I heard there is usual tune that goes with Shadrack's delight. But can you recommend a commonly played modern tune that would fit well? The band doesn't have time to learn a new tune for the 8/28 contra dance.
Thanks!!
Claire Takemori
Bay Area CA
Watch this before it disappears. At 17:45 Jason Robards teaches the old-time square dance to the song Billy Boy.
https://youtu.be/d8uQkyCVWts
The 1987 film Square Dance was produced by Michael Nesmith. Later Wynona Ryder teaches Rob Lowe. Anybody know the visit? Billy Boy is effectively played as a march here. It is thought to be from the British Isles. The silly song Billy Boy seems based on the old English ballad "Lord Randall." It came to New England with British immigrants and spread south and west. The movie is set in Texas.
Fred Feild
Mo Waddington wrote:
<<Are we talking about the same thing though.
Barn dance, ONS, square dance, ceilidh are one thing.
But some of the things Tony was talking about in the first post (if I remember????) assume more knowledge maybe.>>
As Mo may have suspected, we've been talking about two different things in this thread: (1) the eclectic style of square dancing and calling that I've seen emerging over the last 10-20 years, primarily in the contra dance scene, and (2) the world of one-nighters or barn dances, which has always been eclectic to some extent because the simpler the material, the less difference between regional styles and the less it matters which way you give hands. Both (1) and (2) are legitimate expressions of a folk art.
My original post was entirely concerned with (1). It was an attempt to find out if others agreed with me that square dancing and calling has become more eclectic, and to find out whether anyone has given this style a name that is worth perpetuating. My impression, after several responses, is that there is no such name in common use. I've just about decided to use "neo-traditional" in my own writing; I don't expect anyone else to follow suit, but I do suspect that anyone reading my words who is familiar with the recent and current dance scene will know what I mean.
Tony Parkes
Billerica, Mass.
Dancing doctor, medical musician or qualified nurse wanted for on-call duty
at Eastbourne International Folkdance Festival April 28 - 1 May 2017.
On site accommodation provided.
For further details of the event see; www.eiff.org.uk
<http://www.eiff.org.uk/> or Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/EastbourneInternationalFolkdanceFestival/
Both of these sites are regularly updated.
Contact me for further details.
Robin
I'd like you all to hear the song Solomon Levi is based on.
http://www.sheetmusicsinger.com/solomon-levi-1885/
I believe this to have some Jewish history based on some Youtube videos about it. It may be related to the Yiddish theater that was established in New York. Many ethnic groups enjoyed seeing theirs and others' cultures caricatured on stage.
The strength of this song shows why it was used for singing SD.
Fred Feild, sheet music singer
-------- Original message --------
From: "Tony Parkes tony(a)hands4.com [trad-dance-callers]" <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com>
Date: 08/15/2016 12:26 PM (GMT-06:00)
To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: [trad-dance-callers] The Slow One (Was: Is there an emerging SD style?)
Bob Livingston wrote:
<<The Slow One, known as Solomon Levi, will most likely be called at the Heath and Cummington, MA Fairs before August is finished.>>
Many thanks, Bob, for mentioning the Cummington Fair! I recently searched for local fairs that featured square dancing, and the only one I found was Heath (Aug. 19-21), which has its dance on the Friday. We decided against taking time off our day jobs to drive 2+ hours on a Friday night. Somehow I overlooked Cummington (Aug. 25-28), where the dance is on the Saturday. We happen to be free that night, so we’ll likely go.
Everyone: The dances at both fairs are by the Falltown String Band with Doug Wilkins calling. The Square Dance History Proect (www.squaredancehistory.org<http://www.squaredancehistory.org>) has several video clips of this band with Bob Livingston calling, recorded in Chesterfield, CT in 2013.
<<In CT/RI fiddler Tom Hall does a neat "doodle dee do" during the quiet part... But there is no quiet part on the Square Dance History recording. And there is no
slow part; with the complete stops that come after each line during the arm turns...at the caller's discretion. "I'm not going too fast for anybody am I??" ...followed by double time for the dosadoes and promenades. Caller Ted Glabach in Southern VT was great with it.>>
I don’t think I’ve ever danced The Slow One, though I’ve heard a lot about it. Jon Lurie, who got me started as a caller at the Farm & Wilderness Camps, used to threaten to call it, whereupon one or two people who knew it shouted “No! No! Anything but that!” I think it was Jon who sang it to me offstage, with fast and slow parts alternating.
Curiously, although Jon learned many of his calls from David Park Williams, there is no fast part on the recording that Dave made of The Slow One. (Several of Dave’s dances are at the History Project, but apparently not The Slow One.)
The only place I’ve seen it in print is in a folio by Allemande Al Mueller (of upstate New York), published around 1940 I think. It’s called something like “To the Corner with Your Right,” and there’s no indication of a change in tempo. The tune is similar but not identical to Solomon Levi.
Tony Parkes
Billerica, Mass.
Bob Livingston wrote:
<<The Slow One, known as Solomon Levi, will most likely be called at the Heath and Cummington, MA Fairs before August is finished.>>
Many thanks, Bob, for mentioning the Cummington Fair! I recently searched for local fairs that featured square dancing, and the only one I found was Heath (Aug. 19-21), which has its dance on the Friday. We decided against taking time off our day jobs to drive 2+ hours on a Friday night. Somehow I overlooked Cummington (Aug. 25-28), where the dance is on the Saturday. We happen to be free that night, so we'll likely go.
Everyone: The dances at both fairs are by the Falltown String Band with Doug Wilkins calling. The Square Dance History Proect (www.squaredancehistory.org<http://www.squaredancehistory.org>) has several video clips of this band with Bob Livingston calling, recorded in Chesterfield, CT in 2013.
<<In CT/RI fiddler Tom Hall does a neat "doodle dee do" during the quiet part... But there is no quiet part on the Square Dance History recording. And there is no
slow part; with the complete stops that come after each line during the arm turns...at the caller's discretion. "I'm not going too fast for anybody am I??" ...followed by double time for the dosadoes and promenades. Caller Ted Glabach in Southern VT was great with it.>>
I don't think I've ever danced The Slow One, though I've heard a lot about it. Jon Lurie, who got me started as a caller at the Farm & Wilderness Camps, used to threaten to call it, whereupon one or two people who knew it shouted "No! No! Anything but that!" I think it was Jon who sang it to me offstage, with fast and slow parts alternating.
Curiously, although Jon learned many of his calls from David Park Williams, there is no fast part on the recording that Dave made of The Slow One. (Several of Dave's dances are at the History Project, but apparently not The Slow One.)
The only place I've seen it in print is in a folio by Allemande Al Mueller (of upstate New York), published around 1940 I think. It's called something like "To the Corner with Your Right," and there's no indication of a change in tempo. The tune is similar but not identical to Solomon Levi.
Tony Parkes
Billerica, Mass.
I'm tickled that so many of you are participating in this discussion. After reading posts from eight people at once (I get this list in digest form), I realize that we're getting close to that age-old (and probably unanswerable) question, "What is tradition/what is folk?"
Before we go on, let me assure you that I have no intention of trying to create a new form of square dancing, or even codifying an existing form. I would hate to see a rigid structure grow up around the points I'm making in my book. (I would hate even more to be given lip service while something grew up that was radically different from what I have in mind, as happened with Lloyd Shaw & modern SD and with Larry Jennings and "zesty contras".) My aim is to document the type of dancing and calling that I see emerging across the continent, and to offer some suggestions for making one's calling as effective as possible and some technical help in doing so.
My favorite name so far is "neo-traditional," which Jim Saxe included in a list of possibilities and was also suggested to me in a private communication. The names I've heard used by dancers and callers in the "real world" (i.e. offline) are "fast squares" and "Southern squares," both of which I dislike - "fast squares" because "fast" is a relative term and may scare some folks into staying away, "Southern squares" because it's inaccurate when used to describe grid-type (modern New England & transitional Western) squares done to Southern music, which is how I've been hearing it used. There's already something called "Southern squares"; let's not confuse things.
If I do start using a name, whether "neo-trad" or something else, I don't expect everyone in the square & contra dance world to adopt it - though they're welcome to. But I've often thought it would be handy to have such a name for my own use, so that I can define my terms when I write for publication.
Incidentally, I welcome input as I put my square book together. What would you like to see in a book on calling squares? (As envisioned, it will probably have a short section on dance philosophy, history, and ethics; a medium-length section on technique; and a fairly large collection of actual dances, with call charts showing the actual wording and timing I use. I don't plan to hold back any trade secrets; given my age and the lucky breaks I've had, I feel it's time to start paying it forward.)
Tony Parkes
Billerica, Mass.
Tech Squares has fun with 6 couple squares. How about Team Dancing.
Jim Mayo
In a message dated 8/11/2016 9:37:10 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com writes:
John Freeman wrote:
<< How about we just call it “square dancing” and not worry about a made
up generic name.>>
Sherri Nevins wrote:
<<… I think a fresh term could be very helpful.>>
Great! This is exactly the kind of exchange I was hoping to encourage.
My heart says we should just call it “square dancing,” whereas my head
says that if one is going to discuss something, it can help to define one’s
terms. The main problem with calling it “square dancing” is that a sizable
number, perhaps a majority, of modern “western” square dance people have
appropriated that name for themselves. Over and over again I hear them refer
to themselves as “square dancers” and their activity as “square dancing,”
usually with a little extra emphasis on “square,” whereas they refer to
any other kind of SD as “traditional dance” or “heritage dance” (never
with the word “square”) or as part of “contra.” I’d ignore this if we weren’
t trying to foster improved dialogue between the camps.
(Historical note: In 1969, Bob Osgood of “Sets in Order” and some of his
colleagues attempted to create a form of SD that would appeal to many more
people than the then-current version of modern “western,” which required
30 or more lessons to learn. After much discussion, they came up with a list
of calls that essentially re-created traditional SD – knowing full well
that that was what they were doing. There were 50 calls, with a suggested
class length of 10 lessons; the only non-traditional calls were Allemande
Thar, Square Thru, and Star Thru. The next step was to agree on a name.
Reportedly there was much wrangling; I’d love to know what names were proposed and
rejected. According to Osgood, the committee finally decided that the “new”
program should be referred to simply as “square dancing,” presumably
with the hope that more complex programs would then need qualifying
adjectives. It didn’t work out in quite the way they had hoped: they released it as “
the Basic Program of American Square Dancing,” and everyone since then has
referred to it as “Basic.” It didn’t find its audience, either: instead of
capturing a multitude of people who wouldn’t otherwise have touched SD, it
was used only as a stepping stone to “higher” levels. Few if any clubs
worldwide dance solely the Basic program.)
If no one suggests a name that’s acceptable to everyone, I’m OK with
that. But it would be handy to have one or two words to identify this emerging
style in discussion, to distinguish it from the various traditional styles
that contributed to it and from M “W” SD.
Tony Parkes
Billerica, Mass.
John Freeman wrote:
<< How about we just call it "square dancing" and not worry about a made up generic name.>>
Sherri Nevins wrote:
<<... I think a fresh term could be very helpful.>>
Great! This is exactly the kind of exchange I was hoping to encourage.
My heart says we should just call it "square dancing," whereas my head says that if one is going to discuss something, it can help to define one's terms. The main problem with calling it "square dancing" is that a sizable number, perhaps a majority, of modern "western" square dance people have appropriated that name for themselves. Over and over again I hear them refer to themselves as "square dancers" and their activity as "square dancing," usually with a little extra emphasis on "square," whereas they refer to any other kind of SD as "traditional dance" or "heritage dance" (never with the word "square") or as part of "contra." I'd ignore this if we weren't trying to foster improved dialogue between the camps.
(Historical note: In 1969, Bob Osgood of "Sets in Order" and some of his colleagues attempted to create a form of SD that would appeal to many more people than the then-current version of modern "western," which required 30 or more lessons to learn. After much discussion, they came up with a list of calls that essentially re-created traditional SD - knowing full well that that was what they were doing. There were 50 calls, with a suggested class length of 10 lessons; the only non-traditional calls were Allemande Thar, Square Thru, and Star Thru. The next step was to agree on a name. Reportedly there was much wrangling; I'd love to know what names were proposed and rejected. According to Osgood, the committee finally decided that the "new" program should be referred to simply as "square dancing," presumably with the hope that more complex programs would then need qualifying adjectives. It didn't work out in quite the way they had hoped: they released it as "the Basic Program of American Square Dancing," and everyone since then has referred to it as "Basic." It didn't find its audience, either: instead of capturing a multitude of people who wouldn't otherwise have touched SD, it was used only as a stepping stone to "higher" levels. Few if any clubs worldwide dance solely the Basic program.)
If no one suggests a name that's acceptable to everyone, I'm OK with that. But it would be handy to have one or two words to identify this emerging style in discussion, to distinguish it from the various traditional styles that contributed to it and from M "W" SD.
Tony Parkes
Billerica, Mass.
