I find Monkey in the Middle (by Sherry Nevins) a friendly variant of Ninepins. You are choosing a partner rather than scrambling and a person feeling left out.
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jan 31, 2018, at 3:59 PM, Chris Page via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Ninepins?
>
> -Chris Page
> San Diego, CA
>
> On Tue, Jan 30, 2018 at 10:23 AM, Sue via Callers
> <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>> Sure they're all fun (we hope). I'm looking for a few dances that are
>> particularly playful, quirky, silly....something that typically gets the
>> dancers laughing.
>>
>> You get the idea. What are your favorites?
>>
>> Sue Gola
>> Princeton, NJ
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The name of my local dance community, chosen >30 years ago, is Tallahassee Community Friends of Old-time Dance. Many dancers now prefer evenings made up entirely of contras, narrowly defined, but some still prefer our traditional mix of formations. When I advertise our dances on Facebook, I subtly call the events that I expect to be all-contras ‘contradances’, and the others ‘old-time dances’. I don’t know whether anyone notices. We aren’t the only such organization with ‘old-time’ in our name.
Richard Hopkins
850-544-7614
hopkinsrs(a)comcast.net
Sent from my iPhone
>
> ***************************************
I'm in Germany, and I'm speaking for the next few days at a Conference run by the European Callers and Teachers Association.
Several of my sessions are about Contras, and speaking to the Contra Coordinator as we drove to the hotel I realised we had very
different ideas about what a contra is. I say it is an American (or American-style) dance, longways duple or triple. He classes
three-couple dances (such as Ted's Triplets), four-couple dances and circles as contras. He even classes my dance "Sting in the
Tail" as a contra. This is for two three-couple sets side-by-side and involves siding into line, set and turn single. I would
regard this quite definitely as "Playford"-style, and I think Americans would categorise it as English. But what is a contra? I
know the hot-shots would say that it's longways duple improper or Becket with a partner swing and preferably a neighbor swing, but
is that your definition? What about an early American dance such as "The Young Widow" - is that a contra? Can a dance in waltz
time be a contra? I think of a contra as mainly danced to reels or jigs, though I know there are a few to slip-jigs. Within
reels I would include marches and American hornpipes, which are smooth, but not English hornpipes which I would dance to a
step-hop. And not Strathspeys. I would say contras are done to a walking step, apart from the swing which is often a buzz step.
But do you agree with me?
Answers fairly quickly please!
Colin Hume
Email colin(a)colinhume.com Web site http://colinhume.com
Also from ECTA's definition:
"Contra Dance is mainly danced in two long, facing lines of couples, the
longways. There are different setups relating to the position of the
partner in the formation (e. g. Proper, Improper and Becket) and relating
to the number of couples dancing together (Duple, Triple, Triplet). A
different formation is the Sicilian Circle. Facing couples create a ring in
which in each group one couple is dancing counter clockwise and the other
clockwise.
Contra Dances are mostly danced to reels and jigs, but also to hornpipes.
The music consists of the melodies A and B, which each contain 16 bats and
are repeated so that a melodic structure of AABB is created. The set of
figures is danced to this AA BB structure of 64 beats. There also are
deviant structures like AB BA.
The Prompter explains each dance and calls the figures to the music a
little ahead of time. Like this it is possible for both experienced and new
dancers to dance. Through the repetition of the set of figures the dancers
learn the dance and the Prompter can shorten his calls or reduce them bit
by bit. The set of figures is written so that after dancing through it once
a new group of dancers meet. This is called the progression. In formations
with a fixed group of couples the position within the formation changes.
"[sic]
Bob
Nathaniel Jack’s “Loon on the Lake” also has this figure in it:
(Becket, progresses left)
A1 8 Circle L 3/4
8 Neighbor Swing
A2 8 LL F+B
8 Star L 1x
B1 8 New women 1/2 hay L (men loop right to join, passing partner R)
8 Women Al L 1x, men walk around clockwise ½ way around to home side
B2 16 Partner Bal + Swing
NJ’s comments:
The second dance I wrote was loon on the lake. It had some flow problems and so there's now a version 2. I don't keep version 1 around anymore, because I don't think it's worth dancing, so make sure you're up to date! The only thing I wish was different is I'd like the orbit to go straight into a swing (with no balance) but 16 beats of swing alone is too much I think.
Sent from my iPad
> On Jun 25, 2018, at 1:35 PM, Don Veino via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Here's one I'm familiar with off the top of my head featuring that transition (called it at NEFFA this year):
>
> Belmont Romp - Becket - Dan Pearl (var DonV)
> A1 Circle Left 3/4x, Neighbor Swing
> A2 Long Lines Fwd/Back (note next N)
> Star Left 1x to Gents face out, Ladies in
> B1 NEXT Ns Full Hey (Ladies pass LEFT in center)
> B2 Ladies Cross, Partner Swing
>
> Dan's original is "modified DI" starting with the hey and has a Circle Left in place of the Long Lines. Page 94 of Give and Take.
>
> -Don
>
>
>> On Mon, Jun 25, 2018, 4:03 PM Luke Donforth via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I ran this at a monthly dance, and it was well received; so I figured I'd share it around. To my knowledge it's new. Please correct me if you know of a prior.
>>
>> The interesting/odd bit is the transition from B2 to A1, where the ladies role comes out of a left hand star with old neighbors to start a hey by the left shoulder in the middle with new neighbors. It flows well, but is unexpected.
>>
>> Hubert Humphrey Deserves More Than Just a Song By Tom Lehrer
>> by Luke Donforth
>> Improper, duple minor contra
>> A1
>> Ladies start full hey by the left
>> A2
>> Neighbor gyre and swing
>> B1
>> Circle Left 3/4
>> Partner Swing
>> B2
>> Ladies chain across
>> Left Hand Star 1x
>>
>> As for the title, well, I was on a presidents and folk music kick. Writing titles is harder than writing dances...
>>
>> Enjoy.
>>
>> --
>> Luke Donforth
>> Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com
>> _______________________________________________
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>> List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
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Yeah… I know. I’m not one who believes that EVERY dance must have a neighbor swing. I think there are some incredibly fine choreographies that can happen without that requirement. That said, I wouldn’t program an entire night of them, lest I get rode out of town on a rail!
J.
> On Jun 26, 2018, at 9:36 AM, Luke Donforth via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Jeff, that's an intricate one! I don't know that I'd run that one outside of a challenge session.
>
> Fun to see what you can put together when there doesn't have to be a partner & neighbor swing ;-)
>
> On Mon, Jun 25, 2018 at 6:03 PM, Jeffrey Spero via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
> Here’s one I wrote in back in 1993 (I was ahead of my time?)
>
> Harvesting the Hey
> Becket
>
> A1 Left diagonal, right and left thru
> Straight across, right and left thru
> A2 Star left once around
> With the NEXT (shadow - leave partners), star right once around
> B1 With the previous (the same four as the left hand star), Hey for four (ladies pass right in the center)
> B2 Partners balance and swing
>
> Jeffrey Spero
>
>
>> On Jun 25, 2018, at 1:35 PM, Don Veino via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
>>
>> Here's one I'm familiar with off the top of my head featuring that transition (called it at NEFFA this year):
>>
>> Belmont Romp - Becket - Dan Pearl (var DonV)
>> A1 Circle Left 3/4x, Neighbor Swing
>> A2 Long Lines Fwd/Back (note next N)
>> Star Left 1x to Gents face out, Ladies in
>> B1 NEXT Ns Full Hey (Ladies pass LEFT in center)
>> B2 Ladies Cross, Partner Swing
>>
>> Dan's original is "modified DI" starting with the hey and has a Circle Left in place of the Long Lines. Page 94 of Give and Take.
>>
>> -Don
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 25, 2018, 4:03 PM Luke Donforth via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I ran this at a monthly dance, and it was well received; so I figured I'd share it around. To my knowledge it's new. Please correct me if you know of a prior.
>>
>> The interesting/odd bit is the transition from B2 to A1, where the ladies role comes out of a left hand star with old neighbors to start a hey by the left shoulder in the middle with new neighbors. It flows well, but is unexpected.
>>
>> Hubert Humphrey Deserves More Than Just a Song By Tom Lehrer
>> by Luke Donforth
>> Improper, duple minor contra
>> A1
>> Ladies start full hey by the left
>> A2
>> Neighbor gyre and swing
>> B1
>> Circle Left 3/4
>> Partner Swing
>> B2
>> Ladies chain across
>> Left Hand Star 1x
>>
>> As for the title, well, I was on a presidents and folk music kick. Writing titles is harder than writing dances...
>>
>> Enjoy.
>>
>> --
>> Luke Donforth
>> Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <mailto:Luke.Donev@gmail.com>
>> _______________________________________________
>> List Name: Callers mailing list
>> List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net>
>> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/ <https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/ <https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/>
>
>
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>
>
>
>
> --
> Luke Donforth
> Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <mailto:Luke.Donev@gmail.com>
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On 2018-06-26 12:31 PM, Luke Donforth wrote:
> Thanks Michael,
>
> Do you happen to know if Greg Frock's was ladies starting by right or left
> shoulder for the hey? With the balance there, it could be either way. If it
> was a left shoulder hey, then I'd consider this a variation of that dance.
> If it was a right shoulder hey, then I'm more inclined to consider them
> separate.
The info I have says the hey starts with women passing left, same as yours.
(I don't have an authoritative reference though.)
-Michael
Here’s one I wrote in back in 1993 (I was ahead of my time?)
Harvesting the Hey
Becket
A1 Left diagonal, right and left thru
Straight across, right and left thru
A2 Star left once around
With the NEXT (shadow - leave partners), star right once around
B1 With the previous (the same four as the left hand star), Hey for four (ladies pass right in the center)
B2 Partners balance and swing
Jeffrey Spero
> On Jun 25, 2018, at 1:35 PM, Don Veino via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Here's one I'm familiar with off the top of my head featuring that transition (called it at NEFFA this year):
>
> Belmont Romp - Becket - Dan Pearl (var DonV)
> A1 Circle Left 3/4x, Neighbor Swing
> A2 Long Lines Fwd/Back (note next N)
> Star Left 1x to Gents face out, Ladies in
> B1 NEXT Ns Full Hey (Ladies pass LEFT in center)
> B2 Ladies Cross, Partner Swing
>
> Dan's original is "modified DI" starting with the hey and has a Circle Left in place of the Long Lines. Page 94 of Give and Take.
>
> -Don
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 25, 2018, 4:03 PM Luke Donforth via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I ran this at a monthly dance, and it was well received; so I figured I'd share it around. To my knowledge it's new. Please correct me if you know of a prior.
>
> The interesting/odd bit is the transition from B2 to A1, where the ladies role comes out of a left hand star with old neighbors to start a hey by the left shoulder in the middle with new neighbors. It flows well, but is unexpected.
>
> Hubert Humphrey Deserves More Than Just a Song By Tom Lehrer
> by Luke Donforth
> Improper, duple minor contra
> A1
> Ladies start full hey by the left
> A2
> Neighbor gyre and swing
> B1
> Circle Left 3/4
> Partner Swing
> B2
> Ladies chain across
> Left Hand Star 1x
>
> As for the title, well, I was on a presidents and folk music kick. Writing titles is harder than writing dances...
>
> Enjoy.
>
> --
> Luke Donforth
> Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <mailto:Luke.Donev@gmail.com>
> _______________________________________________
> List Name: Callers mailing list
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> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/ <https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/>
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> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
On 2018-06-25 04:03 PM, Luke Donforth via Callers wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I ran this at a monthly dance, and it was well received; so I figured I'd
> share it around. To my knowledge it's new. Please correct me if you know of
> a prior.
If you replace the "gyre + swing" with "balance + swing", you get Greg
Frock's "Composition 100".
And if you move the gyre to the start of A1 (so the hey crosses the phrase),
you get one of the variants of Michael Fuerst's "Even Heaven Knows a Hey No-No":
http://aptsg.org/Dance/dances.html#HeavenKnows
But I don't see an exact match.
-Michael
