The "Gent's face out" call still confuses me. If it means "face away from the center line of the longways set" which is what "out" means when, for example, you're doing a long wavy line, then I can see why dancers are confused about whom they are supposed to to star with. The people you are going to star with are either up the hall or down the hall from you and that's the orientation I think the dancers need to hear.
Maybe the "turn away from your partner" that Richard mentioned conveys that information, but "a widespread moment of confusion" doesn't sound like fun to me -- especially with newcomers in the mix. To me it just indicates that either the dance is flawed or the caller hasn't taught it well. Ah well. I have my plans for how I'll call it. We'll see if the dancers are having fun -- the ultimate test. Interesting discussion -- I'm enjoying reading different perspectives on this dance. Dale On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 8:18 PM, Bree Kalb <[email protected]> wrote: > This is how I've always taught/called this dance--partners allmd only one > time, spot your shadow and join them in a star left--and it works very well > for the reasons Richard mentioned. > > Bree Kalb > Carrboro, NC > > -----Original Message----- From: Richard Green > Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 9:07 PM > To: 'Caller's discussion list' > Subject: Re: [Callers] Happy as a Warm Pig in Cold Mud > > I just danced (but have never called) this dance last weekend at our local > dance. At the end of the A2 the call was for the gents to face out instead > of in. I am not sure if this was intentional or not, but it not only worked > fine, I liked it better than the original, which I assume is the version in > Katy's original post. I think the dance works fine either way, as long as > all the dancers are doing the same thing, but the calls need to be tweaked a > little. > > I preferred the shorter allemande ending with the Gents facing out because, > at the end of the partner allemande, there was a widespread moment of > confusion as people struggled to remember to turn away from their partner > and find their shadow for the LH star. This caused the star to be > consistently late, and the Partner Swing to be short. It seems like this > delay would have been worse if we had continued the partner allemande > another half way around. > > If the dance is done this way, I would change the A2 calls as follows: > > A2 > Men allemande L once and a half > Partner Allemande R a little more than once around until > the men face out and the ladies face in, look away from your partner to find > your shadow on your left > > For the B1 I might say something like: > > B1 > With your shadow and another couple make a LH Star. You are in a different > star from your partner. Star once around until you meet your partner coming > out of a different star and swing your partner. > > A little much to say as a calls, but okay for the walk through. > > A couple of other notes: > > You don't reach across to your shadow; they are next to you when you do the > star. > > Also, in this variation of the dance, while you are waiting out you are > obliged to participate in the LH star. If you cross over before the star, > you won't be next to your shadow for the star, although it all works out in > the end. I don't think that is the case in the original version. > > It should be noted that there were a fair number of beginners, but the > moment of confusion going into the left hand star seemed to affect more than > just the beginners; in fact, to me it was part of the fun of the dance. > > Richard Green > Wayne, Maine > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] > Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 12:56 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Callers] Happy as a Warm Pig in Cold Mud > > Have any of you ever called this dance by Mike Boerschig? It's been in my > box for years, and I've never called it because I haven't been sure about > who should go to which star. It was published one way in Midwest Folklore > (see below), but the two YouTube videos I've seen of it have a shorter > partner allemande, ending with the first woman and second man (i.e., second > corners) starring above, while the second woman and the first man (first > corners) star below. > > If you've called this and have an opinion about how it's best danced, or if > you've found it challenging to teach, I'd love to hear what you have to say > about it! > > --Katy Heine > > HAPPY AS A WARM PIG IN COLD MUD > by Mike Boerschig > dpl imp > > A1 > Neighbor balance and swing > > A2 > Men allemande left once and a half > allemande right partner once and three quarters > so men are facing in, women out > > B1 > Star left > away from partner, 1st corners star up, 2nd down; reaching across to shadow > in star > swing partner > > B2 > Circle left three quarters > balance in that circle, California twirl partner to face next couple > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > -- I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult. -E. B. White
