A brief starter:
Resources: Probably can’t go wrong with Tony Parkes text Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century from the author here <http://hands4.com/Catalog/> or at the CDSS Store here <https://cdss.force.com/commons/s/product/square-dance-calling-an-old-art-fo…>.
The YouTube search “Dare to be Square 2011” <https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dare+to+be+square+2011>can lead down a rabbit hole of a bunch of fabulous callers (e.g. Tony Parkes, Phil Jamison et al) teaching and calling a bunch of fabulous squares to a bunch of dancers, some of whom you might recognize. Originally part of a Square Dance History project which may be somewhere else now.
A place to start: For contra callers, “New England” -style squares can be a good place to start. Typically, they have an AABB structure and can be prompted as you would a contra dance. Put together an AABB intro, break and ending and there you go, Bob’s your uncle, prompting nearly as you would a contra dance. Then, there’s the rest…see Tony’s text
Discombobulation for a contra caller: In a contra dance, dancers up down down the contra sets are not usually more than a step or two away from the correct position; the entire floor looks nearly the same. In squares, dancers in different squares are not necessarily in sync, as dancers can be several steps away from “correct, “ and different squares may be a few to several steps off from each other. This can be a bit discombobulating for the contra caller when looking out at the whole floor. (One trick — learnt from Kathy Anderson1 — is something like “..and promenade home.. when you get home, you swing your own” to get all the squares back together and eliminate the early birds standing in place waiting for the call — or starting again without you!)
Allemand Left,
Steve Pike
Milwaukee, WI
I would like to do a live Zoom broadcast of an upcoming dance. Can
somebody tell me how you handle issues of privacy and permission? Do you
have to get permission from everyone in the room and if so, how?
Susan [image: 🎶] [image: ☺]
330-347-8155
woosterdance.com
I've been calling less than a year, so I'm still learning. One problem I
have is that, when looking at a written-out dance, I'm consistently
underestimating the difficulty for newbies. My group is about 50% newbies
every week, and it isn't large, usually about 20 dancers at peak. Last
week, I thought Al's Safeway Produce would be accessible, as it has just
allemande, swing, circle, long lines, and star. But, the star-to-star
progression was more than they could do, because the stars were poorly
synchronized and we're gender-neutral, so people didn't realize whether the
people coming at them were the right ones to dance with or not, and stars
quickly started having the wrong members and the wrong number of members.
(I should have given up after six walkthroughs, I didn't, and that's
another lesson learned.)
So, I'm looking for a better set of rules to identify an easy dance than
the set I'm currently using, which is basically: glossary moves only,
mostly connected moves, and enough recovery moves (long swings, etc.). A
recent thread generated a list of such dances, which has been useful. But,
I'm going through lists of dances people like (like the ones posted on this
list, the CDNY list that Bob Isaacs compiled, and others posted online) and
looking for ones I can call to my group, especially early in the night.
What would you add to this list of rules that, if satisfied, indicate a
dance is likely easy-peasy?
Easy-Peasy Dances Suitable for New Dancers Right Out of the Lesson...
Have only very basic moves found in most dances, or at most one more that
is simple to teach.
Have mostly connected moves.
Have at least two moves where dancers can recover from recent mistakes
(e.g., balance and swing).
Don't spin too much (at most one 16-count swing, better none).
Are improper or possibly Beckett (if the dance is quite simple).
Keep the dancers within their minor set until the progression.
Have a simple progression.
Have a progression where the neighbors are likely to be there.
Have a progression that recovers easily if messed up (e.g., followed by
recovery move).
Progress at the end of the dance.
What else to add?
Thanks,
--jh--
Joe Harrington
Organizer, Greater Orlando Contra Dance
Faculty Advisor, Contra Knights, the UCF contra dancing club
contraknights.org
FB, Ig: Contra Knights
contradancerjoe(a)gmail.com
Friends,
I have been asked to lead an intro to contra dance session at a square
dance convention.
I will have time to lead 3-4 contras, and I am looking for suggestions.
My main concern is that most modern square dancers do not swing, they
simply twirl under. With that in mind, I need contras which have no more
than an eight count swing yet reflect the spirit of the modern contra
scene.
One major difference between contra dance and MWSD is square dancers are
not trained to dance to the phrase of the music. I will most likely begin
with a circle mixer to encourage a full 8 count swing and to emphasize
dancing to the phrase.
I am not looking for contra dances with MWSD basics, but rather typical
contra basics. Any suggestions? I can certainly find some among my
collection, but perhaps there is a gem I might miss.
Thanks,
Rich Sbardella
Stafford, CT
Here’s one I wrote in 2006:
Jump at the Sun
A1)Cir L 0.75, Pass through, next N DSD 1.25
A2) Rory o More: Balance in wave, Slide R, Bal wave, slide to L.
B1) Pull by that N by RH to start a full hey
B2) Same N AR 0.75, W cross by LS, P Sw.
Written 2006, at the suggestion of Emil Olguin, specifically for the jig of the same name. However, I have called and danced it to other music, and haven't found anything that doesn't work. (Rory O'More and Petronella work very well.)
I have had discussions with other callers as to whether the the first move in B1 is a half allemande or a pull-by, and I have come to realize that men and women experience this move differently. For the men, it is a pull-by, leading into a hey with no direction change. Women, after the move in question, need to turn to their right to face in for the hey, so to them it feels more like a half allemande. Certainly, teaching it as a half allemande establishes the floor pattern unambiguously. However, when watching the dancers, I see that they tend to use a shake-hands grip (forearms parallel to the dance floor) during the dance. Because of the different grip required, I teach the dance as noted above. Both work, take your pick.
Sent from my iPad
> On Mar 8, 2023, at 8:02 PM, Don Veino via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> I'm looking for recommendations for contras written to specifically match a given tune, square or crooked. Obviously, there's singing squares, the Chestnuts and some well known examples like David Kaynor's Cherokee Shuffle. I'm looking for other examples of excellent "modern era" dances perfectly crafted to fit an outstanding or unusual tune - such that it surpasses the standard "pick the dance, then a suitable tune" approach to foster dance floor joy.
>
> I've written a few such dances but would love to augment my repertoire with others.
>
> Thanks,
> Don
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Greeting callers!
I am calling a friend's wedding this weekend and she requested "the spiral
dance," a circle dance where at some point one person leads everyone into a
spiral (or, optionally, anywhere around the hall?). I think I've danced it
before, but I'm having a hard time finding a name or notes on how to call
it. Can anyone share a version with me?
Thanks in advance,
Hannah Chamberlain
(outside of) Portland, ME
I'll admit, I occasionally dream calling nightmares. Not usually in line
with anything that has or may happen, just awkward situations where I'm
calling and things are problematic. Last night the dream was that a member
of the band kept stopping the dance to explain to the dancers how the dance
SHOULD go. Really weird and not an issue I've actually had. Even David
Carpenter (rest his soul) who had strong opinions about chestnuts and would
opine from behind his fiddle before playing but not stop a dance in motion.
Anyway, upon waking at 4 am and processing said dream, I tried to figure
out what dance I'd been calling. It wasn't a challenging dance, and I
eventually constructed that it was
Becket, ccw
A1
(8) Long lines forward and back
(8) Balance the ring, petronella one place to the right, face new couple
A2
(16) Neighbor balance and swing, end facing partner
B1
(8) Long lines forward and back
(8) Balance the ring, petronella one place to the right,
B2
(16) Partner balance and swing
It reminds me of Midwestern Folklore by Oracle Johnson (and Will You Marry
Me by Seth Tepfer) in that it's sort of a half length dance you do twice
with neighbor and partner.
It would work as an Indecent dance too (although I'm pretty sure I was
calling it in Becket) :
A1
(8) Long lines forward and back
(8) Balance the ring, petronella one place to the right
A2
(16) Partner balance and swing
B1
(8) Long lines forward and back
(8) Balance the ring, petronella one place to the right, face new couple
B2
(16) New neighbor balance and swing
You could even line them up improper and then sneak them into indecent,
since the first partner swing fixes it for them. Although if you did that,
some folks would probably worry that the twos and ones weren't where they
started after one walkthrough; and folks should wait out indecent. Anyway...
Looking through my cards, and the online Callers Box, I can't find this
dance in either place, in either form.
Anybody recognize it?
Thanks all. And sweet dreams.
Hi folks,
Any favourite unusual length dances or dances that do unusual things with
timings - across the music or unusual figure lengths? I'm thinking dances
like Money musk at 24 bars and Major hey at 40 bars for instance.
Thanks,
Bob
Here is a dance of mine (which I have called several times) where partners say together, but the calls at a critical moment determines direction and distance of progression.
http://aptsg.org/Dance/dances.html#Unconsoled
I dunno nuttin but, seems tuh me, iffen a dance needs a PhD dissertation
for the explainin, maybe it otta be... given to Maistre Sam for
"safekeeping" in the secret library. :)
Reminds me of the dance, The Hobbit, which caught me eye but, for the life
of me, I can't understand how the end effects are, uh, effected. I
sometimes wondered if there's a secret decoder ring that, if worn,
illuminates everything.
Hey, Baby Rose... wanna dance?
:)
Ken Panton
