Hi Rich,
I have called my version of Fast Packet at contra dances in America and
it seems to have gone down well. The biggest challenge is getting an American
contra dance band to play a suitable tune at 80-90 bpm when they are used to
playing everything at 110-125bpm!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3IBzoifL0M
I have also called the Waltz Country Dance at contra dances in America
for a change of pace: http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/WaltzCountryDance.html
I love Cumberland Square Eight
(http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/EFDS3911-CumberlandSquareEight.html ) so I
wrote a contra dance which includes all the moves from that dance:
The Cumberland Contra: http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/CumberlandContra.html
I have called that at contra dances in America and in England with
great success.
I also use Appalachian Big Set. I have called that at contra dances in
America, especially when a dance goes badly wrong. I just grab a partner, tell
the band to play and say, "Follow me". No teaching, just straight into the
dance. It also works well at the end of an evening if there is a few minutes
left, but not long enough for a contra - finish with everyone promenading up to
the band and clapping to the music.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England j...@modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940
574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
-----Original Message-----
From: Rich Goss via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: 17 September 2023 15:27
To: call...@sharedweight.net
Subject: [Callers] Ceilidh dances at a contra
Does anyone slip in a ceilidh style dance at a contra? Some of the mixers
work well at contra dances. Also, it’s an opportunity to give new dancers
brains a break. I suspect this practice is more common in the UK. Colin,
feel free to chime in.
Rich
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