In Belfast, these are done every month: - Circle dance variation of La Bastringue - Galopede or version thereof These are dances that have been requested at some point (dances that were done at some point and then were requested another month) - Zip it Up (from New England Dancing Masters collections) - The Flat Tire (from NEDM collections) - Sasha - Sashay the Donut (NEDM collections) - Dive for Oyster, Dig for Clam (done in scattered foursomes, not with wring the dishrag figure at community dances given wide variation in height) - Chaos - Virginia Reel with strip the willow - Bridges - Kings and Queens (NEDM collections) - Coyote Contra (dance composed by local youth, in "coyotum circle formation"--a becket type Sicilian circle) - The Black Joke I think that local traditions can and should vary. A weekly square dance I do in the summertime has more than one "must do" dance. I also think it's easier to have local traditions when the callers are consistent from month to month. Either one house caller (as in Belfast and Topsham) or a group of callers (as I understood is the case for Tapestry dances.) Cheers, Chrissy Fowler

Hi Emily I’m curious: what were the two dances that DeLaura led at Ogontz? My series has been going since 1994. Generally it’s monthly from November through April. I am the regular caller. In the early years, I was inspired by seeing Peter Amidon and Andy Davis leading family dances, and I used a lot of their repertoire: Zodiac Chimes of Dunkirk Bridge of Athlone Black Joke Sweets of May Sasha Galopede Circassian Circle Old King Glory Brandy Rump Bump Gramma Moses Head and shoulders Down in the Valley Little Johnny Brown Step it Down Chee Chee Cha Heel & Toe Polka As the years went on, I learned more and more fun unique dances. Another factor in my repertoire change was my change in attitude. I became disenchanted with the evolution of the contra scene, with dance evenings becoming monotone. Contras only. No more circle mixers or squares. No more chestnut contras. Very few easy contras. Choreography that is “unforgiving”. So I quit calling at contra series and for the last ten years or so, all of my dances are family and community dances. I find that lots of contra callers seem to want to groom the children to become contra dancers, and their choice of dances at the family dances are generally just simple contras. My goal is to provide a fun, exciting repertoire of dances appropriate for young children. Some may be a bit like contras, and some dances are totally different We have several dances that children request at most of the family dances: Spiral Hoe Ana (Polynesian sit-down canoeing dance I learned from Sanna Longden) Old Dan Tucker (longways dance I learned from a PE teacher) Zodiac Any dance with a “Peel the Banana” figure, like Virginia Reel, Sweets of May, or Bridge of Athlone Funga Alafia (West African dance) Sasha Other dances the children love, but don’t request necessarily: Zemer Atik (Israeli dance) Looking for a Friend aka Hang Peng You (Chinese) 7 Jumps (Danish, learned from Marian Rose and many other sources) Mi Cuerpo Hace Musica (Puerto Rican) Dance du Castor (Quebecois) Baanopstekker (Dutch dance) Can’t Jump Josie (American singing game) Clap Your Hands (American) Buffalo Gals (Square) LaRaspa Chay Chat Koolay (West African) Yan Petit (Catalonian) Cshebogar (Hungarian) Le Bus (Quebecois) Damat Halayi (Turkish) Penguin Dance (I forgot where I got this) Marching Through Georgia (Square) Paul Rosenberg Albany, NY 518-482-9255 www.homespun.biz