Hi Joe, I would not recommend calling contras if they are not regular contra dancers. I would do circles, mixers, and longways set dances, similar to the VA Reel - dances like Boston Tea Party or anything from Peter Amidon's series of books (Chimes of Dunkirk, Listen to the Mockingbird,...) - or perhaps some simple squares. Contras (and their progression) often confuse new dancers, and same sex partners can also make things difficult to teach. You don't want to spend more time teaching a dance than they actually get to dance it. Jefferson and Liberty is the only, repeat only, contra dance I have had good success with when calling to a group of non-contra dancers. Also, do not run the dances as long as a contradance would run - they don't have the stamina to dance continuously for 8-10 mins, and the hot weather is a definite factor.
Jefferson and Liberty, can be done proper or improper A1 Circle Left Circle Right A2 Right Hand Star Left Hand Star back to place B1 1's Go down the outside 1's come back up and around their 2's to step between them to form a line of 4 B2 Line of 4 go Down the Hall Don't turn around - just back up, 1's Make Arch in center of line, 2's go thru the arch to new neighbors. There are no swings, it is an easy foolproof progression, and the dance can be done proper or improper. Remember to explain the concept of 1's and 2's and that the number changes when they get to the end of the line (waiting out 1 round of the dance). I don't know the author - I always announce that it is a Traditional American Contra Dance. There are other versions of this dance where the B1 is changed to something else, but this is my favorite version. Dave Colestock New Cumberland, PA --- On Mon, 7/23/12, jsph...@aol.com <jsph...@aol.com> wrote: From: jsph...@aol.com <jsph...@aol.com> Subject: [Callers] Gender Neutral Dance Request To: call...@sharedweight.net List-Post: callers@lists.sharedweight.net Date: Monday, July 23, 2012, 2:58 PM Hi All, Just checking to see if someone would have a few gender neutral dances to share with me. I will be calling to a large group of non-dancers that will mostly be same-sex couples. I was thinking of calling a few circle mixers, Sicilian circles, Virginia reel type dances and perhaps a few contras. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Joe _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list call...@sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
