Whilst trawling the archives, I came across Andrea Nettleton's description
of a California (or Nevada) Roll:
"*Partners take the handy hand, which is the Lady's R, the Gent's L, lift
joined hands, the lady curls in toward her partner and walks under while he
walks past, to swap, reverse direction, and face New Nbrs. Not yet proper,
they immediately do a Roll Away with a Half Sashay to swap places but
continue to face the New Neighbors*"
I was fascinated by this idea of this move, so tried it out with some of my
more experienced dancers. They struggled, mostly because the "Nevada
Twirl" (reverse California Twirl) is unusual for them, and the subsequent
roll away is "the wrong way round".
I still liked the move though, so I thought about doing the easier version
(California Twirl and Roll Away). After a few false starts, I realised
that the best way to use it was in a dance where the couples start "the
wrong way round", i.e. 1s proper, 2s improper - a formation I know as
"Indecent". So I came up with:
Indecent Proposal, by Jeremy Child
Formation: Indecent (longways duple minor, 2s improper)
A1: Neighbour Dosido & Swing
A2: Ladies Chain, Ladies pass R shoulder to Start a Hey for 4
B1: Finish the Hey, Partner Swing
B2: Circle Left 3/4, California Twirl & Roll Away across the set
Is this a new dance, or is there something already out there that's similar?
Jeremy
www.barndancecaller.net
Thanks for the suggestions! I've gotten lots of fun ideas on and off list;
and resources I should go and check out. (I'll admit, I've picked up some
of the CDSS pamphlet/books in the past, and been underwhelmed by their
utility; but it sounds like there are some other ones to pick up).
Part of my motivation for this is trying to go into my child's pre-school
for a dance program. My daughter knows enough about contra that she wants
to dance (she's now started writing dances, which I guess shows me what
I've been modelling...) but my calling gigs are too usually past her
bedtime. So I'm trying to find things that make it feel like a dance for
her.
I'm sure I'll end up using this material in other situations (recently got
a call from a family center about a dance, etc).
Thanks again.
On Sun, Oct 29, 2017 at 12:53 AM, Luke Donforth <luke.donev(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> I've got my collection of family dances that I use with mixed age groups.
> But I wonder if anyone has recommendations for family dance stuff when you
> don't have the full family?
>
> What's good for ~12 pre-schoolers (age 3 to 5) when they aren't dancing
> with their parents; and you have maybe 2 other adults total. It seems
> dubious they'd get through even two dances, so give me your favorite if you
> have one.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Luke Donforth
> Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
>
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
Luke,
The age range you describe actually has extremely variable abilities. A three year old is just learning to control their body, likely cannot yet skip, or leap from one foot among the many as yet unlearned skills. A five year old is much more in control of both their body, and their social self. But the whole age range can enjoy follow the leader and other imitative dance, the elder end readily do two hand turns, elbow swings, circles. They might enjoy being led through individual movements, even in a sitting circle, (butterfly knees, swan wings, upside down beetle, cat loaf, etc) and scattered about but moving (different kinds of jumping (like a frog, like a kangaroo), walking in different styles (stomping like and elephant, wading like an egret, scurrying like a squirrel...)). Moving to different rhythms and moods, swaying to slow stuff but bopping to fast stuff can be fun. Dance that tells a story can work if more of the kids are older. Enjoy!
Andrea
Sent from my external brain
Hi Luke
I tried a preschool group and would not recommend any dances with formations, holding hands, or set moves. That’s just not where they are developmentally.
What I’d recommend is the hokey pokey and other singing games. Old brass wagon, Sally goes round the sun, down by the station & you can do the trains.
You can also bring colorful scarves, balloons, a parachute if there are enough adults to hold it up, bubbles etc with songs and wandering around. They would enjoy freeze games too.
Good luck!
Claire Takemori
Sent from my iPhone
Message: 1
Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2017 00:53:34 -0400
From: Luke Donforth <luke.donev(a)gmail.com>
To: "Callers(a)Lists.Sharedweight.net" <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: [Callers] pre-school dances?
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Hi Folks,
I've got my collection of family dances that I use with mixed age groups.
But I wonder if anyone has recommendations for family dance stuff when you
don't have the full family?
What's good for ~12 pre-schoolers (age 3 to 5) when they aren't dancing
with their parents; and you have maybe 2 other adults total. It seems
dubious they'd get through even two dances, so give me your favorite if you
have one.
Thanks!
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
Here's one. They have to know the colors of the clothes they are wearing. It's a circle.
Circle left, right
Forward and back .....
Those wearing red, for instance, skip in the inside. Then skip the other way back to place.
Sent from my iPad
> On Oct 29, 2017, at 12:53 AM, Luke Donforth via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Hi Folks,
>
> I've got my collection of family dances that I use with mixed age groups. But I wonder if anyone has recommendations for family dance stuff when you don't have the full family?
>
> What's good for ~12 pre-schoolers (age 3 to 5) when they aren't dancing with their parents; and you have maybe 2 other adults total. It seems dubious they'd get through even two dances, so give me your favorite if you have one.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Luke Donforth
> Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com
> _______________________________________________
> List Name: Callers mailing list
> List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
There isn't a lot that will work well with just preschoolers and a couple adults. Holding hands in a circle and staying in a circle is challenge. I'd suggest really simple singing games because you can pause the music whenever you need to so they can follow the next instruction. Dusty bluebells works. Freeze dancing. The noble duke of York.
Challenging to do that age w/o lots of adults or older kids.
Yours,
Amy
206 330 7408
Amy(a)calleramy.com
Hi Folks,
I've got my collection of family dances that I use with mixed age groups.
But I wonder if anyone has recommendations for family dance stuff when you
don't have the full family?
What's good for ~12 pre-schoolers (age 3 to 5) when they aren't dancing
with their parents; and you have maybe 2 other adults total. It seems
dubious they'd get through even two dances, so give me your favorite if you
have one.
Thanks!
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
Here's my annual bid to keep the dances of Rich Blazej out there; I try and
call his dances whenever I can and this one's a Halloween favorite, re-done
as "Werewolves and Zombies". First the original:
*Garfield's Escape* -- circle of couples PLUS ONE EXTRA in the center --
the Garfield
A1 All into the center EIGHT steps and back, menacing the Garfield
A2 Circle left, circle right
B1 Women (*werewolves*) promenade single file to the right, while men (
*zombies*) "star" by the right -- each man puts his right hand on right
shoulder of the man in front - including Garfield.
B2 Caller hollers "Escape!" (*"Boo!", or maybe "Braaaiiins*") and all men
run to the outside and swing with a woman in the outer circle. A new
Garfield remains in the center.
Rich himself named this after Garfield the comic-strip cat, way back when
he was cynical and funny (the cat, not Rich) --
"The single man remaining at the end of the dance is entitled to a pan of
lasagna and some fresh kitty litter".
My favorite normal tune for this is the minor jig *Coleraine*, played at a
slightly slower lurch-y tempo, but if I'm lucky the band'll do the Alfred
Hitchcock theme.
The thing that makes it is the *eight* counts in/out, the steps become
small and tiptoe-y/menacing -- it gives dancers space and time to throw in
all sorts of shenanigans, and each Garfield tends to try and top the last
with the quivering and shivering. Kids especially love making a grownup
cower.
Have fun, just thought I'd share -- and I'd love to hear how it goes if you
do it, and what variations emerge.
Cheers,
Amy
The long-established dance series in Tracy Hall in Norwich, VT urgently
needs a caller for Nov. 11, 2017. The person we had scheduled is not be
able to make that event. Efforts to find a replacement from within our
usual pool have not borne fruit as of yet. We'd like to be able to announce
the Nov. 11 caller at our 4th-Saturday dance (10/28, this weekend). Our
musicians will include LIz and Dan Faiella, enthusiastic and talented young
musicians. If you could fill this date, please reply to
chip.hedler(a)gmail.com as soon as you can--we'd be extremely appreciative,
can guarantee a decent fee, and could arrange lodging and meals if needed.
Thanks to all for your consideration,
Chip Hedler
Norwich Dance Committee
