Contra Callers

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

21 participants
4409 discussions

Re: [Callers] contra dance webmasters unite! (?)

by Brian Hamshar

Hey Andy, Sure, I'd join and hopefully contribute! Brian Hamshar -----Original Message----- Date: Thursday, September 15, 2011 1:44:24 pm To: callers(a)sharedweight.net From: "Andy Shore" <square.a.shore(a)gmail.com> Subject: [Callers] contra dance webmasters unite! (?) I've been wondering if there would be enough interest (and traffic) to form an email list for contra dance website webmasters and other content creators (e.g., people posting videos to youtube) and people maintaining contra dance related "pages" on Facebook to discuss some of the issues and ideas and share links, etc. I created the website http://southfloridacontradance.com/ and I'm always looking for good videos to share (see the "Announcements" page) and links about contra dancing (see the "What is Contra Dance?" and "Dance Links" pages). I also help maintain the "South Florida Contradance" page on Facebook. In particular, I think that finding, generating, and sharing fresh content is the kind of thing that will keep our web sites looking current and vibrant and will spark interest. I also think it's important to design for both the current dancer (when and where is tonight's dance or next month's festival?) and be informative and welcoming to the uninitiated. Sharing relevant, high quality links will also help make sure that search results yield the best information about our beloved activity. As for folks posting to YouTube... as a caller, I often want to know the name and author of the dance being done! Respond to this thread and if there's enough interest, perhaps we can convince the kind folks who run SharedWeight.net to start a new mailing list for this. Let me know what you think! /Andy Shore http://andyshore.com/ http://facebook.com/AndyShore.Caller << like me on Facebook! _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

14 years, 1 month

Re: [Callers] contradance webmasters unite!

by P. Campbell

> > I'd be interested - but what I do is slightly different, I think, though > there's a lot of overlap. > Patricia Campbell > www.countrydancecaller.com https://www.facebook.com/CountryDanceCaller - << like me on Facebook! > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Andy Shore <square.a.shore(a)gmail.com> > To: callers(a)sharedweight.net > Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:44:12 -0400 > Subject: [Callers] contra dance webmasters unite! (?) > I've been wondering if there would be enough interest (and traffic) to form > an email list for contra dance website webmasters and other content creators > (e.g., people posting videos to youtube) and people maintaining contra dance > related "pages" on Facebook to discuss some of the issues and ideas and > share links, etc. > > I created the website http://southfloridacontradance.com/ and I'm always > looking for good videos to share (see the "Announcements" page) and links > about contra dancing (see the "What is Contra Dance?" and "Dance Links" > pages). I also help maintain the "South Florida Contradance" page on > Facebook. > > > In particular, I think that finding, generating, and sharing fresh content > is the kind of thing that will keep our web sites looking current and > vibrant and will spark interest. I also think it's important to design for > both the current dancer (when and where is tonight's dance or next month's > festival?) and be informative and welcoming to the uninitiated. Sharing > relevant, high quality links will also help make sure that search results > yield the best information about our beloved activity. > > As for folks posting to YouTube... as a caller, I often want to know the > name and author of the dance being done! > > > Respond to this thread and if there's enough interest, perhaps we can > convince the kind folks who run SharedWeight.net to start a new mailing list > for this. > > Let me know what you think! > /Andy Shore > http://andyshore.com/ > http://facebook.com/AndyShore.Caller << like me on Facebook! > > > > > >

14 years, 1 month

Seeking Caller for Trenton, Maine Contra this Saturday (9/17/11)

by George Marshall

Seeking Caller for Trenton, Maine Contra this Saturday (9/17/11) Hi everyone, I'm playing the Trenton Contra Dance in Maine this Saturday night on piano along with Brendan Carey Block on fiddle. It has come to my attention today that the organizers, having contacted seven or eight of the "usual suspects" up in that area, find themselves unable to find a caller for the dance, and I am hoping that my email might reach someone on the Shared Weight list who would be available and interested in calling for it. With regards to pay for the dance, there is unfortunately no guarantee (for the band or caller) but my impression is that the pay will at least be * something*, and that it's a really fun dance, though also one that tends to be on the small-medium side in attendance. Malcolm Sanders, one of the dance organizers, will be driving from Burlington, Vermont on Friday afternoon or evening and returning to Burlington sometime Sunday and could give a caller from that area a ride. I could theoretically give someone a ride from the Boston area but it would mean leaving early in the day on Friday and returning Sunday late afternoon (because Matching Orange -- me, Brendan, and Eric McDonald -- has gigs Friday night and Saturday afternoon, in addition to this Saturday night contra). If you are interested and can do this, please email me at eric.eid.reiner(a)gmail.com, or you can call me at 781-608-3442. However, I will be at a rehearsal from 7:00-10:00 p.m. tonight so if you want to respond in that timeframe, email is probably best. If you know of someone who would be a solid caller for a full 3-hour dance but isn't on Shared Weight, you are welcome to pass this email on to them. Thank you very much! Sincerely, Eric Eid-Reiner www.EricEid-Reiner.com George Marshall PO Box 602 Belchertown, MA 01007 TDV(a)wildasparagus.com 413-575-6283 Web site URL http://www.tropicaldancevacation.com

14 years, 1 month

Author? Contra House

by Jack Mitchell

Just picked up a new dance last night. Gaye had the title, but didn't know an author. Does anyone recognize this? Contra House - Becket A1 Gents lead full Hey (GL, NR, LL, PR, GL, NR...) On last pass, ladies catch LH, give RH to partner in short wave A2 Balance Wave, P Alle R 1/2; Gents Alle L 1/2, give RH to N Balance Wave; N Alle R 3/4 B2 New N B&S B2 Gents Alle L 1 1/2 P Sw

14 years, 2 months

Re Swinging

by John Sweeney

Thanks for the great discussion on swinging. My Maths/Physics is a bit rusty - it is 40 years since I studied it at Cambridge - so I am not going to get involved I that discussion. Yes, I know that a couple spinning around a shared axis is different from a single person spinning on their own axis, but there are a lot of things going on in that shared system. Hopefully I will meet some of you on a dance-floor somewhere, somewhen and maybe persuade you that the lady trying to reach the man's shoulder-blade is not a good idea - but obviously that is not going to happen through online discussion. So, please, if you do insist on telling the lady to try to reach the man's shoulder-blade, then please, please, please tell them that they absolutely do NOT have to press there - they just make a flexible frame with the hand resting lightly in the chosen place - centrifugal force will do the rest. :-) Thanks. 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, Instructional DVDs and Interactive Maps http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent

14 years, 2 months

A Burning Chorus Jig as seen from space

by Amy Cann

The Playa, as seen from the European Space Agency's satellite http://i.imgur.com/ZB8cJ.jpg And a closeup view of a bunch of hot dusty happy dancer/musician/burners -- the ones are just going down the outside. http://i.imgur.com/809Pp.jpg The lighter rectangle is our dance floor, the stage is at the lower/right end, the darker rectangle at the top are a pair of couches for watching/lounging. Our address was 3:20 and Engagement; right next to us is Math Camp at (you guessed it) 3.1415 and *e*. What an entirely unexpected experience; you never know what's going to happen when you answer a sharedweight email. Cheers, Amy

14 years, 2 months

Callers' poll

by Brian Hamshar

Hmmmm. Luke's "arbitrary" definition of 6 hrs or more includes a lot of events around the Mid-Atlantic that nobody really thinks of as festivals. For example, there's the afternoon advanced contra preceding a regular community contra dance. I recently organized and called for one such event here in Virginia, called Contraphoria. Also, I'm scheduled to call techno contras at two dance weekends this fall, each session 1-2 hours in length, but not as a featured caller. One is a Saturday afternoon "workshop," and the other is a Saturday late-night contra party right after the main contra dance ends. In November at Glen Echo I will be calling the final, late night session of the 12-hour Black Friday Bash. This probably qualifies by your criteria. But up to that point, I will not consider myself as having been a festival caller. I guess I am a "yes," albeit somewhat futuristically. Brian Hamshar Charlottesville, VA

14 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] Swinging

by Brian Hamshar

Yeah...now I can't resist "weighing in"! I had lots of physics in engineering school myself. The quantity of 20# being placed on the hands is highly suspect because there are so many variables that make it different for every swing. (I don't swing with more than a slight weight...I force a reduction by slowing down or subtly slackening my hold.) But, surprisingly, there is no "doubling." Think of it this way. Suppose you and your partner were swinging yourselves around a pole that's fixed to the floor. (Ignore the difference in handhold compared to a dancing swing.) With the two of you, the pole is in balance and it does not matter if the pole is even there. Suppose your partner leaves. Your 20# pull, which is now an asymmetrical load, will now tend to bend the pole (and the pole and its anchor must accept the load), but the force experienced by your arms has not been reduced by half. Brian Hamshar -----Original Message----- Date: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 4:26:35 am To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net> From: "Donald Perley" <donperley(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Callers] Swinging Sigh... time to drag out the free body diagrams and unstretchable massless string. 20 pounds. On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 9:53 PM, Jeff Kaufman <jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu> wrote: > Mark Widmer wrote: >> >> each person exerts 20 pounds on the other person, and nobody is >> exerting 40 pounds.

14 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] Swinging

by Mark Widmer

I'm with Chris on this one, each person exerts 20 pounds on the other person, and nobody is exerting 40 pounds. (This is a clear example of Newton's 3rd Law, for those who are familiar with introductory physics.) Mark > Jeff Kaufman wrote: > > > Chris Lahey wrote: >> I got the same 20 lbs in my calculations, but I don't think you get to >> double it. If I'm the gent, my hand is putting 20 lbs of force on the >> ladies back. At the same time, her back is putting 20 lbs of force on my >> hand. When we carry a 20 lb object, we're pulling up with 20 lbs of force >> and it's pulling down with 20 lbs of force, but we don't call it 40 lbs of >> force. > Sure. The doubling comes from 20lbf per person. It takes 20lbf to > hold me in, and 20lbf to hold them in, so between us we need 40lbf to > stay together. > >> There's also the fact that despite some of the radial acceleration >> coming from centripital force, I suspect some of it comes from the >> feet. >> > That might be important. I'm not sure how to measure that. > > If someone wants to bring a bathroom or similar scale to the concord > scout house tonight, I would be curious to measure this. > > Jeff > > >

14 years, 2 months

Six-facing-six Dances and Other Adjustments for a Tight Hall

by Christopher Buck

The hall for the Emerald City Dance at the Phinney Neighborhood Center easily support two lines but not three. From http://seattledance.org/contra/emeraldcity/performerinfo : 'Our hall is just barely wide enough for three lines, but not comfortably so. As a result, we have the opposite of the "center line" phenomenon common at some other dances. The center line is shorter, and crowded by the two outer lines. The out er lines widen out just beyond the end of the center line and this can sometimes cause "turbulence" and lead to confusion. Because of this, some of our regulars prefer not to dance in the center set, so the shortness of the line and turbulence are compounded by a higher percentage of new dancers.' I'm thinking a few six-facing-six dances should help to maintain the spacing. I'm looking for any and all of those. Also, it seems to me that dances that progress from side to side as well as up and down the hall might help. Any other suggestions are also certainly welcome. Respectfully, Chris Christopher Buck

14 years, 2 months

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