Re: [Callers] Quadrille Formation and ONS

[Liz and Bill]

Hi,

I'm enjoying these last threads, nice comments and useful tips.

When getting folk into squares from circles of four couples, the aligning up
to the walls, can be part of the fun. For a simple square like the Grapevine
Twist which require the couples 1,2,3,4 in turn to lead - teach the numbering
as the couple with the back to me/band is #1 - couple #1 raise your hands,
couple #2 is facing the kitchen (say), etc.  You can have fun with the crowd
by giving a test. Who is #1, who is #2, who is #3, who is #1!. Also depending
on the group, you can explain that couple #1 is the "most experienced couple"
which will get a good reaction if you use the right innuendo.

Cheers, Bill

On 21/03/2011 8:53 a.m., Michael Barraclough wrote:

I have had most success with asking people to make up circles of four
couples. When all the circles are complete I ask them to circle left until
one couple has their backs to me/the band/ whatever is the top, and then
stop.  I then check that there is also a couple facing me.  I then ask
couples to keep holding their partner's hand but let go the other hand and
then to make each couple be on one side of a square.

Re: [Callers] name of a dance Honor among thieves

[Bree Kalb]

I was surprised to discover I didn't have this dance in my collection so 
found it on line as well as Penn's explanation of the folk process that 
created it. I'm sharing it here because I think it's such a neat story.


Author's Notes:
"Honor Among Thieves" underlines the borrowing or "stealing" that goes with 
composing "new" dances. Originally I had been thinking about incorporating 
old-time square dance moves into contra dancing because of the popularity of 
squares in the Northwest. In a 1982 visit with Ted Sannella, I asked him 
about his newest dances. He gave me "New Friendship Reel" which used "lady 
around two." Feeling somewhat miffed that a New Englander had beaten me to 
the punch, I wrote a dance using the move more in the context that it was 
used in Northwest square dancing. Ignoring Ted's sage advice about never 
calling a new dance without first dancing it, I tried what I called "The 
G-Note Reel" at Tod Whittemore's Cambridge dance the next night. It met with 
mixed success. Tod then revised it, with the new version including the 
circles (see the 1982 version below). Upon hearing the story, Peter Barnes 
came up with the name "Honor Among Thieves". In 1986, I further revised the 
dance, borrowing from the popular sequence of the circle into a swing. 
Ironically, this sequence was the one Ted had used in his dance but that I 
had changed. The traditional tune, "Wind That Shakes The Barley" (in the 
book) works well with the dance and can be played ABAB rather than AABB.



The dance and a bit more history is here: 
http://arcserv.astro.washington.edu/dances/FMPro?-db=acdol.db&-format=danceformat.html&-sortfield=Name&-recid=72&-find

Re: [Callers] Battery pack/transmitter unit shorting out

[Amy Cann]

My husband is an audio engineer.

One of the gig's he's done is the summer Boston outdoor Shakespeare
performances. It's pretty darn funny when they give a backstage tour to a
visiting VIP and always make sure to take them right by the pile of
discarded mike condoms.

ProTip: the UN-lubricated kind

-Amy

On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 9:57 AM, Will Loving <
w...@dedicationtechnologies.com> wrote:

> A friend of mine who is a union sound person and does a lot of the Broadway
> touring companies that come through our area told me their solution to this
> frequent problem. Every night, every battery/transmitter pack gets covered
> with a clear condom to keep it dry.
>
>
> on 3/22/11 2:24 PM, Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing at
> wins...@slac.stanford.edu wrote:
>
> > - At the 200+ person barn dance at Pie Ranch, my mic gave out while I was
> > teaching ladies chain.  [I sweat a lot, and apparently I managed to sweat
> > enouh
> > to short something out in the battery pack/transmitter unit, so changing
> the
> > batteries didn't do anything.  Maybe I should start keeping that in a
> baggie.]
>
>
> Will Loving
> Downtown Amherst Contra Dances
> http://amherstcontra.org
>
>
> ___
> Callers mailing list
> call...@sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>

Re: [Callers] Battery pack/transmitter unit shorting out

[Will Loving]

A friend of mine who is a union sound person and does a lot of the Broadway
touring companies that come through our area told me their solution to this
frequent problem. Every night, every battery/transmitter pack gets covered
with a clear condom to keep it dry.


on 3/22/11 2:24 PM, Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing at
wins...@slac.stanford.edu wrote:

> - At the 200+ person barn dance at Pie Ranch, my mic gave out while I was
> teaching ladies chain.  [I sweat a lot, and apparently I managed to sweat
> enouh
> to short something out in the battery pack/transmitter unit, so changing the
> batteries didn't do anything.  Maybe I should start keeping that in a baggie.]


Will Loving
Downtown Amherst Contra Dances
http://amherstcontra.org

Re: [Callers] Making It Fun for Experienced Dancers

[John Sweeney]

Karen and I love vacationing in America and try to make sure we always
get to at least one dance camp/week/weekend when we are over.  We
already teach workshops on these subjects, so if anyone wants us to run
style, variation and swinging workshops please let us know.

A Lindy Anchor is what Lindy Hop/Swing dancers do at the end of each
pattern as they settle back into their home position.  I see many contra
dancers doing footwork like this on moves such as Long Lines Forward &
Back.  After taking two steps forwards (R/L), for step three, step onto
your right foot, turning your right toe out to the right and then swivel
the right foot counter-clockwise on the toe as you step to the left onto
your left foot, pointing it to the left and swiveling it clockwise.  Can
look very stylish if done well.

Happy dancing,
John

John Sweeney, Dancer, England   j...@modernjive.com 01233 625 362 &
07802 940 574
http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events, Instructional DVDs and
Interactive Maps
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Contra Dancing in Kent

List-Post: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2011 10:51:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tina Fields 
To: "callers@ sharedweight.net" 
Subject: Re: [Callers] Making It Fun for Experienced Dancers

This is such a rich topic, key for making the dances inclusive and fun.
John, 
thanks for opening it up. It would make a great hands-on workshop at a
dance 
camp. 


In the meantime, I've not heard two terms you used. What are:

* a "Lindy Anchor" (on Lines Forward & Back)

* A "North Country Ladies' Chain"?

Tina

Re: [Callers] name of a dance

[Gary Shapiro]

On Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 6:56 PM, Marlin Whitaker
marlinw-at-gmail.com|sharedweight-garyes|
 wrote:

> That would be the New Friendship Reel.
>
> I call it sometimes, because it's a really fun dance, but then I realize
> that it doesn't have a partner swing, and I wonder if I'm going to get away
> with it. Actually, it can be easily modified to include a partner swing, but
> I usually forget to do that. But, it's also unequal, so any caller who does
> this dance needs to be prepared to escape through the old side door.
>

Yes, it's pretty obvious to slip in a swing for the 1s.

I usually call Honor Among Thieves instead.

I tend to give a lot of unequal dances the Jim Kitch ("Alternating Corners")
treatment, making the 2s active every other time. This can easily be done
with either HAT or NFR.