trad-callers

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352 discussions

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

8 years, 1 month

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)

8 years, 1 month

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

8 years, 2 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

8 years, 2 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

8 years, 2 months

Looking for non-white callers

by Jane Palmieri

I'm curious if anyone has a lead on non-white traditional square dance callers? Traditional squares are my highest preference but western shares or some contra would be worth it on a referral. I'm looking to diversify an event and may be able to hire and fly a dance caller for an event through grants. Please let me know about any leads. Jane

8 years, 2 months

Callers who gab on too for far too long ....

by Chris J Brady

That is - callers who talk too much .... in explaining how a dance goes. I'm sitting on New Year's Day+1 - a Brit. so-called bank holiday - at the prestigious Southbank Royal Festival Hall. They have a free ceilidh going on in the Core Ballroom. Its moderately crowded. I thought of joining in with the dancing - BUT .... for every dance the 'caller' is spending over 10 minutes explaining each dance - including shouting into the mic. so that he can't actually be understood anyway. Most ceilidh 'callers' are self-taught in the UK. Some explain dances at great length then ignore the dancers concentrating on playing an instrument. But what really gets me is the lengthy instructions they impose upon the hapless dancers. Just now one dance took 20 minutes to explain - I kid you not - I had time to decide not to join in, queued for a coffee, sat down, started up my laptop, and logged into email - and the caller was STILL explaining how to do the dance. How these callers and bands get bookings is beyond me. Most appear to be on ego trips. And the same issues arise at Folk Festivals where the callers and bands are supposed to know what they are doing. CJB.

8 years, 3 months

Chance Dance 2017

by johndcoffman＠yahoo.com

We changed the date; Chance Dance 2017 is the first weekend in March 2017. Chance Dance 2017 http://chance-dance.angelfire.com/: March 3 - 5, 2017. *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

8 years, 3 months

Re: Callers who gab on too for far too long ...

by David Smukler

Bruce’s booklet is an excellent resource, and should be part of every caller’s library. David Smukler

8 years, 3 months

Re: Callers who gab on too for far too long ...

by Bruce Hamilton

I'll make a modest pitch for my little booklet "Notes on Teaching Country Dancing," available for $5 from CDSS. It has a section on how to be brief, along with sections on how to help dancers memorize the dance and how to help dancers dance well; and it points out tensions among those three goals. In the introduction I remind readers that there's no recipe: you have a collection of tools, but which one to wield, when and how, is a choice to be made on the spot, taking into account who's there, what the circumstance is, why they came, etc. -Bruce Hamilton

8 years, 3 months

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