27 Jun
2018
27 Jun
'18
8:59 p.m.
I agree with Jacob Bloom and would add a few further thoughts.
Because of their diversity, it seems that "contra dances" are best
understood/defined using prototype theory (see here
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prototype_theory>)--that is, something is a
contra dance if it broadly resembles the prototypical contra (dancers are
in longways lines, a certain style of music is used, certain moves are
commonly used). To the extent something resembles the prototype, it's a
contra dance.
Contra dance is thus a fuzzy category that doesn't allow us to give a set
of necessary and sufficient conditions for something being a contra.
Instead, contra dances share a family resemblance (see Wittgenstein's
discussion of the family resemblance of games
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_resemblance>): *Usually* they will
involve long, facing lines; *usually*, they will use music with certain
meters, instruments, and feels; *usually* they will use certain moves and
terms (e.g., Swing, "Dosado") but not others (e.g., Set, "Back to
Back").
Individual contras, however, may not share every element of the prototype.
They would still count as contras, however, if they would be accepted (a)
as contras (b) by the contra dance community (c) at a contra dance event.
They might *also* be accepted as another type of dance by another community
at another type of event (e.g., English country).
I encounter this ambiguity all the time with square dances. In the Modern
Western Square Dance community, a square dance in the proper sense *must*
have eight dancers in a square formation (two-couple squares, rectangles,
and hexagons don't count as squares in the proper sense). However, when I
call private party-/community-/barn dance-type events, the patrons
regularly refer to everything I do as a "square dance," even if it's contra
or English country.
Ultimately, since language is a creation of a linguistic community,
whatever a given community considers a contra dance will be a contra dance
for that community, regardless of what other communities do with the term.
Hope this helps!
Jimmy Akin
San Diego
(Yes, my academic training was in analytic philosophy)
On Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 1:28 PM Jacob or Nancy Bloom jandnbloom(a)gmail.com
[trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote:
First of all, it is important to distinguish between contra dances and
Contra Dancing. In other words, between the dance formation and the
marketing term which has a set of expectations associated with it.
By itself, I would say that the term "contra" refers to a dance
formation. I would not associate any particular type of music with the
formation - there have been waltz contras and polka contras, in small
numbers, for a couple of centuries. If pressed, I would admit that the
Playford dances in "Longways for as many as will" formation are technically
contra dances, and that the 1950s dance "The Stroll" is a degenerate contra
dance, but I would explain that these days the term is usually used to
refer to dances with minor sets within the big set. Since we are talking
about a formation, a Sicilian Circle dance is not a contra dance, but if
you straighten out the circle into a line of couples and do the same
figures, then it is a contra dance. In spite of the fact that
Becket-formation dances do not have the partners across from each other, I
think of them as contra dances, although now that I think about it, they
are not really in the same formation. And yes, "The Young Widow" is
definitely a contra dance.
"Contra Dancing", on the other hand, is a marketing term used by dance
producers to try to convey to their potential attendees what kind of event
they are producing. The expectations associated with the term include
having live music, dancing to the phrase of the music, the majority of the
dances being in contradance formation, buzz-step swings, music which is
mainly reels and jigs (unless the term "Contra" is modified with some other
term such as "Techno"), and a policy of welcoming newcomers without
requiring any previous lessons. As far as I know, the term "Contra Dance"
to refer to a dance event is relatively new, starting with Dudley Laufman's
dances (to distinguish them from the "square dances" which were occurring
in the same area in the same period), and later to distinguish the dances
organized in the Boston area by Larry Jennings, which only had dances in
longways formations (including triplets) from the dances occurring in the
same area which also had dances in square formation.
Jacob Bloom
On Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 4:47 PM, Colin Hume colin(a)colinhume.com
[trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote:
I'm in Germany, and I'm speaking for the next few days at a Conference
run by the European Callers and Teachers Association.
Several of my sessions are about Contras, and speaking to the Contra
Coordinator as we drove to the hotel I realised we had very
different ideas about what a contra is. I say it is an American (or
American-style) dance, longways duple or triple. He classes
three-couple dances (such as Ted's Triplets), four-couple dances and
circles as contras. He even classes my dance "Sting in the
Tail" as a contra. This is for two three-couple sets side-by-side and
involves siding into line, set and turn single. I would
regard this quite definitely as "Playford"-style, and I think Americans
would categorise it as English. But what is a contra? I
know the hot-shots would say that it's longways duple improper or Becket
with a partner swing and preferably a neighbor swing, but
is that your definition? What about an early American dance such as "The
Young Widow" - is that a contra? Can a dance in waltz
time be a contra? I think of a contra as mainly danced to reels or jigs,
though I know there are a few to slip-jigs. Within
reels I would include marches and American hornpipes, which are smooth,
but not English hornpipes which I would dance to a
step-hop. And not Strathspeys. I would say contras are done to a walking
step, apart from the swing which is often a buzz step.
But do you agree with me?
Answers fairly quickly please!
Colin Hume
Email colin(a)colinhume.com Web site http://colinhume.com
--
jandnbloom(a)gmail.com
http://jacobbloom.net/
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