Jeff, what do you mean by zias? One issue I have with sicilian circles is that I always need more time than I think it should to set it up. That keeps me from incorporating them more in my program. I have tried asking dancers to line up for a contra dance and then ask them to bend the line to make a circle of small groups of 4. Dancers have a hard time understanding that. They eventually get it but it takes a long time. Ideas on how to set it up for dancers who are not familiar with the formation?
Claire Baffaut On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 6:10 AM Jeff Kaufman via Contra Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > Another thing to keep in mind about Sicilian Circles is that they use the > rectangular space of a typical hall much less efficiently than contra sets, > so if you're planning to call an interesting dance this way you may show up > and find the hall is too crowded for it to be workable. Also an issue with > Zias. > > Jeff > > On Sun, Jan 26, 2025 at 1:12 AM Robert Matson via Contra Callers < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Our dances are generally beginner-heavy. Our priority is to get people >> dancing and enjoying moving to the music as quickly as possibly. We often >> do Sicilian Circles. Our participants like them fine. We've never seen >> anything to make us think that the curvature of the lines causes an issue. >> >> We've sometimes reformed simple contras as Sicilian Circles to make them >> even easier to dance since any kind of end effect, even the simplest, can >> confuse beginners. >> >> For our purposes, I like this idea of taking a dance with a challenging >> end effect and dancing it as a Sicilian Circle. Thanks for the good idea. >> >> Rob >> >> - - - - - - - - - - - - >> >> Robert Matson >> Cell: (917) 626-2675 >> >> >> >> On Sat, Jan 25, 2025 at 12:58 PM Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Rick: Can you provide the names of four or five dances that you feel >>> have complicated enough end effects that you might want to call them as a >>> Sicilian circle? >>> >>> On Sat, Jan 25, 2025 at 9:45 AM Rick Mohr via Contra Callers < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Many good contras where you leave the minor set aren’t too hard, but >>>> have challenging end effects. One could eliminate the end effects using a >>>> Sicilian circle. I haven't tried it, but wonder whether disorientation from >>>> the curved set would offset the advantages. >>>> >>>> If you’ve actually tried it, how did it go? >>>> >>>> Rick >>>> >>>> (...ignoring for the moment that Sicilian circles don't fit every hall >>>> or size of group...) >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >>>> To unsubscribe send an email to >>>> [email protected] >>>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe send an email to >>> [email protected] >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >> To unsubscribe send an email to >> [email protected] >> > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > -- *Claire Baffaut*
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