I've been having such trouble sending and receiving emails that my hosting company will shortly be moving everything to
a new server. That means that both website and email will be down for a while. If you might want to contact me, see
http://colinhume.com NOW for an alternative email address! And if you've emailed me and not had a reply, please try
again using this address.
Colin Hume
A new organisation, the English Dance Callers Association, has been formed to run courses for Club Callers in England.
If you're a Club Caller who would like to improve your calling and thereby improve the standard of dancing at your club, this is
for you!
The organisation was formed by Judith De Witt, who is not a caller but is the Chairman of the Friends of Cecil Sharp House and the
Chairman of Eastbourne International Folk Dance Festival.
The tutors other than myself are:
Robert Moir, a well-known caller particularly of Playford-style dances.
Hazel Moir, also a caller and a dance composer - her best-known dance is White Wheat.
Victoria Yeomans, a well-known caller and musician.
Dave Yeomans, who with Victoria forms the band "Deo Volente" which can be seen performing at festivals and dances up and down the
country.
Bernie Culkin, an up-and-coming young caller who co-founded the Malvern Playford Ball and has now moved up to Cheshire.
Bernie, Hazel and Robert are members of the Pat Shaw Legacy Group which organised many events in the Pat Shaw centenary year.
The first running of the course will be in the Nottingham area, starting on Sunday 5th January 2019.
To find out more and download an application form, please visit our website at http://edca.info
Colin Hume
Email colin(a)colinhume.com Web site http://colinhume.com
Hello Folks,
I am a caller in Minnesota, and I also happen to be a Spanish teacher. I am embarrassed to say that I don't teach dance to my students. Does anyone have any great resources that they would recommend that would help me delve into the world of Latin American dance? I am aware that traditional dance varies quite a bit regionally, but I'm willing to start anywhere that's accessible and fun to do in a mixed group!
NEFFA 75th Contra Contest
To help NEFFA celebrate our Diamond Jubilee, we hereby open up the NEFFA 75th Anniversary Contra Choreography Contest. The winning dance, as judged by Bob Isaacs and Lisa Greenleaf, will be called by Mr. Isaacs at the Festival's celebration dance on Saturday, April 13. Besides fame and glory, the winner will also be awarded a Neffa T shirt.
We are looking for a contra dance with good story line and flow, and would prefer to have a mostly equal-action dance with good movement for everyone, although we will entertain submissions that favor the ones, or that alternate between the ones and twos.
Contra Choreography Parameters:
-The title must reflect Neffa somehow, and perhaps the 75th
-32 bars long
-Contra formation
-Intermediate skill level: commonly-used figures, moderate piece count, and nothing too complicated out of the minor set
-Good flow
-Limit three submissions per person
-Deadline is Feb 15, 2019
-Do not need to be at the Festival to win
Send your clearly worded and annotated-as-necessary submissions to Lisa Greenleaf at neffacontra(a)yahoo.com mailto:neffacontra@yahoo.com (or you can reply to this email; just don’t hit reply all).
Don’t delay—get crackin’!
Lisa Greenleaf
NEFFA 75th Contra Contest
To help NEFFA celebrate our Diamond Jubilee, we hereby open up the NEFFA 75th Anniversary Contra Choreography Contest. The winning dance, as judged by Bob Isaacs and Lisa Greenleaf, will be called by Mr. Isaacs at the Festival's celebration dance on Saturday, April 13. Besides fame and glory, the winner will also be awarded a Neffa T shirt.
We are looking for a contra dance with good story line and flow, and would prefer to have a mostly equal-action dance with good movement for everyone, although we will entertain submissions that favor the ones, or that alternate between the ones and twos.
Contra Choreography Parameters:
-The title must reflect Neffa somehow, and perhaps the 75th
-32 bars long
-Contra formation
-Intermediate skill level: commonly-used figures, moderate piece count, and nothing too complicated out of the minor set
-Good flow
-Limit three submissions per person
-Deadline is Feb 15, 2019
-Do not need to be at the Festival to win
Send your clearly worded and annotated-as-necessary submissions to Lisa Greenleaf at neffacontra(a)yahoo.com mailto:neffacontra@yahoo.com
Don’t delay—get crackin’!
There comes a time when age catches up and items of no interest to relatives need to be disposed of rather than skipped.
I have a collection of hundreds of mainly Brit folk dance manuals and books and magazines to dispose of. This includes stuff from the States and Australia. Also I have numerous music books such as folk songs and guitar instructionals.
There are also some cassette tapes which may be of use.
These are all packed into a (very) large suitcase.
They are available for free or a donation to charity. Your choice.
They are in London. I have a Freedom Pass and can deliver to any rail station in London.
Or you can collect in person.
My collection is no where near as important as Roy Palmer's or Chris Cawte's - both of which I hear have been rejected by EFDSS. So that is not an option.
Please respond off-list.
Chris B.
P.S. My Morris and clog stuff are accounted for.
Hello fellow trad dance list callers,
The info below is primarily for trad dance, song and music, organizers but I wanted to share it with you as many of you are organizers and/or you are also connected to so many organizers. (This message was sent to the Shared Weight and ECD callers lists back in September but I was having issues with bounce backs from this list and I think I just sorted it out now!)
ANYWAY, in late August, CDSS made a number of exciting announcements regarding new resources that will support local organizers of traditional dance music and song. If you are willing, please share this info with local organizers in your network. We'd like to let as many people know about these resources as possible and word-of-mouth is so powerful in the trad dance, music, and song world.
US organizers survey report out now! CDSS has just released a report outlining the results the US organizers survey conducted this past spring. Here's the link: https://www.cdss.org/ community/us-organizers-survey https://www.cdss.org/community/us-organizers-survey
New e-blast for traditional dance music and song organizers: The goal of this free quarterly e-blast is to support, inspire, and connect organizers.
Check out the first Shop Talk e-blast here: https://conta.cc/ 2PlKAEr https://conta.cc/2PlKAEr
You can sign up to receive the e-blast at the bottom of the first Shop Talk.
Online Organizer Resources Portal: This is a very exciting initiative that will hopefully add to the set of tools available to us all. The goal of the Portal is to hold as many of the best resources as can be found which will support local traditional dance, music, and song organizers in their planning and decision making. For instance, visit this link to see specific resources organized by topic: https://www.cdss.org/ resources/how-to/organizers- resources#resources-by-topic https://www.cdss.org/resources/how-to/organizers-resources#resources-by-top…
BTW - As one of the individuals working on the Portal, I know that the resource collection will only be as good as the resources it holds. ANNNND I alos know that local organizers have so many of the best practices and ideas already figured out. Thus, CDSS will be reaching out to local organizers over the next number of months to collect resources that folks want to share. If you're super excited about the initiative and want to start sharing your local resources now, you can fill out this easy form: https://www.cdss.org/ share-your-resource https://www.cdss.org/share-your-resource
If you'd like to discuss Shop Talk (the eblast) or the Portal, please email me at emily(a)cdss.org mailto:emily@cdss.org. If you have specific requests or want advice from CDSS, please contact Linda Henry at linda(a)cdss.org mailto:linda@cdss.org.
With thanks!
Emily
Consultant @ CDSS working on organizer supports
And.... volunteer contra dance organizer and contra/community dance caller in Ottawa Ontario
It's on! Same venues as last time; same prices as advertised on the flyer.
Book your Early Bird tickets at http://eiff.org.uk/tickets.html
Colin Hume
Email colin(a)colinhume.com Web site http://colinhume.com