traditions of MWSD, and have choreography where a rollaway can go along or across, R-L, or L-R, or even diagonally to swap a pair oaf same role dancers, and either role can roll. Boy it gives us callers something to work at!
Could you folks offer your teaching tips, so everyone can learn fun and easy ways to share rollaways with our dancers?
Cheers all,
Andrea
Sent from my iOnlypretendtomultitask
> On Aug 25, 2015, at 5:34 PM, Chris Page via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> The vast majority of roll aways in contra dance include the half sashay.
>
> Looking at my database, only 1.9% of the contras with rollaway have one person staying in place. (By way of comparison, 2,2% of the contras with petronella turns have people going to the left, rather than the right.)
>
> This may be because of habit, or because it's easier for the center of rotation to be between two dancers, rather than one one person.
>
> I'd still assume "roll away" to include an unstated "half sashay". If you've got a dance that has one person staying put while the other rolls in front of them, I'd recommend being very careful to indicate that in the walkthough/written dance instructions.
>
> -Chris Page
> San Diego, CA
>
>
>
>> On Sat, Aug 22, 2015 at 9:30 AM, Don Veino via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>> I have to respectively disagree here.
>>
>> In my experience, a "roll away" (RA) call has been conflated with a "roll away with a half sashay" (RAHS) for many dancers (and callers) - but the moves are distinct and can have choreographic significance. What I think has happened is that callers are using abbreviated calls of something like "roll" for the RAHS situation (which is more common) and that has colored the interpretation.
>>
>> In my understanding, the two calls are like this (the "|" symbol denoting the boundary between adjacent hands-four):
>>
>> "Gents Roll (Away) the Ladies" (Ladies only change position):
>>
>> Starting position G0 L1|G1 L2|G2 L3
>> Ending position G0 L2|G1 L3|G2 L4
>>
>> "Gents Roll (Away) the Ladies with a Half Sashay" (Ladies and Gents swap position):
>>
>> Starting position G0 L1|G1 L2|G2 L3
>> Ending position L1 G0|L2 G1|L3 G2
>>
>> Of course, this can be also done in other configurations like circles and boxes.
>>
>> I ran into this a short while ago while calling a new (to me) dance and having the walk-through fail. I knew the dance was right and my instruction was correct. Rather than try to figure it out on the fly I bailed to a fall-back dance. As I video most of my gigs, I was able to go back to that and see what happened.
>>
>> In this instance the difference between the calls was very significant. I called a RA but the dancers (mostly) did a RAHS. This was in a box configuration, meaning the dancer pairing became opposite to what was intended. The next time I call this dance I will be sure to say "Roll Away BUT NO Half Sashay, Gents stay put".
>>
>> -Don
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In general dancing there are two distinct moves:
Rollaway - where the roller stays stationary (moving backwards and forwards
is OK)
Rollaway with a Half Sashay - where the roller steps sideways (sashays) into
the place of the person who is rolling across.
The Rollaway happens in dances like Circle Waltz, but is not very common.
The default is usually that the man rolls the lady on his right into his
place as he moves into her place, but either gender can roll either way.
You always need to specify who is rolling whom from where to where.
The MWSD definition is:
"From a couple, the dancer on the right (or the directed dancer) "rolls"
across in front of the other dancer, turning a full 360 degrees to end on
the other side, as the other dancer steps back and then forward, adjusting
sideways as necessary, to move smoothly into the vacated position. At the
completion of the call, the dancers have exchanged positions."
Note it says "or the directed dancer", again showing that anyone can roll
anyone in either direction.
MWSD goes on to say, "In the past, "Rollaway" has also been called
"Rollaway With A Half Sashay". This is improper language and should not be
used."
That is OK if you are only doing MWSD, but is completely wrong in general
dancing where the two moves exist and are different and you need to make it
clear which one is happening. The default would appear to be "with a half
sashay", so it is probably most important to make it clear there is no
sashay on the rare occasions that that happens.
When walking through a contra I always state:
- who is rolling
- which hand they are rolling from
- whom they are rolling (partner or neighbour)
- the direction of the roll: along the set or across the set
- if there is no sashay
If it is "Men, roll neighbour from right to left, along the set" then it
usually works OK. For any other rollaway there will always be some who have
done that default roll without listening to the rest of the instruction! :-)
Most contra dance choreography uses the Half Sashay, but not all. For
example, "Roll Away" by Stohl & Rob uses two Rollaways without Half Sashays
to make the progression.
Hope that helps.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
Hullo folks,
Of those using, or considering using, a tablet computer for dance
directions ("cards") and programs, what size do you use or contemplate
using?
I have a crappy 7" one that I haven't truly used for this and would
think I'd like something a tad larger (8, 8.4, 8.0/9, likely not a 10")
that I might see most/all of the directions at a type size I don't need
reading glasses for.
I've seen small brackets for the top of music or mic stands, or to add
to the side of one. Any thoughts on those?
I'll share a summary, of sorts, some time, between the lists if I have
energy.
Cheers, John
--
J.D. Erskine
Victoria, BC
Island Dance - Folk & Country
dance info - site & mail list
http://members.shaw.ca/island.dance/
I think I found the dance, after digging deep into my calling box...
Becket - No Name - by some unknown choreographer
A1: Left Diagonal Ladies Chain
Right Diagonal Ladies Chain
A2: Right and Left Thru Across (This is with the same person every time)
Ladies Chain Across
B1: Circle Right 3/4
Zig Right past one couple
Zig Left to couple with partner
B2: Partner Swing
Alternate Bs
B1: Circle Left 5 places
Zig Left past 1 couple
Zag Right to next couple with partner
B2: Partner Swing
If anyone has the name or author of this dance, that would be fantastic!
Valerie
On Wed, Aug 19, 2015 at 7:51 AM, Valerie Young <valeriedancing(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
> Thanks everyone for your dance brains! Flirting With Love Again by Cary
> Ravitz I think is the dance I had. I can't wait to try the other ones too!
> Thank you all.
>
> On Tue, Aug 18, 2015 at 9:09 AM, Lewis Land <lewisland78(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> It's possible that you're talking about one of the versions of Flirting
>> with love again, by Cary Ravitz. The dance has two diagonal lady's chains,
>> and a surprise ending in B2 where you suddenly find yourself face to face
>> with your partner, after traveling far away from him/her. Another
>> possibility is Reunion, by Gene Hubert. Here are my notes:
>>
>> *Becket-double prog. **Flirting with Love Again-v.1** Cary Ravitz*
>>
>> *A1* Long lines go forward & back 8
>>
>> Circle left once
>> around 8
>>
>> *A2* Ladies chain on the left diagonal 8
>>
>> Ladies chain on the right diagonal to their first 8
>>
>> trail buddy
>>
>> *B1* Star left
>> 8
>>
>> (look away from the star &) allemande right 8
>>
>> your second trail buddy 1 1/2
>> *B2* Partners balance & swing
>> 16
>>
>>
>> *Becket –cw-dbl prg **Reunion** Gene
>> Hubert*
>>
>> *A1* Ladies chain on left diagonal to a new neighbor 8
>>
>> Ladies chain across the set to your shadow 8
>>
>> *A2 *Hey for 4, ladies start, passing right 16
>>
>> *B1 *Partners balance & swing 16
>>
>> *B2 *Circle left 3/4 w/original neighbors, 8
>>
>> and *pass through* along the set to a newer set of
>>
>> neighbors with whom you…
>>
>> Circle right 3/4 to the original side of the set 8
>>
>> *This is reported to be the first contra to employ the ladies chain on
>> the left diagonal.*
>>
>> Lewis Land
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 17, 2015 at 1:59 PM, Valerie Young via Callers <
>> callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I've misplaced a dance from my dance box, or it's possible that I
>>> thought it was in there and it never was. I picked this dance up a few
>>> years ago at Glen Echo, and I don't remember who was calling or playing
>>> that night.
>>> The dance was becket (I think) and it had a series of ladies chains
>>> (straight across and diagonally) that sent the ladies far away from their
>>> partner (possibly to a shadow or trail buddy) and then in a series of
>>> circles and pass thru partners where reunited with a swing. The caller
>>> taught this dance by having the ladies imagine they were pinballs, and the
>>> gents the pinball flippers (i.e. ladies are zooming around inside the
>>> contra lines while the gents send them in new directions). I know the
>>> caller did not have the name of this dance.
>>> If you have heard of this dance, have it, or something similar, I would
>>> love to get a copy of it for my box.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Valerie
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Callers mailing list
>>> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>>>
>>>
>>
>
Hello all,
For more than a year, I've been kicking around compositions for 6 facing 6
contra dances (you can see my backlog at
http://www.madrobincallers.org/2014/02/26/6-facing-6-contra-dances/). This
past weekend, dancers at an afternoon challenging contra session
successfully danced and enjoyed one of my compositions. This is not
something for every crowd, but it worked and I thought I'd share it around;
along with some of my thoughts about getting it to work.
If other folks know of 6x6 contras that are already in circulation, I'd
like to hear about them.
In my opinion, a 6x6 should be worth the hassle of setting up and going
through additional teaching; it should offer something you don't normally
get in a contra. Many four facing four contras give you a partner and a
corner swing, which ends up being your trail buddy half the time. I wanted
a 6x6 that gave you neighbor swings so that you'd get to dance with more
people in the hall. (I'm not saying every dance needs a neighbor swing; but
it's a way to get an interaction outside of your partner pair). The
composition below lets you swing 2 of your 3 neighbors (and not your trail
buddies); so there can be lots of interactions in the community.
6x6 contras should (again, in my opinion) permute the couples as they
progress. For my own compositions, this has inevitably lead to meanwhile
figures, requiring some folks to do something others don't. I've tried to
minimize that as much as possible, but haven't succeeded in eliminating it.
The dance is presented as succinct moves, and then restated with the
dancers and their positions marked after each move. My own experience
getting it to actually work on the floor is at the bottom.
*Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad*six facing six contra (3 joined improper sets)
by Luke Donforth
A1
In groups of four (ptr and cpl opposite), balance ring; gents take opposite
home and swing
A2
Lines of 6 go forward; on way back, middle gent roll neighbor (he swang)
away with half sashay
8 counts of hey, starting by passing one you swung by Right shoulder
B1
New Neighbor gypsy and swing
B2
Give and ladies take partner to progressed position; swing.
End facing line of direction in permuted position
Diagrammed/Pegged
Initial condition (men Capitals and Arabic, women lower case and roman):
a A b B c C
1 i 2 ii 3 iii
A1
In groups of four (ptr and cpl opposite), balance ring; gents take opposite
home and swing
i A ii B iii C
1 a 2 b 3 c
A2
Lines of 6 go forward; on way back, middle gent roll neighbor (he swang)
away with half sashay
i A B ii iii C
1 a b 2 3 c
8 counts of hey, pass one you swung by Right shoulder
ii C A iii i B
2 c a 3 1 b
B1
New Neighbor gypsy and swing
ii C iii A i B
2 c 3 a 1 b
B2
Give and ladies take partner to progressed position; swing.
End facing line of direction in permuted position
2 ii 3 iii 1 i
—————
c C a A b B
My experience for teaching it (based on one crash-and-burn, and one
success):
I had the dancers get into their line of six, and introduce themselves to
their trail buddy couples and note their line of direction. Then, I showed
the permutation of their progression. I had each couple slide a
couple-position to the left in their line of six; and if they got popped
out run over to the right hand side of the line. They stay in their line of
six, not sliding around the big oval. Then I did that again, driving home
that's how they'll permute as they progress. Then I started the actual
dance walk through.
In A1, reiterating that the swing ends in the gents line helped. You should
be looking at your partner in the other line of six in A2.
In A2 for the hey, you stay in your line of 6, you don't loop around into
the other line at the ends. You nominally pass 4 people, but if you reach
the end of your line of six, looping around and coming back in counts as
one of your passes. The heying starts with the person you swung (which was
hardest for the folks in the middle, as their momentum from the roll away
often sent them away from the neighbor they swung).
B2, find your partner and swing. End in your line of 6 facing your line of
direction. This is the recovery point, and even experienced dancers
occasionally needed it to regroup.
As a final reiteration, this is not a dance for most crowds. But the crowd
that successfully danced it enjoyed it.
(For those of you thinking "6x6, okay, what about more couples?" You could
use this same basic structure for an 8x8 or more, with every other couple
doing the roll-away. The permutations get less straightforward, and
multiples of three like a 12 face 12 phase-lock and you don't see every
position; but it would technically work.)
I did, and want to again thank Maivish for providing excellent music to
keep the dancers moving, Nils Fredland for letting me take a slot at his
advanced dance (you can ask him how it felt as a dancer), and the
Burlington/Montpelier area dancers for being a wonderfully supportive
community that lets me play.
Hope to see you on a dance floor soon.
Luke Donforth
