Ah! the trials and tribulations of what some of us call The One Night
Stand Dance. Many of us have learned that, when calling to a group of
beginners, hands-four dances come way late in the evening, if at all.
Right & left thru, women chain, progressing, are all big challenges for
beginners. Even understanding the line is a challenge.
You might want to purchase a book or two on the subject. Dudley's
/Traditional Barn Dances with Calls/, is a great one, as are Marian
Rose's /Step Lively /books, and The New England Dancing Masters books.
And, of course, I could use this for unsolicited self promotion, as I
wrote a book called /Old-Time Dance Calling for Weddings, Parties, and
One-Night Stands/. ($18 to be mailed to you, $15 if you come get it...).
~erik hoffman
On 3/27/2015 7:47 AM, Brooks Hart via Callers wrote:
> So, as the original poster, I am reporting back.
>
> The dance with the solo fiddler was a mixed bag. The music was very
> nice, but because I am new to calling, and our dancers are 99%
> beginners, way too much time was spent on walk-throughs and teaching.
> The fiddler sat out for long stretches of time, which seemed like a
> waste of his time and the money spent on live music.
>
> I thought I had picked easy dances, but you wouldn't believe how
> confounded so many of the people were at "right and left through",
> and that falls on me and my lack of experience with teaching and
> crowd wrangling.
>
> A special moment for everyone, though, was doing a circle waltz dance
> with the fiddler playing, unplugged, in the center of the circle.
>
> So, thanks again for everyone's input and encouragement,
> Brooks
>
>
>
>
> > Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2015 03:50:51 -0700
> > To: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> > Subject: Re: [Callers] Solo fiddler or recorded music?
> > From: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> >
> > [resting up before the CALLERLAB convention, catching up on some older
> > messages]
> >
> > On Thu, Mar 05, 2015, Neal Schlein via Callers wrote:
> > >
> > > So, the moral of the story is that if a caller isn't USED to
> working with a
> > > band, live music isn't necessarily going to result in the best
> experience
> > > for the dancers.
> >
> > My experience as a relatively new caller is that it also depends on the
> > caller's experience as a dancer. My hearing makes it a bit difficult to
> > tune into the phrasing of a live band to call at the correct times, but
> > because I've been contra dancing for so many years (almost
> exclusively to
> > live music) I can roughly manage it -- and I know what it's supposed to
> > sound like.
> > --
> > Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
> > <*> <*> <*>
> > Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html
> > _______________________________________________
> > Callers mailing list
> > Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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Bill wrote about dizziness:
> To put this into "real life" perspective, I have only had dancers
> complain about ONE DANCE in this regard and that's Carol Ormand's "You
> Can't Get There From Here" which has a LOT of CCW motion.. I have to
> also add that some dancers have actually REQUESTED this dance because
> they love it so much!!! (xxoo Carol if you're reading this) So how do
> you deal with this from a dance programming perspective??.. keep
> things varied I guess..
In the 80s a few of us called Dan Pearl's dance, Rendezvous "The
Chiropractor's Delight," Circle left, circle left swing for 16 counts.
We figured all that leftness would require a back-cracking adjustment....
~erik hoffman
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Yup. Archive problems. I am in the process of getting everything back
in working order. Will probably be another month or two before it's all
straightened out again.
Seth
On 03/08/2015 04:04 PM, Don Veino via Callers wrote:
> Just FYI, something seems to be off for that list's archives. Clicking
> on links in the matrix by month list brings up Organizers' list posts.
> See http://lists.sharedweight.net/pipermail/musicians-sharedweight.net/ .
>
> On Sun, Mar 8, 2015 at 3:51 PM, jill allen via Callers
> <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
>
> Just wanted to let you all know that the shared weight email list
> for musicians has been reinvigorated!
>
> Myself (KS), Max Newman (MA), and Susie Lorand (MI) are on a CDSS
> Task Group about dance musicians. Our ultimate goal is to explore
> the unique needs of dance musicians, and an immediate goal is to
> help musicians to connect with each other and share resources.
> Since this list already exists and has members, simply asking a
> few questions has brought it out of the cobwebs. It's starting to
> buzz...
>
> Please join, or share the following link with your musician friends.
>
> Jill Allen
>
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians-sharedweight.net
>
> _______________________________________________
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> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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Yup - I apologize for the continued archives goofs. I promise I am
working on it. I know how important the archives are to this group.
Seth
On 02/24/2015 09:54 PM, James Saxe via Callers wrote:
> Amy Carroll wrote:
>
>> If this whole discussion had already been gone over endlessly in the archives, I offer an apology for starting it again. I was not able to successfully pull any of it up when I searched. I'll try again later.
>
> For any who don't remember, there was an upheaval late last May
> that led the list administrators to seek a new hosting site.
> (You can read about in in the archives
>
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/pipermail/callers-sharedweight.net/2014-May/d…
>
> under the subjects "Mailing list issues" and "More details on the
> list changes". )
>
> After the move, Seth managed to get the archives (mostly) restored,
> but not the search function.
>
> However, Chris Page has compiled a collection of links to various
> postings on the list
>
> http://chrispagecontra.awardspace.us/links/sharedweight.htm
>
> and many of those links work with the restored archive. Specifically,
> some of the articles linked under various subtopics of "gender" deal
> with role terminology. Note also that once you're viewing a message,
> you can use the links near the top to bring up a list of archived
> messages for that entire month (sorted by date, thread, subject, or
> author) and look for relevant messages that Chris din't link to
> directly.
>
> --Jim
>
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Hi all,
I'm currently in programming school casting about for programming projects,
and I had the idea of a giant searchable contradance database, where you
can filter by move combination, etc.
My question: is this something people would be interested in having? Or
does it run the risk of infringing on intellectual property, or
shortchanging dance writers on book sales, etc.? (Obviously no dances would
be included without the author's permission, but it may be that making a
huge ton of dances freely available and searchable in one place online
would be a death blow to published books of dances, or have some other
negative effect I'm not foreseeing right now...)
Anyway: does anyone have any thoughts on this project?
Cheers,
Maia
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This question boils down, to me, to the question of "How much different
does a dance need to be to be considered a new dance rather than a
variation of an existing dance?"
I've heard the 25% guideline. (So 8 measures for a 32 measure dance.) But
it's obviously not that simple. If I flip the A and B of many dances,
they're danceable but clearly not new dances, just variations.
What are your thoughts on what makes a dance "new" vs "variation"?
-Ron T Blechner
(As for the database, having a way to tag that other callers have
successfully called it would add legitimacy.)
On Jul 30, 2014 3:40 AM, "Michael Fuerst via Callers" <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Who will decide what dances merit placement in the database?
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Here's a dance I composed recently. Hope you find it interesting and can
affirm it is new.
Thanks to Linda Leslie for encouraging my composition, reviewing the
progenitor works and providing the shadow identification tip.
Thanks,
Don
*Dirty Rotten Double Crosser* - DI - Don Veino 23 July 2014, Intermediate
(Cross Trails)
*A1*
(4,4) Ring Balance, Petronella Twirl
(4,4) Ring Balance, Cross Trail (Pass N by Right across, P by Left up/down)
*A2*
(8) Shadow Allemande Left (or dancer's choice) back to
(8) P Swing
*B1*
(8) G Allemande Left 1+1/2 (to cross set)
(8) N Swing
*B2*
(8) Circle Left (1x)
(4,4) Ring Balance, Cross Trail (Pass P by Right across, N by Left up/down)
to next Ns for...
Teaching tip: Can circle left 1/4 from start position to identify shadow
(adjacent in next foursome)
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All of the zig zag dances I can think of end with something where the
timing can be "squishy". (ie, Cows are Watching: Gents Allemande, P Sw;
Leave the Wine: N DsD, previous N Sw). As you said in your original post,
the timing can be slightly different in different dances. That being the
case, I think a Do si Do or Gypsy with the new neighbor might make the
dancers more likely to be able to be successful. For experienced dancers,
the balance happening late can feel really unsatisfying, but it isn't
nearly as noticable with a move that has a smooth transition.
Jack
On Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 11:14 PM, Luke Donforth via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> Hello folks,
>
> Thanks for all the insight on Grand Marches. It was a very fruitful
> discussion for me, so I'm going to toss another question out there.
>
> What timing do you like for zig and zag the set? The (uncommon) move where
> you and someone else (usually partner) move out to one side and slip behind
> the couple you were facing to face a new couple, and then possibly do it
> again where you keep going and then cut back to face a 3rd couple (double
> progression).
>
> I've got dances in my box that have a zig and zag in 8 (single
> progression) like Bill Pope's "The Cows Are Watching"; and I've got danced
> in my box that zig-zag-zig (double progression) in 8, like Rick Mohr's
> "Leave the Wine".
>
> A couple of the zig-zag dances I've seen do the zig and zag in, pairing it
> with a circle 1 1/4 or such (Will Mentor's "Frock's Rocking Frolic").
>
> I've danced and enjoyed all of these dances, or they wouldn't be in my
> box, but it seems a squishier move on timing than most; so I'm curious what
> people think about it; and/or what they ask for the band when calling one
> of these.
>
> This came up for me when I was playing with a new (I think) choreography.
> I put forth two possibilities drawing inspiration from Linda Leslie's
> Winter Storm and Bill Olson's 20 Below (side question, which one came
> first?).
>
> Becket, double progression cw
> A1
> Circle Left 3/4
> With Partner, zig left, zag right past a couple, zig left to face another
> new couple
> A2
> New Neighbor Gypsy and Swing
> B1
> Men allemande Left 1 1/2
> Pass Partner Right to start 1/2 hey
> B2
> Partner Gypsy and Swing
>
> Becket, single progression cw
> A1
> Circle Left 3/4
> With Partner, zig left, zag right to face new couple
> A2
> New Neighbor balance and swing
> B1
> Men allemande Left 1 1/2
> Pass Partner to start 1/2 hey by Right
> B2
> Partner Balance and Swing
>
> And for those of you who have stuck with my rambling this long, I'll toss
> another one out there:
>
> Becket, single progression, ccw
> A1
> Circle Left 1 1/4
> with Partner: Zig left, zag right to face new couple
> A2
> New Neighbor balance and swing
> B1
> Promenade across set with Neighbor
> Women Do-Si-Do 1 1/2
> B2
> Partner Balance and Swing
>
> If I had enough dancers, I'd just medley them; using the double
> progression every other time so you'd always see new faces... no, wait,
> that's a terrible idea.
>
> Thoughts or experience?
>
> Thanks again!
>
> --
> Luke Donforth
> Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
>
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>
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Hello folks,
Thanks for all the insight on Grand Marches. It was a very fruitful
discussion for me, so I'm going to toss another question out there.
What timing do you like for zig and zag the set? The (uncommon) move where
you and someone else (usually partner) move out to one side and slip behind
the couple you were facing to face a new couple, and then possibly do it
again where you keep going and then cut back to face a 3rd couple (double
progression).
I've got dances in my box that have a zig and zag in 8 (single progression)
like Bill Pope's "The Cows Are Watching"; and I've got danced in my box
that zig-zag-zig (double progression) in 8, like Rick Mohr's "Leave the
Wine".
A couple of the zig-zag dances I've seen do the zig and zag in, pairing it
with a circle 1 1/4 or such (Will Mentor's "Frock's Rocking Frolic").
I've danced and enjoyed all of these dances, or they wouldn't be in my box,
but it seems a squishier move on timing than most; so I'm curious what
people think about it; and/or what they ask for the band when calling one
of these.
This came up for me when I was playing with a new (I think) choreography. I
put forth two possibilities drawing inspiration from Linda Leslie's Winter
Storm and Bill Olson's 20 Below (side question, which one came first?).
Becket, double progression cw
A1
Circle Left 3/4
With Partner, zig left, zag right past a couple, zig left to face another
new couple
A2
New Neighbor Gypsy and Swing
B1
Men allemande Left 1 1/2
Pass Partner Right to start 1/2 hey
B2
Partner Gypsy and Swing
Becket, single progression cw
A1
Circle Left 3/4
With Partner, zig left, zag right to face new couple
A2
New Neighbor balance and swing
B1
Men allemande Left 1 1/2
Pass Partner to start 1/2 hey by Right
B2
Partner Balance and Swing
And for those of you who have stuck with my rambling this long, I'll toss
another one out there:
Becket, single progression, ccw
A1
Circle Left 1 1/4
with Partner: Zig left, zag right to face new couple
A2
New Neighbor balance and swing
B1
Promenade across set with Neighbor
Women Do-Si-Do 1 1/2
B2
Partner Balance and Swing
If I had enough dancers, I'd just medley them; using the double progression
every other time so you'd always see new faces... no, wait, that's a
terrible idea.
Thoughts or experience?
Thanks again!
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>
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I didn't sense any judgement in the original proposition. Nor would I
imagine it would even be practical to do so. If the goal is to collect as
many dances as possible, then I would expect all dances (with the
appropriate permissions, etc.) would be entered. Even if a dance isn't
great, per se, it IS subjective. Additionally, there could be some merit in
'not good' dances as either teaching tools, or as springboards and
inspiration for future dances.
Tracy.
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