So... it occurred to me that it'd be really easy to do a mixed-role contra
corners from Becket position.
A few weeks ago, I danced Jim Kitch's Equinox, which had a fun setup and
you finish Contra Corners by passing R , but ... do people know any simpler
ways? Like, for example, dance below. I can't possibly have been the first
to figure this out, eh?
(If not written yet: Buttered Corners)
Becket
A1. Circle L 3/4
NS
A2. Robins Chain
LLFB*
B1. Bottom couples Contra Corners**
Same Couples Pass R, to P
B2. P B + S
... slide L to New Ns
* opportunity in the lines for partners to rollaway to swap roles
** and can alternate top couples, bottom couples, doing bottom couples -
who were original 1s - first. This way, the top of the set has corners for
people, always.
Like, literally this gives 16 measures to progress and have a neighbor
swing if you want. If we opened up to the idea of contra corners with a
neighbor from Becket, it opens up immense numbers of dances that can be
written.
In dance,
Julian Blechner
Hello all,
I appreciate the time it takes to thoughtfully respond to challenging
questions, and provide a variety of viewpoints. Thus, thanks for all the
thoughts on this question.
Something came to mind while reading the following paragraph late in Alan's
reply to the question:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Winston, Alan P."
"Purely for callers dealing with the situation once it's happened already:
I don't know if advanced contras are meant to be
difficult/spatially-challenging etc contras. You could in general try to
accommodate.a mixed level floor by trading complexity for novelty. Unusual
figures equalize things for everybody (if nobody's used to a left-hand
chain the beginners are at no disadvantage)."
My belief, which, I think, might differ from Alan's, is that "advanced"
dancers -- let's define that as those fluent (i.e. able to successfully and
happily enjoy a hash call) in a substantive set of glossary figures -- will
have, by osmosis, unavoidably developed a degree of "dance thinking",
musicality and spacial awareness. That includes an awareness of "the space
between" figures; i.e. the transitions.
So, I think that an advanced dancer does, in fact, have a leg up when faced
with a novelty figure, or anything new in the dance; they can and will use
their experience to help figure it out. (Unless, I guess, the novelty
figure is so far removed from anything previously encountered; "if Einstein
were a contradance choreographer and brought along a "quantum figure", for
example. Egads!)
Also, novelty, in my experience, can be hit-and-miss. From unexpected bliss
to eye-rolling hokiness.
To my mind, "dance thinking" somewhat analogous to "design thinking"; that
is, a way of thinking that guides the experienced practitioner in whatever
context the designer practices the craft.
From Alan's paragraph, therefore, I might change the suggestion of "trading
complexity for novelty" to "trading complexity of figures for satisfying,
perhaps novel, combinations".
Don't know if that's a useful observation.
I'm, otherwise, totally on-board with Alan's appreciation of a dance
session in which high levels of skill and trust are so concentrated (i.e.
ratio of adepts to novices) that magic can happen.
Three examples from my experience.
1. An advanced dance weekend I attended, repeatedly, years ago which had a
"word of mouth, invite your skilled dance friends", form of recruitment.
The caller(s) knew the crowd could navigate through any hash thrown at them
in an hour-long marathon medley. (Yes, it's exclusionary. So is El Capitan
for climbers. Or uni courses with prerequisites.)
2. The Flurry Festival in upstate New York. The synchronicity of 1000-ish
dancers, invariably including some novices, successfully flowing through
moderately challenging contras is a marvel and a delight.
3. Similarly wonderful, though not quite as large -- due to space
limitations -- is the contra pavilion (Warren's Roadhouse!) at Seattle's
Folklife festival which, like the Flurry, would see a modicum of novice
dancers successfully assimilated into the Borg.
In dance,
Ken Panton
Hey contra calling friends :)
I have an admission ... ... ... I have NO triple minors in my card box.
I've been doing certain kinds of gigs (contras + ONS + contra/square
nights) and it's so easy not to call triple minors.
HOWEVER, I'm lately trying to 'up my game' to expand my repertoire.
Might you have a favourite triple minor you could share?
I'm looking for dances that are SUPER fun and relatively accessible.
Thoughts?
Thanks for the consideration!
Emily
Hi All,
I've been looking at a couple of simple simple contras.
One is Jefferson and Liberty (below) and the other is Taking Liberties with
Jefferson.
I do like the fact that the stars are in Taking Liberties. However, in my
somewhat limited calling career, I've haven't found that swings in the
middle/across the set have really worked well in contras. (Can get away
with in in longways dances but contras are a bit tighter).
I just don't get enough calling practice to be testing this stuff out a lot.
*I'm looking for other perspectives on this! What do you think?*
Thanks!
Emily in Ottawa
Jefferson & Liberty (improper)
④ L
④R
RH★
LH★
1s down outside … eye contact!
And back up … step in between the 2s
ALT: 2s swing partner in middle something fun here?
Finish with 1s in middle, a N in outer hands – all face down
Down hall 4 in line
Back up … as doing so 1s arch & 2s duck thru
…to NEW N
Taking Liberties with Jefferson (improper)
④ L
④R
1s down outside … eye contact!
And back up … step in between the 2s
ALT: 2s swing partner in middle something fun here?
Finish with 1s in middle, a N in outer hands – all face down
Down hall 4 in line
Back up … as doing so 1s arch & 2s duck thru
P Swing
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We have a band in the area that like to play kind of a jazzy swing tune number - and as far as I can ever remember callers are more than a little surprised by the tune when it comes out because the dances don’t work with it.
I want to do is find a dance that goes with a swinging jazzy tune, and then ask them to play it when I choose that dance
I do have one dance I think might’ve been recommended here Ragtime Sammy that goes well with a rag. However I’m a little concerned it may be too dizzying.
Thought?
Any others??
Laurie PietravalleWest Michigan
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
I have quite a different understanding of these terms than John Sweeney does.
“Hand cast” is not done with an arm around. That would be simply “cast off” in a New England style contra, common in those wonderful classic contras we call the chestnuts. Hand cast is distinguished from just a cast by the fact that you join hands rather than do the arm around. It’s used, I’d say, when flow would be improved by a hand connection at that moment.
What distinguishes “hand cast” from “gate” is progression. The word cast implies that the figure involves progression, typically the ones and twos exchanging positions. In Louise’s dance There and Back the figure does not involve progression, and so I think calling it a gate turn is clearer. But “gate” is borrowed vocabulary, imported into contra dance from ECD like “poussette,” which is why it is not yet universally understood by readers of this list.
I would also argue that in almost any dance with this sort of move, the turn is far more satisfying if the pivot point is the joined hand, rather than one person horsing the other around. If twos remain in place during a hand cast the set would move down the hall; twos are moving up just as much as ones are moving down.
David Smukler
Syracuse, NY
> From: "John Sweeney" <john(a)modernjive.com <mailto:john@modernjive.com>>
> Subject: [Callers] Re: Dance with petronella right and left
> Date: April 14, 2023 at 7:01:27 PM EDT
> To: <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
>
>
> Hi Amy,
> “Hand Cast”, “Gate”, “Wheel Around” (which I am surprised is not in https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm), and “Turn As A Couple” are all fundamentally the same move.
>
> Two people stand side by side, facing the same way, and hold the nearest hand. They rotate staying in line with each other.
>
> The only questions are where the pivot point is and how far you turn. Wheel Around and Turn As A Couple usually mean that the pivot point is the joined hands and that you turn 180 degrees. Hand Cast and Gate usually mean that the pivot point is one of the dancers and the rotation can be 180, 270 or 360 degrees, depending on the dance.
>
> Of course, nowadays most contra dancers told to Turn As A Couple will do a California Twirl instead.
>
> And “Hand Cast” can be done with arms around each other’s waists, or by, for example, #2s facing up and offering an elbow for the #1s to hook into so that they can be whirled around the corner – more likely when the #1s are galloping up the set and need help to redirect their momentum!
>
> Happy dancing,
> John
>
> John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com <mailto:john@modernjive.com> 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
> http://www.contrafusion.co.uk <http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/> for Dancing in Kent
>
>
>
From Here To Infinity
Laurie P
~ When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance. ~Hans Bos~ ~
In 1810, and for some years before and after, Sudbury MA (incorporated in 1639) was the site of a monthly barn dance. One of the local dance masters, Allen Ortep, composed a contra dance, where four dancers would balance in a circle, left foot then right foot, followed by shift/spin left one place. Allen and another local dance master both had interest in the same lady. To shorten a long story, Allen did not get the lady, and eventually stopped attending the Sudbury dances. His successful rival then composed a dance where four dancers balanced in a circle, right foot hen left foot, followed by a shift/spin right one place, and named it petronella (spell petronella backwards to find out why). To honor these events, Sudbury MA was given the zipcode 01776. (Thanks to Don Veino for pointing out Sudbury's zipcode.)
Today, many contra callers and composers have promoted the word petronella to both a verb and noun for a circle balance followed by everyone shifting/spinning right one place. But if the spin/shift is instead to the left, the figure is better designated "Allen Ortep," or for brevity, "Ortep"
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Tami Dahl <dahltami888(a)gmail.com<mailto:dahltami888@gmail.com>>
Hi Everyone,
We have a potluck and caller workshop coming up at the end of April! They are focused on calling styles in the contra community. We hope you can join us for them!
For a while now we have been experimenting with a gender-neutral calling style called Larks and Robins. We'd like to get your feedback on this - so we’d like to invite you to a potluck before the regular Friday dance on April 28 to come and talk with us about how it’s been going.
After the potluck, our Friday dance at Dec Rec will introduce a third option for gender neutral calling - "positional" calling, which removes gender and role terms altogether. Our intention is for these experiments to explore ways to deliver great dances efficiently, inclusively, and authentically. Come check it out, give us your feedback, and enjoy the great music by Snapfinger with Ed Howe and positional calling by Beadle!
The following Saturday morning on April 29, Beadle will run a positional calling workshop with live fiddle tunes to help callers in the area play with another way of getting dancers to the right place, on time. All levels welcome - more details in the flyer attached.
Email Tami at dahltami888(a)gmail.com<mailto:dahltami888@gmail.com> with any questions!
April 28 | Friday Night Dance and Potluck Discussion @ Decatur Rec Center 6:00pm
• 6:00 - 7:45 Potluck and community discussion on gender neutral calling
• 8:00 - 10:30 Dance, positional calling by Beadle and tunes by Snapfinger with Ed Howe -- Leila Soulen (fiddle), Alan Gordon (mandolin, cittern), Laura Joseph (guitar), Russ Sites (guitar, clawhammer banjo), and Ed Howe (fiddle)
April 29 | Saturday Morning Caller Workshop: ‘Positional Calling’
* 10:00 - 12:00 Caller Workshop in Decatur, GA
* Sign up with this form <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.gle…>
* Facilitated by Beadle, fiddle by Ed Howe - more info in the flyer
