Re: [Callers] does this dance already exist?

[Alan Winston via Callers]

It really doesn’t make much difference in this case since the domino will take 
8 beats if there’s 8 beats left.  I was just curious about 10 for the square 
through - in English dancing we do have eight beat circular heys (like 
“Collier’s Daughter”)  but the convention is usually not to take hands on those 
fast ones, so it’s more like a mini weave the ring. On the other hand contras 
have a lot of interrupted square through where there’s a four-beat balance and 
a four-beat square through 2, so it can be done.

— Alan

Sent from my iPad

> On Sep 8, 2018, at 9:34 PM, Rich Sbardella  wrote:
> 
> The Callerlab timing chart has square thru taking 10 beats from a static 
> square and 8 beats from (closer( facing couples such as they would be after 
> the heads star thru. 
> 
> In the following square I would allow 10 beats.
> 
> Heads Lead Right & Circle to a Line,
> Lines F
> 2 ladies Chain Across and Back
> Has Square Thru 4  (This square thru is from a line of four that is at the 
> sides static position.
> Corner Swg & Promenade
> 
> In the square, below, I would use 8 beats for the second square thru.
> 
> Heads Sq Thru 4 (10)
> RH Star (8), LH Star (8)
> Corner DSD (6), Sq Thru 4 (8)
> Can Swg (8), Promenade (16)
> 
> In this square the dancers start the second square thru nose to nose rather 
> than across the set.
> 
> Most contra would be starting a square thru from across the set, so 10 is a 
> good number, if it starts after a balance, 8 would be wiser.
> 
> Rich
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Sat, Sep 8, 2018 at 8:57 PM Tom Hinds via Callers 
>>  wrote:
>> I’ve mulled over the timing of square through 4 for some time.  10 is what 
>> I’ve come up with after walking it through in my living room and more 
>> importantly watching the dancers do it in dances I’ve written.
>> 
>> Much depends on where you end and start and also on formation (squared set 
>> or contra) because of the spacing.
>> 
>> As an example, in The Amazing Sara Wilcox the square through three from 
>> lines facing across into lines facing out comfortably takes 8 steps.  In 
>> other situations maybe square through 3 could be done in 6.
>> 
>> Some may say that square through two (followed by a balance) takes 4, so a 
>> square through 4 would take 8.  My way of thinking is that the longer and 
>> more complicated the figure, the more you have to give the dancers some 
>> extra beats.  And square through 2 in 4 beats is a bit rushed.
>> 
>> Try it out during a break at your next dance and let me know what you come 
>> up with.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Sent from my iPad
>> 
>> > On Sep 8, 2018, at 7:06 PM, Alan Winston  wrote:
>> > 
>> > Tom —
>> > 
>> > Why is the square through 4 10 beats?  
>> > 
>> > — Alan
>> > 
>> > Sent from my iPad
>> > 
>> >> On Sep 8, 2018, at 1:39 PM, Tom Hinds via Callers 
>> >>  wrote:
>> >> 
>> >> Jean, nice dance.  Let us know how it goes if you try it out.  I would be 
>> >> surprised if your dance has been written before.  You list it as a double 
>> >> progression.  Is that because you swing the second neighbor?
>> >> 
>> >> You gave me an idea for a new dance.  I’m not trying to out do any one 
>> >> here, just very much enjoy writing dances. 
>> >> 
>> >> Lunch with Jean
>> >> Improper 
>> >> 
>> >> A1. Bal. P, square through 2
>> >>   Bal P, box the gnat
>> >> 
>> >> A2. With new neighbors, square through 4 (going in the opposite direction 
>> >> as the first square through and starting by giving right hand to partner, 
>> >> 10 beats)
>> >>   With original neighbor do si do, (6)
>> >> 
>> >> B1 Men allemande left 1/2 (or pull by) swing partner
>> >> 
>> >> B2  Right and left through, ladies chain.
>> >> 
>> >> Tom Hinds
>> >> 
>> >> 
>> >> 
>> >>> On Sep 8, 2018, at 12:34 PM, Jean Gibson-Gorrindo via Callers 
>> >>>  wrote:
>> >>> 
>> >>> Hello Callers!  Around the breakfast table at Penelope Weinberger’s 
>> >>> house this morning, while on tour with Cloud Ten, I came up with this 
>> >>> dance.  Wrote it with the Sam Bartlett tune Penelope’s Cruise (also 
>> >>> written for Penelope Weinberger) in mind.   Wondering if it is already 
>&g

Re: [Callers] does this dance already exist?

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Tom —

Why is the square through 4 10 beats?  

— Alan

Sent from my iPad

> On Sep 8, 2018, at 1:39 PM, Tom Hinds via Callers 
>  wrote:
> 
> Jean, nice dance.  Let us know how it goes if you try it out.  I would be 
> surprised if your dance has been written before.  You list it as a double 
> progression.  Is that because you swing the second neighbor?
> 
> You gave me an idea for a new dance.  I’m not trying to out do any one here, 
> just very much enjoy writing dances. 
> 
> Lunch with Jean
> Improper 
> 
> A1. Bal. P, square through 2
>Bal P, box the gnat
> 
> A2. With new neighbors, square through 4 (going in the opposite direction as 
> the first square through and starting by giving right hand to partner, 10 
> beats)
>With original neighbor do si do, (6)
> 
> B1 Men allemande left 1/2 (or pull by) swing partner
> 
> B2  Right and left through, ladies chain.
> 
> Tom Hinds
> 
> 
> 
>> On Sep 8, 2018, at 12:34 PM, Jean Gibson-Gorrindo via Callers 
>>  wrote:
>> 
>> Hello Callers!  Around the breakfast table at Penelope Weinberger’s house 
>> this morning, while on tour with Cloud Ten, I came up with this dance.  
>> Wrote it with the Sam Bartlett tune Penelope’s Cruise (also written for 
>> Penelope Weinberger) in mind.   Wondering if it is already out there?  
>> Thanks for your input!
>> 
>> Jean Gorrindo
>> 
>> Breakfast at Penelope’s
>> by Jean Gorrindo
>> Contra/Improper/Easy-Int/Double Progression
>> 
>> A1 ---
>> (8) Partner R-Hand Balance; Square Thru (pull by Partner with Right, 
>> Neighbor Left)
>> (8) Partner Balance & Box the Gnat
>> A2 ---
>> (16) Neighbor balance and swing
>> B1 ---
>> (8) Women allemande Right 1-1/2
>> (8) Partner swing
>> B2 ---
>> (8) Long lines, forward and back
>> (8) Women's Chain
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Re: [Callers] Interesting dances without role-specific calls?

[Alan Winston via Callers]

If you can teach pass through to a wave and swing through to a new wave  
as "couples start to pass through across; the 2 people who *can* catch 
left hands do so and allemande 1/4 while the others continue to the 
sideline; neighbors allemande right halfway and the two now in the 
middle allemande left halfway and give right hand to partner to form a 
wave"  you can do Pinball Wizard without gender reference.


Kinematic Vorticity is unusual and requires no role reference

Hope this helps!

-- Alan



On 9/3/18 3:35 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers wrote:

Hi folks,

I’m introducing a dance series to larks/ravens next weekend, and to 
ease everyone into it (/in case of emergency), I want some dances 
handy that are non-trivial and interesting (so, not glossary dances, 
but one an intermediate-to-advanced crowd would enjoy) WITHOUT 
role-specific calls—i.e. nothing where you tell the gents to X or the 
ladies to Y. What are your favorites?!


Cheers,
Maia


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Re: [Callers] Glossary dances with promenade, no chain/RL through?

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Here's one of mine.  Low piece count, promenade to chain is good flow.  
(I never totally love the "chain, look for new neighbors" because you 
either have to bail out of the courtesy turn to face new neighbor or 
complete the turn (now facing partner) and turn away to new neighbor, 
but it's common enough that it works.


I think this really is easy enough for your busload  of beginners.  Low 
piece count, don't have to identify  the neighbor who's dancing with 
your partner (like many oval dances).  It does have a chain; sorry about 
that.


CLAIRE'S REQUEST
Alan Winston 11/17/2017

Form:IC Fig:NBOvalLBTR,PS;Prom,WC:

A1: Neighbor balance and swing
A2: Big Oval left and right
B1: 1-2: With hands, balance ring in original foursome
 (keep the hand you've got with neighbor and take the free hand 
with your

  partner)
    3-8: Ravens/ladies draw Partners to their side for a swing.
B2: 1-4: Partners promenade to gents/larks side
    5-8: Ladies/Ravens chain to current neighbor, look for new neighbor

   [But if you really don't want a chain even in the good flow 
from promenade situation, ladies/ravens allemand R 1.5 to new neighbor, 
which may be preferable given the courtesy turn problem mentioned above]



-- Alan

]


On 8/13/18 10:36 AM, Maia McCormick via Callers wrote:
Yep, Alex, I totally agree on the point of promenade (or RL thru, or 
ladies' chain) > circle L not flowing great! So I'm amending my 
original criteria: *dances with a promenade, no chain or RL thru, and 
promenade is NOT followed by a circle L*.


Thanks for the suggestions, folks :D

On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 1:00 PM Yoyo Zhou <mailto:yoz...@gmail.com>> wrote:


On Sun, Aug 12, 2018 at 6:08 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers
mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:

Had a busload of beginners at my dance last night and realized
I have a hole in my program -- I don't have any good
glossary/beginner-friendly dances with a promenade but no
chain or RL through. Any suggestions?


A nice one is Promenade Right by Luke Donforth (note: it has a
circle right):
http://www.madrobincallers.org/2013/06/25/three-tries-at-simple-dances/

Also, some of the dances below can be adapted by changing a right
and left thru to a promenade across.


On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 11:42 AM,
AlexandraDeis-Laubymailto:adeisla...@gmail.com>>wrote:

I find that there aren’t many dances with a Promenade or RL
that are NOT followed by a circle left. When Dancing
promenades to circle lefts, I don’t like them as an
experienced dancer because they don’t feel good and as a
caller I watch new dancers struggle with them because they
don’t flow logically unless the dancers correct for it (which
one won’t know how to do unless they’ve been dancing a very
long time and are attuned to momentum.)


I agree with your assessment about promenade/right and left thru
to circle left.
I find right and left thru or promenade can also often be followed
by one of these, which flows better:

- ladies chain (very common)

- left hand star (example: True Grit by Chris Page:
http://chrispagecontra.awardspace.us/dances/#true-grit)

- circle right (see above)

- hey, ladies pass right (example: Zoey and Me by Sue Rosen:
http://dance.suerosencaller.com/dancedb/view/?title=Zoey+and+Me)

- ladies allemande right (example: A-1 Reel by Chris Weiler:
http://caller.chrisweiler.ws/dances.htm#a1reel)

Yoyo Zhou



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Re: [Callers] Does a 1/2 figure 8 and cast off exist in ECD? In Contra?

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Luke --

This isn't directly responsive to your actual question, but here's what 
it reminded me of:


In proper duple formation, the place where same-sex neighbors would 
stand in improper formation is diagonally opposite.  Most longways 
English dances are proper, so in English for these purposes, English 
"first corners" = contra "ladies", English second corners = contra gents.


In "News From Tripoli", first corners cast up or down the outside 
(pulling the shoulder back, a real cast)  while their same-side 
neighbors slide (just move sideways along the line) into the places 
they've vacated, then do a full figure eight and finish in their 
neighbors place.  (Now second corner people are standing in first corner 
places, and they repet the figure doing what the first corner people 
did; everybody's at home.)


In Barbarini's Tambourine (and Sally in Our Alley, which has the same A 
parts), first corners cast around neighbor on the side, half figure 
eight, and finish in each other's place.  Second corners cast around 
(it's their partner, but standing next to them on the side), half figure 
eight, finish in each other's place.


In some 1700s dances as reconstructed, in a duple minor proper 
formation, 1s half -figure eight to the right (gents down, ladies up) to 
go through the 2s next to them; those 1s encounter the opposite-role 1 
from the next set up (it's not quite a shadow interaction since while 
you do see the same person for a while, it stops happening when one of 
you goes out at the end of the set), so it's effectively long diagonals.


In a number of dances (Kelsterne Gardens may be the earliest, although 
some like to do it in Childgrove, which is an earlier dance) there are 
double figure eights, where one couple is is crossing through the middle 
while the other couple is going up or down the outside.  In fewer 
dances, there are double half figure eights; one couple goes through the 
middle, the other on the outside.  So you don't need the diagonal 
half-figure to not have to worry about them running into each other.


I would add to Michael's mention of Chevrons that a lot of people have 
trouble waiting one bar to start their part of the figure, and it does 
raise the difficulty level of the dance.


There's an "all cast one place" in "Wa is Me, Wa Mun I Do", which takes 
two bars of triple time music and a fair amount of room but is very 
pretty in context.  I think your "gents pull left should back and cast" 
has some of the logistical problems of an orbit (it's a quarter orbit) 
as far as using space, with increased chance of collision with gent from 
other set because of not facing the way you're going for the first 
half.  Slide across, orbit 1/4 while making a point of interlacing with 
other gent, or lots of room in the set.


-- Alan


On 7/10/18 5:18 AM, Luke Donforth via Callers wrote:

Hello all,

I've been thinking about half figure eights, and variations on them. 
Is anyone familiar (in ECD, contra, or other traditions), where 
instead of the 1s or 2s half figure eight, having the gents or ladies 
do the move from improper formation?


As soon as you have something like the ladies do a half figure eight 
from duple improper; they're either going to have to shift where they 
land, or the gents are going to have to get out of the way. It seems 
to me (during my insomnia, not with actual dancers in a house party) 
that you could have the gents cast off and over to a ladies place. i.e.:


/Ladies half figure eight, passing left shoulder in the middle to take 
neighbor gents' place

/
/Meanwhile, gents cast over left shoulder to take partner's place
/

Which takes
(head of hall)
W1 M1
m2 w2

to
(head of hall)
M1 W1
w2 m2

Which ends in the same place as everybody doing a half figure eight, 
but without 4 people trying to go through the middle at the same time. 
I think it can still happen in 8 beats of music, with nobody standing 
around.


Is that a sequence people have danced or used?

Here's a wrapping to put the whole thing in context.

Calliope's Cross
Improper contra by Luke Donforth
A1
Long lines forward and back
Ladies half figure eight, passing left shoulder in the middle to take 
neighbor gents' place

Meanwhile, gents cast over left shoulder to take partner's place
A2
Neighbor Right Shoulder Gyre and Swing
B1
Circle Left 3/4
Partner Swing
B2
Promenade across set with partner, courtesy turn
Ladies chain to neighbor

The name, and idea, comes from my older daughter (4), who wanted a 
"Calliope's Cross" dance for herself after hearing about "Tamlin's 
Cross" for her sister. Calliope like riding figure 8s on her bicycle.


I've deliberately kept this simple, instead of trying to get a gents 
figure 8 while ladies cast in for symmetry. I'm not sure how I'd teach 
that from the stage; and think I'd have to use a demo.


I look forward to hearing the experience of the group!
Thanks

--
Luke Donforth
luke.donfo...@gmail.com 

Re: [Callers] Programming a Dance

[Alan Winston via Callers]

My approach varies considerably depending on what kind of dance it is, and it 
also depends on my attitude about it and the musicians attitude about it.  I 
work with a lot of different musicians in my different dance worlds (English, 
contra, Civil War, Regency, Early American, Victorian, occasional barn dances 
and family dances).

In contra land, some bands want the program a few days ahead so they can match 
tunes or even rehearse the specific tunes they’ve chosen.  So for those bands, 
I program ahead, and that’s much easier if it’s in a venue I’m used to and know 
what to expect.  If I don’t know pretty well how it’s going to go and the band 
wants a program, I either spend 2-4 hours making up a coherent program with 
alternates, etc, or give them a program that’s already worked for me in another 
venue with different dancers.  If the band doesn’t want it in advance, I’m very 
likely to pick on the fly based on my reading of the room.  I use a little code 
to make a very abbreviated representation of the dance and put that in an index 
and eyeball that to make sure I’m not picking something with the same 
transitions as the last thing and only introduces as many new figures as I want 
to introduce for this crowd at this moment.  I may be a victim of 
Dunning-Kruger but I think I’m pretty good at prompting on time without doing 
extensive rehearsal.  

For Regency balls - well, we usually have a specific historic or literary 
theme, and I may spend a few hours cruising through historic dance manuals 
looking for dances that seem to fit the theme, trying out those dances at our 
regular dance parties, getting the bandleader’s opinion on those tunes (in this 
period, many of them kinda suck) before locking down a program, so a ball 
program could be 16 hours of prep.  On the other hand, for the second-Friday 
Regency dance parties, where attendance is unpredictable, I just pick on the 
fly; my band is willing to sight read.

For English Country Dancing it’s usually on me to organize a program that suits 
the particular band’s talents - don’t ask most bands for “Vivaldi in Paradise!” 
- provides significant variety in mood, meter, tempo, key. - as well as having 
an agreeable progression of figures and climax in difficulty around half way 
through, that will give a newcomer a chance to succeed and not to bore 
experienced dancers, and that also doesn’t repeat too many of the dances done 
recently at that venue. So that’s usually about a two-hour effort.  Sometimes I 
can pull out an old program and change a few dances on it, which is less 
painful.

For family dances, I need to know whether the band knows “Sasha!” But otherwise 
I’m calling from the floor, reading the room, and picking stuff on the fly.  
For Civil War dances, if I’m working from my iPad it’s the same thing and I 
pick tunes.  If I’m working with a brass band, which I’ve done several times, I 
get their repertoire first, set dances to the things they have arranged and can 
play (that took three or four hours the first time) and then pull stuff out in 
the moment.  (My Civil War gigs are all for reenactors after hours and rather 
informal.  If they were taking place in East Coast ballrooms with Spare Parts 
playing, I would certainly study their repertoire and organize a program to 
take advantage of it, and I’d expect that to be about four hours of effort.)

Sent from my iPad

> On Mar 13, 2018, at 10:58 AM, Rich Sbardella via Callers 
>  wrote:
> 
> I am curious how much time you all plan programming a dance before arriving 
> at a venue.  If you do not preprogram, what is your approach for on the fly 
> programming?
> Rich Sbardella
> Stafford, CT
> 
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Re: [Callers] Etiquette of refusing an offer to dance

[Alan Winston via Callers]

BACDS Code of Conduct says:

http://bacds.org/conduct/CodeOfConduct.pdf

-

"Ask a partner kindly.  Accept their answer cheerfully.  If you are 
repeatedly declined by a prospective partner, it is best to give them space.


Feel free to decline a dance with someone with whom you feel 
uncomfortable. If you would prefer not to dance with them, a simple "no 
thanks" is appropriate.  We encourage you to dance with a variety of 
peple both new and familiar, but your safety and comfort come first.


---

So it doesn't explicitly address this, but I think it doesn't address it 
because the norm is now understood to be that there's no obligations on 
the person being asked.


In my beginner lessons, both contra and English, I say (when I remember) 
that anybody may ask anybody else to dance, that you can accept or 
decline, that you don't have to explain yourself and that indeed you 
shouldn't spend a lot of time declining because that keeps the one who 
asked you from finding another partner.  (I also sometimes say that 
unlike a bar or club, the only necessary subtext of "may I have this 
dance" is "I need a partner to able to dance this dance".)  I've 
occasionally modeled asking, being declined, and moving on with good grace.


I think I got some of that by looking at the George Marshal beginner 
session that's on youtube.


Incidentally, some brand new dancers come in with the "must sit out if 
declining a dance" idea already installed; it turns out that it's there 
in Jane Austen.  So in discussing this in Regency-dance context I do a 
thing about how this isn't re-creation but recreation - we're playing, 
not slavishly reconstructing the period, and we can leave behind things 
that don't work for us today.


-- Alan


On 12/16/17 11:39 AM, Kalia Kliban via Callers wrote:

Hi all,

Those of us who started dancing 2 or 3 decades back probably remember 
the rule about sitting out the dance if you turn down a partner offer. 
A very competent male dancer I know who started around the same time I 
did (late 80s) recently confessed to me that he never asks anyone to 
dance because he doesn't want to put folks in the position of thinking 
"If I don't dance with this guy then I have to sit one out.  Oh crap, 
guess I'll have to dance with him."  For the record, he's a totally 
solid and delightful dancer.


To what extent has that earlier etiquette norm either survived or been 
replaced, and what has it been replaced with?  In your dance 
community, do you have a written statement of the etiquette around 
this?  Our community's statement doesn't directly address this issue.


Kalia
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[Callers] Fwd: Balancing LEFT in a wave?

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Accidentally sent only to Maia.

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Winston, Alan P." 
> Date: November 8, 2017 at 11:30:06 AM PST
> To: Maia McCormick 
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Balancing LEFT in a wave?
> 
> I would say the potential unidiomaticness of the balance left is *very high*. 
>  In a regular Rory O’More kind of balance R, slide R, balance L, slide L, 
> I always see a quarter to an eighth of the dancers balance right first both 
> times.  (I can get it down a lot by pointing out that you always balance to 
> the same person first, but very rarely can get everybody.). 
> 
> So as you saw, if you try to overcome the “right first” balance you’re really 
> fighting the tide, and it’s going to be a lot of work.
> 
> In the particular case you describe I’d think you’d do a lot better (both for 
> flow of the dance and for getting the dancers to do what you tell them) to 
> strongly suggest they balance forward and back to set up the allemande rather 
> than L *or* R
> 
> That said, to answer what you specifically asked, I agree that L makes more 
> sense than R, but I don’t think it’s a *lot* more sense (that is, R isn’t 
> even close to fatal) , and it’s not the hill I’d choose to die on.
> 
> -- Alan 
> From: Callers  on behalf of Maia 
> McCormick via Callers 
> Sent: Wednesday, November 8, 2017 11:07:20 AM
> To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> Subject: [Callers] Balancing LEFT in a wave?
>  
> Recently called a dance with an allemande R into long waves, balance wave, 
> allemande L. Because of personal preference, I taught the balance as "balance 
> left, then right", but cuz I didn't teach it all that clearly, the dancers 
> defaulted back into balancing right first, and enough tricky stuff was 
> happening in the dance that I didn't wanna correct them in flight.
> 
> I'm just wondering: do others agree that a balance left makes more sense / 
> flows better in this context, or is this a weird personal preference? In your 
> opinion, does the flow of the balance left outweigh its potential 
> unidiomaticness?
> 
> Cheers,
> Maia
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Re: [Callers] terminology in Sicilian Circle

[Alan Winston via Callers]

In the 1980s in the SF Bay Area at English dances (which was where I saw 
Sicilian Circles regularly) "opposite" was the term generally used.  
Nowadays if I call an evening of longways dances and include one 
Sicilian, if I say "opposite" I get a lot of blank looks, so I say 
'neighbor' and the problem goes away.


"Opposite" seems like a self-descriptive term but if it's not getting 
used elsewhere in the evening it's a speed bump.


-- Alan


On 9/20/17 6:18 AM, Sue C. Hulsether via Callers wrote:
Does anyone have an opinion about the use of the term “neighbor”  and 
the term “opposite” in a Sicilian Circle?
“Neighbor” is more correct from a contra perspective, but “opposite" 
feels more correct to me from a square dance perspective.


thanks,

sue





/*Sue Hulsether*/
shulset...@mac.com 

www.suehulsether.com 
608-632-1267  Cell
608-629-6250  Home
P.O. Box 363
Viroqua, WI 54665







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Re: [Callers] Waltz-Time Contra Choreography

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Dugan --

Over in English-country-dance land there are a zillion longways duple 
minor waltz-time dances.  Some of them have contra figures.


Gary Roodman's "Winter Dreams Waltz" to Jonathan Jensen's tune starts 
off with a leisurely unassisted 1s cast down and face up while 2s lead 
up and face down which will require a demonstration, but after that it's 
mirror gypsy, pass through across, courtesy turn, left -had-star, long 
lines fall back/come forward, circle left 1x,square-thru 2 (no 
balances), partner two-hand-turn once round, whch should all be pretty 
accessible for contra dancers, and it's a gorgeous dance.  (There's a 
couple of videos up of it which each show people who don't have hold of 
it yet.)


I wrote this one which has English figures that have already infiltrated 
contra dance (poussette, dolphin hey); even though it's not standard 
contra figures (and the right hand turn halfway isn't an allemande) I 
think contra dancers will like it.



MOVEMENT AFOOT
Alan Winston - thought of it at AmWeek, Jul 3, 2013
longways duple minor
Tune: "Steciaks" in waltz book II, by Larry Unger

A1: 1-2: Men set forward to women (boureeish, stamping optional)
3-4: Men fall back as women come forward
5-6: All turn single R
7-8: All RH turn halfway

A2: As above, with women leading.  Keep right hands ...

B1: 1-4: ... take left hands as well  for Clockwise half poussette 
(progressed)

5-8: contra-style Mad Robin (W1 and M2 through the middle first)

B2: 1-8: 1s acting as a unit, dolphin hey for three
 (M1 turns round coming out of the mad robin to give Left shoulder
 to M2, W1 takes the lead, giving right to M2 on the other side,
 M1 takes the lead to arrive progressed and proper.)


NOTE: Alan is agreeable to couple-dance style variations in the 
half-poussette,

and in general hopes for a spirit of flirtatious play.

Here's a video into which I had no input, where some of the dancers have 
the spirit.  (They don't seem to understand that in A1 1-2 the women 
should stand their ground rather than falling back, but it's an 
acceptable variation.)



-- Alan

On 8/8/17 11:02 AM, Dugan Murphy via Callers wrote:
Do you have a favorite contra dance written to fit a waltz tune?  I 
danced one once many years ago and haven't thought much about it 
since, though it was pretty special.


Thank you in advance for sharing some choreography!

Dugan Murphy
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy.com <http://duganmurphy.com>
www.DuganMurphy.com <http://www.DuganMurphy.com>
www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com 
<http://www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com>

www.NufSed.consulting <http://www.NufSed.consulting>


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Re: [Callers] Favorite relatively Modern ECD

[Alan Winston via Callers]

The Mendocino series has a giant band (which lately has included a bunch 
of people young enough that their parents have to bring them, and then 
stay and sometimes dance).  The band rehearses; they're willing to learn 
three or four new tunes for an evening, and the organizer will give you 
a list of stuff recently called and stuff the band knows cold to swap in.


There are always some first timers, but in the last several years some 
of the regulars have started traveling to dance camps and English balls 
and they hold a ball rehearsal series.  The group who do that are 
dedicated English dancers who know all the figures and can do 
challenging dances.  They are not more than half the people at the 
dance; they are public-spirited and try to dance with first-timers.


I'd say that for this dance you're looking for mostly pretty easy dances 
with some intermediate ones.  You might have to workshop double figure 
eights or heys.  There's also a strong tendency for attendance to drop 
off after the break.  Look for dances with strong flow!



For these purposes, I like

Easter Morn

When Laura Smiiles


On 12/10/16 11:21 AM, Erik Hoffman via Callers wrote:

As per my request for modern English dances, I don't mind collecting any few dances 
that people really like. But, for more info on the dance I'll be leading, it's the 
Mendocino, California, English dance. Having not been to it before, but knowing the 
organizers: Beth & Mickie Zekely, I think it's a dedicated English dance with 
dedicated English dancers. My suspicion is that Kalia and Alan Winston may know 
more about the dance than I, since they've both been there.

Again, Thanks for any help!
~Erik Hoffman
Oakland, CA

-Original Message-
From: Callers [mailto:callers-boun...@lists.sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of 
Kalia Kliban via Callers
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2016 9:47 AM
To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] Favorite relatively Modern ECD

On 12/9/2016 10:49 PM, Erik Hoffman via Callers wrote:

Hi All,

I'm going to lead an English dance in early February. I've led English
once or twice, and mostly stuck with The Playford Collection, and some
Pat Shaw dances. I wouldn't mind collecting a few more modern dances.

Please feel free to either post them to the list, or send to me directly:
   _erik@erikhoffman.com_ <mailto:e...@erikhoffman.com>

And, of course, please include the music.

Erik, can you specify what the group is like that you'll be calling for?
   Hardcore English dancers?  Mostly contra folks who are taking a walk on the 
wild side?  Brand-new dancers?  That will make a difference for the dances we 
can recommend.

Kalia

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[Callers] Another "does this easy dance exist already?" query

[Alan Winston via Callers]

This came to me earlier today and I don't seem to have it in my 
collection, although it seems so completely glossary-esque that it must 
be around.  I'm not sure it has any merit other than a pretty low piece 
count and a partner and neighbor swing; might work in a medley.  No 
place to stop and pull yourself together, but r over and back might 
suffice.


(I see that A1 and A2 are the start of Simplicity Swing, which is a 
better dance because it has a long lines moment of poise in it. Still 
curious if this is around.)



EASY START
Form:IC Figures:NBCL.75,PS;R,RWC,LHS:
Alan Winston 12-3-2016

A1: Neighbor Balance & Swing,
A2: circle left 3/4,
swing partners on the side of the set
B1: right and left thru over and back,
B2: Ladies chain (to neighbor),
left hand star and look for new neighbors).

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Wrist-Lock Stars

[Alan Winston via Callers]

go back far enough (1700s) and you get "moulinet" in French sources, 
"mill" in some English sources,f or what I'm pretty sure are 
hands-across stars.



-- Alan Winston


On 10/10/16 9:57 AM, Robert Livingston via Callers wrote:
Millstone or "windmill" - term I've seen used in print for older 
Canadian dances.


Bob Livingston



*From:* Angela DeCarlis via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net>
*To:* Jacob or Nancy Bloom <jandnbl...@gmail.com>
*Cc:* callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* Monday, October 10, 2016 12:45 PM
*Subject:* Re: [Callers] Wrist-Lock Stars

I've never heard "millstone" or "mill" before, but it sounds like it 
has precedence. My guess is that it was (is?) a useful term at dances 
where hands-across stars are default. Since that isn't generally the 
case in many places any longer, it makes sense that "hands-across" has 
become the more useful modifier.


On Oct 10, 2016 11:37 AM, "Jacob or Nancy Bloom via Callers" 
<callers@lists.sharedweight.net 
<mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:


When I attended the Berea Christmas Dance School forty years ago,
and put my hand on the wrist in front of me during a walk through,
someone complained, saying, "He said a star, not a mill!"

Is the term "mill", or the term "millstone", commonly used to
refer to wrist stars in areas where hands-across is the default
way of doing a star?

Jacob Bloom


On Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 10:29 AM, Jerome Grisanti via Callers
<callers@lists.sharedweight. net
<mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:

I agree with Chet that Louisville's default star is
hands-across, although weekend festivals in nearby cities tend
toward the millstone star. I avoid the terms wrist-lock or
even wrist-grip star, as I prefer the fingers to lay atop the
adjoining wrist without using the thumb to "grip" in any way.

The Midwest where I dance/call now is pretty solidly
wrist-star territory (St. Louis, Columbia MO, Kansas City,
Lawrence). When I call one-night events (parties, weddings), I
dictate hands-across stars, but when calling for an
established contra community I ask for the default.

--Jerome


Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com <http://www.jeromegrisanti.com/>

"Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has
genius and power and magic in it." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

On Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 3:31 AM, John Sweeney via Callers
<call...@lists.sharedweight.ne t
<mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:

Hi all,
I have been to contra dances and festivals all
over America and
everywhere I have danced everyone automatically uses a
wrist-lock star
(unless the caller has specified hands-across because of
the subsequent
choreography).

But I am constantly challenged in England by
people claiming that
wrist-lock stars are not the standard in America.

When I go to somewhere like The Flurry and see 600
people from all
over the country all doing wrist-locks it seems to me that
it must be the
standard way of doing things.

And obviously it has been common in America for a
long time; this
video is from 1964 in Northern Vermont and shows
wrist-lock stars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=pZubTju7g_s
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZubTju7g_s>

So, are there still significant communities that
don't use
wrist-locks?

Is the wrist-lock the de facto standard?

Thanks.

Happy dancing,
   John

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



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Re: [Callers] Yet another "Anyone seen this dance?"

[Alan Winston via Callers]

If you call it tonight, I suspect some dancers will have some trouble 
with the circle left all the way around the second and subsequent times 
through.


But let us know how it goes!

-- Alan


On 9/24/16 2:39 PM, Ric Goldman - Letsdance via Callers wrote:


Hi folks,

I was thinking about dances for tonite’s gig and this sequence came 
together in my heard.  I figure someone must’ve come up with it before 
me.  Anyone recognize it?


A1   Circle L 1x

Nbr swing, end facing down

A2   Down hall, turn alone

Come back, bend line

B1   Balance ring, petronella

Ptnr swing

B2   Circle L ¾

Balance ring, California Twirl

Thanx, Ric Goldman



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Re: [Callers] Amy Cann

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Claire:


(1) Buy this book: 
https://smile.amazon.com/Step-Lively-Book-Marian-Rose/dp/0968756905?sa-no-redirect=1


(2) Consider buying this book:

https://smile.amazon.com/Alabama-Gal-No-Fail-Singing-Children/dp/1579998429/ref=sr_1_1?s=books=UTF8=1473626812=1-1=new+england+dancing+masters

(3) Check out this web page and consider the items marked as difficulty "1".
http://barndances.org.uk/

(4) View archives of the callers list at
http://lists.sharedweight.net/pipermail/callers-sharedweight.net/

-- Alan

On 9/11/16 1:43 PM, Claire Takemori via Callers wrote:

Hi Amy and all,

I’m a new family dance (and contra) caller.  I’d love to see your new 
inspired program, as I don’t have an archive of Shared Weight emails YET.


I’d love to hear about other folks favorite family/community dances? 
 (I know the Spiral, basic CL, CR, in/out,  Sasha, longways from a few 
books)


I get to call for our son’s nature class, which has preschool up to 
adults.  And it’s outside, WITHOUT amplification….
I also get to call at our local contra during the break, as we are a 
Sunday afternoon dance and families show up with kids!


Thanks for sharing!

Claire Takemori (Campbell CA)



On Sep 11, 2016, at 1:02 PM, via Callers 
> wrote:


Message: 1
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2016 17:14:48 -0400
From: Amy Cann via Callers >
To: "Caller's discussion list" >

Subject: [Callers] Just had to share this:
Message-ID:
>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

It's 5:00. At 7:30 tonight I'll be calling a dance for about 150 Putney
School teens freshly-returned from their Long Fall wilderness trips.
They'll be smelly and exuberant.

An hour ago at 4:00 I was planning my program and had a sudden wave of
"Gosh, I'm sick of my own material."

You know how it's easy to stick to the tried-and-true favorites you *know*
will work?

But once in a while your repertoire starts to feel like the pillowcase 
when

you've been stuck sick in bed for too long? You turn it over and over but
you can't find a fresh cool spot anymore?

So I went to my gmail  archive, typed in "circle mixer",
browsed a bunch of old threads, and am now going out the door freshly
invigorated.

What a vital, valuable,  inspiring community this is.

Thanks, all of you.

Amy



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Re: [Callers] On Balances, Box circulates, Allemandes, Circles & Timing

[Alan Winston via Callers]

On 8/23/16 8:10 PM, Don Veino via Callers wrote:
Following this logic, where an on-time arrival is essential out of a 
star it would be best to make it hands-across (H-A). In a H-A star, 
folks can use a similar arm angle adjustment to vary the star 
circumference (and resulting speed). Due to the configuration, there's 
less opportunity to gently* influence star speed with the pack 
saddle/hand-on-wrist form.


BTW, in dances featuring a star where a pair drop out I mention 
there's no need to shove your opposite away at disengagement - 
centrifugal force will gently take care of it once you let go of them. 
This is a curious bit which only seems to happen in this case - I've 
never received a parting shove when an "everybody" H-A star breaks up, 
but there's always someone in the line doing it in the drop out variant.


*
I find that a lot - maybe most - gents in the SF Bay Area will do a push 
off on dropping out of a hands-across star, and since I'm expecting it I 
kind of like it and offer a rigid-enough arm to be pushed off from.


On the other hand, it's a very small minority of gents who'll push off 
from a star promenade, and I wish it were more.  (There's a lot of 'em 
who'll just drop the allemande hand once they've picked up the lady 
they're promenading with, and then the figure is really, really 
unsatisfying.)


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Dolphin Heys in contra dances

[Alan Winston via Callers]

On 6/12/16 10:42 PM, Liz and Bill via Callers wrote:

Hi Luke,

There is a New Zealand connection. Do you know the origin of the move?
I suspect it comes from the Scottish country dance which was in honour of a 
dolphin named Pelorus Jack.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelorus_Jack
http://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/video/pelorus-jack.html


I was going to say more about this myself.  Yes, the dolphin hey name 
refers to "Pelorus Jack", although at about the same time (early-mid 
1990s).   Incidentally, "Pelorus Jack" was just one dance in a book by 
Barry Skelton which had multiple dances, including "Dancing Dolphins", 
which used the figure, which he seems to have called "tandem reels", 
although some people who publish cribs call them "alternating tandem reels."


Skelton got the figure from Barry Priddey's dance "The Flight of the 
Falcon".


Here's a nice rendition of "Flight of the Falcon".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdkMrxy4SHM

(Ignore the part where the guy is claiming that contra derives from 
Scottish dancing.)


In the Scottish content,the heys happen on the diagonal in a 
three-couple minor set, and it happens on one diagonal, then the other, 
so there are two heys.  The active couple go round all four corners 
(like flying around pylons).  It's huge fun.


By 1997 the move had been imported into English country dancing with 
Mary Devlin's dance "Halsway Manners" (after a dance camp at Halsway 
Manor in England), where the move is simplified somewhat by having it in 
the men's line and then in the women's line, rather than on the diagonal.


Since then it has appeared in various modern 'English' dances, including 
the Friendly/Sackett "Potter's Wheel" (who may have gotten it from the 
Scottish source, since they are also Scottish dancers/leaders), my own 
"Movement Afoot", and Christine Robb's "Sapphire Sea", and in all those 
cases it's a single hey and goes across the set.  ("Sapphire Sea" has a 
really clean entry into the hey and a great tune; it became the flavor 
of the month on ball programs in 2015 and 2016.)


WIthin the last few months I danced a dolphin hey in a contra dance to 
Yoyo Zhou's calling; I think it was his dance but I didn't write it down.


I wrote "Movement Afoot" at BACDS American Week in 2013; it's set to 
Steciak's Waltz, which I heard Larry Unger play there several times that 
week.  Contra dancers can readily do it and have enjoyed it when I've 
called it at "Trash English" night at that camp, but it probably 
wouldn't fit right into  a contra dance program.  Here it is anyway.  
(The tune is a very ethnic-sounding driving not-very-waltzy waltz):



MOVEMENT AFOOT
Alan Winston - thought of it at AmWeek, Jul 3, 2013
longways duple minor
Tune: "Steciaks" in waltz book II, by Larry Unger

A1: 1-2: Men set forward to women (boureeish, stamping optional)
3-4: Men fall back as women come forward
5-6: All turn single R
7-8: All RH turn halfway

A2: As above, with women leading.  Keep right hands ...

B1: 1-4: ... take left hands as well  for Clockwise half poussette 
(progressed)

5-8: contra-style Mad Robin (W1 and M2 through the middle first)

B2: 1-8: 1s acting as a unit, dolphin hey for three
 (M1 turns round coming out of the mad robin to give Left shoulder
 to M2, W1 takes the lead, giving right to M2 on the other side,
 M1 takes the lead to arrive progressed and proper.)


NOTE: Alan is agreeable to couple-dance style variations in the 
half-poussette,

and in general hopes for a spirit of flirtatious play.

Here's a version of the dance; I prefer it played much less politely and 
a bit faster, and I want the A1-2 to have the people who aren't going 
forward to hold their ground while their partners get right up in their 
faces, but this nonetheless gives some of the flavor.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLdxiy9k4y8

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Confirming Bookings - Best Practices?

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Most of the places I call which take out of town callers have Facebook 
pages, web pages, etc, and I check those.  Several of those places have 
a standardized reminder email *they* send to booked staff about a week 
before - "We are looking forward to ...".   (At Palo Alto Contra, while 
I book most of the staff, somebody else sends that email.)


[I once did book somebody way ahead of the booking cycle and then lose 
track, so it was a really good thing that person wrote me and said 
"don't see myself on the calendar; what's up?"  Since then have taken 
measures to be sure it doesn't happen again.  Had to apologize profusely 
and sincerely to everybody involved and then rebook one of them.]



If I haven't had separate confirmation I send them an "I'm really 
looking forward to ...  Has anything changed since the last time- same 
hall?" kind of email.


-- Alan


On 5/8/16 12:18 PM, Don Veino via Callers wrote:
What do folks do to ensure dance booking contacts remember that 
they've booked you?


I just had my second booking in a row in a certain geography forget 
that they had booked me. What's curious is that in both cases these 
dances approached me by email (I could understand it maybe if it were 
the other way around?), we had an exchange where we clarified the 
dates, etc. and confirmed we were all set. We agreed to connect again 
with any final questions on program, accommodation, etc. as we 
approached closer to the date. The first case turned out to be rather 
comical in their confusion - the second I can't figure out.


So, short of calling/emailing monthly, what do YOU do to ensure folks 
remember their booking commitment with you?


Thanks,
Don


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Re: [Callers] New dance?

[Alan Winston via Callers]

In fact, MacArthur was considered a potential Republican presidential 
candidate and made some speeches, but it didn't work out.  So he was a 
politician, too.


-- Alan


On 3/28/16 9:42 AM, James Saxe via Callers wrote:

This isn't exactly a case of naming a dance after a politician
(in the sense of someone seeking or holding elective government
office), but the description of "Monadnock Reel" in the syllabus
from the 2011 Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend includes the
following comment:

  Dudley [Laufman] added, "[Ralph] Page originally named the
  dance MacArthur's Reel after General Douglas MacArthur, but
  when the boys came home to Keene after the war, Ralph found
  that many of them did not share a love for the general. So
  he changed the name to Monadnock Reel."

--Jim

On Monday, March 28, 2016 9:41 AM, Ron Blechner via Callers 
 wrote:


Let me rephrase:
Is there a precedent for naming a dance after a living politician?



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Re: [Callers] Young Adult Rose

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Of course you're funning, but this gives me the chance to refer to an 
incident described in Herbert Asbury's book, "The French Quarter", where 
a riot broke out in c. 1800 New Orleans and someone was killed because 
of a conflict over whether to do American or French contradanses at a 
public ball.


--Alan


On 3/28/16 4:22 AM, Michael Fuerst via Callers wrote:
The incident that actually ignited the French Revolution was a group 
of dancers at a public dance in Paris  who insisted on a left 
allemande, despite the caller's pleas for a right allemande--much more 
mundane than the incident at Fort Sumter which ignited the United 
States' Civil War, or the assassination of Duke Ferdinand which 
ignited WWI.

Michael Fuerst  802 N Broadway  Urbana IL 61801  217 239 5844
Links to photos of many of my drawings and paintings are at 
www.ArtComesFuerst.com 





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Re: [Callers] Rates for private events (weddings etc)?

[Alan Winston via Callers]

First off, you're not charging for the number of minutes of dancing.  
You're charging for your experience, expertise, and skill, showing up on 
time and being ready to do it, waiting around as necessary, traveling if 
needed, being mellow if (when) things go over and your time is cut, etc.


What are you being asked to deliver for your fee?  Are they booking 
their own band and arranging their own sound?


For the wedding dance I just did in Berkeley - probably a comparable 
market to NYC - they provided sound, I organized a band for them, each 
band member and I were promised $300 for playing for the dance (and then 
a more for playing in the ceremony and some incidental music).  They 
actually paid me more than the agreed-upon amount, so I don't think they 
thought I was gouging.,


For a friend's wedding I might work free.

If you want to be paid appropriately, state your price and don't waver.  
If you want to get the gig regardless, ask them their budget and quote 
less than that.


When asked to arrange musicians I make it clear that I can't quote 
before I know who's available but state a range ($1000-$1500) and I also 
ask their budget and then adjust the number of musicians (two good ones 
is fine, three better) so we all get paid enough within their budget.


-- Alan

On 3/26/16 11:13 AM, Maia McCormick via Callers wrote:

Hey folks,

I've just been asked to call a wedding, and I don't have a good idea 
for what the going rate for these things is. What do you all charge 
for a wedding (say, 30 mins-an hour of dancing)? (And how might you 
adjust this rate for NYC?)


Thanks,
Maia


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Re: [Callers] Fw: Dances with multiple swings- Trinity?

[Alan Winston At Slac via Callers]

May the Fourth Be With You had three swings if I recall correctly. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 11, 2016, at 11:16 AM, Dave Casserly via Callers 
>  wrote:
> 
> Diagonal Discovery by Gene Hubert has two partner swings, separated by a half 
> hey in between (in addition to a neighbor swing).  I believe others have 
> subsequently incorporated the swing, half hey, swing sequence into their 
> dances, and those are likely to have three swings in them.  I can't think of 
> the names of any off the top of my head.
> 
>> On Fri, Mar 11, 2016 at 4:08 PM, Mac Mckeever via Callers 
>>  wrote:
>> CDS reel by Ted Senella - 3 swings including the progression that goes from 
>> neighbor swing direct to next neighbor swing
>> 
>> Billy Boyer's Got Nice Neighbors - has 3 swings but no swing to swing 
>> transition.
>> 
>> Mac McKeever
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> - Forwarded Message -
>> From: Lindsey Dono via Callers 
>> To: Callers List  
>> Sent: Friday, March 11, 2016 2:56 PM
>> Subject: [Callers] Dances with multiple swings- Trinity?
>> 
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> I'm in the process of sorting through old dance notes, and found this: 
>> "Trinity? triple swing, double progression, Al Olson." If this is an 
>> existing dance, does anyone have the choreography?
>> 
>> I'm also interested in finding other dances with more than two swings, 
>> especially swing-to-swing transitions.
>> I have:
>> Back from Vermont
>> String of Swings
>> CDS Reel
>> Meg's a Dancing Fool
>> Ten Strings Attached
>> Gang of Four
>> Naked in California
>> Alexander's Swingtime
>> 
>> Many thanks in advance!
>> Lindsey
>> (Tacoma, WA)
>> 
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Re: [Callers] Best gigs

[Alan Winston via Callers]

I would like to associate myself with Rich's sentiments here:
On 3/3/16 10:28 AM, Rich Sbardella via Callers wrote:
Although I have had many good nights as a square dance and/or contra 
dance caller, My best gigs are often one night stands/party dances.  
It is a thrill to see non dancers learn to move with the phtrase of 
music and see those great smiles when they succeed.  40-100 people are 
a good size for such a gig, and great music is always a plus.  Success 
is much more important than challenge.


Most of these parties are for a "community" that is already 
established, so the dancers are already among friends.  I am simply 
bringing them a new, and joyful, way to interact.


No matter what kind of venue I call, a good way for me to judge a good 
dance is to look at how many dancers stick around to the end.


Rich Sbardella
Stafford, CT

The kind of gig that makes me feel like I'm bringing new good into the 
world is this kind of gig, which for me is usually more often people 
with some kind of historical interest (Civil War, Regency, academics at 
the Dickens Universe conference).  Get people who think they can't dance 
to try it and enjoy it - I feel like that's fulfilling my mission.


That's sometimes hard work - and in some ways easy, because you don't 
have to make up a new program for every gig - and it requires close 
engagement with the crowd and continual attention, but is' quite rewarding.


On an entirely different front, I've had some pretty great nights 
leading English with great bands whose strengths I know when I make the 
program / pick the tunes and when I know what level the dancers will be 
at and push them just enough; there's a huge collective high and I've 
also gotten to deploy all my artistic judgment and make an evening 
that's just how I wanted it - I had the fun of planning a menu with an 
intention to delight and watching the meal get eaten.


I've also really enjoyed leading contras for mixed crowds where the more 
experienced dancers were good at sweeping in the newcomers. Doing that 
kind of a night where the music's good and communication with the band 
is easy and my read of the floor is really working - it kind of feels 
like Mickey Mouse in "Sorceror's Apprentice" before he realizes he 
doesn't know how to stop the brooms from carrying water, during the 
early euphoria.


But those things - dances for dance hobbyists - while I think valuable, 
are mostly helping people have a kind of fun they already know they want 
to have.  They're fun to do and fun to plan, but I don't think they're 
as big a contribution to general happiness as the dances for non-dancers.


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Family dances for 3-9 people?

[Alan Winston via Callers]

This has worked for me:

3 or 4 couples longways.  Try to get talls and smalls mixed in each line 
but partners are across from each other.



A1 1-4 Lines go forward and back.
 5-8 Link arms in line and as a unit, pass left shoulder (bottom 
person in one line, top in the other)  and wheel around to face in in 
the other line's place.


A2 repeat to home

B1 Top couple freestyle their way down the middle and back - tell em 
they can dance together any way they want - and peel off to the bottom


B2: Everyone else steps up and swings their partner.

There's enough flex in B2 to make up for any confusion in B1.  I've done 
this for slightly-drunk Civil War reenactors and for 
mostly-11-year-olds.  I designed it for three-face-three but it works 
with four face four.


Feel free to change B1 to two-hand turn and cast off, or lace-the-boot 
to the bottom.


You need to run it at least twice because people want another chance at 
the showoffy part.


I don't have a title for this but I made it up (because I needed 
something right then) at a Firefly-themed birthday party a week after 
being inspired by Susan Michaels's brief family dance seminar at Queer 
Contra weekend, so I could call it "Firefly Jig", "Susan's Reel".  I 
swiped the forward and back and march and wheel from a three-face-three 
Sicilian called "Three Meet" so there might be a name choice there.


This one probably needs 11-year-old or older, and a band that can play 
"Sellenger's Round".

$DISK9:[WINSTON.TEXT.DANCES.APW]SELLENGERS_WHEEL.TXT;2

SELLENGER'S WHEEL
Alan Winston, 11/16/2003
cut-down version of Sellenger's Round for 3-7 people, no partners needed.
Formation: circle of people facing in
Tune in Barnes, 5x.

I:
A:  Slipping circle (*really* slipping)  left and back to the right.

B:  Chorus (same each time).
Set forward right and left
fall back straight
still facing in, set right and left
turn single
Repeat

II:

A:  Lead into the center and back
Repeat

B: As above

III:

A: right hand star (contra style wrist grip keeps you from having a mess)
   left hands back

B: As above


IV:

A: Basket left and _keep going_, not back to the right.

B: As above

(Finish with slipping circle again, but if you're repeating don't do 
slipping

circle twice in a row - it's lame).



Hope this helps!

-- Alan




On 2/18/16 10:52 PM, Claire Takemori via Callers wrote:

Hi Everyone,
In preparation for calling my first family dance on March 6, I’d like to find 
some family-friendly dances that are for very small groups, like 3-9 people.
Ideally NOT proper triplets, or 3x3s (already have a few of those) and NO 
gender roles.

I’ve got a good collection of simple dances for 10++ people, circles, lines, 
etc.
I’m preparing for a crowd of up to 100 but if it dwindles down to 1-2 families 
or starts slow, I’d like something for small groups too.

Thanks!
Claire Takemori

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Re: [Callers] As in Petronella

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Martha --

I believe "Double Mad Robin" in ECD is a reimportation from contra of 
the contra-style Mad Robin.


-- Alan

On 12/17/15 7:42 AM, Martha Wild via Callers wrote:

Hear, hear, John. I agree with you. I’ve heard this move called "petronella turn" at 
least since the late 80s and, as you do, just call it as such, and teach where necessary, without a 
reference to the original dance. Why bother? Most dancers don’t know the original dance - now if I 
were teaching the original dance I might say this is where this move came from, but otherwise that 
information is just unnecessary verbiage that no one is listening to and doesn’t help in the 
teaching. If I were calling a medley without teaching, saying "petronella turn" would get 
the job done as that’s what the dancers here all know, and balance and spin would confuse utterly, 
for the reasons you  mentioned. What is wrong with using “mad robin” and “petronella”? It’s not as 
if we have 200 different calls people need to know to do contra - these have been in use regularly 
for many years now and I don’t quite understand what the fuss is all about.

Also, as for “mad robin” not being the same as the ECD version - well, yes and 
no. What we do is “double mad robin” and that does exist in ECD, though I’m not 
sure how old the usage is. Contra just doesn’t use the single version, so I 
suppose we dropped the “double” designation.
Martha



On Dec 17, 2015, at 2:29 AM, John Sweeney via Callers 
 wrote:

Michael Fuerst wrote, "'Balance and spin' has the same number of syllables
as 'Petronella' and avoids unnecessary jargon"

Hmmm... well if someone says "Petronella" I know that I am balancing forward
and back and then spinning clockwise while moving one place to my right to
the place of the person who was holding my right hand.

If the caller just says "Balance & Spin" then I don't know which direction
to balance, which way to turn or which way to move (if indeed I move at
all).  Set & Turn Single has basically the same meaning as Balance & Spin
but means something completely different.

I never say "as in Petronella".  The move is well enough established in
contra dance that all I have to do is say, "Petronella" and it happens.  If
there are new dancers I teach them the move, call it a Petronella, and
everything works fine from then on.

And we have been clapping for fun in dances for over 400 years now so don't
expect people not to do it! :-)

Our dancing couldn't survive without jargon.  Star. Ladies' Chain,
Allemande, Dosido are all jargon.  Would you try calling a contra dance
without using any of those words?

But none of those words are well defined.  Star can mean wrist-lock or
hands-across depending on the next move.  Ladies' Chain can mean across, or
across and back depending on which century you are in.  Allemande means
completely different things in other dance styles. And Dosido could be a
Mountain Dosido, a Do Paso, an Alabama Rang Tang or a Docey Ding if you are
in a different part of America a century ago.

I was dancing with another Morris side recently and #1 (the "caller") called
"Allemande".  I had never heard that term used in Morris before so I started
to offer my right hand, but the guy opposite me started doing a Back to Back
around me.  That is what #1 meant by "Allemande".  I thought this very
strange until I was researching "Captain Macintosh" and found Thomas
Wilson's 1820 book "The Complete System of English Country Dancing" which
defined "Allemande" as "Back to Back"!

Every dancing master in every community in every style in every period in
every country uses the words to mean what they want them to mean.  But they
teach their dancers what they mean and then it works.  Some calls get
standardised and are easy to use across communities.  Others take time to
settle down and may never be universally used.  But if jargon allows a group
of dancers to have fun at any particular dance then I am all for it!

Whether complete standardisation is a good thing or a bad thing is another
matter entirely; we all have our own opinions about MWSD :-)

Happy dancing,
John

John Sweeney, Dancer, England j...@modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent

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Re: [Callers] As in Petronella

[Alan Winston via Callers]

I use "Mad Robin" because that's what people use around here, but I 
kinda like "sliding doors" for the figure.


-- Alan

On 12/15/15 10:20 PM, Michael Fuerst via Callers wrote:
Movements are best described with the minimal syllables possible with 
minimal  jargon.


"Mad Robin" became part of contra in the last ten years or so.   
Unless someone comes up with more succinct and descriptive words, we 
are probably stuck with "Mad Robin"
Actually now that I think about it, one could describe the Mad Robin 
action as "side gypsy"


"California twirl"  predates my 1985 introduction to contra. One 
could say "twirl to swap," but that is not any more helpful for new 
dancers.  California twirl is here to stay.


Concerning "petromella"  when I started contra dancing, callers 
teaching a dance, would almost always say something like "balance and 
shift one place and spin if you wish as in Petromella"  and would 
prompt during the dance with "balance and spin" or "balance and 
shift."In the mid '80's we actually danced "Petronella" often 
enough so that most dancers knew from where it came.Only in the 
past ten years has some callers started calling the move Petronella.   
  I will always teach and prompt this without reference to 
"Petronella" and avoid the unnecessary jargon


There is no compelling reason to stop using gypsy.
Michael Fuerst  802 N Broadway  Urbana IL 61801  217 239 5844
Links to photos of many of my drawings and paintings are at 
www.ArtComesFuerst.com




On Tuesday, December 15, 2015 8:54 PM, Aahz Maruch via Callers 
 wrote:



On Tue, Dec 15, 2015, Michael Fuerst via Callers wrote:
>
> "Balance and spin" has the same number of syllables as "Petronella"
> and avoids unnecessary jargon

Of course, some of us think that unless there's a compelling reason (as
possibly in the case of "gypsy"), keeping the old terminology is part of
the charm of folk dancing (in the generic sense, as opposed to IFD).

Should we also get rid of "California Twirl" and "Mad Robin"?
--
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
  <*>  <*> <*>
Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html

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Re: [Callers] Gypsy Synopsis

[Alan Winston via Callers]

On 10/29/15 2:45 AM, Jeff Kaufman via Callers wrote:


On Oct 29, 2015 4:24 AM, "Erik Hoffman via Callers" 
> wrote:

>
>
> No Hand Allemande (and I do think Allemande comes from "The 
German," a dance)

>

I wonder what we'll do if we discover that to some Germans the French 
term "Allemande" is derogatory and they prefer to be called "Deutsche".



Given that "allemande" is an incredibly-overloaded term in different 
dance genres - it's a progressive figure for two or three couples in 
Scottish dancing; it's a kind of 1700s couple dance; it's a 
pretzel-armed turn in cotillions, it's a 
not-100%-clearly-understood-thing-with-a-circular-track in Regency-era 
longways dances, it's an elbow turn, it's a hand turn - it wouldn't ruin 
my life if we started saying "hand turn" instead of "allemande".


Just sayin'.   (Although I would miss "allemande left with your left 
hand, walk right in to a right and left grand" and the allemande alphabet.)


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Advice about "gypsy"

[Alan Winston via Callers]

On 10/26/15 7:36 AM, Colin Hume via Callers wrote:

Well, now we've moved on from political correctness to dance interpretation 
(reconstruction) I have some interest in the matter.

On Mon, 26 Oct 2015 01:40:18 -0700, Alan Winston via Callers wrote:

�Basically, Cecil Sharp made up *and named* the Gypsy figure.

Are you sure he didn't get it from the Morris dancers he collected the dances 
from?

I always enjoy it when somebody says: "I'm comprehensively wrong but my 
point still stands."  So, I'm comprehensively wrong:


- Sharp didn't use the term gypsy in the Country Dance Books, and now I 
don't even know how we started using it as a country dance figure name.


- I didn't know morris dancers used "gypsy" rather than "gyp", as you 
say on the web page.  (This isn't even evidence, really, but in my 20+ 
years dancing morris in the US I never heard "gypsy" rather than "gyp" 
or "gip".)  (In my long screed earlier, I did say that I thought Sharp 
(or whoever) probably got it from morris.)


But my point still stands:

Defining "gypsy" as a country dance figure is an act of imagination or 
creation.  (That's what I meant by "made up".)  Unless you can present a 
historical country dance source that uses the figure by name, there's no 
reason to think that the figure was called that, or that the figure name 
was in common use, which makes it a considerable stretch that it 
contemporaneously picked up the name from the Spanish Jeepsie dance, and 
that would seem to make it vanishingly unlikely that morris dancers 
picked up the name from country dancing.




�In Spanish Jeepsie - reconstructed at the link you have above- the
�figure isn't a gypsy, and it isn't called a gypsy. �It's a back to
�back.

That's their interpretation, but I'm not sure it's correct.

I've been working on a web page about this figure, and the discussion has 
inspired me to do more to it.  See what you think.

http://colinhume.com/degipsy.htm

Interesting, as always.  (I did acknowledge in my long screed that there 
were multiple interpretations of the text that's being considered to be 
a gypsy.)


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Advice about "gypsy"

[Alan Winston via Callers]

On 10/24/15 12:12 AM, Amy Wimmer via Callers wrote:

Hello All,

I taught a dance this evening that included a ladies' gypsy. I 
received the email below a few minutes ago. In teaching it I wanted to 
convey that it is a flirty, eye contact sort of move. This person was 
obviously offended. I am at a loss for how to respond, except to 
apologize for offending.


I'm pretty sure I described the move accurately. I meant absolutely no 
offense. I didn't make up the name for the move, but don't want to 
make excuses. Does this move need a new name? How would you respond?



I think apologizing for unintentionally offending is good but I don't 
think you have to take on all of what your correspondent is offended over.


Your correspondent made up the idea that it's so named because of the 
idea that Romani women are oversexualized.


 Here's my take on this:

- the use of the term "Gypsy" is inherently offensive to some of the 
people to whom it refers in just the way the use of the term "Indian" is 
inherently offensive to some Native Americans.  It's a name they don't 
accept (a) because it incorrectly ascribes an incorrect geographical 
origin to them (Egyptian for Gypsies, India (well, East Indies) for 
Indians) and (b) was assigned to them by outsiders and became the terms 
used for them by people who wanted to move them along / kill them.   
(Although the term the Nazis used, Zigeuner, derives from a Greek root 
meaning "untouchable" rather than "Egyptian", according to the US 
Holocaust Museum website.)


- The term "Indian File" for walking in a line, one after another, 
doesn't suggest anything particularly derogatory about Native Americans; 
I think it's an observation or speculation that the way East Coast 
(forest-dwelling) indigenous people walked through forests on minimal 
trails was in single file.  We can point out that white society thinks 
there are many admirable things about native peoples - the whole "Indian 
Guides" thing shows that - and that the use of the world "Indian" in 
that isn't intended to be offensive, etc, etc, and yet the obviously 
right thing to do was to start saying "single file" instead, because the 
benefits of not pointlessly offending people vastly outweighed the 
benefits of continuing to use a non-descriptive term.  It's virtually 
never effective and rarely kind to tell people they shouldn't be offended.


- By me, the same logic suggests that we should stop calling the figure 
gypsy.  We can go at length into why it's not named after Gypsies, why 
"Gypsy" is a superset name that includes Rom and other traveling people, 
some of whom don't mind it, the use of gypsy to mean "traveler" (from 
which dance gypsy, Gypsy moth, etc, derive), the admiring use of gypsy 
to mean free spirit ("gypsy in my soul"), etc, but none of that actually 
matters in this context.  What actual benefit do we derive from calling 
it "gypsy", other than the sunk cost of having a community of people who 
know it by that name?  It's not descriptive.  (It is evocative and we 
have a bunch of dances with "gypsy" in the name; not sure what to do 
about those.)


(I had been thinking that it would be very difficult to get a universal 
change of name for the figure in the absence of a Callerlab for Contra, 
but Yoyo's post (where he says he'll  just drop the name and prompt by 
which shoulder you go around) opened my eyes to the possibility of 
effective individual action by callers; you don't need universal 
agreement on a new name.  That does open the door to a dancer on the 
floor saying "you mean gypsy?" but I guess you can say "that name is 
offensive to some people".)  I'm going to have to think more about this 
for my own practice as an English and a contra caller.


- I'm personally interested in the history of things and how they got 
their names, and I'm convinced that gypsy in contra was picked up from 
gypsy in English which was picked up from "whole-gyp" and "half-gyp" in 
Morris and that there's not necessarily any relationship of the name to 
any group of people in origin, and I do not believe that in  naming the 
figure anybody was saying anything about the stereotypical 
characteristics of any people.  I really, with all the intellectual 
honesty I have available, don't believe that.  (And I've heard different 
stereotypical characteristics assumed to be the origin - sexuality, 
untrustworthiness, tendency to do non-touching dances, so I think these 
are all just-so stories, ex post facto rationalizations.)  I don't think 
this blameless origin is a reason to keep the name, and I know it's 
absolutely ineffective to point out the blameless origin to somebody 
who's offended.


That's the end of my argument, but I have more thoughts.

- This is different from people who are offended by callers who 
sexualize the figure, which they could do whatever it's called.  I don't 
mind gypsy meltdowns, but  I find "until you just can't stand it 
anymore" kinda tedious; let's just walk 

Re: [Callers] other descriptive titles for ONS's

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Depends on what kind of thing it is, but:

Community Dance
Family Dance
No-experience-needed dance
Dance for Everybody
Community Dance Party

(And although I don't advocate it, a bunch of people in the world seem 
to think "Square Dance" means this.)


-- Alan

On 9/22/15 12:52 PM, Hulsether Sue via Callers wrote:

Greetings all,

I know this has been discussed before, but I am gathering a list of 
descriptive titles for
one-night-stand dances.  Especially looking titles that work in 
describing in a way that would be acceptable and understandable to the 
people organizing these events.  (i.e. Do they really want their event 
to be called a one night stand? )


Here's a start:
One-shot-deal
Barn Dances
Special Event dances
One-off.

Anyone have any more?

sue




/*Sue Hulsether*/
shulset...@mac.com 

www.suehulsether.com 
608-632-1267  Cell
608-629-6250  Home
P.O. Box 363
Viroqua, WI 54665







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Re: [Callers] Problem dancers / Crying Wolf

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Here's the thing:

 - There really is harassment, creepy behavior, etc.
 - There really are cases where third parties see those  things and 
they aren't actually there in the eyes of the perceived victim


 So organizers have to keep their eyes open and review things on a case 
by case basis.  Because one organizer has seen unjustified third-party 
charges of harrassment doesn't mean this particular case is one of 
those; because another organizer can multiply real examples of 
unacceptable behavior doesn't mean this particular case is one of them.


It doesn't, in my view, help discourse to tell people who have real 
experiences on one side or the other of that that they're not taking the 
situation seriously enough / taking the situation too seriously and, 
implicitly, that your experiences trump their experiences.


-- Alan



On 9/9/15 1:44 PM, Ron Blechner via Callers wrote:


Harassment is real. It's widespread, and pretending it isn't hurts 
people and keeps people away from our dances.


Things I have personally witnessed, and when subsequently asked the 
dancer whether anything was unusual, they confirmed:


One dancer has a habit of grabbing hip *just* at the butt-line. One of 
the young women was 15.


Another dancer intentionally threw a quarter on the ground in front of 
a young 20-something lady. I watched in horror as she bent over and 
picked it up as he leered.


One dancer did a frontways dip to a 20-something lady which included 
torso-torso frontal contact. No permission was asked.


Another dancer came in drunk / high and was dancing wild.

Another dancer has a habit of intentionally shoulder-checked men who 
have called him out on his creepiness.


Another dancer was swinging way too close. Turns out he was following 
a minor around and asking completely inappropriate questions.


And I have more of these stories. Seriously, the list goes on and on.

I've been dancing far fewer years than many on this list, and danced 
at many different dances - this isn't limited to one dance community. 
And these are just the stories I've verified.

So are all of your eyes closed?

So... Yeah. I absolutely think that we should keep our eyes open. I 
think we should calmly and privately inquire when we think we see 
inappropriate behavior. We should be absolutely receptive that 
sometimes behavior is seen and a victim is too afraid to step forward 
on their own.


And we should stop with such flippant and potentially dangerous 
phrases like "crying wolf" or that people need to just grow up and 
"act like an adult" because bad stuff happens.


On Sep 9, 2015 4:04 PM, "Martha Wild via Callers" 
> wrote:


Yeah, we had a guy at one dance complain bitterly that other men
were being creepy with his girlfriend. But when I spoke with her,
she said there was no problem, they'd done no more than gypsy and
swing her and occasionally speak to her with advice on the dance.
The more I spoke with the two of them the more I wanted to yell at
the woman - run fast, very fast, as far away from this control
freak as you can But I suppose it was not my place to warn her
right in front of him. No surprise they never returned.

Martha


On Sep 9, 2015, at 7:39 AM, Lindsay Morris via Callers wrote:


Appreciate that.  Don't think the "where there's smoke there's
fire" issue applies here, though.  It would if there were several
*different* women complaining about one man...


Lindsay Morris
CEO, TSMworks
Tel. 1-859-539-9900 
lind...@tsmworks.com 

On Wed, Sep 9, 2015 at 10:34 AM, Ron Blechner
> wrote:

Hi Lindsay,

I realize this is a tricky topic, so apologies in advance if
my brevity comes off as bruskness.

These two suggestions work for Amherst Contra.

As a proxy complaint comes in, a board member would seek out
the source. Anonymous complaints are permitted, and a high
level of ensuring that we ask open-ended questions, and not
leading questions.

We also wear board member buttons at dances and make regular
announcements about us being available for any reason.
Usually 4-7 members of our board attend any dance.

You might speak privately to Will Loving, our lead organizer,
if you're interested in more specifics.

I would also caution about making such definitive statements
as "just an accusation". In my experience, where there's
smoke, there's fire. For every accusation, there's five
people who are too uncomfortable to speak up.

That said, I have seen the success of proactive addressing of
issues. The biggest benefit is simple:

Address it early when it's small, and not a huge deal. Maybe
it's a 

Re: [Callers] Amy dances

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Amy's Harmonium, by Cary Ravitz.  (Just called that in Petaluma, to good 
effect.)

http://www.dance.ravitz.us/#ah


Amy Asked for a Gypsy  (which I must have gotten off this mailing list 
at some point):



Amy Asked for a Gypsy
by Unknown
Contra/Becket-CCW

Form:BK Figs: WC,WAR1.5;PGCL.75,NS;MAL1.5,STARP,SlideL;

A1 ---
(8) Ladies chain (to N)
(8) Ladies allemande Right 1-1/2

A2 ---
(16) Partner gypsy and swing

B1 ---
(8) Circle Left 3/4
(10) Neighbor swing

B2 ---
(8) Gents allemande Left 1-1/2 (pick up Partner)
(6,2) Star promenade / slide right to face new couple

-- Alan

On 9/8/15 10:08 PM, Andrea Nettleton via Callers wrote:

Hi friends,
I'm calling at my home dance this weekend, and my good friend Amy let me know 
it's her birthday.  I want to call some dances with Amy in the title to honor 
her.  Could you please share any Amy titled dances with me?  Include 
instructions if you have them, so I don't have to hunt around.
Amy and I thank you,
Andrea N.
Atlanta


Sent from my iPad
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Re: [Callers] Thanks

[Alan Winston via Callers]

On 7/9/15 11:58 PM, Claire Takemori via Callers wrote:


I'm still looking for good instructions on when to cue the band for the ending? 
  Is it simply when a couple is out at the top that you signal during B1 that 
there are 3 more times left?

Basically, mostly.

And you have to stay with them because sometimes they'll catch the 3, 
know it's happening, and then look to you for confirmation of the last 
one and if you're thinking about the next dance or glazing over and 
can't confirm it, confusion may ensue.  So it doesn't hurt to be ready 
to show them 1 finger (not that one) before the last time. Usually a 
full 3-2-1 is more than they need and actually unhelpful because your 
coming over with the "2" makes them think this is new information and 
they need to process it.



Complications:  Some dances have a couple out at the top in B1 who are 
going to be brought back in B2, so you have to know the end effects of 
the dance.


Talk to the band.

Rarely (in the Bay Area, anyway) you get an old-timey band that's just 
going to pound one tune all the way through, and they just want to know 
when to go out.


I've mostly been used to bands that are playing three-tune medleys. 
They're going to play like 6-6-7 or 6-6-5.  The last tune is probably 
climactic so you don't want to cut it short.  You ideally will keep 
track of which tune they're on (which can be surprisingly hard to do 
from the stage with your attention on the floor and no monitors pointing 
at you and the tune sounding different every time they play it because 
of variations and dynamics - you might not realize they've changed)  and 
know when they're in the third tune and give them the 3-more at B1 of 
tune 2 or 4.If you give 'em 3 when they're about to change tunes 
they might wave you off and play 5.


But the band might want to play a two-tune medley, and then they want to 
know when you're (about) halfway through the dance so they know when to 
switch, and for that you have to decide how many times you want to run 
the dance, keep count of how many times it's been run by the time you 
said it was halfway, and count down to your "3", remembering to do it 
when there's a couple out at the top, if that's possible.


"If that's possible" because sometimes you're trying to manage all this 
and some couple drops out of one set or tries and fails to trade or some 
other damn thing and the sets get out of synch.  (For some reason that's 
happened to me most often calling Lake City.) Then it's not possible to 
finish after a couple has come in at the top in all sets.


People who care about that care about that,  most won't notice, and a 
lot of dancers will just say "huh" and move on if they do notice it.


  
  
What I was mostly curious is if someone had written out ways to teach the various steps.  I guess this is one of those things that is still passed down the old-fashioned way.  I have to find a great caller, listen to them call and write down what they say.  I was hoping I would not have to miss out on dancing to learn this.


You can set up a voice recorder and transcribe later.  (Polite to ask if 
it's okay first.)  If you're friends with the sound man you might the 
caller mic feed ...


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Dances for Novice Crowds

[Alan Winston via Callers]

On 5/19/15 1:08 PM, Ben Hornstein via Callers wrote:

Hi All,

I'm calling a dance this weekend at Comicpalooza, a large comic book 
convention. The crowd will be at least 95% people who have never 
danced. What are some dances that you all recommend for this sort of 
crowd?


-Ben




If you're in a hotel ballroom, try to keep them from laying down a tiny 
dance floor in the middle of your space.  Short-pile ballroom carpet is 
a lot better than mostly-short-pile-ballroom-carpet with a wooden lump 
with raised edges in the middle. Dancers hate dancing on carpet; 
non-dancers don't care.  They're going to have the wrong shoes in any case.


Give up on any idea of doing modern contra dances with duple minor 
progression.  Things are different form when I first got involved with 
sf fandom, but I'm imagining you'll likely have a gender imbalance.  
Don't require or try to teach ballroom swings; elbow turns or two-hand 
turns are probably good.


These will typically be very in-their-heads people; you want to 
circumvent that at first by getting them moving right away, and not 
having to do any language processing.  Make them successful immediately.


Get one long line of people holding hands, you at one end.  Lead the 
line snaking around the room, doubling back sometimes so that everybody 
sees everybody.   Wind up the ball of twine by bringing the line into a 
circle and then doing progressively smaller circles until just before 
you can't turn around.  Turn around and trace your path back.  Bring the 
line around into a big circle, with you next to the person at the end of 
the line.  Bring them into the center and back on out, do it again with 
a great big shout.  Applause.


(If you have adequate gender balance or willing people, you could pair 
them up and do a Grand March instead of the "wind up the ball of twine" 
you have above, and if you're leading a Grand March you can turn it into 
a wind-up-the-ball-of-twine as well.  The thing above is great for 
getting hold of people too shy to find partners, and there's no partner 
stuff so even people who don't want to dance with the same sex don't 
generally freak out.)


If you have partners, do Circassian Circle mixer (Into the center and 
out twice, ladies in and out, gents in and go to the lady who was on 
their other side (next neighbor); balance and swing (can be two-hand 
turn, elbow swing, whatever) and promenade.  Reform the ring, repeat) or 
La Bastringue (Into the center and out twice, circle left, circle right, 
swing the next lady/gent, promenade).


Squish the circle into two facing lines.  (If there's an extra person, 
step out, if you're needed make sure you're in at the top.)


Orcadian Strip the Willow (google it).  Top couple elbow turn right one 
and a half, left elbow turn the neighbor in line, turn partner once, 
left elbow turn the next neighbor, etc, etc.  A new couple starts every 
16 bars of music or when they have enough running room to do it.


Break up into smaller sets (four or five couples).  Virginia Reel/Roger 
de Coverley.


Another good five-couple set dance is "Up the Sides and Down the 
Middle", but don't do it as your first small set dance. - Take hands in 
lines, step-swing balance  right and left and right and left, drop 
hands, cross right should with partner and loop to make lines on the 
other sides. Repeat all that to return.  Tops make an arch and lead down 
the middle while second couples cast off, leading their lines down the 
outside; they meet and lead up the middle under the arch, finishing with 
original tops at the bottom, original seconds at the tops.  Swing to the 
end of the phrase and repeat from new places.


By this time everybody who isn't aerobically fit is resting.  Make 
squares for Cumberland Squares / Square 8.


By now there should be some understanding of phrasing, especially if 
you've been pointing out how figures fit to the music.


If you still have enough people and they are are reasonably gender 
assorted you could do a Sicilian Circle.  If you have gender balance, 
Spanish Waltz is good.  (Couple facing couple, gent on the left, waltz 
time.  Take near hand with partner.  That hand (gent's left, ladies 
right) is the only hand used for the first sixteen bars.
Balance forward and back; take neighbor's only hand with your only hand 
and change places, turning the lady under.  Face partner, repeat with 
partner.  Face neighbor, repeat with neighbor.  Face partner, repeat 
with partner, all are home.  Right hand star, left hands back.  Facing 
neighbors, lead forward, fall back, drop hands, pass through, bow or 
curtsey to next neighbors.  Repeat with new neighbors.)


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Irish Contra Dances

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Don --

I think you should ask the organizers what they have in mind.  Have they 
booked an Irish band?  They might be perfectly happy with a regular 
contra program to Irish tunes, which is what I'd hope it would be.  What 
audience are they aiming for?  (If it's at the Irish Cultural Center for 
people who do Irish set or ceili dancing, that's kind of a different 
story than if it's intended for contra dancers or the general public.)


There are longways duple Irish dances (they call'em "long dances"), but 
in my limited experience they don't have ballroom swings and might be 
disappointing to any contra dancers who show up.


If you really want Irish dances in contra-ish formations:

http://www.bernards.cz/gallery/file/Ar-Rinci-Foirne.pdf

There are several Long Dances described in here.

Walls of Limerick (duple improper)
Siege of Ennis (4x4)
Harvest-Time Jig (3x3)
Rince Fada (duple proper)
Bridge of Athlone (same)
Haste to the Wedding
Siege of Carrick
Antrim Reel
Waves of Tory (whole set dance with 1s and 2s)
Rakes of Mallow (3x3)

-- Alan


On 4/3/15 5:13 AM, Don Heinold via Callers wrote:

Hi SharedWeight callers & friends

I'm a caller from RI and am fairly new to this site. I have been 
enjoying the informational posts on the many different issues that 
involve present day and past contra dancing.


In April I have been asked to call at what is being billed as an 
"Irish Contra Dance". Contra dancing as I know has its roots in New 
England and before that in English Country Dancing and French Court 
Dances. Unfortunately I only know one Irish contra Dance that is used 
at some beginner contra dances - "The Sweets of May". Are there others 
that have been tailored to the set style of contra dancing?  Your 
suggestions will be gratefully received.


Cheers,

Don


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Re: [Callers] Possible new contra figure

[Alan Winston]

Incidentally, this figure (actually, doubled, with 1s and 2s and then 1s 
with the next 2s) appears in Gary Roodman's "English" dance, Mary K; he 
calls it "petit fours".


-- Alan

On 5/20/14, 1:04 PM, Michael Fuerst wrote:

I would be tempted to start the dance with Dsd and swing or  gypsy ans swing. 
rather than B


  
Michael Fuerst  802 N Broadway  Urbana IL 61801   217-239-5844

On Tuesday, May 20, 2014 12:20 PM, Colin Hume  wrote:
  



On Tue, 20 May 2014 11:55:39 -0500, Thomas J Senior wrote:

B2   Petite Square (1's are below)
1-2 1's back up, 2's move forward (face down)
3-4 1's up the outside as 2's move down inside
5-6 1's in to center (face down), 2's back out
7-8  1's move down center to next N, 2's up outside to meet new 1's

Since the ones are swinging they will finish side by side facing up,
so surely it's easier for them to start the move by leading up while
the twos face their partner and fall back:

1-2  1's lead up the centre as twos fall back from partner
3-4  1's fall back from partner as 2's move down the outside
5-6  1's move down the outside as 2's meet partner
7-8  1's meet partner as 2's lead up the centre.

Colin Hume

Email co...@colinhume.com  Web site http://www.colinhume.com



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Re: [Callers] ONS on Carpet

[Alan Winston]

Sue --

I've called many (dozens and dozens) of gigs in hotels on short-pile 
carpets.  I really prefer it to grass; there's a lot less to trip over 
and gopher holes are very rare.  I also greatly prefer it to a too-small 
assembled-from-wood-squares hotel dance floor, which usually covers 
about 1/8 of the ballroom space available and which is dangerous because 
it has edges.


For dance hobbyists, this would be completely unacceptable. Buzz-step 
swings are difficult, there's a little torsion; it's a very slow floor, 
and there's no spring.  But for normal people in dress shoes it's fine.  
(Okay, spike heels won't work, but they won't work on grass either, and 
at least they won't sink into the floor here.)  Walking swings are fine, 
elbow swings are fine, waltzing at slower than Viennese speeds is fine, 
and anything where you pick up your feet is fine.  You can do gallops, 
etc. That'd get wearing if you did it for three hours, but it's a 
wedding reception, so you're going to get through two waltzes and three 
set dances.  Don't worry about it.


As too hints on crowded, I'm obliged by law to recommend the CDSS 
booklet on crowded hall dances (because I'm a contributor).


-- Alan



On 4/24/2014 7:03 PM, Sue Robishaw wrote:

I've agreed to call a wedding reception dance this summer, outside on 
more-or-less flattish ground. Having practically memorized all the wonderful 
advise on the list about weddings and grass I'm comfortable with that. But if 
the weather doesn't cooperate, the gig moves inside the Inn/Dining/Bar. Very 
crowded, AND, I just found out, carpeted. Crowded I think I can handle (though 
recommendations would be welcome), but carpeting -- eeackk. OK, so it's not 
turning dances and maybe it's not much different from lumpy grass -- lots of 
walking and no sashaying -- but if you've done it could you share what worked 
best?
  Thanks,
  Sue R. - U.P. of Michigan
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Re: [Callers] 1820s-1830s Dances

[Alan Winston]

On 3/18/2014 2:06 PM, Alan Prince Winston wrote:

Rich —

What do you need these for?  Class residency?  Birthday party?  How 
old are the kids?  Do they want to be there? How long do you have with 
them?  How important is it that the dances be historically accurate, 
and now hat dimensions?


The “Colonial Social Dancing for Children” book is aimed at classroom 
teachers and is constructed assuming that you have the kids multiple 
times, and has some emphasis on footwork and etiquette.  (Period 
footwork resembles modern Scottish footwork.)   The Heritage Dances of 
Early America book isn’t aimed at children and doesn’t help very much 
with how things phrase to the tunes.  The Cracking Chestnuts book is 
really looking at old-favorite contra dances; jn the 1820s and 1830s 
the contra dances mostly didn’t look like contra dances as we do them 
today.  (Footwork, ball of the foot vs. flat feet, no ballroom 
swinging, handshake stars not wrist-grip stars,e tc.)


Country dances in America and England aren’t very different at this 
point.  (Kate van Winkle Keller, with various collaborators, has 
reconstructed and published dance collections from American sources 
1770s-1790s.  Even the “New Country Dances From Topsham Maine” book is 
mostly dances published in Englsh sources.).


Quadrilles have come in.  Cotillions haven’t gone yet.  The Spanish 
Dance formation seems to come in (in England) in the late 1820s; 
that's more or less Sicilian Circle, and can be fairly accessible.



I've had good luck with easy cotillions (Marlbrouk, George 
Washington's Favorite) for kids over 10.  For this period you might 
also want reels for three, four, and six.  Lancers Quadrille comes in 
(published c. 1815).


-










On Mar 17, 2014, at 8:11 PM, rich sbardella  
wrote:


I am looking for some period dances that might have been danced in 
small New England towns in 1820-1830.  Should be easy enough for 
children.

Any suggestions?

Also, does any know the steps to "Barrel of Sugar"? Recommended music?

Rich Sbardella
Stafford, CT



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Re: [Callers] Good ending dances

[Alan Winston]

On 3/14/2014 6:26 PM, Linda Mrosko wrote:

I like good partner interaction for the end of the evening, usually a dance
that ends with a partner swing



And it's good to make it a dance where the caller can shut up early.  
Many bands want to play one of their hottest sets so that's what people 
will go home with, and the more you can stay out of the way of that, the 
better.


(This suggests a dance which ends naturally with a partner swing rather 
than one where you come in at the end and change the figure. Also, for 
everyone to have room to swing their partner comfortably, Becket 
formation is handy.)


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Three Couples or Less Dances

[Alan Winston]

On 3/3/2014 7:06 PM, Aahz Maruch wrote:

I was talking with one of my partners last night about this thread, and
zie suggested that if you actually had four couples, Postie's Jig might
work well.
I've been looking at this thread as someone who calls English and 
one-night-stand dances and tried for some years to get English ceilidh 
dancing going in the Bay Area.


If you're willing to do things that aren't recognizable as contra 
dances, there are hundreds and hundreds of small-set dances.  There are 
tens of Scottish dances easier than Postie's Jig, there are cheerful 
squares in the English/British country tradition (Cumberland Square 8 is 
my frequent go to, but there's Goathland Square), zillions of two-couple 
and three-couple sets, etc.  Most of them call for fairly specific tunes 
or types of tunes.


My "what if hardly anybody turns up" list of gotos for English dances 
include:


2-cpl
--
Rufty-Tufty
Hit and Miss
Heartsease (but only if you've done the others first)
Handel With Care

Three-Couple
---
Black Nag (yes, there's a hey, but you can either just teach it or live 
with it.)

Upon A Summer's Day
Trip to Tunbridge (very similar to Chorus Jig as  three-couple)
Come Let's Be Merry
Young Widow fixup (1s have nothing to do in the last four bars so they 
can just go to the bottom and new 1s start.



Four-Couple
--
Marlbrouk (Cotillion)
Cumberland Square

Triple Minors Scottish Style (four couple longways, each couple active 
twice and to the bottom)

Broom, the Bonny Bonny Broom



Five-Couple

Levi Jackson Rag  (but with five couples you can just do duple-minor 
longways and be happy enough)



That doesn't make a program for exclusively first-timers, but for them 
you can also use existing whole-set dances, make up dances, etc.


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Contra Connections - Does this Dance Exist?

[Alan Winston]

Ben --

Don't understand what you mean about the number one couples remaining 
connected during their duration as ones.  Holding a hand?
Are they holding on to each other during the Balance and square thru 2?  
How does that work?


Also, it's "ceili swing", not "Calie".  (It's an Irish Gaelic word - 
Scots Gaelic is 'ceilidh'.)


Anyway, haven't seen the dance before.  Title sounds maybe kinda generic.

-- Alan


On 2/26/2014 4:26 PM, Ben Werner wrote:

Hey All,

I'm a new caller in the group and just wrote a dance and wanted to see if my 
chosen title has been used or if the dance has been written.

The neat thing about it is that number one couples can remain connected during 
their duration as ones.

Thanks!
Ben

Contra Connection
Beckett
Ben Werner

A1:  (16) Balance Square through 2Left hand over connection
A2:  (16) Petronella x 2
B1:  (16) Balance & Swing Partner Calie Swing
B2:  (8) Promenade fishhook left
(8) Star left 1 time around w new neighbors

Inspired by Carol Ormand’s Contra Connection set @ Stellar Days and Nights 2014 
in Buena Vista
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Re: [Callers] Social Dance Club intro program

[Alan Winston At Slac]

We aargh at saying on the left and having to correct it to on the right. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 24, 2014, at 6:49 PM, Michael Fuerst <mjerryfue...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> Alan:  Since when do we aargh on on right ?
>  
> Michael Fuerst  802 N Broadway  Urbana IL 61801   217-239-5844
> Links to photos of many of my drawings and paintings are at 
> www.ArtComesFuerst.com
> 
> 
> 
> On Monday, February 24, 2014 6:35 PM, Alan Winston 
> <wins...@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
> 
> On 2/24/2014 2:48 PM, Alan Winston wrote:
>> If it were me I'd be inclined to do it somewhat differently.  (The
>> suggestions that have been made so far
>> are just fine, though.)
>> 
>> First night:
>> 
>> Circassian Circle Mixer
>> 
>> (Or some other super-easy mixer with a swing in it.  Teaches listening
>> to the caller, doing things to the phrase, ending swings with the lady
>> on the left,
> 
> AARGH.  on the right.
> 
>>gets them used to changing partners rather than dancing
>> only with the one they came in with.  Since it's not a one-night stand
>> dance - that is, they're supposed to learn something - you want them
>> doing a contra-dance swing; this gets the experienced contra dancers
>> into the arms of as many people as possible right away.  Swings are
>> easier to do right once you've felt them being done right.)  This is a
>> dance that doesn't fail, so they'll feel successful right away.  Pretty
>> much immune to tune choice so long as the band is clear about phrasing.
>> 
>> Big Circle
>> 
>> A1:  Forward and back twice
>> 
>> A2:  Women to center and back to place
>> Men to center and back to woman originally on his left (not partner).
>> 
>> B1:  They swing
>> 
>> B2:  Promenade around, open to to big circle.
>> 
>> [You might want to just have them swing their first partner and open up
>> facing in, and then tell them that they're done with that person and the
>> next partner is in their other hand]
>> 
>> 
>> Some kind of Sicilian Circle ideally with a partner swing and a neighbor
>> swing.  Gets them used to improper formation but without having to deal
>> with action at the ends of the set.  (Although it's not totally ideal, I
>> often use "Soldier's Joy", mostly because it's a Civil War era version
>> and I use it when I'm calling Civil War dances and then I don't have to
>> remember something else when I'm calling contras.)  Ladies chain along
>> rather than across the set is unusual but not terribly difficult.  I'm
>> certainly open to suggestions for better sicilian circle dances for this
>> purpose. This give some opportunity to discuss giving weight.
>> 
>> SOLDIER'S JOY.
>> Sicilian Circle ("As for Spanish Dance") - that means facing the other
>> couple, gent on the left, lady on the right.
>> 32-bar reel.  The name tune is the best.
>> 
>> 
>> A1: 1-4: Forward and back
>>5-8: Opposites turn two hands (no progression), open facing partner
>> 
>> A2: 1-8: Partners balance , face other couple
>> 
>> B1: 1-8: Ladies chain over and back (along the line).
>> 
>> B2: 1-8: Forward and back, forward and pass through.
>> 
>> 
>> Then  Simplicity Swing (because they already know most of the bits and
>> the bits they don't know are circle, star, and do-si-do, which are
>> things many people think they know how to do even before their first
>> contra dance.)
>> 
>> SIMPLICITY SWING
>> (by Becky Hill)
>> Improper contra
>> 
>> Figs: NB:CL3/4:PS:LLF:LC:LHS:NNDSD:
>> 
>> 
>> A1: Neighbor Balance and Swing
>> 
>> A2: Circle left 3/4;
>>partner swing
>> 
>> B1: Long lines forward and back;
>>ladies chain
>> 
>> B2: left hand star;
>>next neighbor do si do
>> 
>> 
>> And then you can do the rest of the  evening with easy to intermediate
>> longways dances.
>> 
>> 
>> Repeat this pattern (with different mixer and different Sicilian Circle)
>> the next time to get the brand new dancers swung and sweaty before they
>> have to learn much.
>> 
>> -- Alan
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On 2/24/2014 8:50 AM, Ben Hornstein wrote:
>>> Greetings fellow callers,
>>> 
>>> My graduate school's social dance club is going to be having a Contra
>>> night, which I will be calling. I was hoping to get some advice on how to
>>> structure the evening. Here's what I'm expecting:

Re: [Callers] Community

[Alan Winston]

Greg has given me a bunch of stuff to think about over the years and 
made a number of good points; sometimes it's interesting to figure out 
why I'm having a violently allergic reaction.


I have never quite understood the complaint  that "there's too many long 
emails - I have to unsubscribe"; one isn't obliged to read them.  (But I 
tend to be a talky little blaggard myself.)


That said, Greg bailed because, he said,  "I know where this is going".  
I have no objection to his re-upping, and if Chris wants to send him a 
note saying there was never any plan to ban him - which is true, as far 
as I know - I would be fine with that.


As a list-owner myself, I know it's difficult to manage this kind of 
thing, and I appreciate Chris's efforts.


-- Alan

On 2/24/2014 5:21 PM, Bob Isaacs wrote:

Hi All:

  


Thanks, Chris, for setting the tone of this thread.  No problem here with Greg 
coming back, but let's hope he doesn't use SW as his personal soapbox again.  I 
found the volume and length of his posts were primarily to promote his 
opinions, and they rarely advanced the overall discussion.  Thankfully no one 
else here posts like that, and perhaps those that have avoided SW (including me 
at times) will be more inclined to have their voices heard.

  


Bob

  


P.S.  Speaking of which, thanks to Dean Snipes for writing and clarifying Camp 
Sertoma Fairwell, which is clearly a good dance.  I obviously mis-interpreted 
Jack's notation in the original post.



Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2014 15:40:08 -0800
From: rlivng...@yahoo.com
To: call...@sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] Community

I think we should.

Bob Livingston




From: Colin Hume 
To: Caller's discussion list 
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2014 5:12 PM
Subject: Re: [Callers] Community


I really don't think we should have Greg back in the group.  He chose
to leave - let's leave it at that.

Colin Hume

Email co...@colinhume.com  Web site http://www.colinhume.com



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Re: [Callers] Social Dance Club intro program

[Alan Winston]

On 2/24/2014 2:48 PM, Alan Winston wrote:

If it were me I'd be inclined to do it somewhat differently.  (The
suggestions that have been made so far
are just fine, though.)

First night:

Circassian Circle Mixer

(Or some other super-easy mixer with a swing in it.  Teaches listening
to the caller, doing things to the phrase, ending swings with the lady
on the left,


AARGH.  on the right.


  gets them used to changing partners rather than dancing
only with the one they came in with.  Since it's not a one-night stand
dance - that is, they're supposed to learn something - you want them
doing a contra-dance swing; this gets the experienced contra dancers
into the arms of as many people as possible right away.  Swings are
easier to do right once you've felt them being done right.)  This is a
dance that doesn't fail, so they'll feel successful right away.  Pretty
much immune to tune choice so long as the band is clear about phrasing.

Big Circle

A1:  Forward and back twice

A2:  Women to center and back to place
   Men to center and back to woman originally on his left (not partner).

B1:  They swing

B2:  Promenade around, open to to big circle.

[You might want to just have them swing their first partner and open up
facing in, and then tell them that they're done with that person and the
next partner is in their other hand]


Some kind of Sicilian Circle ideally with a partner swing and a neighbor
swing.  Gets them used to improper formation but without having to deal
with action at the ends of the set.  (Although it's not totally ideal, I
often use "Soldier's Joy", mostly because it's a Civil War era version
and I use it when I'm calling Civil War dances and then I don't have to
remember something else when I'm calling contras.)  Ladies chain along
rather than across the set is unusual but not terribly difficult.  I'm
certainly open to suggestions for better sicilian circle dances for this
purpose. This give some opportunity to discuss giving weight.

SOLDIER'S JOY.
Sicilian Circle ("As for Spanish Dance") - that means facing the other
couple, gent on the left, lady on the right.
32-bar reel.  The name tune is the best.


A1: 1-4: Forward and back
  5-8: Opposites turn two hands (no progression), open facing partner

A2: 1-8: Partners balance , face other couple

B1: 1-8: Ladies chain over and back (along the line).

B2: 1-8: Forward and back, forward and pass through.


Then  Simplicity Swing (because they already know most of the bits and
the bits they don't know are circle, star, and do-si-do, which are
things many people think they know how to do even before their first
contra dance.)

SIMPLICITY SWING
(by Becky Hill)
Improper contra

Figs: NB:CL3/4:PS:LLF:LC:LHS:NNDSD:


A1: Neighbor Balance and Swing

A2: Circle left 3/4;
  partner swing

B1: Long lines forward and back;
  ladies chain

B2: left hand star;
  next neighbor do si do


And then you can do the rest of the  evening with easy to intermediate
longways dances.


Repeat this pattern (with different mixer and different Sicilian Circle)
the next time to get the brand new dancers swung and sweaty before they
have to learn much.

-- Alan



On 2/24/2014 8:50 AM, Ben Hornstein wrote:

Greetings fellow callers,

My graduate school's social dance club is going to be having a Contra
night, which I will be calling. I was hoping to get some advice on how to
structure the evening. Here's what I'm expecting:

Two 2 hour events, on March 3 and 10
20-30 people, with maybe 5-8 who have danced contra before at all, 1-3 who
I would consider experts
The second week will most likely have people who did not come the first week
Minimal live band (who I have worked with before)

Here's what I'm thinking so far:
1st dance: something simple without any swing to teach a few of the most
basic moves
2nd dance: teach the swing, do an easy dance
remaining dances: teach one new move before each dance, then do a dance
that incorporates that move

2nd week: plan a generally easy program, but review moves as they come up
(for those who missed the first week)

I'm hoping for suggestions of specific dances that I should use, and ways
to teach and handle a group with very few experienced dancers. How do I
prevent the whole thing from falling apart? In general, I think they'll be
more tolerant towards additional teaching time because it's billed more as
a lesson than a dance. (Last month they had a salsa lesson which went on
for 2 hours before they turned on the music.) I'm hoping that the fact that
these are mostly graduate/medical students who have done other forms of
social dance before will help greatly, but any and all advice is welcome.

Sincerely,
Ben Hornstein
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Re: [Callers] Social Dance Club intro program

[Alan Winston]

If it were me I'd be inclined to do it somewhat differently.  (The 
suggestions that have been made so far

are just fine, though.)

First night:

Circassian Circle Mixer

(Or some other super-easy mixer with a swing in it.  Teaches listening 
to the caller, doing things to the phrase, ending swings with the lady 
on the left, gets them used to changing partners rather than dancing 
only with the one they came in with.  Since it's not a one-night stand 
dance - that is, they're supposed to learn something - you want them 
doing a contra-dance swing; this gets the experienced contra dancers 
into the arms of as many people as possible right away.  Swings are 
easier to do right once you've felt them being done right.)  This is a 
dance that doesn't fail, so they'll feel successful right away.  Pretty 
much immune to tune choice so long as the band is clear about phrasing.


Big Circle

A1:  Forward and back twice

A2:  Women to center and back to place
 Men to center and back to woman originally on his left (not partner).

B1:  They swing

B2:  Promenade around, open to to big circle.

[You might want to just have them swing their first partner and open up 
facing in, and then tell them that they're done with that person and the 
next partner is in their other hand]



Some kind of Sicilian Circle ideally with a partner swing and a neighbor 
swing.  Gets them used to improper formation but without having to deal 
with action at the ends of the set.  (Although it's not totally ideal, I 
often use "Soldier's Joy", mostly because it's a Civil War era version 
and I use it when I'm calling Civil War dances and then I don't have to 
remember something else when I'm calling contras.)  Ladies chain along 
rather than across the set is unusual but not terribly difficult.  I'm 
certainly open to suggestions for better sicilian circle dances for this 
purpose. This give some opportunity to discuss giving weight.


SOLDIER'S JOY.
Sicilian Circle ("As for Spanish Dance") - that means facing the other 
couple, gent on the left, lady on the right.

32-bar reel.  The name tune is the best.


A1: 1-4: Forward and back
5-8: Opposites turn two hands (no progression), open facing partner

A2: 1-8: Partners balance , face other couple

B1: 1-8: Ladies chain over and back (along the line).

B2: 1-8: Forward and back, forward and pass through.


Then  Simplicity Swing (because they already know most of the bits and 
the bits they don't know are circle, star, and do-si-do, which are 
things many people think they know how to do even before their first 
contra dance.)


SIMPLICITY SWING
(by Becky Hill)
Improper contra

Figs: NB:CL3/4:PS:LLF:LC:LHS:NNDSD:


A1: Neighbor Balance and Swing

A2: Circle left 3/4;
partner swing

B1: Long lines forward and back;
ladies chain

B2: left hand star;
next neighbor do si do


And then you can do the rest of the  evening with easy to intermediate 
longways dances.



Repeat this pattern (with different mixer and different Sicilian Circle) 
the next time to get the brand new dancers swung and sweaty before they 
have to learn much.


-- Alan



On 2/24/2014 8:50 AM, Ben Hornstein wrote:

Greetings fellow callers,

My graduate school's social dance club is going to be having a Contra
night, which I will be calling. I was hoping to get some advice on how to
structure the evening. Here's what I'm expecting:

Two 2 hour events, on March 3 and 10
20-30 people, with maybe 5-8 who have danced contra before at all, 1-3 who
I would consider experts
The second week will most likely have people who did not come the first week
Minimal live band (who I have worked with before)

Here's what I'm thinking so far:
1st dance: something simple without any swing to teach a few of the most
basic moves
2nd dance: teach the swing, do an easy dance
remaining dances: teach one new move before each dance, then do a dance
that incorporates that move

2nd week: plan a generally easy program, but review moves as they come up
(for those who missed the first week)

I'm hoping for suggestions of specific dances that I should use, and ways
to teach and handle a group with very few experienced dancers. How do I
prevent the whole thing from falling apart? In general, I think they'll be
more tolerant towards additional teaching time because it's billed more as
a lesson than a dance. (Last month they had a salsa lesson which went on
for 2 hours before they turned on the music.) I'm hoping that the fact that
these are mostly graduate/medical students who have done other forms of
social dance before will help greatly, but any and all advice is welcome.

Sincerely,
Ben Hornstein
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Re: [Callers] question about Disturbed By Insects

[Alan Winston]

I would add to this that you might want to not even use the word 
"promenade" for the two measures of promenade followed by California twirl.
Get them facing the right direction, have then take inside hands, and 
walk four steps.  I've called it several times (once as a deliberate 
plan before calling "Joyride" so that people would have an idea about 
connection and pushing in pousssettes) and I've found that if you say 
"promenade" experienced dancers will automatically go into various 
both-hands-held positions and/or start twirling, and then be surprised 
that they've only got four steps instead of the more common eight.


Spare yourself the hassle.  "Take inside hands and walk four steps."

-- Alan



On 2/19/2014 6:15 PM, Karin N wrote:

I love this dance and have called it with delightful success for a mostly 
experienced group of contra dancers. It's a tricky to teach because of switches 
in orientation and new neighbors, and can be tricky to dance if come of the 
dancers become disoriented by those quick changes.

That little bit of distance at the end of A2/beginning of B1might best be 
described as 'arms length for both you and your partner' because you want to be 
able to generate some 'weight' or 'springiness' to begin pulling together for 
the first box the gnat, then successfully complete the next three moves in B1 
in a timely way.[Think of the old Jitterbug dancing.]

Karin Neils


On Feb 19, 2014, at 3:47 PM, Michael Dyck wrote:


"Disturbed by Insects" is published in Inga Morton's book "Square Dance
Century", where it's accompanied by this note:
After each of the movements in B1, move
a little away from the other person.

This suggests to me that there's supposed to be a bit of a gap between the
inner and outer circles after each movement in B1. So each 4 count phrase
in B1 is supposed to be enough time to close the gap, do the box/swat, and
reopen the gap. From that point of view, it makes sense that B1 would
*start* with a bit of a gap too.

(Mind you, my guess is that, in practice, (at least in North America)
dancers wouldn't leave much of an inter-circle gap after each movement in
B1, so having a gap at the start of B1 is harder to justify on symmetry
grounds.)

In any event, I think the intended gap at the start of B1 is smaller that
you're imagining. I.e., A2's second push back isn't very far. Maybe you
could add texture by saying that A2's first push-back + return should be
big steps, and then the second should be small steps.

-Michael

On 14-02-19 10:48 AM, Jonathan Sivier wrote:

I'm planning to call the circle mixer Disturbed By Insects on Friday
(in part in honor of the 31st annual Insect Fear Film Festival being held
this weekend here in Champaign-Urbana) and I've got a question about one of
the instructions.  The instructions I have are

Disturbed by Insects
Inga Morton
mixer
Formation: circle of couples, all facing counterclockwise

A1  Promenade (with inside hands joined)
 California twirl
 Promenade back
 California twirl (then join both hands)

A2  Ladies, push your partner to the center
 Gents, push your partner back
 Ladies, push your partner to the center
 Ladies, go back

B1  With your partner box the gnat
 With your opposite to the left swat the flea
 With your opposite to the right box the gnat
 With your opposite to the left swat the flea

B2  With your opposite to the right balance and swing

This all makes sense except at the end of A2.  If the ladies go back,
and the gents stay put, then they will be separated by a gap and won't be
able to reach their partner for the "box the gnat" at the beginning of B2.
So it seems to me that it should say either "Ladies, go back and the gents
follow" or "Gents, push your partner back again" or something similar.

Does anyone have any advice on this?  Thanks.

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Re: [Callers] Circle & pass through as the last move of a dance

[Alan Winston]

On 2/12/2014 10:54 PM, Aahz Maruch wrote:

On Wed, Feb 12, 2014, Greg McKenzie wrote:

Well-structured calling is not easy.  It does however make a subtle but
significant difference in how confident the dancers feel--particularly at
open, public social events.  That is why I structure my calls carefully and
write the calls out verbatim on my cards.  That is also why I advocate for
callers at open public contra dances to use dance cards when calling.
Making up calls on the fly often puts the onus on the dancers to get the
timing right.

While I don't particularly disagree with you, particularly for me at this
stage in my calling career, I do find it interesting that your advice to
avoid making up calls on the fly is almost universally ignored by MWSD
callers -- and with the majority of square dance callers (which is to
say, almost all the good ones), it's not the dancers who face the onus of
getting the timing right.


Aahz, when Greg says "callers at open public contra dances" he really, 
really means it.  The MWSD world is almost the
opposite of what he's talking about.  I:f you can figure that anyone at 
your dance has been to classes and knows figures,

you can do a lot differently.

Greg's idea is that at OPCD, anybody can walk through the door, receive 
no lesson from a caller, and be swept up by the experienced dancers (eg, 
anyone who's ever done it before); the caller needs to avoid it making 
it unattractive for experienced dancers to dance with newcomers (eg, 
running dances a shorter time so that experienced dancers will know 
they're not making a huge time commitment if they dance with a 
newcomer), conveying the dance with effective word order and perfect 
timing, and pretty much not teaching anything, leaving that up to the 
experienced dancers.


MWSD caller responsibility: Call an entertaining program at whatever 
level the dance is advertised to be that works for the people there.


OPCD caller responsibility: Integrate the floor as much as possible and 
stay out of the way of the teaching that's happening on the floor.


(Greg, is that fair?)

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Circle & pass through as the last move of a dance

[Alan Winston]

Read noted that circle three places and pass through takes 8 counts for 
1/4 of the room and 10 counts or something like it for the rest, and 
asks if there's anything to be done about it.


It seems to me that the extremely common "circle left three place and 
swing your [partner|neighbor] on the side" teaches people that a 3/4 
circle is eight counts, so if you want something different it'll take a 
lot of emphasis.  (And we're somewhat used to killing extra time from 
the circle with a twirl out or something.  This may be why I see some 
guys twirling women out in circle and pass through, where it has no 
place at all and makes them late and possibly confused.  That is, it 
might be inappropriate reflexes, rather than being showoffy or smartass. )


You can also try to hide the mess by doing something a little sloshy 
after the pass through, like a gypsy and swing or dosido and swing, 
which will work if you can see the person coming at you even if they're 
not there yet.  That finesses the problem rather than solving it.


-- Alan

On 2/10/2014 2:42 PM, Read Weaver wrote:

In the last few years, I find myself dancing a lot more dances that end with
Circle left 3 places and pass through

What I find is that about 3/4 of the dancers take 8 counts to do the circle 3 
places, then a brief but indeterminate amount of time to do the pass through, and 
then arrive late to the next couple & next figure. (The other 1/4 take 6 counts 
to circle, 2 to pass through, and are then on the music's phrasing for the next 
figure.)

It seems to me likely that this is frustrating to almost everyone. The "eight and late" dancers think 
"what a stupid dance, I can't get where I'm supposed to be in time," and the "6 + 2" dancers think 
"why are 3/4 of the people not here when I get here?"

I haven't done a careful study, but I did just go to an experienced dance, and 
my impression is that the 3/4 - 1/4 ratio doesn't change with level of 
experience (though the experienced dancers, whatever their timing is, do it 
with more confidence). And I don't think there's anything all that surprising 
about that: we hardly do anything in contras to a count of 6 or 2. (If I've 
noticed any pattern, it's that contra dancers who also do English are more 
likely to dance it 6+2.) I do it 6+2, since it's the only way I can see to both 
dance to the phrasing and not be late to the next figure.

It seems like a caller could point it out which might help some (though 
dancers' experience that everything is in a count of 8 or 4 is pretty 
ingrained), but the avoidance of teaching seems to prevent that--I don't recall 
any caller ever saying anything about it.

Have others noticed it as an issue? (And am I right that it's a relatively 
recent issue?) Thoughts on what to do about it, if anything?

--Read Weaver
Jamaica Plain, MA
http://lcfd.org

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Re: [Callers] Calling weddings and private parties

[Alan Winston]

People have said a lot of what I was going to say, but I'm gonna say it 
anyway.  I've called a fair amount for weddings, private parties, and 
public non-dancing groups of various sizes.


1) It's not your dance, it's their party.  You facilitate people having 
fun.  That's it.   They're not beginners, you're not promoting the local 
contra, etc.  You're not obliged to do anything recognizable as a 
contra.  If everything runs over and your hour of dancing is 15 minutes, 
that's cool.  Make sure the 15 minutes is fun.  You get paid regardless.


2) If you have a band that's good at it, you can have them add a B if 
the dancers are behind.  Or if they fall consistently behind and get out 
of sync with the tune repeat, IT DOESN'T MATTER.  Most of them will have 
no idea there's  a problem unless you make it a problem!


3) Get them moving first without having to be taught and you earn some 
credibility so you can teach something.


I've had good luck in situations with a lot of little kids in just 
having everybody take hands in a line.  Snake around a bunch and visit 
the corners of the room, then curl the line around into a circle.  Take 
the hand of the last person in line and call out "Circle Left" (they're 
already doing it and they don't stop, "and back to the right" with body 
language that makes it clear it's gonna happen.  "Into the center! (and 
go in forcefully, and out forcefully) "and do it again!"  You can cause 
this to be phrased if you call clearly and on time.  Then the A1 comes 
around and you let go of the person in your left hand and peel out over 
your left shoulder and you're back to a snake.  You can do all the snake 
stuff - wind up the ball of twine, zig-zag back and forth - and take 16 
bars or 48 bars or as long as you need to; just get yourself back to the 
circle at the top of any phrase.  This is pretty great for getting 
non-dancers (and sometimes non-English speakers, and kids who can't let 
go of their parents, etc) moving expeditiously, and once they're moving 
most of them will

feel like it's fun.)

(Erik Hoffman is a master of getting them moving; I've seen him walk out 
on the floor and just good-naturedly start allemanding with some random 
person, somehow pulling focus without saying a word.)


Anyway, the Community Dances Manuals have a bunch of fine 
one-night-stand dances, and come with sheet music.  (There's also 
recordings of all the music in the CDM.)


Some dances I like, from various sources:

- Do a Grand March or  a spiral or start paired up and then join 
hands in a big line and snake around.

- Haste to the Wedding as  a Sicilian.
- Cumberland Square
- Up the Sides and Down the MIddle (4, 5, or 6 couple longways.)
- Roger de Coverly / Virginia Reel
   - Three Meet (Threesome Sicilian - forward and back, promenade in 
threes to change places and face back in, repeat to home.  I like to do 
opposites do-si-do, opposites two hand turn for B1, then forward and 
back, forward and pass through, greet next neighbors, but you can make 
up other stuff.)

- Rustic Reel (16-bar threesome Sicilian)
   -  If it's a particularly attentive crowd and I have a band that can 
handle it, My Lord Byron's Maggot is goofy fun.  (Yes, a duple minor.)

   - La Bastringue as a circle mixer is cool.
   - Progressive Gay Gordons (All-American Promenade).
  -  Circle Waltz (I have a gender-free version with a two-hand turn 
instead of the waltz at the end and divide people in travelers and stayers.)
  -  I made a version of the Scottish Flowers of Edinburgh for three 
couple sets with no poussette, and that's fun.

  - Gothic Dance (Civil War era) is fun for a lively crowd.
  - Blobs
  - Orcadian Strip the Willow (huge long set, top couple starts a 
double strip, new top couple starts at the top of A1 and B1; terrific 
swirling mass of chaos, and everybody interacts with everybody else in 
the course of it.)

  - Galopede

I don't like to do "Lucky Seven" in these circumstances because it tends 
to fall apart.  Dances failing hilariously can be goofy fun but some 
people will feel like they've failed and you don't want that to happen.


It kind of depends how many people you have, what you judge they can 
handle, how vigorous they are, etc.  Memorize 20 dances and you're 
probably cool.



4) I was at the same workshop Les was with Susan Michaels, and Susan 
gave her formula for making up one-night-stand dances (typically whole 
set longways.)


 1) Have a part everyone does with their partner.  (right-hand 
turn, left-hand turn, dosido and two-hand turn, pattycake, whatever.)


 2) Have a show-off part where the top couple solos.  (They 
pattycake, they truck down the middle and back, they carry an arch over 
the men's line and over the women's line, whatever.)


 3) Have a progression - tops down the middle and back and cast to 
the bottom, everybody moving up, or tops cast to the bottom with their 
lines following them and make an arch at 

Re: [Callers] Canadian Barn Dance (was Re: Caledonian)

[Alan Winston]

On 1/26/2014 2:44 PM, James Saxe wrote:

On Jan 26, 2014, at 3:28 AM,  wrote:


There's definitely something called the Canadian barn dance .  It's
a Scottish.

I believe Alan meant it's a Schottische.  (Perhaps "Scottish"
is an alternative spelling for "Schottische," but I think
it's not the usual spelling.)  Or perhaps Alan meant that the
dance is a Scottish dance.


I meant Schottische, and I thumb-typed that a couple of times, but 
eventually autocorrect defeated me.


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Square through vs Cross-trail

[Alan Winston]

Scottish dance style _mandates_ taking a hand for diagonal crosses (as 
in the cross of a half-figure eight or crossing down between the couple 
below to go out around one more couple and meet at the bottom).


You don't put a lot of weight on it, and it doesn't have the pull of a 
pull-by, but it's certainly possible.


(For example, 1s face down, man puts his right hand across his body to 
take woman's right hand, and they cross down with woman passing in 
front.  They let go before they're fully facing out the sides.)


-- Alan



On 12/30/2013 11:38 AM, jean francis wrote:

I can't imagine how 2 folks could give/use hands while crossing each other's trails since 
the movement direction of a cross trail is like an "X"...on the diagonal as 
opposed to straight across/up and down like a square thru

On Mon, 12/30/13, Aahz Maruch  wrote:

  Subject: Re: [Callers] Square through vs Cross-trail
  To: call...@sharedweight.net
  Date: Monday, December 30, 2013, 11:09 AM
  
  On Mon, Dec 30, 2013, rich sbardella

  wrote:
  >
  > Depending on the application, you may be able to
  substitute star thru
  > then pass thru for cross trail thru.0
  
  If you want to get nitpicky with the no-hands of cross trail

  thru ;-),
  change star thru to slide thru.  (But few non-square
  dancers would know
  slide thru.)
  --
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[Callers] Dances which work with a wide variety of tune types?

[Alan Winston]

Gang --

I was going to put "Tofu Dances" in the subject line, but I thought that 
might dissuade some of you from reading it.
I was thinking that tofu is a nutritious substance without a really 
strong flavor of its own, and that can harmonize with a lot of different 
treatments; it'll end up tasting like the dish you put it in.


Bill Olson's "Cranky Ingenuity" is a terrific dance - quick teach, 
fairly low piece count, unusual enough figure (dosido as couples) that 
it provides some variety in a program, useful as a first dance to let 
you know the state of the crowd, useful as a last dance if you don't 
have a lot of time, real teamwork with partner, adequate neighbor time.  
And one of the things that's great about it is that it works with reels, 
jigs, old-timey, rags, swing-dance tunes, French-Canadian tunes, Irish 
polka - probably good for techno, too, although I haven't tried that.  
While it has strong enough flow that dancers don't float in space 
wondering what they're supposed to do yet, the transitions (other than 
the closing balance-the-ring, California twirl) don't have hit precisely 
to still be satisfying.


The dancers react to the music and the dance takes on the flavor of the 
music.  If there's some tune set the band wants to play - like, it's the 
last dance and it's their showstopper - Cranky Ingenuity will likely 
work out well.  (It might not be the single best match possible to some 
particular tune, but it's likely to be a good match, and having it handy 
and walking it through in 30 seconds makes up for deficiencies.)


That's a great feature.  But if I use it all the time - and worse, if 
everybody uses it all the time - I'll wear it out.


What other dances have this feature?

(I think anything where the distinctive figure of the dance has short 
phrases and tight timing - eg, Rory O More balances in long or short 
waves; roll away across the set, catch partner and swing, Petronella 
sequences, balance and square thru - is going to be disqualified. But if 
you have experience that says otherwise, speak up!)


In the meantime, Happy New Year!  I'm calling for an hour tonight at an 
English dance and dancing for three at a contra dance; I hope you all 
have agreeable New Year's Eves and 2014s full of satisfying music and dance.


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Fw: Creating a CDSS dance depository

[Alan Winston]

On 12/11/2013 5:35 PM, Chris Lahey wrote:

You're absolutely right that something like that could go up fairly
quickly.  I'm just afraid that it would take away from the possibility
of something much more useful, though harder to obtain.  I don't think
it's forking the discussion to discuss whether this is a good idea.

Fair enough.

I've witnessed a number of volunteer web things things that never got 
off the ground at all because the requirements snowballed to the point 
where it would be really hard to get started.  I've now come around to 
the position that sometimes, given limited time and resources, and when 
one isn't working on life-critical projects, it's worth figuring out 
what the minimum effort to do something useful would be, with the idea 
that once something is useful it will be easier to find more resources, 
and if you get bogged down you've at least got something useful.


So that's my bias in this discussion.

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Fw: Creating a CDSS dance depository

[Alan Winston]

I think this discussion is forking already.

If contra dances are going in Caller's Companion Online, or whatever, 
then, yes, a standardized format is very important, and the XML-coded 
dances can be searchable blobs in a database with links to video, 
suggested audio tracks, calendars, or whatever.


However, if what we're talking about is a textual representation of 
contra dance instructions posted by someone official with comments 
available on the post then all we need is some Wordpress software, a 
commenter code of conduct, and someone with a stick to who's able to 
remove inappropriate comments.  And the dance instructions don't 
actually have to use standardized terminology or a standardized format; 
they're just text files.  If you want to make them searchable by, eg, 
'hey for four', etc, you can attach keyword tags to the post.


If the intellectual property concerns are sorted out, the technology is 
a done deal already.


I would even say that you could just give posting rights to anyone who 
asks for them with the understanding that they'll only post their own 
stuff.  Community upvote/downvote will pretty clearly, and soon, show 
who's posting dances worth looking at.  CDSS doesn't have to maintain an 
editorial function; this can be useful regardless.


-- Alan

On 12/11/2013 4:57 PM, Mark Hillegonds wrote:

With a standard format, it would be interesting to then consider a graphics 
portions of the database, which could provide a visualization of the dance.

And speaking of videos, it would be worth considering storing links to actual 
videos of the dances.

Mark Hillegonds

Cell:  734-756-8441
Email:  mhillego...@comcast.net

On Dec 11, 2013, at 6:30 PM, Chris Lahey  wrote:


I believe that it's important to have the contra dances in a database
be in a standardized format.  This will make it much easier for people
to use them, to exchange them, and I hope will improve the folk
process.

I've started discussion and coding on an interchange format and have a
lot of ideas about making a database.  I started working on this about
a year ago, but got distracted.  I would love to work on it again.
The main thing I need help with is making sure people have interest in
what I'm doing and getting feedback on my work.

For those that are technically minded, the small start that I've made
is here:  https://github.com/clahey/folkdancedb/wiki/_pages   I would
love any feedback people have about the semantics rules and format.

Looking at it from the point of view of a user, I realize there is
probably a lot of complexity there, but hopefully any of that
complexity will be hidden from users by whatever software there is.
If people have any suggestions of ways to make this simpler while
still keeping accuracy, please make suggestions.

I've also realized that there's no example files, so I will make that
my first task.  Well maybe my second task with my first task being a
TODO page.

Again, the URL for the wiki is currently:
https://github.com/clahey/folkdancedb/wiki/_pages

On Wed, Dec 11, 2013 at 5:46 PM, Les Addison  wrote:

+1 to Andrea and Kalia.

I like the idea of an online repository with notes/comments.  It is
possible to set up a wiki so that people can upload a dance and that only
comments to the dance can be made by others/edited.

I understand not wanting to have Yelp-like problems with phony reviews and
grudge-fests, but I think that is something that can be maintained via
requiring CDSS membership and a non-anonymous log in/commenting mechanism.

Les


On Wed, Dec 11, 2013 at 12:44 PM, Kalia Kliban  wrote:


On 12/11/2013 3:51 AM, Perry Shafran wrote:


I'm trying to figure out why having a database of dances would detract
from the folk process.  Isn't the folk process considered the handing down
of material from person to person, generation to generation?  And should
that not also include the way that material is handed down?  I think that a
database of dances is extremely helpful to the evolution of the folk
process.  When the web evolved, people put their dances on the web for all
to see, use, adapt.  Now we have the cloud, and callers can share their
dances using a cloud-based database.   Considering that this is what was
highly requested on the survey, I think that we need to find ways to create
this repository of dances that also respects the rights of the
choreographers who write them.


True enough, but hearing the experience of others with those dances can be
really helpful.  Just like on a recipe site, reading the comments can make
a world of difference.  If a preponderance of the commenters say "the dough
was really sticky when freshly mixed, but a few minutes in the fridge made
it perfectly easy to handle," or "letting the dancers who are out at the
ends know not to cross over until _after_ the partner dosido solved the end
effect problem," that would be really useful information to have.  I'm all
in favor of 

Re: [Callers] Dance in Need of a Name

[Alan Winston]

You could call the dance "Ziggy and the Waves", or "Zigsaw", or "Second 
Wave", or "Wave Goodbye".


Hope this helps!

-- Alan

On Nov 9, 2013, at 11:10 AM, Ben Hornstein  wrote:

Greetings fellow callers,

I recently wrote a dance, but can't think of a name. I'm calling it this
evening, so I'm hoping something will happen that makes a funny story as to
how the dance got its name. Failing that, I was wondering if any of you had
any suggestions.

? (Ben Hornstein)
ccw becket wave (starts with partner in right hand, men have left hands in
the middle)
A1) balance wave, P allemande R 3/4 (to long waves)
balance waves, circulate waves
A2) balance waves, circulate waves
P swing
B1) circle L 3/4
zig-zag to new N
B2) M see-saw
M allemande L 1, P allemande R 1

Any ideas?
I'm also open to thoughts about the dance itself.

-Ben Hornstein
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Re: [Callers] Peel the Banana

[Alan Winston]

Strip-the-willow is two moves:

Single strip: Actives alternate turning right elbow with each other and 
one of them turning left elbow with inactives on partner's side.  (In 
the eponymous dance, also called "Drops of Brandy", lady turns all the 
gents going down the gent's side; gent turns all the ladies going up the 
ladies' side.)


Double strip: Actives alternate turning right elbow with each other and 
each of them turning left elbow with inactives on their partner's side.  
(In the eponymous dance, this follows the single strip, and that's all 
there is.)


The move shows up in some versions of Roger de Coverley / Virginia Reel 
but not all (in the SF Bay Area, Dickens Fair, Gaskell Ball, and PEERS 
use "lace the boot" (actives  cross and go down the outside one place, 
repeat to bottom)).  In "Orcadian Strip the Willow", it's nothing but 
double strips starting every 16 bars from the top of a long line.  It 
certainly shows up in other ceilidh and barn dances.


You'd think "strip the willow" would be "peel the bark from the willow"; 
I don't have an explanation for the name.




-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Unsual dances

[Alan Winston]

Jeanette --

Are you interested in triplets, squares, bounded longways?  Duple 
Proper?  Triple minors in general?


Amyway, here's Sackett's Harbor (which I think I kiped from a 
Hawaii-based website but it lined up with how i'd danced it):


Sackett's Harbor
Traditional, usually danced to the tune "Steamboat Quickstep"
Triple and proper

  A1 Long lines, forward and back (8 beats)
  Circle six left three-quarters, to lines of three across the set (8)

  A2 Active couples down between the lines, turn alone (8)
  Come back, cast off (8)

  B1 Turn contra corners (16)

  B2 Forward six and back (8)
  Circle six right three-quarters (8)

In forming the circle in A1, the actives must take the lead, making a clear
break in the long line, thrusting away the couple above them, who may be
inclined to hang on. It may help to call:

  __ __ __ ACTives, TAKE a new GROUP and CIRcle LEFT

The contra corners in B1 must be rather quick. Dancers who are used to 
ending

contra corners with a balance-and-swing often don't allow enough time to get
back into lines for the forward-and-back.


On 10/12/2013 9:07 PM, Jeanette Mill wrote:

I am researching dances outside of duple improper/becket formations for a small 
but experienced groups of dancers hungry for something a bit different. I am 
confident calling DI and becket, but haven't ventured much into other 
formations except circle mixers, so need to stick to things that will succeed 
for both me and the dancers. Other options would be DI or beckett but with 
something unusual happening.
  
Suggestions welcome.


And if anyone has instructions for Sackett's Harbor I'd be grateful to receive 
them.

"The piano - 88 little mistakes waiting to happen." Peter Barnes.
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Re: [Callers] Women leading a star promenade?

[Alan Winston At Slac]

Yes it is. But lots of people don't do it.  

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 3, 2013, at 8:16 PM, Maia McCormick <maia@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> This is maybe a silly question, but in an allemande to a star promenade, is
> it assumed that the allemanders will keep their allemande until they've
> brought the promenade-ee across the set?
> 
> 
>> On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 10:58 PM, Eric Black <e...@mirador.com> wrote:
>> 
>> At 12:48 PM -0700 10/3/13, Alan Winston wrote:
>> 
>>> Not to hijack this completely, but dancing a man's role in a
>>> men-allemande star promenade is also often really unsatisfying. Something
>>> like 20% of the men I run into line (in the SF Bay Area) just let go of me
>>> as soon as they've picked up their partner;  70% hold on but stop giving
>>> weight either immediately or before the promenade part is omplete, and it's
>>> no more than 10% who give me a satisfying connection all through the
>>> promenade and a positive push off at the right time.
>>> 
>>> (And in star promenades with the neighbor lady, I find that about half of
>>> them step ahead.  Good star promenade, according to me, is like this
>>> }
>>> {
>>> and what happens half the time is more like this
>>> Z
>>> 
>>> I find them pretty frustrating to do most of the time, and wonderful when
>>> they work.)
>>> 
>>> -- Alan
>> 
>> 
>> Two important points I was taught long ago (~1982) by Sandy Bradley:
>>  - star promenade is an ARC, not "straight across".  The outside person
>>MUST walk the outside of a circle, and not just head straight across.
>> 
>>  - the outside person needs to match timing and velocity exactly as the
>>allemander comes to pick them up.  The image was docking with the Space
>>Station.  Don't be early, and don't be late.  Be moving exactly at the
>>right speed exactly as the rotating station comes around so you can
>>dock.
>> 
>>And then walk in an arc!
>> 
>> I sometimes say that if the outside person starts out early so that the
>> allemander is empty-armed, it's like taking a shower with your socks on.
>> You might accomplish your goal OK, but it's completely unsatisfying.
>> 
>> -Eric
>> 
>> 
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Re: [Callers] Women leading a star promenade?

[Alan Winston]

Not to hijack this completely, but dancing a man's role in a 
men-allemande star promenade is also often really unsatisfying.  
Something like 20% of the men I run into line (in the SF Bay Area) just 
let go of me as soon as they've picked up their partner;  70% hold on 
but stop giving weight either immediately or before the promenade part 
is omplete, and it's no more than 10% who give me a satisfying 
connection all through the promenade and a positive push off at the 
right time.


(And in star promenades with the neighbor lady, I find that about half 
of them step ahead.  Good star promenade, according to me, is like this

}
{
and what happens half the time is more like this
Z

I find them pretty frustrating to do most of the time, and wonderful 
when they work.)


-- Alan


On 10/3/2013 11:52 AM, Andrea Nettleton wrote:

I'll just put this out there, because a ladies allemande to star promenade was 
called just weeks ago in Atlanta: in a line of 20 couples, only two other 
ladies gave me the right weight to satisfyingly whirl.  All the gents and we 
three ladies really did not enjoy the lameness of it.  And no, it was not a 
line packed with newbies.  I have had similar issues before.  Women often don't 
weight an allemande enough, let alone do things like push off to twirl out.  So 
if you write it into the dance, the only time it will likely be well danced in 
my region is at festivals.  I doubt my experience is singular.  A groan and 
much chatter arose from the floor as we realized what was about to happen.
Andrea

Sent from my iOnlypretendtomultitask


On Oct 3, 2013, at 10:51 AM, Donna Hunt  wrote:

I wouldn't say it was "gender swappery".
The oldest dance I can recall is the square dance Texas Star which has the "men turn 
out and women turn in to make that Texas Star again".  The Texas Star is a four 
couple star Promenade.

There are several contemporary Contras that have ladies allemande to initiate a 
star promenade, so you're in good company.  Happy composing...



Donna Hunt





-Original Message-
From: Maia McCormick 
To: Caller's discussion list 
Sent: Thu, Oct 3, 2013 10:05 am
Subject: [Callers] Women leading a star promenade?


Came up against this question while writing a dance the other day: women
leading men into a star promenade and butterfly whirl? Does this happen?
Are there compelling reasons for me not write it into a dance, or would it
be a fun bit of genderswappery? (I imagine that as far as genderswappery
goes, it's still less confusing for all involved than a gent's chain...)

Cheers,
Maia
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Re: [Callers] rocks and dirt by Erik Weberg

[Alan Winston]

Distinctive figure totally stolen from an English dance called 
"Fenterlarick", incidentally.  (As Erik would be the first to 
acknowledge; I just like seeing old friends in these contexts, like the 
poussette -> hey in "Joyride".)


As to the changes: maybe Carol had seen too many people go right , left, 
right , left (Oops, left-hand balance, which of course you can do but if 
you're not expecting it is awkward); maybe she thought 
swing-chain-allemande might be a little too dizzy-making (even though it 
nicely changes direction), maybe  she thought the dance needed a moment 
of poise (get yourself sorted out in long lines; don't reflexively chain 
back when you should be allemanding.)


So it could be orientation or it could be flow.  I guess I'd be hesitant 
to make a change that removes the neighbor swing.


-- Alan

On 9/28/2013 2:27 PM, Laur wrote:

The first couple times I danced this I copied it down, so I know that this was 
a version of the original.  I believe it was Carol Ormand who called the dance 
both times, but I'm not certain.

Can anyone share their opinion on why the caller would have chosen to make the 
change in the dance?  orientation or flow?

Rocks & Dirt  Erik Weberg  Type: Contra  Formation: Duple-Improper Level: Int

A1 ---
Neighbor allemande Left 1-1/2 (8)
Women's Chain (8)
A2 ---
Long lines, forward and back (8)
Ladies by the Right, Gents go round
Women allemande Right 1-1/2 (8) while gents Orbit CCW to the other side
B1 ---
Partner balance and swing (16)
B2 ---
Circle Left 3/4 (6)
Square thru to the new ( OR 3 place circular hey without hands )
Ngh Pull by Right - P Left - Ngh Right  on to the next with your left

OR Pass 1st Ngh by the Right, Partner Left, Neighbor Right   face the  next for 
an alm Left


original dance on Erick's site - A1 N B/S  A2 Ladies Chain; Orbit {Ladies Al'd 
R 1-1/2 while men orbit ccw 1/2 way around}


  
~

When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from 
life. I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance.  ~Hans Bos~
~
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Re: [Callers] Regency for newbies

[Alan Winston]

On 6/28/2013 3:34 PM, Andrea Nettleton wrote:

I'm in Oxford with a group of GA Tech undergrads and the Prof who is teaching a 
Jane Austen class has requested that I teach them a bunch of ECD from that era, 
things that would really have been danced then. I don't have with me the 
resources I had available in the states.  I need a selection of maybe a dozen 
dances, and a resource from which to give them interesting tidbits about 
etiquette, flirtation, the circumstances of a ball such as chaperones, the 
necessity for an introduction before inter gender conversation could occur, 
etc.  I want something as authentic as possible, but they are all newbies and I 
want them to have fun.  Recommendations most welcome.  I have a fiddler and a 
Barnes book, and notes for a few dances and any I can glean from the web, 
unless one of my esteemed colleagues loans them to me.  I'm confident about the 
teaching part, it is more a matter of what to present.
Thanks
Andrea

I just send Andrea a big file of dance notes off-list.  That file has 
mid-1700s to early 1800s in it - probably too much, but I had it already 
made up.  For Jane Austen class it's probably more apropos to do 
Austen's lifetime (1775-1817) than strictly Regency (1811-1820).


For extremely authentic you'd be teaching them to make up dances out of 
building block figures.  Many of the reconstructed Austen-era dances for 
modern dancers have been tweaked; triple minors often became 
three-couple sets.  There's a number of 1740s or 1750s dance patterns 
that are very much like c.1800 dance patterns.


Suggestions more closely focused on Austen's lifetime and general 
accessiblity, as I think of them and not in the order I would present them


Haste to the Wedding (as a longways set, not Sicilian Circle)
Midnight Ramble
Young Widow
Marlbrouk Cotillion
Dover Pier
Trip to Tunbridge (contra corners, similar to Chorus Jig)
North Down Waltz
Long Odds (requires the ability to RH turn 1.5 in four bars, which may 
be challenging)

Physical Snob
Prince William (crossover mirror hey _and_ contra corners!)
Rakes of Rochester
The Spaniard
The Bishop  (gypsy is historically questionable)
Dover Pier

(If your fiddler doesn't like any of those tunes - and I hear "the 
Bishop" can be a bear to play - it would be period practice to use the 
figures with a different tune.)


Hope this helps!

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] End Effect Rules / Patterns

[Alan Winston]

Type: Big oval promenades (Eg, Fairport Harbor)
Rule: Participate in promenade

Type: Slide left or slide right progression (eg, cw or ccw progression 
Beckets)
Rule: Once no longer needed for figure, slide around the end of the set 
without crossing over


-- Aan


On 6/27/2013 1:27 PM, Jack Mitchell wrote:

So...I've been thinking about trying to put together a workshop for
experienced dancerd that would consist of dances that have end effects,
but giving the dancers some rules of thumb to go on for different types
of end effects.  Would be glad of some help brainstorming different
general categories of end effects (grouped by "coping mechanism").
Here's what I can come up with off the top of my head (Corrections,
additions and clarifications welcome)

Type: Dances where you pull by along the set or do things with one
neighbor after another
Rule: At the ends, when you don't have a neighbor, treat your partner
like your neighbor
Rule: If you have to pass by shadows to get back to your partner, go the
long way at the ends -- don't try to cut the corner

Type: Things on the diagonal
Rule: If there's no one there, stay put and *keep dancing -- you're not
out yet*

Type: Shadow is also neighbor
Rule: Know that Shadow will fill both roles

Type: spit out temporarily (with partner, neighbor or shadow) and then
come back in
Rule: Dance with ghosts
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Re: [Callers] New contra dancers and similar figures (Greg McKenzie)

[Alan Winston]

Donna --

I totally agree that we need to rely on and empower experienced dancers 
to teach figures.  What I'm talking about however is newcomers who 
seemed to have learned the figure in the walkthrough losing it after the 
dance starts and apparently unable to receive any input from caller or 
other dancers, and what can be done about that.


-- Alan


On 6/23/2013 10:06 PM, Donna Calhoun wrote:

I totally agree with Greg's suggestion to utilize your experienced dancers
in the training of newcomers. They can gently lead the individuals through
the figures which, from the stage, you can only describe.

However, you have to be able to reclaim the attention of all the dancers
when you are ready to proceed to the next figure. The last thing you need
is "teachers" talking over the caller and confusing the newcomers even
more. It is a slippery slope from asking them to help with figures to
having them talk over your walk-through.



 4. Re: New contra dancers and similar figures (Greg McKenzie)

Message: 4




Alan,

Thank you for this great question.  Situations like this are all too
common.  I see this as a problem of integration.  The core principle I use
is to remember that:

The caller always takes full responsibility for anything that happens in
the hall.

If first-timers are not integrated with the regulars, this is the caller's
problem, not the dancer's. At an open public contra dance, integration of
the hall can be seen as a primary indicator of how well the caller is doing
their job.  The opposite of integration is disintegration...and that is a
bad thing at contra dances.

So how can the caller assure full integration of the first-timers?  The
answer to that question gets at the heart of good contra dance calling, and
goes beyond the scope of this discussion because there are many, many
techniques, strategies, and skills that affect this complex goal.  Much of
it has to do with building the confidence of the dancers.

The ideal situation is that the regulars feel confident and enthusiastic
about partnering with first-timers and look forward to that as one of the
primary reasons they attend the dance.  The goal is to make dancing with
first-timers *more *fun than dancing with other regulars.

I think most callers start calling because they really enjoy teaching
dance.  This is all well and good.  But we need to remember that the
regular dancers enjoy this process as much as the caller.  One key to
achieving full integration is to empower the regulars to become leaders who
have a key role in the process of welcoming newcomers.  That means building
their confidence through precise, clear calling and structuring your calls
so that the regulars--as well as the first-timers--get the information they
need at just the moment they need it.

The caller has the resource of dozens of intelligent and helpful hands on
the dance floor that are more than willing to help the caller *show *the
dancers all of the moves.  My experience is that when the caller uses that
resource skillfully, the regular dancers respond immediately with boundless
enthusiasm.  The excitement of seeing your partner "swept in" to the
excitement of contra dancing is an ecstatic one.  We all remember that.
When other regulars see how this process is working most of them will,
naturally, want to be a part of it and are much more likely to partner with
a first-timer for the next dance.

Part of this strategy is to be willing to "step back" and allow the
regulars to take th lead role in this process.

I would like to hear how other callers use this strategy in their calling.

Greg McKenzie
West Coast, USA



On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 12:52 PM, Alan Winston <wins...@slac.stanford.edu

wrote:
Gang --

Wasn't really sure of the subject line, but thought I might as well not
say "memetic entrapment" because who would want to read it?

Anyway, a phenomenon I've noticed several times over the years is that
some fraction of people who were in a beginner workshop and who in the
walkthrough of the dance were able to do something like "women chain to
partner, women allemande 1x, partner balance and swing" are no longer

able

to do it, instead pretty reliably doing "women pull by, partner swing"

and

confusion.  [That one's recoverable, although if they then stop swinging
early and move on to the after-the-swing figure it can require

attention.]

This is likelier to happen if both partners are new, and likeliest to
happen if all four in that set are new.  But that couple that's new will
have that problem repeatedly.  When I see that I continue to prompt the
figures, maybe with more emphasis - Ladies CHAIN and COURTESY TURN  - and
it doesn't seem to make any difference.

(I'm reminded of something that happens to beginning English dancers.
  "Back to back" (non-spinning do-si-do) and "Cross and go below" start

the

same way - striding out to pa

Re: [Callers] New contra dancers and similar figures

[Alan Winston]

On 6/21/2013 3:03 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote:
I run into this periodically as well, and haven't found a way to 
verbally interrupt whatever's going on in their heads. It may be that 
they're so overloaded that further verbal info just can't get in. I've 
had some success with going onto the floor and physically guiding 
folks through a move (easier with English than with contra, simply 
because there's more space in the dance in which to insert myself 
without being an obstacle). I've often found that even standing 
directly in their line of vision and pointing straight up or down the 
set (say, for 4 changes of a circular hey) doesn't work. It's like 
they're specifically excluding _any_ outside input, which makes my job 
very challenging. It's especially difficult in that situation to be 
fair to the rest of the room, who may also need some guidance, if all 
my attention is on keeping the trainwreck-in-progress from happening. 
Tough situation. Much harder when I'm calling from a stage and can't 
really get onto the floor. Kalia 



We have some very similar experiences in this regard.

I've had good luck with couples who aren't getting that 
down-the-center-and-back-and-cast-off includes casting off by getting in 
their way and pointing with both hands.  Not so good luck with people 
who do quarter-figure-eights.  And of course I won't even try that stuff 
if I'm stuck behind a microphone on a stage. (Around here, as Kalia 
knows, an English caller will only be in that situation if he or she is 
calling a ball, where you can make an assumption that most of the people 
in the room know very well what they're doing and if somebody loses it 
their neighbors will fix it. And you_have_ to make that assumption, 
because you can't really do anything about it.)


What makes me extra crazy is the people who are doing something wrong 
that's obvious to an external observer, which then leaves them in the 
wrong place.  (Eg, if you're doing Regency-era dances, the stock ending 
of four changes of rights and lefts, where a couple forgets to start on 
time, only do three changes, and are puzzled by being left improper when 
they start the next round.  Which is only one of a half-dozen failure 
modes seen in the wild in rights and lefts - make a half-turn instead of 
a pull-by and be left facing the wrong way, baffled about where your 
next person is; try to go back the way you came after two turns; pull by 
right with partner and then reach left hand across the center of the set 
to the next person and then have no idea how to get home, etc, etc, 
etc.)  So you get in there and you somehow get enough of their attention 
to get them to do it in a way which will leave them in the expected 
place at the expected time, and they hold on to that for maybe one round 
and then they lose it again.


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Circle left 3/4

[Alan Winston]

On 6/5/2013 12:48 PM, Perry Shafran wrote:

Here's one I wrote without a circle:

Dayton 1.5   Perry Shafran

A1 Allem R N 1 1/2
Men Al L 1 1/2
A2 Bal & Sw P
B1 Ladies DSD 1 1/2
Sw P
B2 R thru
LH star


Isn't the swing in B1 with N rather than P?

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] The Hussy Bride - again

[Alan Winston]

Six-of-one, half-a-dozen of the other.

The other, in this case, is that the ladies allemanding left have to go 
from giving left hand to the other lady to giving left hand to partner, 
and that's unusual, since we mostly alternate hands.(And, yes, it's 
taking each hand with somebody, but it's partner who's going to be 
reaching out for the lady; the shadow on the other side is going to be 
reaching out for _his_ lady.)


I think  allemanding to end facing out seems a trifle awkward with 
either hand.


I think you could make a case for having the ladies do-si-do 1.5, too.

-- Alan

On 5/22/2013 6:57 PM, Rickey Holt wrote:

I was walking Bill Olson's "The Hussy Bride" with my wife when she said it
would be better if, after the the "Long Lines Forward and Back" in the A1,
the ladies did an allemande left, not an allemande right as written.  They
are on their way to a long wavy line with their partner in their left, women
facing out.  If they do an allemande right as written they need to avoid
bumping into each other, since their paths tend to cross.  The Allemande
Left does feel better.
Your thoughts.

The dance as written by Bill Olson is below:

The Hussy Bride - Bill Olson
duple improper
(A1)
Long lines foward and back
Ladies Allemande Right to a long wavy line on the other side of the set,
women facing out.
(A2)
Balance the Long Wave
With your neighbor Allemande Right, 3 places to a short wavy line across the
set
Balance the short wave
Walk foward to a new wave
(B1)
Balance that short wave
Partner Swing
(B2)
Circle Left 3 places
Neighbor Swing



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Re: [Callers] When the ones who would have needed it most....

[Alan Winston]

Hanny --

Not sure what you mean by "large group".  Were there 100 people in the 
hall and 20 first timers showed up?  30 people and two busloads from 
Girl Scout camp showed up?


I don't much like the option of telling the first timers that they can't 
join the party until they've had a half-hour lesson, typically without 
music, while the hot party is going on in the main room.


For a number of newcomers less than, I dunno, 10% of the room, I think 
"try to find an experienced partner" is an appropriate response, 
although the caller should also evaluate the planned next dance in terms 
of piece count, action outside of the set, whether you go some different 
direction from your partner, etc.


For higher proportions:

Do a simple circle mixer right now.  (Circassian Circle is great here; 
helps to teach clear phrasing, finishing swings with the lady on the 
right, practicing swings, etc.  People enjoy it.  It's a mixer so you 
get the newcomers away from each other and maybe less freaked out about 
dancing with strangers.  And you, the caller, are evaluating how they do.)


If the space permits it, maybe do a Sicilian Circle - Haste to the 
Wedding is pretty good here if the band has it - so they can get 
progression, do-si-do, reemphasize phrasing, identify partner and neighbor.


(If you've got 100 first timers and 20 experienced, just carry on with 
one-night stand dances.  Do a Virginia Reel!  Do a really simple 
square!  Your experienced dancers may or may not be thrilled, but if you 
keep everybody moving and have hot music, they can have a good time if 
they let themselves.  But if it's 50/50 or less (eg, 40/60) then go to 
longways contra and do something easy with allemandes.


And then do a longways contra with a hey in it but still no action 
outside the minor set.


Now everybody's as up to speed as they're going to get, and it's 
probably break time.   Check who goes home and re-plan the second half 
of your program.


In general, let your experienced dancers know you're counting on them.  
Let your new dancers know they're welcome.  Do stuff that everybody can 
succeed with with minimal instruction -  you don't want to do something 
that takes three walkthroughs.  Look happy


-- Alan



On 5/20/2013 12:03 PM, Hanny Budnick wrote:

As usual, before the  contra dance there is a half-hour session before the
starting time of the main dance. It is advertised, and beginners are encouraged
to come early. Depending on number of attendees and time left, rudimentary
basics are presented and 'lightly' practiced.
I would like this panel's recommendations for dealing with this situation:
the beginners session was offered and attended. The main dance had started
exactly on time when - ca. 20 minutes into the evening - a large group of
absolute newbies appeared and joined right in.
In light of this development the beginners session could have been repeated and
somewhat extended, even in an additional available hall in the same building.
Alas, no further help was offered except for the advice 'try to find an
experienced partner'.
Fortunately, the band for the evening was an absolute delight...
Hanny Budnick
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Re: [Callers] Anyone know a dance that has Contra Corners with 4 Corners?

[Alan Winston]

Pat Shaw's three-face-three dance "Walpole Cottage" has a contra-corners 
with all four corners; I think both Erik Hoffman and Seth Tepfer have 
made simpler versions of it.


-- Alan




On 5/18/2013 5:10 PM, bob...@aol.com wrote:

  I was talking with an older member of our dance community and he said it had been 
"a thousand years" since
he danced a dance that had Contra Corners where the actives visited 4 corners. 
He could not remember the name.
I promised him I would ask.

  


bob...@aol.com

  


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Re: [Callers] Zesty Playford

[Alan Winston]

On 4/29/2013 11:57 AM, Colin Hume wrote:

On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:25:37 -0700, Alan Winston wrote:

My sense from reading your notes is that Zesty Playford is what I'd
think of (as an American who has danced English in the SF Bay Area,
Boston, etc) as good English dancing with extra playfulness.

I'm not sure that some Americans would class it as "good", since it
isn't the way they've been taught to dance English.
 I think of good English (in the US sense) as robust (with bursts of 
slipping and skipping as appropriate),  never mincing or plodding even 
to slow tunes, with movement from the chest, unafraid to use lots of space.






Questions: Is "Playford" the Brit usage where you mean what US
means by "English" dancing?  (Since the linked video is of Jenny
Pluck Pears, which fits both categories, I couldn't tell.)

Yes it is.  To us, "English" also includes "Traditional English" such
as Morpeth Rant and Cumberland Square Eight.
US English is where I had my first exposures to Morpeth Rant, Cumberland 
Square Eight,  Bonnets So Blue, Nottingham Swing, and Steamboat, 
although I'll agree that these are rarely done.
(For non-English-dancers playing along at home, US English includes 
"Historical" - stuff reconstructed (often  fancifully) from publications 
from 1650 forward, "Traditional" - stuff seen in "the wild" - and  what 
I'll call "Modern": a ton of stuff  choreographed and composed from the 
20th century forward.  (So in the US, dancers often dance to stuff 
choreographed by American Gary Roodman with music by American Jonathan 
Jensen, for example, but we still call it English.)  "Playford" in the 
strict sense would be  historical dance published by John or Henry 
Playford, but in the sense used in England now, if I understand it 
right, would be "Historical" (not just Playford but Walsh, Kynaston, 
Thompson, etc, etc) and Modern.


If I have this right, one might plausibly see Mayfair or Handel With 
Care (selected as examples of Modern English, although I now realize 
that they're both in more-or-less Historical style) at a Zesty Playford 
evening.  Is that right?


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Zesty Playford

[Alan Winston]

My sense from reading your notes is that Zesty Playford is what I'd 
think of (as an American who has danced English in the SF Bay Area, 
Boston, etc) as good English dancing with extra playfulness.


Questions: Is "Playford" the Brit usage where you mean what US means by 
"English" dancing?  (Since the linked video is of Jenny Pluck Pears, 
which fits both categories, I couldn't tell.)


My brief experience of "Extreme" / "Trash" English was that it was 
really specifically an attempt to bring US-urban-contra aesthetic to 
English dance / music.  Music could be played sleazily, etc - but with 
energy.  Lots of twirls/flourishes.


(In the video I was seeing some improv - in one set the women did an 
elbows-linked back-basket, which I'd never seen before - but not so much 
contra-style flourishes.  [Which I think are generally great in contra 
but must be used sparingly in English lest you lose the satisfaction in 
fitting the geography to the music.]  So I'm arguing that Extreme 
English seems not quite to be the same thing.  I'd like to see all 
English over here be more Zesty.)


-- Alan


On 4/27/2013 12:44 PM, Colin Hume wrote:

Rhodri Davies and I are both running Zesty Playford workshops at
Eastbourne Folk Festival in a weeks' time.  I've written a set of
notes, some of which I intend to use then, and would welcome feedback
either through the list or direct to me.

http://www.colinhume.com/dezesty.htm

Colin Hume

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Re: [Callers] suggestions for particularly flirty contra dances

[Alan Winston]

I completely don't get this.

As I call it,  the point of the dance is that the half poussette mushes 
into the hey; you get about three bars of half
poussette and then you merge the two poussetting couples into the hey 
with the women (who are going forward already)
passing left shoulders on bar four of A2.  [And I got the idea because 
this is how it works in the English dance "Companions",

which is where Erik got the figure to start with.]

Do that, and then you have four changes of the hey in four bars, partner 
swing starts at the top of B1, and life is good.


So I don't see the problem Dave Casserly is trying to solve with the 
swing starting four beats into B1.


Lindsay, are you saying that rather than have the poussettes merge into 
the hey line, you push the poussette extra far
(taking all four measures of the hey) so that the women are more or less 
back to back in the middle, and then two hand turn 1x
 (since you're holding two hands from the poussette already) to work up 
some lateral momentum and launch into the half hey at the

top of B1, using B1-1-4 for the hey and 5-8 for the partner swing?

[If so, I think that's pretty cool, but I also think it's different 
enough that it should have a different name than Joyride!]


-- Alan


On 4/22/2013 2:33 PM, Lindsay Morris wrote:

Thanks, Dave.
I meant, do it with the partner, on the side, and then start the hey with
partners passing right shoulders before the gents pass left in the middle"
though, rather than partners pass rt shoulder, it sort of feels like the
women propel the men into their hey right out of the two-hand turn.



Lindsay Morris
CEO, TSMworks
Tel. 1-859-539-9900
lind...@tsmworks.com


On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 4:29 PM, Dave Casserly
wrote:


The two-hand turn can be counterclockwise, between the two gents.  Or it
can be done with the partner, on the side, and then start the hey with
partners passing right shoulders before the gents pass left in the middle.

The reason for this change is that the timing in the dance is not square
otherwise.  The poussette starts at the beginning of the A2, and takes 8
beats, but goes into a 3/4 hey, which takes 12ish beats.  The dancers often
try to rush the hey because it feels wrong starting a swing 4 beats into
the B1.  I've danced the dance several times where people try to rush the
hey so that they can start the swing right at the beginning of the B1, and
that really ruins the relaxed feel of it.  So adding a two-hand turn can
fix that issue, and push the swing back so it starts halfway through the
phrase and is for 8 counts instead of 12.

-Dave


On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 4:23 PM, James Saxe  wrote:


On Apr 22, 2013, at 12:50 PM, Lindsay Morris wrote:

  Joyride is a great dance!  Consider adding a two-hand turn during the

poussette, to send the men into their hey.



Lindsay,

I don't think I understand your suggestion.

This video of Joyride shows the transition from pousette to hey
as I've seen it done:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch%**3Fv%3DdwO9XRUBk9w<

http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DdwO9XRUBk9w>

Can you say more precisely what you are suggesting instead?
The usual direction for a two-hand turn is clockwise as
seen from above, which would seem to send the men opposite
the direction they need to go to enter the hey.  But perhaps
I'm missing something.

--Jim

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Re: [Callers] suggestions for particularly flirty contra dances

[Alan Winston]

I've called that several times.  Agree it's  a swell dance.  (Danced to 
Erik's band Joyride this weekend; Susan Petrick called a dance (which 
might have been announced as Cupid;s Hey, although it had some clear 
differences from the instructions I had) and pointed out that it used a 
figure from Erik's dance Joyride. I muttered under my breath that it was 
a figure stolen from Victor Skowronski's English dance "Companions" - 
something that Erik very happily admits.)


-- Alan

On 4/22/2013 12:48 PM, jill allen wrote:

Last weekend, I called Joyride by Erik Weberg.  It was very smooth, flirty, 
interesting, and what I especially liked about it was that the beginners had no 
trouble with it!  You can find it on Erik's website.

Jill




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Re: [Callers] Suggestions for particularly flirty contra dances?

[Alan Winston]

On 4/18/2013 4:13 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote:

On 4/11/2013 5:18 AM, Richard Mckeever wrote:

I think we are making a bigger deal out of this than needs to be.  You go to 
any other type of dancing and you will have some difficulty finding 2 men 
dancing together. It is not the social norm and so it makes people 
uncomfortable.  It has nothing to do with homophobia.  I will admit - I prefer 
opposite gender swings - Am I homophobic and just don't know it?

I worry most about new dancers - we try very hard to make them comfortable and 
same gender swings don't help with that objective.

This sounds like something that deserves a few words at the beginners'
session.  "Some folks like to switch roles as they're dancing, so you
may find yourself swinging another man, or another woman.  No big deal.
   Here's a symmetrical hold you can use if you're not sure how else to
swing.  It'll help you enjoy _all_ your partners..."

If you can make it less of a surprise and thus defuse a little of the
awkwardness for someone who's never danced with another man/woman
before, seems like that might smooth out a bump or two.



Disagree!

IF the choreography of the dance brings together two "men's role" or two 
"women's role" dancers in a swing, then a symmetrical swing is called 
for, and that's great.


Suggesting a symmetrical swing based not on the roles but on the 
perceived gender of the  _dancers_  increases complication.  (I could 
see an argument for dropping the gendered swing completely - a 
symmetrical swing would work with everybody, but it would definitely 
change the flourish options.  I can't see an argument based on reducing 
confusion which implicitly suggests that instead of swinging everybody 
dancing women's role the same way, you introduce the complication of 
evaluating the gender of the dancer - who might be androgynous enough to 
be difficult to judge, or who might be gender dysphoric enough to resent 
being evaluated - and then switching to a symmetrical swing.  What are 
you supposed to do if a woman dancing a man's role and a man dancing a 
woman's role come together?  Reverse the polarity of the swing?)


I'm beating this to death, I fear, but I think it's gotta be:

  - Dance the role in the swing that you're dancing (at the moment) in 
the dance.
  - If that doesn't work because it's two of the same role, then swing 
symmetrically.

  - Don't switch roles if you can't handle both sides of the swing.

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Suggestions for particularly flirty contra dances?

[Alan Winston]

On 4/3/2013 3:18 AM,  I wrote:

I'm supposed to do an hour of flirty contra dances at Queer Contra Dance
Camp next weekend.

Of course they all are, to some degree, but I wonder what comes to mind
for you when you think of a flirtatious contra.  (And what would be the
characteristics of a flirty dance for you.  As someone with long
experience in English dance I think there can be exciting flirtatious
connection without a lot of touching.)

And then we had a very interesting digression on mandatory same-sex 
flirting, homophobia, etc, etc.


Queer Camp was great, by the way - a boatload of really happy campers, 
fabulous music by
the Retrospectacles (and Bonnie Insull playing flute for my English 
sessions), great calling by

Susan Michaels, samples of swing and Irish dance.

I didn't think same-sex flirting moves were particularly called for, 
given that any gender

(or no acknowledged gender) might be in any role.

I didn't call "Janet's Gypsy" in my session but Susan Michaels called it 
as part of the final dance party

and it went over very well.

For my silly and flirty session I called:

Peek Experience (Ridge Kennedy) - didn't get as much silliness out of it 
as I wanted but it got flirty
Stolen Kisses (Melanie Axel-Lute)  [run off and mess around with a 
neighbor at length, come back to partner]
Playground (Mark Goodwin) Sliding doors, Richochet Hey - very satisfying 
dance
Cupid's Hey (Jim Hemphill)   (we did a variation with a _draw_ 
poussette, since there'd actually been several poussettes called that 
weekend)


I'd meant to do a fifth dance but people came back from break late so we 
got started late; it would have been "Travels with Rick and Kim".  The 
band was cooking
plenty on Cupid's Hey so I was okay running it a little longer and then 
having time for a waltz before lunch.


Thanks all, for suggestions and choreographies!

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Suggestions for particularly flirty contra dances?

[Alan Winston]

Bree --

Have "Old Bob's".  Found a youtube of Travels but if you have it written 
down I'd just as soon not have to transcribe it.  Couldn't find Hi 
Voltage Gypsy.

Would like to take you up on your offer to provide those two.

Thanks!

-- Alan

On 4/3/2013 6:00 AM, Bree Kalb wrote:

Dances that come to mind quickly are

Travels with Rick and Kim (chase ends with ptr swg)  Shari Miller Johnson
Old Bob's Mixer (one of the best mixers ever written, in my opinion)  Bob
Dalsemer
Hi Voltage Gypsy  John Combs

I'd be glad to provide the moves if you can't find them on the web.

Bree Kalb
Carrboro, NC

-Original Message-----
From: Alan Winston
Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2013 6:18 AM
To: Caller's discussion list
Subject: [Callers] Suggestions for particularly flirty contra dances?

I'm supposed to do an hour of flirty contra dances at Queer Contra Dance
Camp next weekend.

Of course they all are, to some degree, but I wonder what comes to mind
for you when you think of a flirtatious contra.  (And what would be the
characteristics of a flirty dance for you.  As someone with long
experience in English dance I think there can be exciting flirtatious
connection without a lot of touching.)

I'll just get Flirtation Reel out of the way right now.
I'll obviously have something with a Mad Robin in it.
I'm thinking about Ramsey Chase.

What are your thoughts?

-- Alan


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[Callers] Suggestions for particularly flirty contra dances?

[Alan Winston]

I'm supposed to do an hour of flirty contra dances at Queer Contra Dance 
Camp next weekend.


Of course they all are, to some degree, but I wonder what comes to mind 
for you when you think of a flirtatious contra.  (And what would be the 
characteristics of a flirty dance for you.  As someone with long 
experience in English dance I think there can be exciting flirtatious 
connection without a lot of touching.)


I'll just get Flirtation Reel out of the way right now.
I'll obviously have something with a Mad Robin in it.
I'm thinking about Ramsey Chase.

What are your thoughts?

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Waltz contras - does anyone have any in their box?

[Alan Winston]

On 1/28/2013 7:40 AM, John Sweeney wrote:

Someone mentioned The Spanish Waltz - lovely dance.  But I am often
working with groups who can't waltz, so it all breaks down in B2.

So I change the waltz in B2 to:
Take Promenade Hold, Men put Left Shoulders together to make a line of
four: Promenade 1 & 1/2 times forwards in a circle to meet a new couple

I tell them to keep up their waltz steps during the promenade.


I  do this too.  (I think I have an 1863 source that describes this 
progression, but I can't lay hands on it at the moment.)
Another variant progression is to face the neighbors, go forward two 
waltz steps, go back two waltz steps, pass through,
and bow to new neighbors.  That's good for dancers without geographical 
fluency, who can use the extra time to orient

themselves.

(But I really like the tight 1.5 promenade; the transition from the star 
is very slick, with the gent stepping slightly forward

to take partner's left hand in his left, right behind in right.)

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Waltz contras - does anyone have any in their box?

[Alan Winston]

On 1/23/2013 11:23 AM, Jerome Grisanti wrote:

I've had some success with Mike Richardson's dance "Another Jig Will Do."
It's not a waltz, but dances as one. Musically, it fits a two-part slip-jig
such as "The Snowy Path" or two parts of the three-part "The Butterfly."
See http://www.quiteapair.us/calling/acdol/dance/acd_10.html for details of
the figure.

I can generally find a waltz rhythm within the 9/8 signature, but I've seen
some dancers struggle with this, so check the tune with the band
beforehand. These same dancers were upset with me for asking them to use a
waltz step during a contra, so it might not have been the tune.


When I've danced that dance it's never occurred to me to use a waltz 
step.  (And it's never occurred to me
to use a waltz step when dancing to a slip jig at all, although it's 
pretty easy with most 6/8 jigs to play them

as (sometimes nice, sometimes dorky) waltzes.)

Slip-jgs are usually played with   DAH-du-dum DAH-du-dum DAH-dum-dum  
(nine beats in a measure, with emphasis on the first beat of each triplet).
Are you taking three (ONE-two-three) waltz steps per measure, or one 
(ONE...TWO...THREE) waltz step per measure?  I generally move to a slip 
jig either
with three walking steps per measure on the three strong beats or with a 
modified skip-change (left-right-left-right-left(hop), 
right-left-right,left-right(hop)).


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Waltz contras - does anyone have any in their box?

[Alan Winston]

Here's one with contra-ish moves that I wrote for an English audience:


BONNY AT MORN
Alan Winston
10/27/2005; revised 10/30; 11/05; 11/06.
Tune: per Barnes (black book), but 32-bar (16-bar A, BB)
Minor-key waltz; moderate/slow

Longways duple IMPROPER or Sicilian Circle (but probably better as a 
longways

so that halfway around lines up with a wall).

A: 1-4: Neighbors gypsy 1.5 finishing close to neighbor for
   5-8: neighbor ballroom position waltz halfway round, opening facing 
in on
other side of set with man on L, women on R; keep hold of 
inside hands.

  9-10: women give right hand to each other as in chain and pull by
 11-12: women give left hand to partner's RIGHT hand; raise joined hands in
arch as she goes under and he goes forward to finish in ballroom
position, pointy end facing in line of direction.
 13-16: waltz halfway around set; open up facing in, with man on L.

[MEN progressed and on original side of the set; WOMEN not progressed and
crossed over.]

B1: 1-2: Holding near hands on the side of the set, Set r
3-4: Petronella turn (traveling turn single) one place to right around
 the minor set.
5-8: Face NEIGHBOR up and down; three changes of a circular hey,
 no hands.  (In more detail, that's two brisk changes and a 
leisurely

 one, more like a half gypsy.)

B2: 1-2: Men cross  (first corner places)
3-4: Women cross  (second corner places)
5-8: Partners turn two hands  all the way around;
 open facing new couple to start again.

Teaching notes:

(1) Men Start the gypsy in A1 on LEFT FOOT, women on RIGHT FOOT, in order to
be on the correct foot for the waltz round.  Emphasize spiraling
in and taking all the music for the gypsy.

(2) Make sure people get the timing on the three changes of R (1 bar, 
1 bar,
2 bars) so that they're in place to cross at B2.  There's a tendency to 
either

stand stupefied for a bar and start late or take two bars for each pass.

(3) Some people require to be told that you waltz CCW around your minor set.



On 1/22/2013 7:15 PM, Keith Tuxhorn wrote:

I wrote a waltz contra this summer, as a tribute to Tulsa, OK caller and
dance organizer Wesley Brown, who died in July. It's very easy, just make
sure the dancers get halfway around to the beat.

Tulsa Tribute/becket

A1 Circle L 1/2; ring balance
  Circle L 1/2; ring balance
A2 Open Women's chain, over and back
B1 Hey for 4, W start R (with OR without hands pull-by)
B2 P waltz in place (8), the waltz L to new cpl (8)

(Variation)

A! Circle L 1/2; ring balance
 Open W chain
A2 Circle L 1/2; ring balance
 Open W chain
B1 Hey for 4, M start L (with OR without hands)
B2 Waltz w P, then waltz L to new cpl

Keith Tuxhorn
Austin, TX

On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 3:46 PM, Michael Barraclough <
mich...@michaelbarraclough.com> wrote:


I have occasionally called All The Threes by John Meechan.  However,
this would be more suitable in the UK than the USA as it does not have
any swing in it!

Michael Barraclough
www.michaelbarraclough.com



On Tue, 2013-01-22 at 13:34 -0800, Alan Winston wrote:

On 1/22/2013 1:10 PM, Hanny Budnick wrote:

Many contra events have a couple waltz during intermission or at the
last dance. BUT does anyone ever due a contra (duple or triple minor)

in

waltz time?


I certainly do dances that would function as waltz contras - eg, Gary
Roodman's "Winter Dreams" - at English dances all the time, but I don't
recall having encountered one at a contra dance.

-- Alan

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Re: [Callers] Waltz contras - does anyone have any in their box?

[Alan Winston]

On 1/22/2013 1:10 PM, Hanny Budnick wrote:

Many contra events have a couple waltz during intermission or at the
last dance. BUT does anyone ever due a contra (duple or triple minor) in
waltz time?

I certainly do dances that would function as waltz contras - eg, Gary 
Roodman's "Winter Dreams" - at English dances all the time, but I don't 
recall having encountered one at a contra dance.


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Booking Ahead - (was ideas for callers about sidelines)

[Alan Winston]

On 1/21/2013 6:27 PM, Aahz Maruch quoted me:

Even if you did only want to dance with your friends, that is your
perfect right.  You have complete freedom to decline any offer you
don't want to accept for whatever reason and then accept an offer you
do want to accept.  You are not required to offer an explanation.

(If you say no to Joe and then yes to Jerry and Joe's paying
attention, he'll get the message that you didn't want to dance with
him and his feelings may be hurt, but that's actually his business,
not yours.  It would possibly be a kindness to Joe and to the
community to tell Joe "you twirl me too much" or "I don't like to do
dips" if there's some simple way he could alter his behavior that
would let you enjoy dancing with him, but it's not required, and just
saying "No, thank you" means you don't have to have a conversation and
can each try to find other partners.  If you only ever dance with a
small subset of the people in the hall, other people will eventually
notice and have opinions - and that's still their business, not
yours.)

Not that I'm necessarily disagreeing with this, but how do you reconcile
what you're writing here with the meme that people "should" dance with
the newbies and the sidelined dancers?
Everyone who comes to a contra dance is trying to engage in 
enjoyment-maximizing behavior.  There are usually plenty of other things 
they could be doing with their Saturday night, and this thing is what 
they decided would be most fun.   So beyond the very basic rules - you 
kinda have to do the figures the caller called, and do them with whoever 
you come to in line; that's the basic contract - anything else is optional.


I personally don't want anybody dancing with the newbies who is doing it 
solely out of a sense of duty, rather than because they hope to enjoy it 
or because they're taking a big-picture view and realize that the 
activity needs to integrate the newbies in order to survive so that they 
can keep enjoying it.


Erik Hoffman has a thing about the stages of a contra dancer, and the 
mature contra dancer - in his view - has passed through the crazy 
flourishes and hottest partner phase already and is now concerned with 
the happiness of the room; can enjoy helping a beginner through a dance 
as much as being in a hot set with a hot partner, etc.  I like to think 
that will happen, although I look around the Bay Area and see several 
people who, it seems to me, are not mature dancers even though they've 
been doing it for twenty years; guys and gals who book every dance, 
often while in line for the previous dance,  do dips; appear - and of 
course I'm not in their heads so who knows what's actually going on - to 
only partner with others they'd like to date, etc, etc.  And while that 
annoys me, it _is_ their perfect right.  They paid their ten bucks; they 
can try to have the kind of dance experience they want to have. We're 
not going to toss them out for being uncommunitarian. And we need their 
ten bucks.  (Maybe not their individual ten bucks - we can afford to 
bounce somebody for being creepy - but their collective ten bucks; if we 
banned everybody who ever behaved selfishly from contra dances we'd have 
a lot of trouble filling our dance halls.)



Also, what accounts for the prevalance of the meme that one "should
never" turn down an offer to dance?  (I tend to fall into this camp and
I'm not really sure where I got it from.)
I was surprised recently to encounter the "If you decline an invitation 
you must sit out that dance" meme in Jane Austen, although I've 
forgotten where.  I don't know if that's where it's coming from, though.


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Booking Ahead - (was ideas for callers about sidelines)

[Alan Winston]

On 1/21/2013 9:05 AM, Maia McCormick wrote:

An especially frustrating manifestation of booking ahead, in my mind, is
the mid-dance book-ahead with someone you're not already sure is interested
in dancing with you. I feel like it deserves a special mention just because
I personally find it very difficult and flustering to have to decline
someone or formulate any coherent response in the middle of a swing, say,
and so I usually just agree, and sometimes end up dancing with people that
I would rather not be dancing with.


The practice of booking the next dance while dancing the current one 
bothers me, because it tends to lock out the people who are sitting out 
this dance.  (That seems like an extreme case, but I once sat out the 
entire 3:00 - 4:00 am hour at a Dawn Dance because I took one dance off, 
and for the subsequent four dances could not, from the sidelines, get a 
partner - everybody I asked, for that whole time, had already booked.  I 
think the practice is rampant, but not universal, in the fireplace line 
at the Scout House these days too, unless those dancers are saying "I 
already have a partner" when they just mean "No, thank you.")


My suggestion to you personally, Maia,  is that, knowing that you find 
it flustering to deal with in the moment, you decide on a response for 
the general case beforehand and mentally rehearse it. "No, thank you."  
"I don't book in line."  "Ask me later."  "Can't hear you".  "Already 
booked".  Whatever you want to say to people you don't want to dance 
with who ask in line - don't lie or give false hope, or you'll just have 
to give the same people the same response over and over - decide in 
advance, practice/visualize saying it, and you'll have the response 
ready when the situation comes up.




Which brings me to another point I've been wondering about: exactly how
much freedom does a dancer have to decline dance offers (assuming
non-booking-ahead)? Part of me feels that a pillar of contra is the
knowledge that you don't get turned down, and that anyone can dance with
anyone. But I feel very strongly that no one should have to dance with
someone who makes them uncomfortable. However, there's some sort of
confusing grey area in between. There are people I'd rather not dance with
because they make me acutely uncomfortable... and there are those that make
me slightly uncomfortable... there are those I find flashy and annoying, or
those whose swinging styles really don't fit with mine... You get the idea.
Not to seem like I don't want to dance with anyone but my friends--this
isn't the case--but I've always wondered just how much license the dancer
gets to choose their own partners, rather than accepting the first offer
that comes up. What are people's thoughts?

Even if you did only want to dance with your friends, that is your 
perfect right.  You have complete freedom to decline any offer you don't 
want to accept for whatever reason and then accept an offer you do want 
to accept.  You are not required to offer an explanation.


(If you say no to Joe and then yes to Jerry and Joe's paying attention, 
he'll get the message that you didn't want to dance with him and his 
feelings may be hurt, but that's actually his business, not yours.  It 
would possibly be a kindness to Joe and to the community to tell Joe 
"you twirl me too much" or "I don't like to do dips" if there's some 
simple way he could alter his behavior that would let you enjoy dancing 
with him, but it's not required, and just saying "No, thank you" means 
you don't have to have a conversation and can each try to find other 
partners.
If you only ever dance with a small subset of the people in the hall, 
other people will eventually notice and have opinions - and that's still 
their business, not yours.)


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Lots of Contra Corners

[Alan Winston]

On 1/18/2013 10:45 AM, John Sweeney wrote:

Another one for Three-Facing-Three is Walpole Cottage by Pat Shaw - has
a C part as well so time to include some stars and heys.  That one is a
Sicilian Circle so you get to dance with lots of trios.


Love Walpole Cottage!  (The link to the instructions Bill Baritompa 
posted was the website of the Playford Ball I called in 2000; hadn't 
realized the dance notes were still up!)


Thanks for reminding me of the Strip the Willow Square, which I'd seen 
on Thomas Green's site but never danced.


Or go back in time and do Fandango (Apted 1774) with two hand turns
rather than allemandes.


But this is a regular contra corners where the actives only turn two 
corners, not the "turn four corners"
Tom was asking about.  (And regular contra corners  - whether that's 
"Swing Corners" (per Wilson) or
"Turn Corners and Partner" - is a standard figure in the early 1800s; we 
have that from before the ECD/contra

split, which is why it's in Chorus Jig and Fandango.)

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] cards - writing in pencil vs pen???

[Alan Winston]

On 1/12/2013 12:59 PM, Michael Fuerst wrote:

All the itinerant dancemasters of the 16th and 17th centuries kept their dances 
in their heads.
We should strive for the same
  


What do we know about itinerant dancemasters of the 16th and 17th 
centuries?  (I'm asking - that's not just rhetorical.)  I've come across 
stuff about the itinerant dancemasters of the 18th and 19th century.  
Asa Willcox - who might have been more of a fiddler sometimes called 
upon to call dances rather than a dancing master - kept a book of dance 
notes.  John Griffith published a book of dances and - one assumes - 
tried to sell it to his students.


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Lead/Follow in a Swing

[Alan Winston]

Beautiful!

Thank you, Andrea.

-- Alan

On 1/5/2013 1:51 AM, Andrea Nettleton wrote:

Sometimes a dance weekend comes along just in time.  So I am at Chattaboogie in 
TN, and thought very hard about what was going on between me and all the people 
I danced with, and I think I finally understand why, in my mind, lead/follow 
are actively bad terms to use in contra, and why when we teach the idea of 
flourishes, I really don't want anyone thinking of one role as lead, and the 
other as follow.
The evening rolled along, and I danced both positions with both genders of 
partners.  Late in the evening, I reflected about which dances I had enjoyed 
the most.  It came down to one dance with a woman, who is a very accomplished 
younger than me dancer.  We fluidly played off one another, making no 
distinction about who was in charge, a different one landing in the 'you go' 
position at the last second at every possible opportunity.  It was like contact 
improv in a contra line.  We could not have said who was leading, and neither 
could anyone watching.  It was transcendent.  The other wonderful dance was 
with a man.  He dances in the usual position, is a wonderful dancer, but 
doesn't often offer a flourish.  Instead he absolutely loves for me to create 
sequences of flourishes for both of us to do, but I end on the right.  Why were 
these experiences so notable, I had to ask myself.  It is because most men have 
come to think they must be in charge of flourishes, to the point tha
  t they don't seem open to my flourishes, or at best are in a state of 
surprise which makes reacting to the suggestions awkward.  Most women I dance 
with are entirely passive, can receive a flourish from me if I am in the lefty 
role, but don't have anything to give back, sometimes not even good weight.  
There are a few who can swap positions, and offer flourishes from the lefty 
position, but in my transcendent dance, we were completely interchangeable, and 
the game was who would wind up where.  Even we didn't know!
  
I think the root of the problem is that, without meaning to, we have begun to foster a culture of expectations of bifurcated roles.  Using the terms lead/follow only codifies and ultimately ossifies something I would like to do away with.  I know some people are only going to dance one role, and some may only be able to participate in one way lefty to righty flourishes.  But I want more people to be able to open their minds to the kind of experience I had tonight.  Using the terms lead/follow to indicate the expectations of dancing one side or the other will tend to shut that down, and I think it would be a crying shame.  We have subtly given up something I treasure.  It is not the right to dance in a staid old fashioned way, it is a formerly pervasive concept of the dance as a an equal opportunity chance to play being replaced with a male dominated one way I am in charge of you thing.  I can't listen to defenses of that, to me, perversion of my beloved play space.  I don't w

  ant the experiences I had to be rare, outside the box, ones.  I want them to 
be as obvious a choice as any.
The discussion began with the idea that maybe we need a better set of terms for 
the two positions we dance.  This was to acknowledge that some in our community 
don't want their dance position defined, even by archaic implication, as 
something to do with gender.  I am not personally bothered by gent/lady, but if 
I'm going to call to people who are, let the alternate terms not imply 
something about the dance which I do not wish to convey.   Let them not limit, 
by seeming to prescribe and proscribe who can and should do what, what we in 
fact choose to do.  Let's try to generate something humorous, elevating, easy 
to say and remember, and truly neutral. All we need them for is to say who is 
crossing in a chain, and who needs to end the swing where in order for the 
dance not to turn into a mixer.  We could always resort to diagonals for same 
role moves, even chains for that matter.
  
So.  Some people want no change from trad terms.  Fine.  Know that a certain number of dancers may object or not return, but it's your dance.  Some want new terms.  Ok.  If they are awesome, I bet even trad series might adopt them eventually.   Arguing whether we should change them is different from arguing which of the terms we already use to keep using, and different again from evaluating the merits of new alternatives.  It's become a bit of a mash up.

I don't know whether we should, as a whole community, abandon trad terms for 
new ones.
That doesn't keep me from gleefully generating new terms, just in case we hit 
on that totally perfect set.  (See the FB thread.)
But when I see people arguing for terms which by their use change how it is 
likely for people to conceptualize the roles, in a way that curtails the 
potential for the kind of beautiful shared dancing I saw and felt  tonight, I 
have to say no.  No, that is not a set of terms 

Re: [Callers] Flourishes

[Alan Winston]

On 1/4/2013 2:56 PM, Maia McCormick wrote:

I was dancing at Greenfield when someone I partnered with (I was following)
asked me a question that I had not yet heart in my nearly-two-years of
dancing: "do you like being flourished?" I was floored. It had literally
NOT OCCURRED to me that that was a question you could/should ask. Now I
always ask if I'm leading someone I don't know and I feel in a spinny mood
(i.e., anything other than a standard one-twirl at the beginning or end of
a swing, and maybe two off a courtesy turn). I think it ought to be much
more of an obligation that people ask it of their dance partners (and
asking about dip preferences SHOULD be a no-brainer).
On the one hand, I'm totally in agreement with finding out whether your 
partner likes spinning a lot.


On the other hand, I'm sort of appalled that the default on a courtesy 
turn is a twice-around twirl, rather than,

say, an actual courtesy turn, and you get that if you don't feel spinny

On the third hand, while I appreciate that this person inquired about 
your preferences, I really don't like the
phrase "being flourished", which implies that it is something done to 
you rather than something you are participating in.  I think when I give 
a gentle upward pressure on a lady's hand as she's coming at me in a 
courtesy turn I'm _offering to enable her twirl if she wants one_, not 
"flourishing her".  I try to make clear offers and accept there being 
declined.




Another thought on flourishes, that relates to my first post on the topic
and some of the questions that have been going around: I realized writing
another post that I first started flourishing others, and that I pride
myself on my leading/flourishing ability to such a large extent, because
it's a way of compensating for my sex when it comes to leading. Part of me
feels that to be an impressive and good partner, I should have that little
extra bit of flash--in a sense, to prove that I have a reason for leading,
and a *right* to, instead of following like women ought. Of course, that's
only part of it, but I was really interested in this thought when it
occurred to me. Maybe equalizing gender roles would, to a small extent,
lessen their applicability (i.e., the degree of lead/follow dynamic) in the
first place? Has anyone else experienced or seen this sort of thought
pattern before?



Well, sort of the inverse.  When I started waltzing I felt pretty bad 
about only being able to go round and round - I didn't know variations 
and didn't have the confidence to try stuff; as a cis-male I was 
automatically awarded the lead and didn't feel I could live up to it, 
and this kept me from waltzing very much for years, which kept me from 
getting good at it (although I eventually got over it and got very good 
at it).   Same dynamic has given me trouble
in learning foxtrot / swing / salsa and I'm not really over it, but I'm 
also so happy with waltz/polka/mazurka/schottische that I don't spend a 
lot of time trying to do the other things.


All that said, I'm not sure what you mean by "equalizing gender roles".  
If you mean "change the roles to lead and follow instead of gents and 
ladies" I think that would only intensify leaders being flashy and 
showing that they're in charge compared to the existing situation.   If 
you mean "call the roles purple and green" then, yeah; we actually have 
an ongoing experiment in gender-free contra and in my experience nobody 
is dancing like they have to prove a right to wear the armband.


I've always allowed myself to believe that a good partner is there on 
time, gives good weight, connects with partner, seems sincerely happy to 
be dancing with the current person, and is in rhythm with the music, and 
that anything else is lagniappe - that 'good' doesn't require 
'impressive'.  How do you feel about it when not dancing the gent role?


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Alternate Role Terms

[Alan Winston]

On 1/3/2013 6:22 AM, Louise Siddons wrote:
I would suggest that the transition between ECD and contra 
demonstrates an increase in the lead-follow characteristic of the 
dance that is analogous to the increase in lead-follow characteristic 
between contra and, I don't know, polka. (I would also suggest that we 
can trace a decrease in lead-follow characteristics through 
20th-century dance forms all the way to hiphop, if we look for it -- 
but that's getting off-topic.) 


And then I went off-topic in that direction in a way which didn't engage 
with this point.


I am still not sold on the idea that 
basic-model-figures-without-aftermarket-options have *significant* bias to
the gent's role being leader and the ladies role being follower in a way 
analogous to couple dancing, and I think

ideally everybody helps everybody else.

However, I cannot remember *ever* attending a regular contra dance where 
there were no aftermarket options on display.


The lived experience of contra dancing  - avoiding the argument about 
the esssential nature of contra dance, which
clearly has plain-on-the-face-of-it answers which are different for 
different people in this argument  - has more
couple-dance type lead-follow than does the lived experience of English, 
and less than a swing dance or a waltz party.


So I agree with you here, although that doesn't change my position that 
"lead/follow" are bad choices for the roel names.


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Flourishes

[Alan Winston]

On 1/4/2013 7:49 AM, Aahz Maruch wrote:

On Thu, Jan 03, 2013, Kalia Kliban wrote:

On 1/3/2013 8:21 AM, Aahz Maruch wrote:

On Thu, Jan 03, 2013, Alan Winston wrote:

I don't think you need this for the argument; there were flourishes
when I started contra dancing in 1985 (but we called the people who
did them "hot-doggers" and complained about them).

Which "we" are you talking about?

I'm one of them.  It's possible to flourish responsibly, but that is
often not the case.  [...]

My point/snark was that using "we" as Alan did implies a kind of
agreement that I think is vastly overgeneralizing here.  As I wrote in
the part of my post you elided, this has long been a source of tension
across multiple dance communities, I'd bet it probably goes back hundreds
or thousands of years.

Your point about people disrupting the dance with flourishes is
appropriate, but I don't think that making grandiose statements about
community attitudes toward flourishes helps any.


Ah, I thought you were saying "Alan doesn't speak for me" while I now 
think you're saying "Alan doesn't
have the right to speak for the entire community."  So I will clarify 
that across a fairly broad swath of
Bay Area callers, dance organizers, and volunteers in the  late 1980s, 
"hot-dogging" and "hot-doggers"
were fairly standard terms, and they referred to people who did 
flourishes to the possible detriment of
the overall dance - showy swing dance balances that intruded into other 
dancers spaces, men cranking women
around in twirls, swinging extra-long and being late for the next 
figure, grabbing neighbors nonconsensually
for a swing in the middle of the hey, not taking hands along long lines 
and instead one partner drops the other partner to the floor and picks 
(her, usually) up, a guy who used to literally pick women up and put them on
his shoulder for lines of four down the hall.  "We" (Bay area dance 
organizers, callers, and volunteers I talked to

in the late 1980s) called it hot-dogging and considered it a problem.

Things not considered a problem: Cheat swings, general playfulness, 
sticking out your tongue during a gypsy, etc, etc.


Over the years the flourish baseline has adjusted, we don't hear a lot 
about hot-dogging, and so on.  But *I* internally still feel that no 
other dancer should do anything to me without at least my implied 
consent that
keeps me from following the callers directions, no other dancer should 
rob me of agency (and the stupid "make an arch instead of R thru" 
thing is asymmetrical, keeps me from following the directions, and 
doesn't give me
a way to decline), everybody should release their neighbors or partners 
in time to dance with me on time, and
should dance in a way that shows awareness and at least minimal 
consideration of the people around them.


If you disagree with that, let's discuss it.  But I haven't seen you 
dance in a way that looks like you disagree with it.


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Alternate Role Terms

[Alan Winston]

On 1/3/2013 6:22 AM, Louise Siddons wrote:

Two people made the point about different roles not necessarily being 
lead/follow roles, and I think this is true. But in the case of the courtesy 
turn -- or even an open chain -- i do think that the dance is 
improved/perfected by one person allowing themselves to be led by the other. 
Yes, you *can* get where you need to go without help, but it's a better dance 
if you don't. I could twirl myself when I waltz with someone, too, but it's a 
lot less satisfying.
I'll have to grant you the courtesy turn (indeed, I sometimes teach that 
as the gent sweeping the lady around). although I have a heck of a time 
getting a satisfying courtesy turn out of a partner who doesn't get it - 
and, really, it's fairly complicated to get how to share weight when 
you're in that position.


I have a harder time than that leading the open ladies' chain in 
Elizabeth in the kind of seemingly-intuitive light physical guidance way 
I lead waltzing, partly because the ladies are off turning each other 
half the time.  (In that figure, a lot of ladies-role-dancers don't 
really want to take six foot falls to turn the other lady and do more of 
a three-count pull by and then they're way early.  I feel like if I were 
leading that figure more of them would be on time rather than early.



I think for me the key point is that when you have a lot of figures that are 
improved when the same dancer in a couple, or the same gender throughout the 
group dance, is leading, then the dance becomes a dance that is characterized 
by a lead/follow structure. Not necessarily limited by that, but it is one 
aspect of their overall character. And that characteristic can be strong or 
weak in any dance form or style -- it isn't black and white.

And on a similar front, English dancing has ladies chains, both open and with 
courtesy turns.  Would you argue that English dance is inherently lead/follow?

I would suggest that the transition between ECD and contra demonstrates an 
increase in the lead-follow characteristic of the dance that is analogous to 
the increase in lead-follow characteristic between contra and, I don't know, 
polka. (I would also suggest that we can trace a decrease in lead-follow 
characteristics through 20th-century dance forms all the way to hiphop, if we 
look for it -- but that's getting off-topic.)
Not a monotonic decrease - which may not be what you're saying anyway.  
I think non-led social dances or
variations of them have been happening for a long time, from Charleston 
circles and Shim-Sham through
the Twist (a not-very-led partner dance) and country-western line 
dancing, right in parallel with highly-led

foxtrot, swing, jive, hustle, etc, through to swing revival and salsa craze.


At risk of, in some sense, changing the topic dramatically: I have to admit I'm 
always surprised at why people feel so strongly negative about the idea of 
lead-follow as a trait of contra dancing.


Can't speak for anybody else, but for me the idea that country dancing 
is essentially a lead/follow activity and that the roles should be 
called lead and follow (which doesn't necessarily follow on) is 
distressing because
I was able to start country dancing (with Regency dance, 35 years ago) 
readily and fairly unthreateningly because  all I had to do was my part 
and I only had to get myself to where I was supposed to be; I was doing 
an adequate job of executing choreography on the first night.  
Contrariwise, it took me 3 years to waltz adequately, and a big part of 
that was anxiety from being supposed to be in charge, to be "leading", 
when I didn't know what I was doing.  If I'd had the same kind of extra 
anxiety-producing responsibility in country dancing I might never have 
started.  I don't want to bar the door to other people like me.   And I 
do genuinely think the lead in country dancing is very widely 
distributed,  and that country dancing will work far better if everybody 
takes responsibility for their own geography.



Does it rub up against strongly-held community values of 
democracy/egalitarianism? And if so, does our communal practice justify our 
belief that we exemplify those values? Why is the contra community so 
enthusiastic about the question of lead-follow (and why is it, generally 
speaking, so open-minded and progressive re: gender roles), and yet hardly 
anyone ever talks about the racial segregation in the community?
I'm not making a claim for democracy/egalitarianism, which is hardly 
supported by the voluntary authoritarianism of everybody being supposed 
to do what the caller says because the dance will work better.  I don't 
know about anybody else.


As to the racial segregation of the community - I'm going to assume you 
mean "of the community", that is, that contra dancing is very largely an 
activity of white (and Asian, and sometimes South Asian around here) 
people - it bugs me a bit but I don't know what to do about it.  I'm 
kinda hoping that 

Re: [Callers] Flourishes

[Alan Winston]

On 1/3/2013 12:32 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote:

On 1/3/2013 8:21 AM, Aahz Maruch wrote:

On Thu, Jan 03, 2013, Alan Winston wrote:

I don't think you need this for the argument; there were flourishes
when I started contra dancing in 1985 (but we called the people who
did them "hot-doggers" and complained about them).

Which "we" are you talking about?

I'm one of them.  It's possible to flourish responsibly, but that is
often not the case.  At the Berkeley dance last night I saw a couple of
overenthusiastic dippers/lifters smack people in adjacent lines with
parts of their partners, and more than once heard a surprised partner or
neighbor shriek as she was dipped or lifted in ways she wasn't prepared
for.
In fairness to at least one hot-dogger, there was a guy in the same role 
as me for one of
the second-half contras, one couple ahead - a guy who has always struck 
me as the essence of smug
hot-doggery, incidentally.  This had a ladies chain and face new 
neighbor progression.  This person -
who I did seeing doing dips (always supporting the head) and lifts - was 
very carefully managing
all the neighbor ladies through this progression, placing them - if they 
seemed confused enough to
need to be placed, and many were - in the right place, facing the right 
direction, at the right time.
I'd been bracing myself for a whole dance's worth of having to catch 
dizzy women for the swing, and
instead, specifically because of this guys' being responsible about it, 
all the transitions worked.



  You really don't want folks getting airborne in a crowded hall.
It's just not cool.


Hear, hear!

   I've danced many times with partners who decided
that I was by god going to twirl 4 or 5 times, and it turned into a bit
of a battle to keep my arm (and the speed) down.  I've also danced with
women who were weirdly insistent on getting twirled, a lot, all the
time.  When I dance the gent's part I'm pretty basic.  I get my partners
where they need to be, on time and facing the right way, but I don't do
anything fancy.  Flourishes can be really fun to do and cool to watch,
but only if the folks doing them are exceptionally careful with their
awareness of the dancers around them, and respectful of whether the
folks they're dancing with _want_ to do the fancy stuff.

OK, I'm done ranting now.


I'm probably not, but I won't do it more in this reply.

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Questioning a sacred cow of contra dancing

[Alan Winston]

On 12/13/2012 9:22 PM, Linda Leslie wrote:

Dear John,
What is the timing for the A1/A2 in this dance? Or is it that the
dance has only one A?

I'm not John, but I think this could be rendered (counting measures)

 A1 1-2: Right hand balance with partner
   3-4: Pull by, face neighbor
   5-6: Left hand balance with neighbor
   7-8: Neighbors pull by, face partner

A2  1-8: Repeat A1 from these places, finishing at home.

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] What is the best contra dance(s) ever written?

[Alan Winston]

On 11/30/2012 4:26 PM, Dale Wilson wrote:

And slightly more seriously.

I don't want to start religious war but I have always wondered about A
Chorus Jig.  I just don't see why anyone likes it other than those who
cherish it as a relic of a bygone era.   The few times I have danced it my
primary impression was that the inactive couples stood still for the entire
dance -- offering admiration an occasional helping hand to the actives, and
even the actives spent a great deal of time walking up and down the set.
What am I missing?  Why do people like it?



Why I like it:

Whether I'm inactive or active, I like the music, I really like the way 
the parts of the dance interlock, I like the many things that remind me 
I'm dancing in a bigger set
than just my foursome - go down the outside and you have to see the 
whole line, be in line, match their timing; go down the middle and it's 
the same, but if I'm inactive
I have to see people outside of my foursome on the way through.  I 
really like how much it requires timing and rewards timing and 
geographical sense.  I rather like the feeling of being a good cog in 
the big dance machine.  I like supporting the actives and being 
supported when it's my turn.


- When I'm an active, the way the excitement of the tune builds up 
during the contra corners to resolve at the balance with partner (and 
the balance + swing is way
  better than the balance without swing)  is just unparalleled. Hitting 
the balance on the dot is just a tremendous moment.  The whole dance 
(which is, incidentally, made of
  standard early-nineteenth century figures which show up in other 
dances but aren't as  satisfying there) is an exercise in delayed 
gratification; I leave my partner, we're apart
  (but have a flirtatious peek, perhaps, in the middle of the 
down-the-outside-and-back), we're closer together for the 
down-the-middle-and-back; we connect with our
  same-sex neighbors on the cast off, we interact with two opposite-sex 
neighbors in the contra-corners, briefly seeing partner in between 
others, and we finally connect.

  It's awesome.

- When I'm inactive - well, you can always swing your partner during the 
down-the-outside, and I have no problem for that. During the 
down-the-middle  you can likely cheat-swing somebody from the   next 
line (although I won't generally do that and don't much like it when my 
partner abandons me to cheat swing).  But here's what I like there - I 
enjoy being able to support the actives in the contra corners, I enjoy 
getting a read on whether they want to push off and spin out of the 
allemande and supporting that, I enjoy helping to get them to their 
appointment with their partner on time.   (I'll usually balance or stomp 
at the end of the contra corners even if I'm an inactive.)  I'll admit 
that I'd be a bit frustrated if I were inactive all the way to to the 
top and the dance ended without my ever getting to be active, but I'm 
happy to have it run long enough for everybody to get to be both active 
and inactive.


Your mileage may well vary.  People like different things.

-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Sung fiddle tunes?

[Alan Winston]

I have polkaed to the Hamster Dance tune.  It's *brutal*.

-- Alan

On 11/27/2012 1:59 PM, Richard Mckeever wrote:
A few Decembers ago the band surprised us with a holiday tune by 
playing the Chipmunk Song for the final waltz - everyone knew many of 
the words and  sung along - it was fun!


Mac


*From:* Alan Winston <wins...@slac.stanford.edu>
*To:* call...@sharedweight.net
*Sent:* Tuesday, November 27, 2012 3:40 PM
*Subject:* Re: [Callers] Sung fiddle tunes?

Waltz songs I've enjoyed dancing to when sung:

- Log Riders Waltz
- Tennessee Waltz
- Star of the County Down
- After the Ball (although the lyrics are really a downer)
- Take Me Out to the Ballgame
- Home, Sweet Home
- I Could Have Danced All Night

(And "Shall We Dance" is a fun polka, for that matter.)

I've also experienced a wonderful band with a fabulous vocalist who 
can concertize on her own, but whose sung waltzes are often 
unsatisfying to me *as waltzes* because they're at the tempo which 
allows for full emotional expression of the song and that's too slow 
for good rotary waltz.


In contra dancing I've enjoyed "mouth music" breaks on fast Irish 
tunes but haven't tried to dance to anyone singing lyrics.


English dance has a rich history of dances set to ballad tunes and 
we've had balls where that was a theme.


Unlike singing squares, I've more generally encountered bands that sing.

The main thing to remember,  I should think, is that you're serving 
the dance experience.  Keeping the set from breaking down is more 
important than finishing the lyric.  Also, this should be spice, not 
meat and potatoes.
Experiment slowly; do it on simple dances; use your judgment.  For 
getting your feet wet I would say that you
might run a simple dance with instruments + calling 2/3 of the way 
through, then sing at a point where you could
expect to drop out from calling - and then end the dance if it looks 
like there's a problem.


I'd also say: rehearse, use a metronome, record yourself, make sure 
you can sing satisfactorily at dance tempo.
Make sure your ego is okay with dancers essentially ignoring your 
singing; they're there to to dance with each other, not to to listen 
to you.  [You can get much more responsiveness to singing behind 
couple dances, I think.]


And as for the less-experienced group of dancers: If you have any 
doubt about how it will work, you shouldn't do it.


-- Alan


On 11/27/2012 12:14 PM, Maia McCormick wrote:
> I've been talking with my band lately about coming up with some contra
> tunes that I/they/we can sing.
> a) suggestions for tunes? (Contra and waltz alike.)
> b) when do you usually stop calling and start singing? What do you do if
> the dance gets off track and you need to throw in some more calls?
> c) other relevant things to consider when the band/caller tries to 
sing for

> a less experienced group of dancers?
>
> Thanks!
> Maia
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Re: [Callers] Sung fiddle tunes?

[Alan Winston]

Waltz songs I've enjoyed dancing to when sung:

- Log Riders Waltz
- Tennessee Waltz
- Star of the County Down
- After the Ball (although the lyrics are really a downer)
- Take Me Out to the Ballgame
- Home, Sweet Home
- I Could Have Danced All Night

(And "Shall We Dance" is a fun polka, for that matter.)

I've also experienced a wonderful band with a fabulous vocalist who can 
concertize on her own, but whose sung waltzes are often unsatisfying to 
me *as waltzes* because they're at the tempo which allows for full 
emotional expression of the song and that's too slow for good rotary waltz.


In contra dancing I've enjoyed "mouth music" breaks on fast Irish tunes 
but haven't tried to dance to anyone singing lyrics.


English dance has a rich history of dances set to ballad tunes and we've 
had balls where that was a theme.


Unlike singing squares, I've more generally encountered bands that sing.

The main thing to remember,  I should think, is that you're serving the 
dance experience.  Keeping the set from breaking down is more important 
than finishing the lyric.  Also, this should be spice, not meat and 
potatoes.
Experiment slowly; do it on simple dances; use your judgment.  For 
getting your feet wet I would say that you
might run a simple dance with instruments + calling 2/3 of the way 
through, then sing at a point where you could
expect to drop out from calling - and then end the dance if it looks 
like there's a problem.


I'd also say: rehearse, use a metronome, record yourself, make sure you 
can sing satisfactorily at dance tempo.
Make sure your ego is okay with dancers essentially ignoring your 
singing; they're there to to dance with each other, not to to listen to 
you.  [You can get much more responsiveness to singing behind couple 
dances, I think.]


And as for the less-experienced group of dancers: If you have any doubt 
about how it will work, you shouldn't do it.


-- Alan


On 11/27/2012 12:14 PM, Maia McCormick wrote:

I've been talking with my band lately about coming up with some contra
tunes that I/they/we can sing.
a) suggestions for tunes? (Contra and waltz alike.)
b) when do you usually stop calling and start singing? What do you do if
the dance gets off track and you need to throw in some more calls?
c) other relevant things to consider when the band/caller tries to sing for
a less experienced group of dancers?

Thanks!
Maia
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Re: [Callers] Named Moves

[Alan Winston]

On 11/26/2012 6:18 AM, Greg McKenzie wrote:
A call like "angry robin," which is not descriptive, has no 
information for first-timers. 
You could certainly confuse everybody in the room by calling it "angry 
robin", because even the people who know
the figure don't call it that.(You've referred to the figure this 
way more than once; you're usually very clear about your word choices 
but I can't figure out why you'd

choose to say "angry robin" rather than "mad robin".)

The figure is called "mad robin" because it's a variation on the 
signature move in an English dance called "Mad Robin"; I'd always 
imagined that this was Mad in the lightheartedly insane sense rather 
than in the angry sense.  There's a French source - which postdates the 
English publication - which calls the dance "Madame Robin".


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] How to call a Petronella Turn?

[Alan Winston]

I feel kind of stuck in perpetuating the use of the term "Petronella".  
I'll use it in the walkthrough because that
orients the experienced dancers immediately and than call "spin" or 
"twirl" and probably keep calling
"make a ring and balance now" longer than than I call the twirl.) I 
think it's courteous to the newer dancers to
identify how the figure is commonly called so they'll have a chance of 
knowing it the next time somebody else calls it, but it certainly is 
just about the most undescriptive name possible.


Scottish dancing also has a "Petronella turn" - not surprisingly, since 
the chestnut contra seems to derive from something published in 
Edinburgh by Gow in, uh, 1820 or something - but it is different in 
detail from the contra one.  (And in the Scottish dance, the actives 
only do the Petronella move first, then balance (pas-de-basque) in 
place.)   Dudley Laufman wrote some time back that the chestnut contra 
had the same thing as the Scottish - just the actives traveling - until 
somebody imported the all-in-and-out all-travel-twirling from an English 
trad dance called Roxburgh Castle (which uses a rant step, 
incidentally).  So the whole BTR-Petronella-turn thing is completely a 
20th-century invention in contra dancing.  [Not that this is directly 
responsive to the original question; I just think it's interesting.]


-- Alan


On 11/23/2012 1:30 PM, Rich Goss wrote:

I never use the term Petronella for that move.  It's always "spin to the right" or twirl to 
the right" For me. Petronella is the name of a Chestnut that the move comes from as most all of you 
know.   Callers used to say "as in the dance Peronella..." but through the evolutionary 
process is no longer mentioned.  The move has taken on the name of the dance.   That said, if's my 
personal preference not to use that name for the move.  It does bug me a little when other callers use 
it as the name for the move, but not enough to say anything or lose any sleep over it.

Rich


On Fri, Nov 23, 2012 at 3:10 PM, Maia McCormick  wrote:


So I had my first introduction to contradance through my school, taught by
student callers who had been taught by student callers before them, etc. I
was first taught to call a Petronella as... a Petronella. And then as I
started going to more outside dances and started reading up on the practice
of calling, I heard the move more and more just called as "balance the ring
and spin to the right" or "balance the ring and spin to swap."

So, esteemed caller-folk, I ask you: how do* you* call a Petronella Turn?
By name, or with some other turn of phrase? Do you have any sense how
widespread either of these conventions are? Why not just call a Petronella
a Petronella? If you call it by description rather than by name, do you
generally put the entire call together (e.g. "BALance the RING and SPIN to
the RIGHT") or break it up ("BALance the RING... and SPIN to the RIGHT" so
that "spin to the right" ends up coming on beats 3 & 4, just before the
actual spinning occurs)? Any thoughts are welcome!

Cheers,
Maia
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Re: [Callers] Taking hands four

[Alan Winston]

Floor manager, as a named role, is about as old as "prompter" which 
might be the same age as "caller".


At public balls in the latter 1800s, the floor manager would make sure 
sets got formed, make introductions for people who wanted to be 
introduced (which had
to happen before they could dance together) and generally take charge of 
things which a prompter at the top of the large hall couldn't be 
expected to manage.  (Presumably
also ejected the disorderly, echoed prompts if necessary ... but I don't 
have that from a written source.)


There might be multiple floor managers.

-- Alan

On 11/13/2012 6:24 PM, Greg McKenzie wrote:

Dan wrote:

As a dancer or floor manager, I sometimes have done what the Scottish

Country Dancers do:


Floor manager?  I am not familiar with this role.  Is it from Scottish
Country Dance?  I always love learning about new roles in the dance hall.

- Greg McKenzie
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Re: [Callers] Walk the Plank

[Alan Winston]

On 10/31/2012 6:29 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote:

Hi all

Just wondering about a transition in Nathaniel Jack's "Walk the Plank."
   It looks like a nice bouncy dance with good rebound, but there's a
transition from a petronella twirl into a LH star at the end, and in the
absence of a group of guinea pigs here at the house I thought I'd ask if
anyone's tried this and what they think.

Haven't tried it but will give an uninformed opinion anyway.

This looks like a terrific dance.  It resolves the awkwardness of 
bend-the-line circle left (which always gives a nasty momentum change to 
the person

on the right end of the line) by having a balance the ring next.

 Petronella one place into star with the same people should go pretty 
smoothly.  I'd be inclined to make that a hands-across star and tell 
them to
start moving right away rather than wait to catch hands; that would 
somewhat reduce the problem of momentary disorientation causing the whole
start to start late, which you really don't want because you need to 
finish on time to hit the neighbor balance.  If it goes smoothly it 
should feel great.


-- Alan



Here are the notes:

Walk the Plank Duple Imp.
A1 4,4 Neighbor balance, Al right 3/4
8 Men Al left 1-1/2
A2 16 Partner Bal + Swing, end facing down
B1 8 Down the hall in lines of 4, turn alone
8 Come back up, bend the line to a circle
B2 8 Balance the ring, spin right one place
8 Star left 1ce around.

Is it comfortable to come from that twirl into catching L hands for a star?

Kalia
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Re: [Callers] Need help with "Mr Know It All"

[Alan Winston]

On 10/24/2012 5:06 PM, Ben wrote:


My concern is that we have "given someone an inch, and now he wants to take
a mile."  This guy, due to his occupation, is used to coming into an
organization and being the new sheriff in town, and I get the distinct
feeling that he sees our dance group as one that he needs to "shape up."  I
am personally quite troubled by what I am seeing, but unsure of the best
course of action.  (In my view, he  is a "bull in a China Shop" and he has
broken quite a bit of china already...)  I have seen other dance communities
where a "dancer" does the beginner teach for every one of the dances, and
when people in the community find that they need to make a change, they
don't feel that they can, politically.  (How do you "fire" a volunteer??)

  
Have any of you had a similar experience?  Any suggestions?  Thanks!


My suggestion is that before you take any other action, you make sure 
the rest of your organizers agree with you.
Once you're sure they're behind you, you could tell the guy that the 
beginner workshop is part of what you're paying
the caller for, and while you appreciate his interest and community 
spirit in trying to help out, the organizational policy

is that the caller should do it, and he should let them do it.

(I agree that once you get a volunteer who 'owns' the beginner workshop, 
it's very hard to dislodge them without

hurt feelings.)

I've only ever heard of one dance that would spirit newcomers away 
during the dance itself for a workshop; that was the
Westchester English dance.  (That did mean that there was 45 minutes 
when the weekly dance was an advanced dance,
which was fun for the advanced dancers; the one time I called that dance 
I hadn't understood what the deal was fully and

had a designed a normal incrementally-complex English program).

Here's another way of thinking about this:

You have a vision for your dance.  You're not making it explicit in this 
post, but I imagine it involves valuing community and

inclusiveness over dance skill.

He has some other vision, and it sounds like it prioritizes (his idea 
of) dance skill over inclusiveness on any given night.


Maybe you and the other organizers could make your vision explicit. That 
might help guide everybody's actions.


-- Alan

Re: [Callers] Estimating space and couples

[Alan Winston]

On 10/19/2012 6:06 PM, Leslie Gotfrit wrote:

I am a new caller trying to log calling hours by hosting kitchen contra parties 
(with live music, beer and food). Could anyone tell me how many linear feet I 
need per couple? My friends' home is about 24 feet on the diagonal: how many 
couple in a longways can I (safely) accommodate?  And what's the minimum number 
of couples in a contra line so that is still fun? Thanks for any advice.


First, good for you!  Setting up house parties is the way to get practice!

I think you want 17-20 square feet per contra dancer.  I'm having some 
trouble understanding what the "24 feet on the diagonal" measurement 
accomplishes.

You're making me do algebra and geometry here.

If you have a square room then the area is  diameter**2 /2 (result in 
square units).  So your 24-feet on the diagonal is 288 sqft  and you can 
fit 14-17
dancers into it.  However, that has to be modified by figuring out where 
you stand, whether the musicians take up space, whether there's any 
furniture, etc.
It would be more helpful to have a length measurement and a width 
measurement of the danceable area after subtracting some room for caller 
and band.
But assuming optional distribution, it seems like you can have a 7 - 8 
couple set.


If you don't have at least five couples in a duple minor set then you do 
a high percentage of standing out compared to dancing, and the ratio 
gets better
as the set gets longer.  (If the dancers are major dance geeks, you can 
do contras with four people, never stopping, and either change number 
and gender
every time through, or change partners and head of the set every time 
through.)


(I'm not going to push you to call squares rather than contras, because 
you're trying to practice contras.  But it sounds like you're setting up 
a classic

squares environment!)

Good luck!

-- Alan