7 Mar
2016
7 Mar
'16
10:57 p.m.
Dudley,
I posed the question because sometimes I am asked to include contras in a
ONS. I had one this past Saturday night. When contracting to such a
dance, I often dissuade the organizer of including contras. I was not able
to do that for this this Saturday's dance. (As it turned out, I did not
call any contras, or squares, but stuck to wholesets and circle dances,
along with two waltzes.)
My own experience has shown reasonable success with Haste to the Wedding
(proper) and Family Contra.
The more ONS dances I call, the easier the program becomes.
The only difficulty Saturday was with an easy variation of Snowball, and I
attribute that difficulty to the effect of a "Cash Bar". I should have
picked a mentally easier dance.
Rich
On Mon, Mar 7, 2016 at 5:14 PM, jdlaufman(a)comcast.net [trad-dance-callers] <
trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote:
The question of “contras” being called at ONSs has been raised before, and
fairly recently, and several of us chimed in quickly with “WHY?” If the gig
is a one nighter, and 95% of the folks there have not been exposed to
contras before, then no matter what you choose for a dance, it will have to
be taught and walked through, which, even if done well, can throw a damper
on that kind of a party. So, why? There are so many other good dances,
whole set, sets, circles.
We played for a rowdy barn dance near here once for another caller. After
a few fairly successful whole sets and circles he said “Oh, we haven’t done
a duple contra yet.” and proceeded to spend the next half hour trying,
unsuccessfully, to do
A-Roving. Train wreck and end of evening.
What happens is that the musicians are having a great time playing the
chunes and the dancers appreciate that, and the dancers are having a great
foot stomping time, but the poor caller is sometimes not getting much
attention and so cooks up a figger too complex so that the dancers have to
work too hard to get it which they might not, so they don’t feel
successful.....
But if you must do a “contra” at an ONS Jefferson & Liberty is the one.
Even ONSers like to swing, so I sometimes leave out the star, just call it
A1 circle left & right,/ A2 down the outside and back/ B1 Down the center
4 in line, inside arch, outside under/ B2 All swing partners.. Or, do it
with the stars, and do the swing at the end, adding an extra 8 bars of
music, making it a 40 bar dance. You can look around for a 40 bar chune,
or just roar into it and have it come out right occasionally.
Dudley
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
*From:* mailto:trad-dance-callers@yahoogroups.com
<trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com>
*Sent:* Saturday, March 05, 2016 1:44 PM
*To:* trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com ; Caller's discussion list
<callers(a)sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* [trad-dance-callers] Contras for One Nighters
I rarely call a contra at a One Night Party Dance, but occasionally I am
asked to. I have a few in my cards, but can anyone make some sure fire
recommendations.
Assume 95%-100% non dancers.
Thanks, Rich
Stafford, CT