Back in the old days... We used to do an allemande in 8 beats. Or 6
beats. Or 4 beats. It depended on the dance, and we learned to space
ourselves accordingly for various timings. Arms wide for a zesty 8-beat
allemande. Pull in tighter for 6 or even closer for 4.
In my experience, the same thing applies to circles. I think the big
problem is the lack of giving weight in circles in general. And an
often lack of awareness of timing. It is possible to circle left 3/4,
pass through, and meet for a balance in 8 beats, but it takes an
understanding of how to time the circle by all four dancers. Or at
least three of them...
~erik hoffman
Oakland, CA
On 6/6/2013 9:46 PM, Michael Fuerst wrote:
Well, just like athletes jump further and run and swim faster today than they
did thirty years ago, today contra dancers can circle once around in 8 beats
Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217-239-5844
________________________________
From: Greg McKenzie <greken...@gmail.com>
To: Caller's discussion list <call...@sharedweight.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 6, 2013 11:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Callers] Circle left 3/4
I remember once being in a caller's workshop with Ted Sannella and he asked
us how many beats a circle took. We answered "eight," and he said "No. A
circle really takes 10 beats."
- Greg McKenzie
West Coast, USA
******************
On Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 4:08 PM, James Saxe <jim.s...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Jun 6, 2013, at 12:19 PM, Chris Lahey wrote, on the subject
of getting dancers to complete the sequence "circle left 3/4,
pass through" in 8 beats:
Could you prompt the pass through with more emphasis? Maybe
5 - 6 - circle - left - 1 - 2 - three - quarters - pass - through - 7 - 8?
Or perhaps even "pass through now" with the now being on the 6 beat?
Or emphasize the balance beat so people realize they're late.
I think that this sequence is one for whihc it can be useful to
prompt a figure--namely "pass through"--with the last beat of the
call falling earlier than the beat just before the first beat of
the action. Specifically, I often time the words "pass through"
so the word "through" falls on beat 4 of the circle, not beat 6.
You can hear some examples of other callers doing the same in
these videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?**v=s_-uD_-nV6g<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_-uD_-nV6g>
(Steve Zakon-Anderson calls a contra medley at the Concord
Scout House. Notice his timing on the third sequence in
the medley, Lisa Greenlef's "After the Solstice", wich
starts around 5:40.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?**v=MMInHQo4mJY<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMInHQo4mJY>
(Maggie Cowan calls "Black Bird in the Night" by Don
Flaherty.)
The idea is that if you say the word "through" by beat 4, it will
implicitly encourage slow circlers to pick up the pace. If you
say "pass through" on beats 5 and 6, it's already too late to help
any dancers who haven't already gotten their circles turned 3/4 of
the way around by the time you say "through".
You could also try to explain the timing during the walk-through,
either by using numbers of beats (six to circle left 3/4; two to
pass through), or just by remarking that the time dancers have to
circle left 3/4 and pass through is the same time that some dances
allow for the circle 3/4 alone, so they (dancers) had better
make the circle a little brisker than they might expect. Beware
that when you speak in declarative sentences or ask dancers to
picture a move that they're not doing right now (e.g., talking
about the timing of the circle while dancers are lined up after
the walk-through and waiting for the music to start), there are
likely to be some who won't be paying attention or who won't be
able to visualize whatever part of the dance you're blabbing
about. On the other hand, a few dancers who already the basics of
timing might pick up on your words and be a little more attentive
about politely (I hope) helping their less experienced neighbors
to be on time.
It can also be helpful to have music that clearly telegraphs
when it's coming around to the first beat of the figure after
'Pass Through".
--Jim
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