Over in San Jose we've just done a second annual not-really-flash-mob
dance. Symphony Silicon Valley does a free public series of Pops
concerts, get permission from them, pick one, get a bunch of volunteer
dancers and a pickup band, print up some flyers and put up a sign with
the sponsoring organization logo and URL, We put up a sign with the name
of the organization, set up in the path of foot traffic to the concert
spot, and do an hour and a half (or so) of easy contra dances,
encouraging passersby to join in and hooking them up with
more-experienced partners.
This is successful in terms of getting some exposure, and today we got
somewhere between a half-dozen and a dozen new people to actually try
it, and probably moved 25 flyers. Nobody got hurt, some of the dancers
stayed for several dances, etc. We flushed out some old square dancers
(who of course wanted to swing once around and wait for the next call)
and some previous non-dancers of various ages.
(I was calling. First round was missing many volunteer dancers and had
multiple newbies, so I did a one-night-stand dance ("Up the Sides and
Down the Middle") rather than a duple-minor contra; then Cranky
Ingenuity, Inflation Reel, Kitchen Stomp, and Delphiniums and Daisies.)
Posting to ask if people who've done this kind of thing have any tips or
tricks to get things going.
As caller I relied on my volunteer dancers to do the recruiting, and
people had different comfort and skill levels doing that. Is there
something I can tell them that will increase their comfort in talking to
strangers?
Thanks!
-- Alan
another option is to buy shuffleboard wax (ebay or large janitorial supplies) aka ballroom wax. This is a fine powdered wax that comes in various "slipperiness" grades...a tiny bit of a moderate slipperiness goes a very very long way. A container the size of a kitchen cleanser 'can' could last an entire dance community a year. Since it is a wax, I imagine it is good for wood floors, however the venue must be consulted and there is some danger from exuberant use such that folks could end up horizontal. Sprinkling it evenly around the floor and then sweeping it off before the dance will generally leave a beneficial amount.
Alternate solutions might be to offer a 'step in' tray of it, where those who found the floor too sticky might smoosh their shoes in it briefly or a bottle could be passed around so dancers could put a pinch in their palms and rub it on the bottom of their dance shoes from time to time. I suspect this works best on smooth soles (suede, leather, composite) and not so well on 'tread' soles like athletic shoes. I carry a small plastic bottle of this to all dance events to rub on my own shoe soles.
Has anyone experienced issues with their wooden dance floors becoming
sticky during humid weather? If so, what if anything has been done to
alleviate the problem?
thanks.
Mary C. - Buffalo
--
“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ... it's about learning
to dance in the rain!” ~ Unknown
I am going through some old English Dance & Song magazines and found this
from December 1964:
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
East Meets West
This dance has been in vogue for many years now and in response to repeated
requests, we reprint it here. It was composed, we understand, by Ralph Page
after a visit to the west coast of the U.S.A. and called " East Meets West '
as the dance incorporates certain west coast square dance movements within
the framework of a New England style contra.
Formation: duple improper.
Music: 32 bar reels (see note below) although some prefer jigs.
A.1. Lines of four move down the room (holding hands, ones between the
twos), turn towards
contrary and return, bringing twos in front of ones (progression).
A.2. Circle four, left and right.
B.1. Western style do-paso, i.e. men turn contrary lady with left hand,
cross and turn partner with
right hand, cross again and turn contrary lady with left hand straight into
...
B.2. Half promenade across, and half right and left back.
NOTE: if the tune " Little Old Log Cabin " (Swing Partners, p. 7) is used,
the following singing call might
be found useful :
Oh go down in fours together,
turn round and come back home,
To that little old log cabin in the lane,
Then you circle to the left
and then you circle back again
To that little old log cabin in the lane.
Allemande left your corner;
allemande right your own
And give left hand to that corner girl again.
Then you promenade across the set
and right and left back home,
To your little old log cabin in the lane
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
But Zesty Contras (1983) says:
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
East Meets West (by Herbie Gaudreau)
Contra; Improper
A1 Neighbour Allemande Left 1/2; Ladies' Chain; Ladies' Chain back
A2 Circle Left; Circle Right
B1 Neighbour Allemande Left; Partner Allemande Right; Neighbour Allemande
Left
B2 Half Promenade; R & L Through
Only a decade ago this was a very innovative dance
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
The reference to a "decade ago" seems to imply that Herbie wrote the dance
around 1973. But the version at the top claims to be old in 1964.
They are obviously the same dance since they have the same name and only
differ in the A1 (and I can understand why the A1 was changed as the
transition from R&L Thru into Lines of Four doesn't appear to be
particularly smooth!).
Does anyone know any more about the history of this dance and its various
versions?
Thanks.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
If you can find UNscented talc (and good luck with that!), try it in a
small area to see if it works on your floor.
Do NOT use scented baby power -- the cure would be worse than the disease.
--Jerome
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
"There's no point in being unhappy about things you can't change, and no
point being unhappy about things you can."
Hi Rickey,
Some of your options depend on the skill levels of your dancers and their
willingness to explore related genres. There have been lots of great
suggestions already. Here are a few more.
Many of the Playford dances are great fun and can be danced with the kind of
energy that contra dancers like to use. Have a look at this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avfqi-cjrYI
The first figure is OK, albeit a little long, but the second one, the
Shuttle (starts at 1:22), is great fun, as is the last one, the Sheepskin
Hey (starts at 1:46). If you think your dancers would enjoy that sort of
dance then there are loads of great English dances out there, from Playford
through to eCeilidh: http://www.webfeet.org/dances/index.html
Here is another sample with four different heys in three figures (watch the
top couple carefully in the last figure - they are doing a circular hey
while the others are dancing heys on the side!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmepHV5cM7k
Couple dances:
Salty Dog Rag
Swedish Masquerade
The Ideal Schottische
Two Couple Dances:
Thanks to Mr Playford
Jubilation
and lots more...
Three Couple Dances:
Too many to mention!
Four Couple Dances:
No good - if you have 10 to 14 people then too many are sitting out - I have
the same problem at some of my sessions.
Five Couple Dances:
Yorkshire Rose
Boston Tea Party
Fivepenny Piece
And I have a version of Up Tails All using modern moves, each couple going
round the circle doing the move of their choice with each other couple, with
multiple couples active at the same time - contact me if you are interested.
Six Couple Dances:
Square --- NOT!
Hexitation - and double up the Heads to turn 12 people into a square dance
for fun in the choruses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qNy9II3OiU
Seven Couple Dances:
See the recent discussion at Cat's Calling Academy:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/110222402336603/permalink/1201075319917967/
Five Assorted Dancers:
Five Weevils (I think some weevils were mentioned already)
F-Lock
Quintilinear
SAD Dances (Seven Assorted Dancers):
Six Plus One
The Moon & Seven Stars
Nine Assorted Dancers:
Westward Ho!
Of course there are also Circle Mixers.
And Appalachian Big Set is fun as well if you have 12 people (or 10 or 14 -
one couple will be out briefly each time). Here is a sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy3mEOihRck
There are lots of two couple figures in the tradition and you can mix them
up any way you wish, with a scatter promenade between each couple of figures
to change neighbours. Each dance starts and ends in a big circle and there
are lots of fun moves for that formation in the tradition as well. This is
square dancing for when you don't have multiples of eight!
Hope that helps.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
Since no one has mentioned it yet, Paul Rosenberg's book Peel The Banana is another excellent source.
I'll be getting in touch with Sister Mary Joseph after I get back home tomorrow.
Jacob
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
-------- Original message --------
From: "P. Campbell via Callers" <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Date:07/15/2015 9:33 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: Colin Hume <colin(a)colinhume.com>
Cc: Sister Mary Joseph <smjmicm2004(a)gmail.com>,Callers List <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Help for a caller
I agree - the dances she's leading are what I call "community dances" and I've also emailed her separately with some suggestions of mainly whole set dances and circle, square, & other formations that are family-friendly.
Marion Rose also has some great books with CDs; the series is called Step Lively (Canadian).
Patricia
countrydancecaller(a)gmail.com
www.countrydancecaller.com
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jul 15, 2015, at 9:00 AM, Colin Hume via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 14 Jul 2015 18:34:10 -0400, Sister Mary Joseph wrote:
>> I'm not sure if the dances I do know are even contras technically.
>> I am pretty much working with the families who come here to Mass
>> and am looking to add to the ten or so dances that they already
>> know. Here are a few of our dances.
>>
>> -The Virginia Reel
>> - The Bridge of Athlone
>> - Heel & Toe Polka
>> - Oh Suzanna
>
> No, they're not contras; they're English Barn Dance repertoire -
> though I'm not saying they're all dances from England; Bridge of
> Athlone comes from Ireland and Virginia Reel comes from America though
> the original was Sir Roger de Coverley which comes from England.
> Every Saturday night hundreds of callers in England will be teaching
> these at Barn Dances to people who may never have danced before:
> school PTAs, Weddings, Scout or Guide parents, etc.
>
> I recommend http://barndances.org.uk/ where Thomas Green which gives
> lots of good advice and instructions for lots of good dances.
>
> To find out what the terms mean, I recommend Hugh Stewart's book
> "Elements of English Country Dance" which you can find online at
> http://round.soc.srcf.net/dances/elements.htm
>
> Colin Hume
>
> Email colin(a)colinhume.com Web site http://www.colinhume.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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
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I received this note a couple of days ago. I am not qualified to answer it,
but I know there are many people here who could help. I gave her a limited
response and offered to help her out with SharedWeight - she asked me to
post here for her. You can email her directly or I will forward any posted
responses. Thanks, Cary Ravitz
"
My name is Sr. Mary Joseph and I am Catholic Sister who is very new at
calling dances. I'm not sure if the dances I do know are even contras
technically. I am pretty much working with the families who come here to
Mass and am looking to add to the ten or so dances that they already know.
Here are a few of our dances.
-The Virginia Reel
- The Bridge of Athlone
- Heel & Toe Polka
- Oh Suzanna
I have had success learning dances off a few YouTube videos especially the
set from Mark Geslison and Geoff Groberg. I have a very hard time
deciphering dances that are simply written out on some web sites. If I
knew the jargon a little better, I'm sure that would be a huge resourse.
Right now, I think I need to see it.
Because you have a much better idea about the world of contra dancing/ folk
dancing than I do, I was hoping you could point me in the right direction.
Do you know of any websites that have lots of videos of the dances? I
could probably invest in a set of DVD's if I new it was going to be
helpful. Is there someone I could call with my questions?
I unfortunately do not have much time to dedicate to developing this skill,
but I figure a little improvement would be better than none. Thank you for
your time. May God bless you.
"
Sister Mary Joseph <smjmicm2004(a)gmail.com>
--
Cary Ravitz
ravitz(a)ravitz.us
Yes, everything from New England Dancing Masters is excellent, including video and DVD.
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jul 14, 2015, at 11:24 PM, James Saxe via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Note that New England Dancing Masters have also produced
> a video to go with the _Chimes of Dunkirk_ book and CD.
> The description here
>
> http://www.dancingmasters.com/store/books-cds-dvds/chimes-of-dunkirk-video
>
> says that it includes teaching of the dances.
>
> Disclaimer: I don't own this video and haven't watched it.
> But the quality of the NEDM books and CDs makes me guess
> it would be similarly well produced. Perhaps there's
> someone on this list who could give a first-hand review.
>
> --Jim
>
> On Jul 14, 2015, at 8:46 PM, Delia Clark via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote
> (re the inquiry from Sr. Mary Joseph forwarded by Cary Ravitz):
>>
>> If she has any budget at all, I really recommend the New England Dancing Masters books: http://www.amidonmusic.com/books-cds-store/new-england-dancing-masters which I learned about from David Millstone.
>> I especially like Chimes of Dunkirk and Sashay the Donut. They’re FULL of the kinds of dances she’s looking for!
>
>
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