trad-callers February 2017

trad-callers@lists.sharedweight.net

24 participants
8 discussions

Re: Open Calling at Chance Dance 2017

by Diane Silver

re: Sun Feb 5, 2017 3:45 pm (PST) . Posted by: "Dale Wilson" bird_weaver <mailto:dale.wilson@gmail.com?subject=Re%3A%20Open%20Calling%20at%20Chance%20Dance%202017> <<You lose the well crafted programming that you can get when one caller does the whole evening or the whole event, but you get a lot of fun dances and occasional awkwardness ...>> Our (Asheville's) annual dance weekend, SplashDance, has always had open calling all weekend long, but dancers complained on the evaluations about the qualities described above, which often result from an open calling format. So for several years I've been facilitating the open-calling: callers sign-up with me ahead of time via email to get on the list to call. There's a deadline a few days before the weekend starts. On that day, I take the whole list and figure out how many dance slots each caller can have, based on how many want to call, and I do a line-up. (When they sign up, they let me know if they aren't available any particular times during the weekend -- e.g., not arriving til Sat.) Then, we have a programming meeting prior to each dance session (one for Friday night, one for Sat. night, one for Sunday afternoon). These take place at Fri & Sat dinners, and Sun. brunch -- required attendance for those on the line-up for that session, although anyone else can sit in if they want. We all eat together and get out our cards and put together the program. This creates a much better flow for the dance session. It's better for the dancers, and it also takes the pressure off all the callers from having to really attend to what was called before their turn. The programming meetings have taken the place of having a caller's workshop at the weekend -- basically, it's a hands-on workshop on the art of programming. There's a lot of good discussion about how dances do or don't fit well together, and it's a chance to discuss ideas about mood and flow and other programming considerations beyond the basics of not repeating signature moves too many times, and having a good balance of smooth vs. bouncy. A few folks have actually opted to sit in on the programming meeting just to listen, even though they don't want to call. It's an evolving process, and I keep tweaking it every year, but I think it's generally worked well the last few times. It IS a lot more work for me, but it's my contribution to the weekend, to try to help make the calling as good as possible while still providing an open format to give lots of participants a chance to call. Maybe this model will be useful to others with an open-calling format for a whole dance weekend. Diane Silver Asheville, NC

6 years, 2 months

chassee across

by dje h

I've been looking at some nineteenth-century quadrilles and am curious about one of the more common moves I see: "all chassee across." In your opinion or experience, how exactly would this work? If four couples are moving at once, "across" is nearly impossible. Do you think they're doing a sashay around, like a promenade? Or alternating heads & sides? Something else? Regards,Deborah HylandSt. Louis

6 years, 2 months

Re: chassee across

by Sylvia Miskoe

In the 1950's La Russe was very popular. Now it is never danced. ? time to revive it? Sylvia Miskoe Concord NH

6 years, 2 months

Selling traditional dances

by David Kirchner

I'm always on the lookout for ways to "sell" the traditional dances to dancers -- IMHO, if I present a traditional dance but it's not fun, then I'm not really doing much to keep the traditions alive. I came up with something that worked the other night, so I'm passing it along. One of our long-time dancers sent me a link to this video of Dudley calling a dance in the mid-1960s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZubTju7g_s I figure I must have come across this before (likely via this group), but I did not remember it, and certainly watched it a lot more closely this time around. I noted that even though audio track of the music and calling don't change, after the first half of the video a few different dances are shown, including Petronella and Money Musk. So last week, I brought a laptop to the dance (the fact that we have wifi in our hall simplified this a lot). During the announcements before the break, I mentioned the video, said I would show it during the break, and announced that the first dance after the break would be one of the dances shown in the video. I set the laptop next to the snack table and started the clip going just as the waltz ended. It runs about 7 minutes, so running the video twice through was about perfect for the break. Lots of people stopped to watch at least some of the the video -- there were always at least 20 people clustered around the laptop, watching intently. Then we came back into the dance hall and did Petronella (though unlike the video, we did the 'modern' version with all four participating in the balances). End result: not one complaint about a dance with no swings and multiple positive comments. Added bonus: our piano player was a Dudley dancer in the early 70s and was thrilled by the video, which he had never seen. David St. Paul, MN

6 years, 3 months

Re: chassee across

by Tony Parkes

Deborah Hyland wrote: << I've been looking at some nineteenth-century quadrilles and am curious about one of the more common moves I see: "all chassee across." In your opinion or experience, how exactly would this work? If four couples are moving at once, "across" is nearly impossible. Do you think they're doing a sashay around, like a promenade? Or alternating heads & sides? Something else? >> Please add me to the list of folks who would like to see the context of this term. I'm not an expert on 19th century quadrilles, but I've looked at a few, and I don't recall ever seeing "all chassee across." I've seen dance recipes indicating that the heads (and later the sides) are to slide across the set past each other, but never all four couples at once. (This is not to say you're mistaken, just that some context might make things clearer.) Tony Parkes Billerica, Mass. www.hands4.com<http://www.hands4.com> New book! Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century (to be published Spring 2017)

6 years, 3 months

Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra PREMIERE March 19

by Dudley & Jacqueline Laufman

* * 3:30 pm * * Sunday - March 19 - The CCDO documentary PREMIER! 3:30 pm Sunday March 19 PREMIERE of the documentary: Welcome Here Again: A Recording Session with the Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra. Red River Theatres, 11 S. Main St., Concord, New Hampshire http://www.redrivertheatres.org/ Produced by John Gfroerer, Accompany Video Our website www.laufman.org has details, map, directions and two clips from the documentary. Here is another clip with interesting history of the Orchestra at the Newport Folk Festival and how it sounded like a Handel Concerto (said Pete Seeger & Theo Bikel) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-WNGOwQcR4&feature=youtu.be To entice you more, here is the slide show of that day with the title cut Welcome Here Again ... https://www.dropbox.com/s/mt62dsyi3zw0gtc/Welcome%20Here%20Again.mp4?dl=0 (Steve Booth, photographer) Please PASS this email on to others. Jacqueline & Dudley CDs are available as digital downloads at www.CDBaby.com Documentary will be available from Accompany Video www.accompanyvideo.com Dudley & Jacqueline Laufman PO Box 61, 322 Shaker Rd Canterbury, NH 03224 www.laufman.org 603-783-4719 jdlaufman(a)comcast.net Education book & CD at www.humankinetics.com Performance Calendar at www.laufman.org

6 years, 3 months

Sound system and Recordings to call to

by Donna Hunt

Hi All: I'm doing a session at NEFFA on calling for Barn and Community Dances. The only missing piece of my information is where to get recordings. I know there are lots of folks on this list who use recordings. Would you please point me in the right direction? Also, do you have a suggestion for a small and portable sound system? I know we discussed this not that long ago. Thanks Donna Hunt

6 years, 3 months

Open Calling at Chance Dance 2017

by johndcoffman＠yahoo.com

Chance Dance 2017 http://chance-dance.angelfire.com/: March 3 - 5, 2017. OPEN CALLING - ALL WEEKEND! *The Mean Lids* *Turnip the Beet,* and *The Bruce Zimmerman Band* Money Back Guarantee: If you need to cancel, we will refund your money. Register early. Advance registrations will not be accepted until we receive a written registration form and payment. Find our Chance Dance 2017 http://chance-dance.angelfire.com/ http://chance-dance.angelfire.com/ Chance Dance 2017 http://chance-dance.angelfire.com/ Chance Dance CHANCE DANCE 2017 Click for Printable Registration Form: CHANCE DANCE CONTRA DANCE: Friday, 3/3/17 through Sunday, 3/5/17 View on chance-dance.angelfi... http://chance-dance.angelfire.com/ Preview by Yahoo Mean Lids Video: Chance Dance Contra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jJ17pWESXk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jJ17pWESXk Chance Dance Contra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jJ17pWESXk The Mean Lids playing at Chance Dance 2014 View on www.youtube.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jJ17pWESXk Preview by Yahoo Turnip the Beet Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zce5uDdAdj0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zce5uDdAdj0

6 years, 3 months

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trad-callers February 2017