Re: [Callers] Zesty Playford
On Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:13:47 -0700, Alan Winston wrote: > 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. Then I will happily agree with you, but I have the feeling that you're in a minority. I was once due to call for an English group somewhere in the States and a woman was leading a Beginners' session before I started. She told them "All English is slow and gentle", and people who know me will be surprised to hear that I DIDN'T leap up and shout out "No it isn't"! > 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. And I'll admit that they're rarely done in England too. I still call Morpeth Rant, but I hear band and dancers saying "Haven't done that for years". > 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? Yes indeed. I've seen Rhodri Davies do my dance Oxford Circus at a Zesty Playford session, and I think of it as very much in the Playford style with the three introductions of Up a double and back, Siding and Arming. In fact I'm going with genuine historical stuff (1651- 1775) for my Zesty Playford session at Eastbourne Festival this weekend. Similarly I'm doing the Playford Ball using all dances from The Dancing Master - in other words published by John Playford, Henry Playford and their successor John Young. Most callers are not so fussy, but my view is that there's such a variety of style, energy, rhythm, formation and music in The Dancing Master that you really don't need to throw in dances by Pat Shaw, Gary Roodman or Fried Herman (or even Colin Hume) to make a good programme. Colin Hume
Re: [Callers] Zesty Playford
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
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. > 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. > 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.) I agree with all of that. Contra dancers in England don't do nearly as many twirls as in the States. And I would guess that most of the people in that video also dance contra. I've never seen an elbows-linked back-basket before either! I imagine it was spontaneous. Colin Hume
Re: [Callers] Zesty Playford
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 ___ Callers mailing list call...@sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
[Callers] Zesty Playford
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
