I just received this and thought I would pass it along to Shared Weight. The
Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend is January 18-20 in Durham, New Hampshire. For
information about the weekend: http://ralphpage.neffa.org/
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The caller scholarship for RPDLW is up for grabs as
This is a common experience when calling squares. Squares calls (even non
singing calls) are very tied to the music. If the band is hot, the calling
feels like ice skating! You soar. It's a delight. Any caller needs to feel like
they are a part of the band (but don't tell the musicians this )
-Original Message-
From: callers-boun...@sharedweight.net
[mailto:callers-boun...@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Edmund Croft
> And I was doing the two's variation in Petronella which uses a left turn back
> in the early 80s.
Can you describe this in more detail? If you spin to the
OK, OK, I'm as gullible as they come. (And, yes, I know that "gullible" is not
in the dictionary. )
Thanks all for cluing me in.
And thanks for the words of support for my asking for simplicity and
descriptive terms.
Beth
-Original Message-
From: callers-boun...@sharedweight.net
Oh, come on, folks. One of the contra dance traditions has been a small set of
named moves and, for the most part, directional names for any new moves. So,
for example, we say, "Pass through to an ocean wave," instead of "Pass the
ocean." Please, please fight any tendency to give obscure names
LOL, I could write out the Ladies Chain calls, as I do them pretty much the
same way every time. But the patter is something that happens when the music is
good and the crowd rockin' and it all comes together for a good time. I could
neither remember nor write out most of what I said in that
While, the video the Bill pointed to is similar, note that Tony was calling to
a VERY experienced group of dancers at that event and did things that we would
not do at an ONS. You will note that the version of Kitchen Lancers I used did
not include the down the center cast out to lines forward
I just noticed that I have gotten lots of messages this late summer/fall. But
it has been quiet for the last couple of weeks. Sorry to mislead on my original
post.
Beth
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Here's my program for last night:
Big Circle hash (teaches folks to listen )
Sanita Hill (sicilian circle)
Heads and Sides
Ladies Chain
-break-
Lucky Seven Promenade mixer
Heads Arch
Kitchen Lancers
-break-
Virginia Reel into big circle/ball of yarn, etc.
Since private party dances are first and
I have not seen a post on this list since May. I'm wondering if I have been
dropped or are you all just being very quiet? Or is something else going on?
To keep this on topic just in case it gets posted: I had a wonderful one
nighter last night. Three squares in a large garage. All circles and
The key to not having the sets re-merge is to make sure that the first set has
an odd number of couples in it. The extra couple waiting out at the bottom is
then never there at the same time as the extra couple waiting out at the head
of the other set. I do not, however, have any suggestion
LOL, I once had a caller berate me for using Flirtation Reel as a dance to
teach beginners (this was a beginner's workshop at NEFFA, they really were
beginning something.) He rather emphatically said "how could you use a
non-standard hey as a teaching tool?" Until then I hadn't realized there
The distinction is between a walk-through, which is just telling the dancers
the figures and expecting them to do them, and a teaching session which
explains exactly how to do the figures. Most modern contra dances are more on
the "just do the figures" side of the equation rather than the
As someone who danced a lot in the Boston area around the time that that
picture was drawn I think that the forearm hold (I don't think it usually
involved the elbow, mostly just the forearms, in spite of the drawing) was used
to make the swing take up less space in very crowded halls. The
LOL, this is quickly becoming a game of "how would YOU do a dance like this?"
I'm going to add my vision into the mix. I do a lot of family dances, and I
envision this as a mixer for a family group who would be comfortable with a
mixer (not all groups would be.)
And to satisfy the "every dance
Count me in on the web list, too. Martha, I've been pretty happy with Joomla,
too.
Beth
-Original Message-
From: callers-boun...@sharedweight.net
[mailto:callers-boun...@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Martha Edwards
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2011 4:08 PM
To: Caller's discussion list
Girl Scout Father daughter dances are absolutely my favorite dances to call.
Here are some comments.
I "teach" people to listen to me during the first dance. I start with a big
circle. I teach the group the following: Walk to the left, walk to the right,
go into the center 3 steps, come back
> PS: Following the links I discovered you are a weaver, too. I like
> the double weave "green thing" quite a bit. I weave, and I know
> Paula McFarling in Columbia, MO is a weaver and a caller. I wonder how
> many other weavers have discovered contra or vice versa.
I'm a caller and a weaver.
Ummm, Amy it's S-twist or Z-twist. N and Z are the same, one's just turned
sideways.
HTH,
Beth
> -Original Message-
> From: callers-boun...@sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-
> boun...@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Amy Cann
> Sent: Friday, December 03, 2010 11:14 PM
> To: Caller's
Please forgive the blatant advertisement, but I feel that members of this list
would like to know that Tony's book, Contra Dance Calling: A Basic Text has
just been released in its second printing. Most of the content has not changed,
but the reference section has been updated with internet
Hi!
I am looking for "new" callers in the "greater" Boston area who would like to
attend a callers gathering and call a guest spot at the Concord Scout House.
The first of these would be Saturday, September 18. The gathering would be for
dinner at my house (7 miles from the Scout House.) If
I call many events with recorded music. There are advantages to using recorded
music. The advantage is that you can pick exactly what music you will use for a
given piece. It's especially great for novelty dances that would be difficult
to do with most contra dance bands, but which are awesome
Wow.
I call mixers because it is the one and only time in an evening when the whole
group is gathered together. Instead of "my little clique" it is "all of us are
in this together" as a dancer and as a caller I enjoy that experience.
I call mixers because I find a whole evening of contra,
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