Contra Callers

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

21 participants
4391 discussions

by John Sweeney

Arms folded in dosidos? I DO "correct" it for three reasons: 1) If you implicitly condone it by saying nothing, then others will copy it and it will spread even more. 2) If these people then ever go to a contra dance they are going to look decidedly uncool, perhaps to their embarrassment. 3) If they ever want to add spins to their dosidos, then it is MUCH easier without arms folded - your arms help you balance and can aid your spinning. In fact as well as using lines like, "only teachers do it", I show them a spinning dosido and tell them that they need their arms for balance so folding them is not a good idea. They love spinning in dosidos and soon stop folding their arms. Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events & DVDs http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent

12 years, 3 months

Anyone know a dance that has Contra Corners with 4 Corners?

by bobfab＠aol.com

I was talking with an older member of our dance community and he said it had been "a thousand years" since he danced a dance that had Contra Corners where the actives visited 4 corners. He could not remember the name. I promised him I would ask. bobfab(a)aol.com

12 years, 3 months

Re: [Callers] Anyone know a dance that has Contra Corners with 4 Corners?

by rcd＠rochester.rr.com

Yes, Sags, Bob is asking about dances where each of the actives visits all four contra corners. David Millstone called such a dance during the Puttin' on the Dance organizers conference. Alas, I don't know the name. It was a 3 facing 3 Sicilian circle formation, and it moved quickly. Rich ----- Reply message ----- From: "Aahz Maruch" <aahz(a)pobox.com> To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: [Callers] Anyone know a dance that has Contra Corners with 4 Corners? Date: Sun, May 19, 2013 3:00 pm On Sat, May 18, 2013, bobfab(a)aol.com wrote: > > I was talking with an older member of our dance community and he said > it had been "a thousand years" since he danced a dance that had Contra > Corners where the actives visited 4 corners. He could not remember the > name. I promised him I would ask. I'm confused, don't the actives visit the four corners in a normal contra corners? Or do you mean *each* active visits all four corners? -- 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)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

12 years, 3 months

Re: [Callers] Anyone know a dance that has Contra Corners with 4 Corners?

by JohnFreem＠aol.com

This was a very popular dance in Ann Arbor well into the mid 80s. Our Morris side used to improvise a bit. A favorite variation was to change direction at the end. John B. Freeman, SFTPOCTJ

12 years, 3 months

Re: [Callers] Teaching in Classroom

by Dan Pearl

Arms folded in dosidos? I don't "correct" it for three reasons: 1. I don't want to undermine the kids' model of what this dancing is all about. In other words, I don't want the message to be "if you are doing THIS, then you are wrong". 2. The folding of their arms keeps the kids from confusing the movement with any number of other movements that do use hands/arms, and that's a win in my book. 3. Unless they are doing a demo where uniformity counts for something, IT DOESN'T MATTER! In picking my battles, this one is way, way down on the list!

12 years, 3 months

Teaching in Classroom

by Sue Robishaw

Hi, I've been asked to teach some dances in a local elementary school. It would be grade by grade. Any suggestions/advice? I've called Family Dances but not schools and am a bit hesitant. I'll have a fiddler for music. Thanks for any help! Sue Robishaw, U.P. of Michigan

12 years, 3 months

FW: Teaching in Classroom

by Bill Olson

meant this to go to the group too From: callbill(a)hotmail.com To: sue(a)manytracks.com Subject: RE: [Callers] Teaching in Classroom Date: Sat, 18 May 2013 20:50:21 +0000 I've done this a LOT in schools. the level of ability varies from class to class, and even varies within one class, especially kinergarten and 1st grade, and with K and 1 what they can do is different fall and spring. That said, it's always fun.. I don't have a LOT of time to think about this right now but here are a few tips.. See if the school will pair different grades together (1 with 4, 2 with 5, something like that) many schools I have worked in have "reading buddies" where younger and older kids are already paired up. If you can get that, you have a better chance of the younger kids being able to respond to instructions because they can watch what the buddy is doing and they are much more able to respond to things they see than words they hear. If not that and you have to go grade by grade, then K and 1 are much better with play game type "dances" than even the simplest whole set dances. the older kids can do simple whole set dances.. and enjoy them.. I had a 4th grader come up to me and say, "I thought this was gonna SUCK but it was fun.. I digress Get the Amidon books. There are two know, one of simple play game dances (Jump Jim Joe) and one of simple dances Chimes of Dunkirk). Paul Rosenberg has one called "peel the banana" too. We often start (before dancing) just clapping our hands and tapping our feet along to the music.. then start a dance. Make sure the teachers are there to help AND DANCE. No letting them get away with thinking they have a period off!! More when I get a chance.. Doing stuff in the schools is REALLY important.. Don't often get the pats you do calling at a dance weekend, but..... bill in Maine > Date: Sat, 18 May 2013 15:03:13 -0500 > From: sue(a)manytracks.com > To: callers(a)sharedweight.net > Subject: [Callers] Teaching in Classroom > > Hi, > I've been asked to teach some dances in a local elementary school. It would be grade by grade. Any suggestions/advice? I've called Family Dances but not schools and am a bit hesitant. I'll have a fiddler for music. > Thanks for any help! > Sue Robishaw, U.P. of Michigan > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

12 years, 3 months

The Big Bicep

by Kalia Kliban

I just wanted to thank whoever it was who first pointed out the dance The Big Bicep (by Jim Hemphill) on this list. I've called it a couple of times now and it's energetic, fun, and just enough of a challenge to really get the dancers' attention. Bob Green, was it you? I used it as a closer last night and it rocked! It's got a nice partner balance-and-swing at the end, too. Kalia

12 years, 3 months

survey reminder

by lynn ackerson

Boy, when we called all callers, a lot of you listened. We've had over 450 responses to our contra caller's survey so far! If you have completed the survey, thank you so much. If you have not completed the survey or have yet to view it, there's still time; the deadline is June 1. Please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VFC5FK7 . Also, please forward this notice to other callers you know who may not have heard about the survey. We will send a summary of the results to everyone who provides us with their email address at the end of the survey. To remind you, the purpose of the survey is to find out how CDSS can better support contra dance callers. The survey is truly geared to contra callers of all experience levels from brand new to retired, so the more information you give us about your calling experiences, the better. We are focusing on learning about needed resources for North American contra callers, but we welcome any feedback from callers on other continents as well. We want to hear from even more of the hundreds of contra callers than we’ve heard from so far. Even if you don’t take the survey, we’d like to keep you informed about the survey results and the availability of new contra dance caller resources. Go to the survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VFC5FK7 and choose the "I can't do it now..." item. We look forward to hearing from by June 1. Lynn Ackerson (El Cerrito, CA) Emily Addison (Ottawa, ONT) David Chandler (Metuchen, NJ) Martha Edwards (St. Louis, MO) Lisa Greenleaf (Bolton, MA) Chris Page (San Diego, CA) Louise Siddons (Stillwater, OK) Mary Wesley (Ferrisburg, VT

12 years, 3 months

Contra Academia?

by Maia McCormick

Hey all, This might be a really silly question, but has there been much (er, any) academic work done on contra/contra culture, from a sort of anthropology/sociology perspective? If it exists, please point me towards it, I'd love to read it! And if it doesn't... I may have to remedy this! Peace, Maia

12 years, 3 months

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Contra Callers