I absolutely agree with Paul - this is the only one...works, works, WORKS! I got it from Rachel Gall fiddle/caller at Cornwall who got it from Paul, who once wrote who Bob was. (I guess not active now) Reasons it works Couple Ones dosy goin; down and gpsy as couple two comin' up - reinforces the difference.Forward and Back or Bal the Ring - Duck Thru are given two full phrases - giving the dancers a face to face with new neighbors and a moment to recover if needed and turn a quarter to face across. Thirdly.. What Susan Elberger says on turning Circle and Stars. Circles L/R and Stars R/L are just like a sandwich filling for any dance or formation, it fills four phrases!And they can be modified with a Forward and Back or two if recovery is called for. Bob LivingstonMiddletown, CT From: "Paul Rosenberg paul(a)homespun.biz [trad-dance-callers]" <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> To: "trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com" <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> Sent: Saturday, March 5, 2016 2:41 PM Subject: Re: [trad-dance-callers] Contras for One Nighters   Hi folks I copied and pasted Bob’s Jig from a pdf version of my Peel the Banana book.  I think it’s still legible.  This is the most foolproof duple minor dance I know.  I’ve probably led this dance a few hundred times at a party when people insist on a duple dance, and it always works! Although a simplified Haste to the Wedding (omitting the two hand turn) that I’ve seen also can be almost as easy. When I first started calling dances in the mid-80’s, everybody’s easiest “go to” dance for non dancers was Jefferson’s, but, believe me, in a group of non-dancers, this dance can still be a challenge.  People tend to get fouled up in the down the outside and back, and also getting into the lines of four, and backing up while arching, etc.    Notes:This dance was written in 1980 by Bob Ahlers from Albany, New York; I learned the dance fromBob. This is one of the easiest contradances that I know. Please see the glossary for moreinformation about contradance formation.Instructions:Section Measures Directions A1 1-4 Circle left. [8]5-8 Circle right. [8] A2 1-4 Right-hand star. [8]5-8 Left-hand star. [8] B1 1-4 Couple “One” do-si-do with your partner. [8]5-8 Couple “Two” gypsy with your partner. [8] B2 1-4 Face your neighbor* (“Ones” face down the set and “Twos” face up the set).Take your partner’s closest hand and go forward and back. [8]5-8 (Keep hand joined with your partner.) “Twos” make a one-handed arch, “Ones”duck through. Everyone walks forward to face the next couple. [8] *Your neighbor is the person in your group of two couples who is next to you. Paul RosenbergAlbany, NY 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, RichStafford, CT On Mar 5, 2016, at 1:54 PM, Jonathan Sivier jsivier(a)illinois.edu [trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote: On 3/5/2016 12:44 PM, Rich Sbardella richsbardella(a)gmail.com  [trad-dance-callers] wrote: I like to use Jefferson's Reel. There is usually an "ah ha" moment  when the 2's duck through the arches and meet their new neighbors and  everyone suddenly realizes how progression is supposed to work. I've  even done this with a rolling start with non-dancers with a lot of  success. Do it as a proper dance to avoid any need to deal with  crossing over at the ends or even worrying about who is dancing the  gent's or lady's part. Jefferson's Reel Dudley Briggs; adapted from Jefferson and Liberty duple proper or improper; beginner 1 - Circle left 2 - Circle right 3 - Star right 4 - Star left 5 - 1's down the outside 6 - Return to place 7 - Down the hall 4 in line, 1's in the center 8 - All back up, 1's arch joined hands, 2's duck through the arch to meet new neighbors Jonathan ----- Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html ----- Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? 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I call Jefferson and Lincoln (a variation by Seth Tepler) and it too works with new dancers. A1 Cl, CR A2 Star R, Star, L B1 Across from Partner Fwd & Bk, Just 1's Swing B2 1s in Center, DTH 4 in line, Make A Ring Back it Up, 1's Arch, 2's Duck The connectivity of the ring is helpful in this dance. I also like Family Contra by Sherry Nevins. A1 Bal Ring 2X, CL A2 Bal Ring 2X, CR B1 Face Neighbor DSD, Face Partner DSD B2 As COUPLES, DSD 1 1/2 Rich On Sat, Mar 5, 2016 at 3:24 PM, Erik Hoffman Erik(a)ErikHoffman.com [trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Dear Friends, In the FWIW department, the dance I usually use is Haste to the Wedding -- mainly because I just like it a lot -- clapping and all. If I was going to justify my choice retroactively, I might say that it encourages dancers to listen -- really listen -- to the music. And it's a tune that most of the bands I work with can play on the spur of the moment. All the suggestions in the thread are great and I'm going to include them in my great Big Book of Dances for alternate possibilities. Thank you all. ridge On Sat, Mar 5, 2016 at 4:41 PM, JD Erskine island.dance(a)shaw.ca [trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote: -- Ridge Kennedy [Exit 145] When you stumble, make it part of the dance. - Anonymous And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh. - Friedrich Nietzsche

----- Original Message ----- From: Rich Sbardella richsbardella(a)gmail.com [trad-dance-callers] The more ONS dances I call, the easier the program becomes. 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?” Dudley Dudley & Jacqueline Laufman Very true. Though I do find a difference between a) the usual weddings / parties b) fundraising dances c) church socials / harvest suppers At parties they haven't come to dance, and at weddings they've already had a long day and have wined & dined. Dead simple unless they show they already know a bit. Very varied from keen to like I'm swimming through treacle. Church socials are usually polite enough that a bunch of them will get up, and when they do get up will look after each other. You don't have to worry about the tinies getting trodden on. At fundraisers if they have any sense they will have sold tickets to the local dancers, and anyone who comes knows what they are coming to. So although I start with the same few dances the rest of the programme varies. No Contras, but I like to put in something that will confuse people - and give them the satisfaction of having 'got it'. A dip and dive or a strip the willow perhaps. Dip & dive takes a bit to teach then there's the light-bulb moment. And my version Waves of the Sea carries on till I say 'Swing' - I've seen too many people end up in the wrong place in Waves of Tory to attempt that. The Strip the Willow in Barley Reel can be very forgiving. It is the 1s big moment - they can do what they like as long as they get to the bottom but a STW is one fun option. Similarly the dance that was called Wild Goose Chase in the book I learnt it from (other callers call it Grape Vine Twist) - the figure is the working couple's to do as they will with (I demonstrate the 'official version'), a grand chain can be taught with advice to just keep walking, avoid collisions and get back home, even if you think you are going the wrong way. I don't usually do more than 1 or 2 of these, sometimes none. But it sometimes brings people onto the floor who have resisted the 'too easy' dances. Then if it is a mixed age group some slower couple dances like Barn Dance, Gay Gordons, St Bernard. Older couples will get up for these, knowing they can drop out again when they want. Mo Waddington http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html

Hi Dudley, Years ago, I told you that I had square danced in summer camp at Wellfleet on Cape Cod to a caller who accompanied himself on fiddle. Sometime later you told me who it must have been, but I didn't write the name down. Do you remember there being a fiddling caller on or near the Cape? The last time that I was asked for a duple minor contra for a ONS was for the wedding of two people who had met contra dancing. They had just danced a few times, and none of their guests had danced, but they really wanted a duple minor contra dance, and it was their wedding. I called my usual Sicilian Circle figures to the longways set, with a pass through up and down for the progression. The bride and groom kept the people they were dancing with progressing past them, the people who weren't near the wedding couple often didn't progress but didn't care, everyone was happy at the end, and I went back to doing whole-set dances. Jacob On Tue, Mar 8, 2016 at 10:17 AM, <jdlaufman(a)comcast.net> wrote: -- jandnbloom(a)gmail.com http://jacobbloom.net/

All of this discussion on these two lists reminds me of my two long time goals: 1. For a few years, I have thought about writing an article for CDSS News about the value of community dancing (for lack of a better term, I refer to community dancing as an evening of longways, circles, squares, and other dances that can be done by anyone with no experience dancing at all, the very first time they try it. No lessons, workshop, etc). However, this is such a daunting task, and I keep running into day-to-day tasks that prevent me from sitting down more than once every 3 months or so…..But I truly believe that CDSS would be a great organization to promote community dancing, as part of their mission! There are a few of you who said you are willing to help to write this article. How can we get this project underway? Maybe an in-person meeting among a few of us? 2. My very long term goal is to get a collection of a few hundred great dances for community dance series as well as one nighters. If I can get someone to help me collect them and put them into a book-like format, I would be willing to fund the start-up of this collection. Hopefully, CDSS will be interested in funding the publication of this book too! OK, back to my day-to-day projects…….. Paul Rosenberg Albany, NY www.homespun.biz 518-482-9255

I do a few one night stand sorts of dance. Every year for a while we've done a day-long dance in a local high school for a series of gym classes. (This year we've been asked back to do it again next month!) It can be interesting to get people to dance at 7:30 in the morning. (And even more interesting to get the full band there playing good music at that hour!!) But we all get there somehow and everyone has a great time.Let guys dance with guys; women with mowne At the gym class dance last fall, we had kids signing out of study hall to come back and dance with the next class! Our biggest problems were teachers who dropped in to try it out, usually without our basic instructions and walkthrough. Our rules for dance choices are the following: 1. No proper, improper, or similar dances. Don't chose a dance where there is any more complicated role than simply "dancer", or "partner". Let guys dance with guys; women with women. Don't worry who is on the left or right. 2. With no specific roles, then a lot of even simpler calls are out, including stars, ladies alamain, etc. Keep the calls simple: lines; walk down the outside and back; partner do-si-do, etc. 3. It's only fun for the dancers if they are successful, so success has to be your most important goal. 4. With the dances that we do, we only try to teach the concepts of progression, and dancing to the music. There's not enough time for anything more, and there will be another 60 or 80 kids in another hour and a half to start all over with. Dudley has a lot of good dances for this, as he has already mentioned. For our gym class dances, we use something like Dudley's modified Jefferson & liberty, a modified Virginia Reel, and a big circle dance, too. There are a few others that we may try, depending on the skill level of the particular class. Rich Hart. On Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 12:42 PM, Paul Rosenberg paul(a)homespun.biz [trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Paul wrote: "a collection of a few hundred great dances for community dance series as well as one nighters" I just reviewed my own list. There are about ten dances I typically use for a onezie or community dance, and if there are demographic changes (ages, dancing capabilities) I might add a couple more. A hundred dances would be overkill, and leads to the sort of "dead air" I've witnessed at onezies lead by others. If you have too many choices, you'll never have the perfect dance. Here's a thought -- the link below shows "muddle and match" books for kids. Infinite combinations, just turn the pages and pull together some random combo for figures. (Some folks do this with fakebooks so they'll have a bazillion sets of medleys.) https://youtu.be/R0f6KA-yG7E https://youtu.be/R0f6KA-yG7E --Karen D. in Grand Rapids who replied to this idea in 2012 if not earlier

Hi Karen For you, and many others, a repertoire of 30 - 40 suits your style. That’s the way your brain operates. For me, and many others, a repertoire of 300 suits our style. That’s the way my brain operates. Obviously, you are not afflicted (or blessed) with my “disorder" of ADD! I will admit, I generally stick to a repertoire of the same basic 6 to 10 dances at a community dance, and private party gig; and the same 5 to 8 dances at weddings, and the same 8 to 10 dances at family dance gigs. I totally enjoy seeing different (or the same) people doing Virginia Reel, Circassian Circle, Buffalo Gals, Spiral, or Zodiac for the thousands of times I lead them, but i also get in the mood to try something different. I love new (to me) dances, and whenever I learn a new one, I can’t wait to try it out on dancers! Sort of like the thousands of great fiddle tunes. My brain likes to go beyond the same 40 - 50 tunes that our Tuesday night jam session goes through. Maybe it’s my ADD, but I love to play a few hundred tunes. I say, let people have a big collection, and let them choose whether to stick to some favorites, or try something else. When I was into contra calling, I loved Zesty Contras with all those dances. I was like a “kid in a candy store” with that book! One direction I was thinking of going in this book was to list dances that are tried and true, and maybe use these 30 to 40 dances as a good core to have ready for any community or one nighter gigs. Paul Rosenberg Albany, NY www.homespun.biz 518-482-9255

Got into "club" dancing in CT back in the early '70s because that's all there was.The clubs never stopped "progressing.."  Or declining! Summer rides north took us to Dudley Laufman and Duke Miller.  And then to the "eastern" traditional public dances of W. Mass & S. VT  (Ted Glabach).Heath, MA with Doug Wilkins (where I cut my teeth) danced twice a month - 8:00PM till midnight. Repertoire?  You could stand outside the door and set your watch by what dance was being played.8 - 10 sets, 6 sets was small.  Not a community of dancers so much as a community of folks for whom the square dance was a part of popular culture.  Some never missed without cause; some were there once a month, some quarterly or once, twice a year.   The dance drew from a large single culture,which included selectmen to stable hands..  I call for what's left of this generation in W. MA at a monthly dance during the warmer months.It draws three or sets, half of which will be new or occasional faces.. But the modern model for ongoing community dance - and it won't become large until the general public learns all over, not to be afraid of it - is Cornwall. Bob LivingstonMiddletown, CT From: "jdlaufman(a)comcast.net [trad-dance-callers]" <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> To: ppalum(a)googlegroups.com; trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, March 14, 2016 3:09 PM Subject: [trad-dance-callers] Re: [ppalum] Community and One Nighter dances: Book and CDSS article   When I think of “Community Dance”  I think in terms of dancing on one community...one village...one town, not the “Greater community of dance” that follows around.  Community Dance Gypsies?  I don’t think such a creature exists.  Canterbury, NH, where we live (small town, only here four days a week) is an upwardly mobile community with too many blacktop driveways, population under 2000...a good mix of professional folks, lawyers, etc, farmers, loggers craftspeople and characters like me. What dancing occurs here is because of us.  We have a morris side.  Everyone on the Canterbury Morris Side is from Canterbury.  The morris musicians are all from Canterbury. We have a band...The Riders of Canterbury, 17 of us, who only appear on New Years Day for The Ride, where we descend, announced, on various homes during the day, creating havoc and revelry. Then we dance on Maple Sunday in a local sugar house, then at Shaker Village for the Heifer Parade, 4th of July Parade (morris), Canterbury Fair (morris) (at these morris events we always get the crowd up to dance the Winster Galop).  Sometimes have a dance or two in our home.  We do pretty much the same dances, yet there is always someone who remarks that the dance were different from what we did last year.??? We have thought of trying to put on a Community Dance series here in town, say 2 or 3 times a year.  We have not been able to give it a go...wonder if it would fly, given all that we do have.  There used to be a monthly dance in Canterbury.  The town had burned to the ground in April of 1943, and to raise money to rebuild the church, Grange Hall, store and a few dwellings, they ran dances.  In a Baptist oriented community, that was a job, but they did it.  Band was called the Bucket Brigade...banjo, piano, drums and clarinet.  No caller.  Dances were Portland Fancy, Virginia Reel, Paul Jones, and Grand March.  Lots of polkas and foxtrots. Same dances month after month.  Some folks came from bordering towns, but mostly townies. Ran them for fifteen years.  Built a new fire station and church, store and parish house. Another local dance we do is in neighboring Sanbornton in a heated barn. (You’ve been there, Paul and Pat).  We hold forth there about three times a year.  It is a semi-public gig, folks coming from the bordering towns...Franklin, Tilton, New Hampton, some even down from Plymouth.  A slightly bigger community, mostly peace activists and back to the landers.  I do the same dances depending on the season and nobody asks for new or different or exciting dances. I have not found that folks who dance at these events get bored.  The musicians don’t get bored...if anything, they have solved that issue by doing medleys.  I am afraid it is the callers who get bored. There are no community dance type events happening in any of the towns surrounding Canterbury or even beyond (excepting Sanbornton), and so far as I know, there are not even any dancers living in these towns except Concord.  Concord, the state capital, has a monthly contra dance in East Concord, usually well attended, and drawing from the greater contra dance community...folks travel a distance to support this dance. I have a hard time imagining that these same people, or folks like them, traveling a distance to support a “community” dance  (They might if it were the only show in town, but it isn’t.) What we need is/are a community of Community Dancers, and hopefully that community would be from one town or group of small towns...like up in Belfast. That dance in Cornwall, Ct. is a good example of a community dance.  I guess some of the time it is billed as a contra dance, but when I have been there it is pretty much a community barn dance.  Down there a few weeks ago, and didn’t do any contras as such...only whole sets, circle dances, one set of squares (Bob Livingston did one) Pat Campbell did a longways and Rachael did a circle square)  Great little dance, probably 30 dancers, mostly local I would say. Maybe what we have going are micro-communities like peace activists, gardners, church groups, contra dancers, folk dancers (mostly urban, not rural) alternate life styles, hiking, slightly larger, but not much, than just from one town. So,  our job is to become itinerant Community Dancing Masters, and part of our job besides calling the dances, will be to find and set up the community itself. cheers,  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: Paul Rosenberg Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2016 12:42 PMTo: Pourparler PPalum Cc: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com Subject: [ppalum] Community and One Nighter dances: Book and CDSS article All of this discussion on these two lists reminds me of my two long time goals:  1.  For a few years, I have thought about writing an article for CDSS News about the value of community dancing (for lack of a better term, I refer to community dancing as an evening of longways, circles, squares, and other dances that can be done by anyone with no experience dancing at all, the very first time they try it.  No lessons, workshop, etc).  However, this is such a daunting task, and I keep running into day-to-day tasks that prevent me from sitting down more than once every 3 months or so…..But I truly believe that CDSS would be a great organization to promote community dancing, as part of their mission!   There are a few of you who said you are willing to help to write this article.  How can we get this project underway?  Maybe an in-person meeting among a few of us? 2. My very long term goal is to get a collection of a few hundred great dances for community dance series as well as one nighters.   If I can get someone to help me collect them and put them into a book-like format, I would be willing to fund the start-up of this collection.   Hopefully, CDSS will be interested in funding the publication of this book too! OK, back to my day-to-day projects……..  Paul RosenbergAlbany, NYwww.homespun.biz518-482-9255  On Mar 7, 2016, at 5:14 PM, jdlaufman(a)comcast.net 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 Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2016 1:44 PM To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com ; Caller's discussion list 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  -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PPalum" group. 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