Contra Callers

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

24 participants
4363 discussions

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

I've uploaded some video clips from the recent Montpelier, VT, SquareBall hosted by Will Mentor and Nils Fredland with financial support from Country Dance and Song Society. http://www.vimeo.com/13213390 More footage from this event (and from the Ralph Sweet book release party) coming in the next few weeks as I get around to compressing and uploading it. This first batch is a series of short clips illustrating some of the various figures (and some breaks) called by different folks throughout the day. Not a large crowd-- the event that night pulled in more folks-- but those who were there had a good time. Enjoy! David Millstone Lebanon, NH

14 years, 10 months

Best tunes for a band that normally doesn't play Contra

by Christopher Buck

Greetings, I'm planning for a one night stand, or, more precisely, a one dance stand, at my brother's wedding. I'm seeing all sorts of advice here for the kind of dances to use in such a circumstance, so thank you all. But... he's asking what tunes the band should play, and I have no clue as to the names of the best traditional tunes for contra. I only need a couple. Thank you in advance. -Chris Christopher Buck

14 years, 10 months

Favorite squares

by Tom Hinds

In the New England style, I think you should look at squares by Tony Parkes. Many of his squares keep the dancers moving and are fairly accessible. My favorite, Festival Quadrille takes a bit more skill but has incredible flow. For patter squares one of my favorites is Arkansas Traveler. There are many variations of this one that are fun as well. I also suggest that you take a look at anything written by Ed Gilmore. My understanding is that his two 33 1/3 records are now available on CD. You must get them! My notes tell me that Joe Tilmont wrote Tic Tac Toe. Tom

14 years, 10 months

Another Tempest dance

by Hgrastorf＠aol.com

Steve's Tempest, in honor of a Glen Echo dancer who just loves to swing. A1. 1s down the hall, turn as couples (8); 1s up the hall, face the nearest 2s (8). A2 Circ L JUST halfway (2s are back to back in the middle, 1s on the outside), Meanwhile figure: 2s arch, let the 1s pass under while the 2s walk forward, back to their home side, Cal twrl to face in, ready to DSD the other set of 1s who are fast approaching because -- (other half of the meanwhile) the 1s: pass under the arch, then pass the other set of 1s in the center (rt shoulder), arriving across the set just in time to DSD their respective opposites (the set of 2s they did NOT circle with). There is JUST enough time to do this. Really. I called it in Harrisburg, and it works. B1 (Recovery mode) Double sets of long lines forward and back (8), swing your opposite (the one you dosidid) (8) B2 Circle left UNTIL the 2s are on the outside (home) and the 1s are on the inside (6-8). Swing partner in triumph and relief. 1s end the swing in time to go down the hall (1s will have traded sides with the other 1s). Note that while the 1s head down the hall and back, the 2s, who started swinging halfway through B2, may keep swinging for the entire next 16 counts -- a perfectly legal 24-count swing. I found it helped to remind the soon-to-be-1s who were out at the top to form a crosswise line during the A1, and watch the 1s immediately below them -- the dance feels VERY different from the "other side." That also makes it easier for the 1s coming up the hall not to overshoot at the top of the line. I'd be reluctant to call this one in a VERY crowded hall, the double pass thru in A2 needs some shoulder room. April Blum In a message dated 7/1/2010 12:00:13 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, callers-request(a)sharedweight.net writes: Send Callers mailing list submissions to callers(a)sharedweight.net To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to callers-request(a)sharedweight.net You can reach the person managing the list at callers-owner(a)sharedweight.net When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Anyone have a "tempest" formation dance ?? (David Millstone) 2. Re: Anyone have a "tempest" formation dance ?? (Amy Cann) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: 01 Jul 2010 10:19:22 -0400 From: David.Millstone(a)valley.net (David Millstone) To: callers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: Re: [Callers] Anyone have a "tempest" formation dance ?? Message-ID: <132629016(a)retriever.VALLEY.NET> Content-Type: text/plain Ted Sannella's dance, "Ted's Tempest" is lots of fun, though dancers need to keep sets compact. You'll find directions online in the syllabi for the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend (always a good place to go when you're looking for dances... start with the index and sort from there) And Bec, you'd be particularly interested in "Toronto Tempest" by David Smukler: http://www.davidsmukler.syracusecountrydancers.org/DSS.html#toronto David Millstone Lebanon, NH ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:36:12 -0400 From: "Amy Cann" <ACann(a)putneyschool.org> To: millstone(a)valley.net Cc: callers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: Re: [Callers] Anyone have a "tempest" formation dance ?? Message-ID: <fc.0118c72d00c372363b9aca005c4c93e4.c3723f(a)putneyschool.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 I wondered where you were, David ! Anytime anyone asks "anyone have a dance in X formation " I expect you to be there with a "yes of course, here's three great ones " i pretty much immediately... Cheers, Amy (long live non-contra's !) ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers End of Callers Digest, Vol 71, Issue 1 **************************************

14 years, 10 months

Re: [Callers] Anyone have a "tempest" formation dance ??

by The Witful Turnip

Thanks everyone for the tempest formation suggestions! You folks are great! And yes David, I was particularly interested in "Toronto Tempest" and am going to go with that one! Happy Canada Day to JD and any other Canadians lurking, and Happy 4th of July to all you! Bev

14 years, 10 months

Re: [Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 71, Issue 3

by Martha Wild

I caught the last part of that. Thanks for providing the link, I wanted to listen to the rest of it. Martha On Jul 3, 2010, at 9:00 AM, callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote: > Send Callers mailing list submissions to > callers(a)sharedweight.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > callers-request(a)sharedweight.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > callers-owner(a)sharedweight.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. NPR piece (David Millstone) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: 02 Jul 2010 21:06:35 -0400 > From: David.Millstone(a)valley.net (David Millstone) > To: David.Millstone(a)valley.net (David Millstone) > Subject: [Callers] NPR piece > Message-ID: <132681012(a)retriever.VALLEY.NET> > Content-Type: text/plain > > If you missed it, here's a link to the story about young people and > contra dance > that aired tonight on National Public Radio. > > http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128273050 > > I've asked Marika Partridge, the producer of the piece, if there's > a way that we > can listen to the longer version that she hoped would air. Instead, > NPR did a > lot of editing and ran a much shorter piece. I'll let the list know > if there's a > way we can hear-- with apologies to the late Paul Harvey-- The Rest > of the > Story. > > David Millstone (aka "the old-time caller") > Lebanon, NH > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > End of Callers Digest, Vol 71, Issue 3 > **************************************

14 years, 10 months

Re: [Callers] Anyone have a "tempest" formation dance ??

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

Ted Sannella's dance, "Ted's Tempest" is lots of fun, though dancers need to keep sets compact. You'll find directions online in the syllabi for the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend (always a good place to go when you're looking for dances... start with the index and sort from there) And Bec, you'd be particularly interested in "Toronto Tempest" by David Smukler: http://www.davidsmukler.syracusecountrydancers.org/DSS.html#toronto David Millstone Lebanon, NH

14 years, 10 months

Anyone have a "tempest" formation dance ??

by The Witful Turnip

HI all, Anyone have a tempest formation dance they can share with me? Tempest formation is a line of 4 facing down between 2 side couples facing in. I've found one, called The Tempest, but other than the formation itself, there's nothing particularly challenging about it. I wonder anyone knows of others. Please let me know. Thanks in advance! Bev *************************************************************************** The Witful Turnip wturnip(a)sympatico.ca "Ambition is the last refuge of failure." - Oscar Wilde ***************************************************************************

14 years, 10 months

Southeast Dance Leadership Conference Oct 1-3

by Joy Greenwolfe

Hi to everyone and especially to any dance organizers or organizer- wanna-be s. I'm passing on this promotional info for a local dance organizer. He notes: Just to be clear, there will not be any "callers training" as such. Callers are most welcome, but it is about the issues and mechanics of running dances and organizations. From the early materials I saw, it looked like it offered some-25+ specific-topic courses grouped under three stages of community development. Good stuff! Joy Greenwolfe Durham, NC Southeast Dance Leadership Conference: Tools for a Vibrant Dance Community October 1-3, Haw River State Park, Summit Conference Center Browns Summit, NC (near Greensboro) Presenters will be: Diane Silver (NC), Bruce Hamilton (english caller from CA), Shawn Brenneman (VA), Rob Harper (Atlanta), and Tyler Johnson (NC-sound) The Leadership Conference will be an opportunity to gain tools for growing, nurturing, and sustaining a thriving dance community. It will be a time to network with other organizers, callers, musicians, and dancers from the English, Contra and Square dance communities. This will be a unique chance to meet and talk on a lot of important issues. Learn about the business of operating a dance, marketing your skills or organization, sound operation, care of a dance floor. Share ideas for dealing with challenges like under- or over-attendance, different skill levels and generations, atypical (unexpected) events, getting and keeping help, developing talent, fulfilling your vision and recognizing when its time to revisit your vision. Outreach and connect to neighboring organizations. And have fun too! Format will include classes, facilitated discussion groups, and time to consult with experts. Opportunities will be provided for networking. Meetings to take place on request. The website has more information, and hopefully by this weekend, we will have longer descriptions of the courses/topics. http://conference.rivertone.org. --

14 years, 10 months

Re: [Callers] Alternating corners dances

by Mark Widmer

On Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:01:26 -0400, Will Loving <will(a)dedicationtechnologies.com> wrote: . . . > Actually, I like Alternating Corners despite the fact > the caller has to keep calling. And my perception > is that modern dancers generally like it too compared > to a more traditional corners dance like Chorus Jig > where you have to wait to be active (and which may > never happen if sets are long). For a dance like this, > sometimes all you need is a Lisa Greenleaf style > minimalist prompt such as quietly saying "ones" and > "twos" just to keep things going. I think the alternation > makes the dance more interesting and I don't see it > as my purpose to have every dance send dancers off > into that la-la, altered zen state (that I nonetheless > cherish as a dancer...) > Will There are at least a few alternating corners dances out there -- the one that I call has a circle left immediately before the ones and twos need to figure out who is active, so as a caller it is easy to see who to prompt If there are couples at the top of each set who are not in a circle-of-four, it's the twos' turn; if the top of each set has a full circle-of-four, then it's the ones At some point in the dance, I have essentially dropped the calls except for prompting "ones" or "twos" to be active -- and occasionally I get distracted and drop that as well, but the dancers always knew what to do when that has happened Mark Widmer

14 years, 10 months

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Contra Callers