Thanks for all the great ideas; it is much appreciated.
I was particularly intrigued at the thought of incorporating an MWSD figure
(I know squat about MWSD and had no idea there were so many figures.).
So, I've settled on a short list of 3 possibilities and, as it happens, our
community has a caller workshop this coming weekend so I'm going to ask the
dancers to suffer through the 3 options to see how the options dance, in
practice. I think the dance would work well with any of them but each
provides a somewhat different feel.
Ken
Is this limited to contra dances?
I've got:
May the Fourth Be With You (Jim Saxe)
Brimmer & May Reel (Dan Pearl)
First Turn in May (Circle mixer by Tom Hinds)
Lucky Five (Circle Mixer by Bob Dalsemer)
(Also an Early American "First of May" and Dudley Laufman's 48-bar
"Sweets of May", which is more of a barn dance. There's a Scottish
five-person dance called "Domino 5" if that's any help.)
-- Alan
On 4/10/2018 9:49 AM, Mary Collins via Callers wrote:
> Looking for dance ideas. Either with May or '5' idea in title. Thanks!
>
> Mary Collins
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> List Name: Callers mailing list
> List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
Hello Mary,
Here is a circle mixer I wrote to teach Grande R&L. Five's Alive is named
for the robot, #5, in the Short Circuit movie. (Hope you have seen that
movie.)
The link is a version of the dance set to a singing call with my wife Lynn
on harmony. This video is from a community dance, NOT a contra dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqCyZfweFk0
Peace, Rich
Five’s Alive Mixer
Big Circle, Lady on the Right
All Join Hands Circle Left
- - - -
Circle Right
Face your Partner…..RH Shake
Grande R&L
#5
Dosido with #5
Swing that Girl if She’s Alive
Promenade
- - - -
All Face In…Circle Left
On Tue, Apr 10, 2018 at 12:49 PM, Mary Collins via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> Looking for dance ideas. Either with May or '5' idea in title. Thanks!
>
> Mary Collins
>
> _______________________________________________
> List Name: Callers mailing list
> List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
>
>
I agree that changing the rollaway so ladies roll their partners away
left-to-right fixes the issue I raised in A1 of "Tamlin's Cross." I think
it would be a fun variation on the rollaway-swing transition, which, in my
experience, is always done with gents rolling ladies away.
Dugan Murphy
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy.comwww.DuganMurphy.comwww.PortlandIntownContraDance.com
On Tue, Apr 10, 2018 at 4:11 PM, Luke Donforth <Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hi Dugan,
>
> Thanks for the feedback! I liked the gents roll partner away (from R to L)
> when it went into a DSD (it feeds the common twirl direct); but I can see
> your concern when it's running right into the swing.
>
> Would ladies roll their partner (L to R) work better in your opinion? The
> gents would pick up the same clockwise rotation they have in a swing. It's
> more on the Ladies role to catch then.
>
Recently I was invited to set up a display at two bridal shows. I've come
up with a flyer advertising my services, a short video of a recent wedding
dance I lead, a picture or two I can display. Can you think of anything
else that might be helpful?
Also, I know it helps to have favors to give away and that draw more
attention to my table. Besides candy, can anyone think of some unique
favor that might or might not be dance or music related that would be a
cheap, unique give-a-way?
Thanks!
--
*Looking forward,Linda S. Mrosko*
*102 Mitchell Drive*
*Temple, Texas 76501*
*(903) 292-3713 (Cell)*
*(903) 603-9955 (Skype)*
*contradancetx.com <http://www.contradancetx.com>*
*www.zazzle.com/fuzzycozy* <http://www.zazzle.com/fuzzycozy*> (Dance
buttons, t-shirts, & more)*
Hi Dugan,
Thanks for the feedback! I liked the gents roll partner away (from R to L)
when it went into a DSD (it feeds the common twirl direct); but I can see
your concern when it's running right into the swing.
Would ladies roll their partner (L to R) work better in your opinion? The
gents would pick up the same clockwise rotation they have in a swing. It's
more on the Ladies role to catch then.
On Sun, Apr 8, 2018 at 1:11 PM, Dugan Murphy via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> Hi, Luke,
>
> Great new ideas on 4X4 choreography! In regards to the "Tamlin's Cross,"
> I think the rollaway-swing transition in A1 would feel less than ideal, or
> even awkward because the direction of the rollaway is counter to the
> direction of the swing.
>
> I love that transition when the gent is sashaying left and passing a
> dancer in the lady role from the gent's left hand to gent's right hand
> right, then the gent can catch the other dancer in the lady role in a swing
> (as in "Rollin' with Rhode" by Jim Hemphill, "Rollaway Sue" by Bob Isaacs,
> "Luna in the Library" by Ron Blechner,""Roll Twelve" by Chris Page, and
> "Into the DMZ" by Cary Ravitz, among others). I fear that the
> rollaway-swing transition as it is written in "Tamlin's Crossing" wouldn't
> be as satisfying as int he dances I listed.
>
> Thank you for your innovations and I look forward to seeing more!
>
> Dugan Murphy
> Portland, Maine
> dugan at duganmurphy.com
> www.DuganMurphy.com
> www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com
>
>
>> Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2018 12:16:42 -0400
>> From: Luke Donforth <luke.donev(a)gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Callers] New (?) 4x4 contra
>>
>> Thanks all for the feedback! I'll reach out to Erik and Nils.
>>
>> As Rick pointed out, the dance could work from standard 4x4 lines; and I
>> certainly wouldn't object to folks dancing it that way. In my head, the
>> half grand hey precludes this from many dance events, so I figured dancers
>> I could toss this at would probably not be thrown by the bent formation.
>> But keeping the non-hook moves simple is worthwhile.
>>
>> I haven't done a Dutch Crossing workshop, although I've been meaning to.
>> Nice to see Lisa getting everyone through it, thank you for the link; and
>> the reminder to learn Dutch Crossing.
>>
>> Colin, I don't remember the last time I got to call a 48 bar dance. But if
>> I get a band itching to play one, now I've got some things in the quiver.
>>
>> Jim, I'll admit Heymania is intimidating to me. I like the fixed timing of
>> contra, the squishyness of squares is a challenge for me. I'd have to work
>> up to that one with some simpler non-musically-square squares.
>>
>> As for this dance, dropping the balance before the partner swing and
>> letting the hey flow into B2 seems the simplest and most forgiving way of
>> handling the timing. I like the idea of the reunion moment being marked in
>> time though, so that partners know when they're supposed to find each
>> other. You could give the hey more time in B1 at the expense of some of
>> the
>> neighbor swing. What about the following variation, informed by Chris's
>> comments on timing?
>>
>> Tamlin's Cross (variation)
>> 4x4 (lines or bent)
>>
>> A1
>> (4) All 8 go into the middle
>> (4) Gents roll partners away on the way out
>> (8) Corner Swing, square set
>> A2
>> (8) Gents left hands across star 1x; gents drop out
>> (8) Ladies left hands across star 1x;
>> ladies keep hands, and take right hand with corner (making crossed wavy
>> lines of 4)
>> B1
>> (4) Balance the wavy lines of four
>> (12) half grand hey, start passing corner you swung by right
>> then turn away from corner you swung
>> B2
>> (16) Partner Balance and Swing
>> End the swing facing new couple, having swapped sides with your
>> trail-buddy
>> couple
>>
>> That gives both roles the muscle memory of a left hand star in the middle
>> as prep for the handless-star in the hey; which could either be helpful or
>> monotonous.
>> <digression>
>> I wouldn't usually chase a left hand star with a left hand star, but I
>> think left will flow better for the gents out of a swing; and I want the
>> corners to take right hands (because getting folks to balance left then
>> right seems impossible outside of Rory o'More). The two left hand stars
>> would also leave some room for silliness on the part of the dancers.
>> A2 could be ladies right hand star, then gents left; but I'm not super
>> fond
>> of the swing->ladies go in transition. It happens a lot in swing->chain,
>> but I don't think it would add to the dance here.
>> </digression>
>>
>> Thanks again for sharing your experience :-)
>>
>
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>
>
On Tue, 10 Apr 2018 16:49:07 +0000, Mary Collins via Callers wrote:
> Looking for dance ideas. Either with May or '5' idea in title. Thanks!
The Fifth of May - Bernard Chalk
Longways duple 32 bar jigs
A1: Right-hand star. First corners right-hand turn half-way, continue outside neighbour, home.
A2: Cross right, left round partner, home. Left-hand star.
B1: Second corners left-hand turn half-way, continue outside neighbour, home. Cross left, right round partner, home.
B2: Circle left. Circle right half; two-hand turn partner half.
Originally danced to jigs, this was the first dance performed by English Miscellany - Bernard was briefly their first director.
It has been published (wrongly notated) set to rants.
The 29th of May - Playford
Now is the Month of Maying - Jenny Beer
The Bunch of Fives - Colin Hume
Colin Hume
Email colin(a)colinhume.com Web site http://colinhume.com
Hi Ken,
How about:
1) (Balance Forward & Back) Men Orbit CW Half Way WHILE Ladies Allemande Left Half; Neighbour Swing
2) Travelling Gypsy Meltdown: Lock Eyes and the Man starts Orbiting CW with the Lady following, Gypsying around each other to the other side and melting into a Swing
3) Man turns to his right as he starts to Orbit CW, and walks backwards, beckoning the lady to follow, swing when you get to the other side
4) English Ceilidh Style: Swing while travelling to the other side – that is not very easy in a ballroom hold or with buzz-steps, so, instead of joining right hands at shoulder level for a wave, take a forearm Allemande hold (forearms together, hand hooked just above neighbour’s elbow) with left hands joined below, and swing using step-hop (single step/skip step) or 1-2-3-hop (double step/polka step). That way you get a 16 beat swing! :-)
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
If you haven't done so, take a look at Cary Ravitz's web site on contra
dance choreography. His discussion of black boxes might help in
situations like this where you need a combination to get from one place
to another. http://www.dance.ravitz.us/chor.php#m
Dave
On 4/8/2018 7:59 PM, K Panton via Callers wrote:
> I am need of some choreographic gerrymandering from the braintrust.
>
> I have the flow the way I want in a dance that first gelled about 10
> years but when some folks walked it through for me, more recently,
> they said, "uh, Ken, I'm not swinging my N, it's my P."
>
> "Dang," said I.
>
> Here's the dance. the problem is "How do I get neighbours who are
> beside each other in an ocean wave (A1) to the other side of the set
> for a swing?" (A2) (short of calling on Mr. Scott for a teleport)
>
> So, I need the first half of A2.
>
> Return from Vulcan Becket
>
> A1 (8) Cir L 1.0
> (8) Slide left and cir 3/4 the next couple to a wavy line.
> A2 (4,6,8?) (balance wave, not critical) get gent to other side of set
> with neighbour [hmmm... Ladies alle L 1/2, P alle R 1/2, Gents alle L
> 1/2 - I'm not convinced]
> (12,10,8?) N Swing
> B1 (8) Gents alle L 1.5
> (8) Scoop P in star promenade/B'fly Whirl
> B2 (8) Ladies alle R 1.5 while gents orbit CCW
> (8) P Swing
>
>
> Thanks for any ideas.
>
> Ken Panton
>
>
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