I work with the visually impaired and have been asked to call an evening of dances for an outing. I know the basics of working with the visually impaired but does anyone have any suggestions for dances, how to handle the directional aspect, or any other ideas to make it a successful experience. I hope that each visually impaired dancer will have a "seeing" partner.
Thank you so much in advance.
Helle
Hi All,
Here's an offer from a packrat, finally cleaning out my old dance
archives. Rather than discard them for paper recycling, it would be
great to hand-off these materials to someone with an interest. All
are periodicals.
CDSS News - I have a whole box of these. I think the collection is
mostly complete from late 1970s up to 20-teens. Full of amazing
articles, photos, dances, and history.
Country Dance & Song - I think this was an annual publication for
CDSS, with in-depth articles on a range of subjects (Abbott's
Bromley, historic dance reconstruction, sword dance choreography,
etc.). This collection is just one modest shopping bag.
American Squares and The Folk Dancer - These periodicals were
inherited from an older caller - I think mostly from 1950s. This,
too, is just one modest shopping bag.
Please contact me off-list if you are interested. I'd love to hand
these off this weekend at NEFFA if possible ! -- Scott
Higgs -- scottATscotthiggsDOTcom
Take care,
Scott
--------------------------------------------
Scott(a)ScottHiggs.com
I got this inquiry. Anyone interested contact Pamela directly.
Rich
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Pamela Thomas <thomasp.nyc(a)gmail.com>
> Date: April 10, 2019 at 10:15:51 PM EDT
> To: rich(a)richgoss.com
> Subject: Caller Enquiry
>
> Hi Rich, I am looking for a caller for a square dance on Saturday, June 15. The dance is a community celebration and will likely be held in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
>
> Might I enquire as to whether you are available and or interested in calling the dance? Appreciate your consideration to do so!
>
> Kind wishes,
>
> Pamela Thomas
> Brooklyn
Hi All,
Recently two situations started me thinking about formations.
Firstly, three different times, in different places, with different people,
the topic came up of why so many dance sessions consisted of a single
formation: "Longways for as many as will", also known as "contra lines".
Secondly, there was a long discussion on one of the forums
about how much space is needed for a dance. All the replies, without
exception, assumed that it was the space required for longways sets! There
was just one brief comment at the bottom of one post acknowledging that
other formations might have different space requirements.
So, I did some research and made a Web page:
http://contrafusion.co.uk/Formations.html
I list over EIGHTY different formations, with sample dances
(including links to instructions or videos) for every formation.
I hope you find it useful, and maybe you will try
choreographing, calling or dancing a different formation.
Please let me know of any additions, corrections, comments,
etc.
Thanks.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com
<mailto:john@modernjive.com> 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
http://contrafusion.co.uk/KentCeilidhs.html for Live Music Ceilidhs
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive DVDs
On Mar 21, 2019, at 2:29 PM, Rich Sbardella wrote (in part):
> Many MWSD calls have left versions. For example Pass Thru (by right shoulder) and Left Pass thru (by left shoulder). Swing Thru is another. Swing thru is turn half by the left, half by the right, but Left Swing Thru is turn half but the left, then half by the right. Left Square Thru is one that starts with the left hand, BUT the dancers walk the exact same pattern as a normal, right handed square thru.
>
> In the case of a star thru and slide thru, I have never danced or called a Left Star Thru or a Left Slide Thru. ...
The term "Left Star Thru" was indeed sometimes used in to refer to a varian of Star Thru using the gent's right hand and lady's left. That usage now appears to be deprecated. The reason, I presume, is that in contrast to calls like "Left Pass Thru" or "Left Swing Thru," the call "Left Star Thru" exhibits the historical bias of directing calls preferentially to the gents.
As an example, in the current version of the definition document for the CallerLab Advanced program, the call "Double Star Thru" is defined as follows:
From any appropriate formation (e.g. Normal Facing Couples):
Those who can Star Thru. Those who can do the mirror image
of a Star Thru (an arch is made with the man's left hand and
the woman's right hand; the man goes around the arch while the
lady goes under). In each part of the call, some dancers must
be active. Normal facing couples will end as sashayed couples
back-to-back.
I've seen versions of the document from c. 2000 that describe the second half of Double Star Thru as a "Left Star Thru" (for those who can) rather than as "the mirror image of a Star Thru."
--Jim
On Mar 24, 2019, at 3:53 PM, Andy Shore via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote (in part):
> Left Star Thru (edited slightly)
> From a boy facing a girl: boy holds left hand up and girl places her right palm against it. boy steps forward and does a quarter left as the girl passes the boy left shoulders under the raised arms and does a quarter right. Finishes as a couple.
> https://www.ceder.net/oldcalls/viewsingle.php?RecordId=3616
Just to expand people’s idea of “techno”, let’s include “non-traditional music contras”. People often conflate these. As an umbrella term, “techno” does not have to mean dimmed or special lighting. There’s a lot of fun in dancing to any music appropriately edited for contra dancing in normal hall lighting! (I include live and DJ’d music in this definition.)
With normal hall lighting, demos are perfectly appropriate. Again, keep the dances simple, so demos shouldn’t need to be long.
\Bob
> On Apr 7, 2019, at 12:33, Maia McCormick via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Ah, whoops, wrong link: http://contra.maiamccormick.com/blog/2019/04/07/techno-reflections/
>
>> On Sun, Apr 7, 2019 at 12:26 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>> (And if anyone wants to refer back to this, it's up on my blog!)
>>
>>> On Sun, Mar 31, 2019 at 4:27 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Thanks for the advice, all! While it's fresh in my mind, wanted to report back and call out a few pieces of advice from this thread that were particularly helpful (or that I ignored to my own detriment). Just my observations--hope this is helpful to someone!
>>>
>>> 1. Demos are indeed hard
>>> I agree with everyone who warned me away from demos at a techno -- it's dark and hard to see, and dancers just want to groove. "If you need a demo for it, the dance is probably too hard" was a great yardstick for my programming, thanks Chuck!
>>>
>>> 2. Keep calling
>>> Jonathan nailed it -- if the phrasing is at all hard to follow, dancers will tend to swing too long. I definitely found myself calling more than I would in a non-techno contra (by the end of the dances, my calls were all one beat, but I was often still calling at least some moves). Knowing to look out for over-long swings in particular was super helpful, thanks!
>>>
>>> 3. Choose easy dances
>>> I got cocky in the second half and programmed some stuff that was above the level of the crowd, and had to fall back to Hey in the Barn when a weird box circulate dance fell apart. The advice that many people gave is super sound -- it's harder to see and harder to focus, dancers probably just want to groove etc., and so easier dances are the way to go.
>>>
>>> I want to add one more thing I noticed, which is that I as a caller couldn't get a read on the hall because it was so dark. If I'd been better able to see how ropy the previous dance had been, or that a lot of the experienced people had left at the break, I would have been better able to adjust my program. So there's another point in favor of calling easier dances -- not so much that they dancers can't handle it, as a rule, but rather that you as a caller can't tell as easily whether the dancers can handle it.
>>>
>>> 4. If you can, listen to the tracks in advance!
>>> I worked with Mark Moore (DJ Flourish) from Philly--he's great! Among other things, he sent me his tracks in advance, which meant that I could get extra precise with the dance/track pairing--super helpful because it's much harder to request specific track features to go with a dance when working with a DJ than with a band. Also, I knew how many potatoes to expect for each track, if they were at all fake-out-y, etc.
>>>
>>>> On Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 5:17 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Ah, more specific questions!
>>>>
>>>> - have you found on-the-floor demos doable at techno, or should I not even try?
>>>> - techno no-walk-through's: do they work?
>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 5:13 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Hey folks,
>>>>>
>>>>> I haven't called all that many techno contras, and I'm slated to do so this weekend. Any tips or things to keep in mind about how techno differs from your standard contra evening? (Particularly curious about anything relating to dance choice and dance length.)
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Maia
> _______________________________________________
> List Name: Callers mailing list
> List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
Ah, whoops, wrong link:
http://contra.maiamccormick.com/blog/2019/04/07/techno-reflections/
On Sun, Apr 7, 2019 at 12:26 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> (And if anyone wants to refer back to this, it's up on my blog
> <http://contra.maiamccormick.com/blog/2019/03/31/techno-reflections/>!)
>
> On Sun, Mar 31, 2019 at 4:27 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks for the advice, all! While it's fresh in my mind, wanted to report
>> back and call out a few pieces of advice from this thread that were
>> particularly helpful (or that I ignored to my own detriment). Just my
>> observations--hope this is helpful to someone!
>>
>> *1. Demos are indeed hard*
>> I agree with everyone who warned me away from demos at a techno -- it's
>> dark and hard to see, and dancers just want to groove. "If you need a demo
>> for it, the dance is probably too hard" was a great yardstick for my
>> programming, thanks Chuck!
>>
>> *2. Keep calling*
>> Jonathan nailed it -- if the phrasing is at all hard to follow, dancers
>> will tend to swing too long. I definitely found myself calling more than I
>> would in a non-techno contra (by the end of the dances, my calls were all
>> one beat, but I was often still calling at least some moves). Knowing to
>> look out for over-long swings in particular was super helpful, thanks!
>>
>> *3. Choose easy dances*
>> I got cocky in the second half and programmed some stuff that was above
>> the level of the crowd, and had to fall back to Hey in the Barn when a
>> weird box circulate dance fell apart. The advice that many people gave is
>> super sound -- it's harder to see and harder to focus, dancers probably
>> just want to groove etc., and so easier dances are the way to go.
>>
>> I want to add one more thing I noticed, which is that *I as a caller
>> couldn't get a read on the hall because it was so dark*. If I'd been
>> better able to see how ropy the previous dance had been, or that a lot of
>> the experienced people had left at the break, I would have been better able
>> to adjust my program. So there's another point in favor of calling easier
>> dances -- not so much that they dancers can't handle it, as a rule, but
>> rather that you as a caller can't tell as easily whether the dancers can
>> handle it.
>>
>> *4. If you can, listen to the tracks in advance!*
>> I worked with Mark Moore (DJ Flourish) from Philly--he's great! Among
>> other things, he sent me his tracks in advance, which meant that I could
>> get extra precise with the dance/track pairing--super helpful because it's
>> much harder to request specific track features to go with a dance when
>> working with a DJ than with a band. Also, I knew how many potatoes to
>> expect for each track, if they were at all fake-out-y, etc.
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 5:17 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Ah, more specific questions!
>>>
>>> - have you found on-the-floor demos doable at techno, or should I not
>>> even try?
>>> - techno no-walk-through's: do they work?
>>>
>>> On Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 5:13 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc(a)gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hey folks,
>>>>
>>>> I haven't called all that many techno contras, and I'm slated to do so
>>>> this weekend. Any tips or things to keep in mind about how techno differs
>>>> from your standard contra evening? (Particularly curious about anything
>>>> relating to dance choice and dance length.)
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Maia
>>>>
>>>
(And if anyone wants to refer back to this, it's up on my blog
<http://contra.maiamccormick.com/blog/2019/03/31/techno-reflections/>!)
On Sun, Mar 31, 2019 at 4:27 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the advice, all! While it's fresh in my mind, wanted to report
> back and call out a few pieces of advice from this thread that were
> particularly helpful (or that I ignored to my own detriment). Just my
> observations--hope this is helpful to someone!
>
> *1. Demos are indeed hard*
> I agree with everyone who warned me away from demos at a techno -- it's
> dark and hard to see, and dancers just want to groove. "If you need a demo
> for it, the dance is probably too hard" was a great yardstick for my
> programming, thanks Chuck!
>
> *2. Keep calling*
> Jonathan nailed it -- if the phrasing is at all hard to follow, dancers
> will tend to swing too long. I definitely found myself calling more than I
> would in a non-techno contra (by the end of the dances, my calls were all
> one beat, but I was often still calling at least some moves). Knowing to
> look out for over-long swings in particular was super helpful, thanks!
>
> *3. Choose easy dances*
> I got cocky in the second half and programmed some stuff that was above
> the level of the crowd, and had to fall back to Hey in the Barn when a
> weird box circulate dance fell apart. The advice that many people gave is
> super sound -- it's harder to see and harder to focus, dancers probably
> just want to groove etc., and so easier dances are the way to go.
>
> I want to add one more thing I noticed, which is that *I as a caller
> couldn't get a read on the hall because it was so dark*. If I'd been
> better able to see how ropy the previous dance had been, or that a lot of
> the experienced people had left at the break, I would have been better able
> to adjust my program. So there's another point in favor of calling easier
> dances -- not so much that they dancers can't handle it, as a rule, but
> rather that you as a caller can't tell as easily whether the dancers can
> handle it.
>
> *4. If you can, listen to the tracks in advance!*
> I worked with Mark Moore (DJ Flourish) from Philly--he's great! Among
> other things, he sent me his tracks in advance, which meant that I could
> get extra precise with the dance/track pairing--super helpful because it's
> much harder to request specific track features to go with a dance when
> working with a DJ than with a band. Also, I knew how many potatoes to
> expect for each track, if they were at all fake-out-y, etc.
>
> On Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 5:17 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Ah, more specific questions!
>>
>> - have you found on-the-floor demos doable at techno, or should I not
>> even try?
>> - techno no-walk-through's: do they work?
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 5:13 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hey folks,
>>>
>>> I haven't called all that many techno contras, and I'm slated to do so
>>> this weekend. Any tips or things to keep in mind about how techno differs
>>> from your standard contra evening? (Particularly curious about anything
>>> relating to dance choice and dance length.)
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Maia
>>>
>>
Hi Maia,
Not sure if you've already run this one (I'm behind on e-mails).
Personally, I would caution that getting dancers out of the habit of
Rorying to the right first might be hard.
I have in my box a similar dance, called Wildabeasts (that I wrote in
2017), that replaces your A2 with a
(8) Raven's Chain across
(4) Circle RIGHT 1/2, pass through
(4) Pass through to an Ocean Wave
That sets you up with your partner in your right hand, instead of your left
hand.
I will say, that while I wrote it and it's in my box, I've never actually
called it (along with about 150 other compositions).
As for dances I have actually called.
There's a variation of Donna Hunt's "This Could be the Start of Something"
http://donnahuntcaller.com/dancesByDonna.html
that starts with the Down the Hall, and has the ravens slide all the way to
their partner for a balance and swing instead of ravens allemande->partner
swing.
Erik Hoffman's "Missing Duck" has an A2 Rory, and a B2 P B&S, as does
Fidgety Feet/Fickle Finger of Fate by Mark Richardson/Don Lennartson.
None of those three have a neighbor swing though. For that, I'd turn to
Bill Olson's "Dancing With Amy"
Becket-CW
A1 -----------
(8) Circle Left 3/4
(8) Neighbor swing
A2 -----------
(8) left diagonal Ladies’ chain across to your shadow
(8) left hand star (to a long wavy line with your partner)
B1 -----------
(8) Balance and slide to the right (as in Rory O’More)
(8) Balance and slide to the right (as in Rory O’More)
B2 -----------
(16) Partner balance and swing
On Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 11:14 PM Maia McCormick via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> I wanted a closer with a Rory O'Moore and a partner balance and swing.
> This is what I came up with. Does this (or a variant thereof) already exist?
>
> *Wave Goodbye* (becket L)
> A1: (on the L diagonal) give and take N (to lark's side)
> N swing
> A2: ravens chain (to P)
> ravens alle. R 1 1/2 to short waves (LH to N, ravens by R)
> B1: bal. L and R, slide L (short waves, RH to N, larks by L)
> bal. R and L, slide R, ravens sliding extra to pass each other
> B2: P b&s
> _______________________________________________
> List Name: Callers mailing list
> List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
>
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
Keep calling. My experience has been that techo music has plenty of
beat and no phrasing. So dancers don't know when to stop the current
figure and start the next one. Some figures like circles, stars and
lines forward and back have a kind of natural timing so dances with
those figures work well. Some other figures such as heys, chains and
swings are less well defined as far as timing goes, and dancers tend to
rush heys and chains and go long on swings. So the dancers will all
take different amount of time for them. This means that if you stop
calling the various parts of the lines will start to diverge in where
they are in the dance and soon there will be parts of the room dancing
the A1 part while others places in the room they are dancing the A2 or
even B1 part. I think swings may be the biggest issue. Everyone likes
to swing and many dancers will go long on each swing, but they'll all go
long by a different amount.
Choose dances with figures that have really well-defined timing and
don't stop calling and you will be OK. You may be able to reduce the
amount of calling, but you will probably need to say something from time
to time to re-synchronize the dancers.
Jonathan
On 3/28/2019 4:13 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers wrote:
> Hey folks,
>
> I haven't called all that many techno contras, and I'm slated to do so
> this weekend. Any tips or things to keep in mind about how techno
> differs from your standard contra evening? (Particularly curious about
> anything relating to dance choice and dance length.)
>
> Cheers,
> Maia
