Re: [Callers] Heys for new dancers

[Ryan Smith]

Long time listener, first-time caller.

Bad puns aside, one of my favorite dances for a half-hey is:
Pride of Charlottesville by Seth Tepfer
http://www.dancerhapsody.com/Calling/Dances.html#PrideCville
The dance has good flow without being dizzying.  The dance is easy to call,
simple for beginners, but not boring for the experienced set.


As to the 3/8ths of a hey (WR, NL, Men R), just as the ladies are not
across the set at the moment that they pass each other, the men are not
across the set at the moment they pass each other.  If the gentlemen
continue all the way to the proper ending-point for the hey instead of
shortcutting to their partner, all the music will be used up, the balance
will be on-time and the day will be saved.

--Ryan S.
http://www.twirlyshirts.com

Re: [Callers] Heys for new dancers

[Bree Kalb]

That's a great dance, Jim. I collected it from Dick Bearman of Maryland who 
called it in my area about 15 years ago. He calls it Balancing Act and I 
have him as author on my much used dance card. It works very well as an easy 
intro to 1/2 hey. Seems like several people were channeling the same dance 
muse.


-Original Message- 
From: James Saxe

Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 4:47 AM
To: Caller's discussion list
Subject: Re: [Callers] Heys for new dancers


While I'm writing, here's a dance that I sometimes use
for the first hey of an evening:

Duple improper contra

A1. Neighbors balance and swing
A2. Women chain
1/2 hey (W start by R shoulder)
B1. Partners balance and swing
B2. Circle left 3/4
Balance the ring, partners California twirl

I came up with this by swiping the first 3/4 of "Southern Swing"
by Steve Zakon-Anderson and substituting a simpler B2 part, but
never named it.  Lisa Greenleaf apparently came up with the same
sequence independently and named it "Hocus Pocus".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFEBaPqBXZM

Don Flaherty's "Slapping the Wood" is nearly identical, the only
difference being the do-si-do as couples in the first half of A1.
The first 3/4 of the dance also occur in Chart Guthrie's "Hay in
the Barn"

Re: [Callers] Heys for new dancers

[James Saxe]

I wrote, regarding the sequence

...
A2. Women chain [to partner]
1/2 hey (W start by R shoulder)
B1. Partners balance and swing
...


The "1/2 hey" in A2 is really only a 3/8 hey (WR, NL, PR). ...


On Feb 21, 2012, at 1:05 PM, Bill Baritompa wrote:


Hi Jim,

I assume you mean 3/8 hey (WR, NL, Men R).


Correct.  Thanks for catching that.

This opens up the question of timing, as this hey should still take  
8 beats

to start the balance in B1 on the phrase.
A gypsy and swing for B1 would be more flexible (but maybe more dizzy
for some).


Yes, the 3/8 hey could be danced in fewer than 8 beats,
and a ladies chain across can also be danced in fewer than
8 beats, so it is indeed possible for dancer to arrive
early for the B2, and they sometimes do.  (I think, btw,
that the most common cause is women turning around sharply
instead of using four beats for a looping U-turn after
passing their neighbors).  But if you look at the video
I cited

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFEBaPqBXZM

you can see that the dancers have no difficulty using
up the alloted time.

As for changing B1 to a gypsy and swing, note that doing
that would make men flow from a right-shoulder pass in
the middle to a right-shoulder gypsy with partner.  While
this transition can be danced smoothly if the dancers
anticipate it,* it's not the flow pattern I'd most want
to use in a dance chosen to introduce heys.

[*As an example of similar flow, Tanya Rotenberg has said
that she prefers dancers to go directly from the hey in
the A2 of "Delphiniums & Daisies" to the swing in B1, with
no balance.]

--Jim

[Callers] Fwd: Las Cuadrillas: Five-Part Suite

[Mark Sustic]

Begin forwarded message:

> Hi Friends,
> I've been working with my friend Dr. Lorenzo A. Trujillo over the past few 
> months to produce a video that illustrates the five-part Las Cuadrillas, an 
> Hispanic quadrille. The interpretation and choreography of the five part Las 
> Cuadrillas is by Lorenzo based on the teaching of his mother, Marie Oralia 
> Duran Trujillo, Damian Archuleta, and additional notes by Helen Mareau. The 
> music was compiled by Aurora Lucero-White and Eunice Hauskins (1940). The 
> music on the video is performed by The Soda Rock Ramblers. A recording of the 
> Las Cuadrillas music is available on Lorenzo's spectacular CD, "The Golden 
> Age of the Southwest: From 1840 to Hollywood." Visit: LorenzoTrujillo.com
> 
>  The video is a bit under 12 minutes long - I hope you like it! Please share 
> the link with your friends!
> 
> Best, Larry Edelman 
> 
> http://youtu.be/_tINtD7AKek
> 

Re: [Callers] Hey: How to teach

[Dale Wilson]

That's very similar to the approach I mentioned of having the ladies do "a
ladies chain without hands"   Yes, it does seem to work well.

Dale

On Tue, Feb 21, 2012 at 6:49 PM, Michael Fuerst wrote:

> I once attended a dance where Erna-Lynne Bogue demonstrated a most
> effective way to teach a hey. (The following assumes   partners are on the
> same side of the set, facing across, and the women will start passing right
> shoulders, but it can be revised for other starting configurations.)
> Erna-Lynne had the men stay put, while she instructed the women to (a)
> Cross set passing right shoulders.  (b)  Pass left shoulders
> with neighbor and walk around and behind him to face back into center.  (c)
> Again pass right  shoulders with other woman.  (d)  Pass partner by left
> shoulder and walk around and behind him and stop when at where they
> started.   Erna-Lynne then had the women repeat walking  this same pattern,
> but with the men following the women.It seemed a bit magical, but
> everyone completed the hey successfully.
>
> Michael Fuerst  802 N Broadway  Urbana IL 61801
> 217-239-5844See my art work in the store window of 133 W Main, Urbana, two
> doors east of Race on the south side of Main.  Links to photos of many of
> my drawings and paintings are at www.ArtComesFuerst.com
> ___
> Callers mailing list
> call...@sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>



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