Hello Folks,
I am relatively new at calling contras and I am looking for some asy to
intermediate contras to introduce the hey to a group that includes many
beginners. and/or club square dancers.
"Butter" by Gene Hubert is my go to dance, but I am looking for a few
more. I like Butter because the flow from ladies chain into a RH hey is
great, and because all the other calls are introduced earlier in most
evening.
I love simple, but different choreography, so I am open to most suggestions.
Rich Sbardella
Here's something new:
Signs of Life
duple improper contra
by Jill Allen
A1 circle R X1, M allem L 1 1/2 to face P
A2 hey for 4, start by passing R
B1 gypsy and swing P (or B & S)
B2 circle L 3/4, balance the ring, calif twirl to face the next..
Also:
Columbia Contra
duple improper contra
by Gene Hubert
A1 Allem R N aprox 1 1/4, W allem L 1/2, allem R P X1 ending with Women facing each other in the middle
A2 hey for 4, W pass L to begin
B1 B & S P
B2 W chain, star L
I call both of these quite frequently. Both have timing which is forgiving for beginners.
Jill Allen : )
>> Hello Folks,
>> >
>> > I am relatively new at calling contras and I am looking for some asy to intermediate contras to introduce the hey to a group that includes many beginners. and/or club square dancers.
>> >
>> > "Butter" by Gene Hubert is my go to dance, but I am looking for a few more. I like Butter because the flow from ladies chain into a RH hey is great, and because all the other calls are introduced earlier in most evening.
>> >
>> > I love simple, but different choreography, so I am open to most suggestions.
>> >
>> > Rich Sbardella
Becket Formation:
R&L thru on left diagonal (ends do not move), R&L thru across
Circle left 3/4, Swing neighbour
Pass through, California twirl, Men left-hand turn once-and-half
Balance and swing partner
Improper:
Line of 4 (1s in the middle) go down the room and reverse back up ("turn and
fall back") - bend the line to a circle
Circle R, Ladies lead a LHS (1/2 way with each other then men join in)
New Neighbour dosido & Swing
Lines F&B, 1s swing (end in centre of new 2s)
Many thanks in advance J
Jeremy
I like First Hey by Paul Balliet
Sent from my iPhone
> On Dec 8, 2015, at 2:08 PM, Ron Blechner via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Give the Scout a Hand, Bob Isaacs
>
> I'll second:
> Butter
> Carousel
> Hey the the Barn
> Roll in the Hey
>> On Dec 8, 2015 2:10 PM, "David A Kaynor via Callers" <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> A longtime lurker leaps in:
>>
>> Below: Two fairly easy Becket formation dances which present a full hay for four following a full ladies’ chain … a useful sequence from a pedagogical standpoint, in my opinion.
>>
>> First, Peter Stix’s “Purple Hays” (Becket formation)
>>
>> A1: Ladies chain (over and back)
>>
>> A2: Hay for four (over and back)
>>
>> B1: Ladies 1/2 [your politically/socially acceptable term for “gypsy”];
>> swing partner
>>
>> B2: 1/2 right and left; circle left 1/2 to original Becket home; with partner, slide left.
>>
>>
>> Here are Peter’s A parts followed by different B parts (Lindsey Dono told me that a dancer suggested this dance be called “Busy Bees”)
>>
>> A1: Ladies chain (over and back)
>>
>> A2: Hay for four (over and back)
>>
>> B1: with Partner, balance and swing
>>
>> B2: long lines forward & back; circle left (all the way around); with partner, shift left to new neighbors.
>>
>>
>> Note: On paper, there isn’t sufficient time for all of B2. However, in actual practice, the transition from the circle and shift to the ladies’ chain is forgiving enough for things to flow well.
>>
>> I believe my B parts to be a little easier for bringing newcomers along. To my knowledge, no contra prior to “Purple Hays” used this sequence of A parts.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Dec 8, 2015, at 12:50 PM, susanelberger via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>> >
>> > Washington Hay by Ralph Sweet is my go-to dance for teaching a hay to relatively new dancers.
>> >
>> > Susan Elberger
>> >
>> > From: Rich Sbardella via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
>> > To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>; trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
>> > Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2015 12:48 PM
>> > Subject: [Callers] Contras with a Hey
>> >
>> > Hello Folks,
>> >
>> > I am relatively new at calling contras and I am looking for some asy to intermediate contras to introduce the hey to a group that includes many beginners. and/or club square dancers.
>> >
>> > "Butter" by Gene Hubert is my go to dance, but I am looking for a few more. I like Butter because the flow from ladies chain into a RH hey is great, and because all the other calls are introduced earlier in most evening.
>> >
>> > I love simple, but different choreography, so I am open to most suggestions.
>> >
>> > Rich Sbardella
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Callers mailing list
>> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
Rich kindly pointed out that I was mistaken about Butter being the one
with the hey leading into the progression. Note to self: never post to
lists before having coffee...
Kalia
Ron Buchanan this one at Contracopia, and it was a lot of fun!
???, by ??? (becket)
A1: pass the ocean and balance
partner R 1/2, gents L 1/2, balance
A2: neighbor R 3/4, new neighbor swing
B1: pass the ocean and balance
neighbor R 1/2, gents L 1/2, balance
B2: partner swing
Oh! I believe that the B2 was a do-si-do and swing, actually (misremembered
it because my partner and I changed it). Which makes the dance as I recall
it:
A1: pass the ocean and balance
partner R 1/2, gents L 1/2, balance
A2: neighbor R 3/4, new neighbor swing
B1: pass the ocean and balance
neighbor R 1/2, gents L 1/2, balance
B2: partner do-si-do
partner swing
And it DOES look similar to Mongatock (Manga Tak?), I agree, but I
definitely recall reforming and balancing waves after both of the
pass-the-ocean/allemande sequences.
On Mon, Dec 7, 2015 at 9:26 PM, Donna Hunt <dhuntdancer(a)aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> Mongatock* Ron Buchannan Improper
> A1 Balance and Swing Neighbor
>
> A2 Pass to ocean wave, *Balance*, Neighbor R, Gents Left,
> Partner Right Allem ¾
>
> B1 Shadow Allem 1x
> Partner Swing
>
> B2 Pass to ocean wave, *Balance*, Partner R, Gents Left,
> Neighbor Right Allem ¾
>
> I know he called this one, Mongatock, could you have transcribed it
> wrong?
> Donna
> Web Site: donnahuntcaller.com
> Email: dhuntdancer(a)aol.com
> Cell: 215-565-6050
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Maia McCormick via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
> To: callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
> Sent: Mon, Dec 7, 2015 9:10 pm
> Subject: [Callers] Mystery dance from Contracopia
>
> Ron Buchanan this one at Contracopia, and it was a lot of fun!
>
> ???, by ??? (becket)
> A1: pass the ocean and balance
> partner R 1/2, gents L 1/2, balance
> A2: neighbor R 3/4, new neighbor swing
> B1: pass the ocean and balance
> neighbor R 1/2, gents L 1/2, balance
> B2: partner swing
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>
It's 5 am, and I find myself awake and writing dances; specifically 4x4s.
Unfortunately, I don't have 8 dancers waiting on my insomnia to test
things, so I figured I'd send them to shared weight...
Possibly this is a choreographic question already answered in square
dancing, but I'm not familiar with the outcome. How well does a four person
do-si-do work? I'm thinking of something along the lines of:
Doubled-si-do
Four Facing Four
A1 -----------
(4) Give and Gents take (up and down)
(12) Neighbor swing
A2 -----------
(8) Women's Chain back to partner (up and down), turn to face in
(8) All four Women Do-si-do 1x
B1 -----------
(8) All four Men Do-si-do 1x
(8) All eight Circle Left 1/2x
B2 -----------
(16) Partner balance and swing
End facing line of direction
In my head, the four person do-si-do is a right hand star sans hands; but
not sure how well it'll fly; especially since the right diagonal women have
less far to turn to face in than the left diagonal women coming out of the
chain.
Thoughts?
Thank you
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
Hey, I'm new here, but what a great idea for a figure, Luke. Am I correct
in assuming that, in addition to being similar to a RH star sans hands,
that the dancers are also facing the same direction throughout the figure,
like you're supposed to do for a regular two-person do-si-do? So the
dancers would be walking forward 4 steps, moving around three other
dancers, and then reversing back to place? I can't see it taking much more
time than a regular RH star. The dancer's adjust, just like they do to any
other figure that takes more or less time than allotted, realistically.
There's also a figure from English country dancing, which is not much like
you're suggesting, but it may provide some inspiration for tweaking this
figure. It's called a Mad Robin and involves 4 people doing a sideways
do-si-do in couples.
What if you had the closer women do a do-si-do followed very quickly by the
next two? And then take the previous suggestion about choreographing a
"soft" figure afterwards, so the one or two beats is not an interruption.
Greg
Hi Luke,
I suspect you will have timing problems in a Double Contra because
of the extra time it takes for the people at the ends of the lines.
I have a couple of dances with a DosiAll and the other challenge is
getting them all to start at the same time. I solve this with a Balance the
Ring first; that launches everyone into the DosiAll at the same time.
My contra with a DosiAll is a standard contra, so it is two couples
- four individuals - all doing a dosido at the same time.
When I teach it I sometimes get the men to dosido and then the
ladies to dosido, then explain that we can't afford all those extra notes,
so they are going to have to do both dosidos at the same time. If they
start moving slightly more to their left than they would normally then that
will help to avoid crashes. The balance before each DosiAll is to ensure
that everyone starts into the movement at the same time. It's really at its
best when all four dancers do the counterclockwise spins that are common in
dosidos.
You can also teach it by getting the four dancers to do a four
person Gypsy; that is the track they follow - now do it as a Dosido.
The dancers all have to be confident and go for it - because you are
following the same track, but with your back to the other people, or
spinning, then you need everyone to keep moving.
I have included below a three couple dance which only has three
people doing the DosiAll at the same time. I sometimes use that to get
people used to the concept.
DosiAll (by John Sweeney)
Contra; Becket
A1: Circle Right Half Way; Balance the Ring
DosiAll
A2: Circle Left Half Way; Balance the Ring
DosiAll
B1: Partner Balance & Swing
B2: On the Left Diagonal: Half Hey - Ladies lead by Right Shoulder
Half Promenade Across and flow into.
Gypsy A Trois (by John Sweeney)
Three Couples in a Circle
A1: Circle Left Four Steps; Balance the Ring
Men DosiAll
A2: Circle Left Four Steps; Balance the Ring
Ladies DosiAll
B1: Partner Allemande Left to
Ladies Right Shoulder Gypsy WHILE Men Single File Promenade CCW outside
the set
B2: Meet your Partner (second time, at home): Partner Allemande Left (about
half) to your Corner
Corner Swing - this is your new Partner
x3 should take you home
Please let me know if your dancers enjoy them.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
