Contra Callers

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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 > **************************************

15 years, 1 month

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

15 years, 1 month

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 ***************************************************************************

15 years, 1 month

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. --

15 years, 2 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

15 years, 2 months

Core beliefs

by Chrissy Fowler

Amen, with additional postscript: "... and in your own space on the dance floor." Yee-ha! Chrissy Fowler Belfast, ME > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:20:58 -0400 > From: Will Loving <will(a)dedicationtechnologies.com> > > I am always mindful as both dancer and caller of Larry Jennings comment in > one of his books (paraphrased): "Twirl away for all I care, but do it on > your own time." > > Will _________________________________________________________________ The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?tile=multicalendar&ocid=PID2…

15 years, 2 months

Alternating Corners - was Gender role switching and 64-bar dances

by Martha Edwards

I could swear that I danced Alternating Corners once a long time ago and when the caller dropped out and we forgot who was supposed to do the contra corners, and, what I remember is that we ALL did the contra corners, and it worked! I've never had the nerve to try to do such a thing on purpose, but theoretically, it should work. Your corner isn't in his or her place while you're allemanding in the middle, but then again, neither are you. Done right, all corners get to their appointed places just in time to allemande left back to their partners. Has anyone else ever done this? M E > > I don't like the dance alternating corners because dancers don't > internalize it properly. They learn it ok, so they can do it, but > they usually can't handle the caller dropping out. Once the caller > drops out people forget which turn it is and they have to step back > in. I've seen this happen even in groups where a caller could drop > out after two times through on a simplish dance. > > Jeff > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > -- For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats

15 years, 2 months

The Core Issue: Was: "dance floor capacity"

by Greg McKenzie

Martha wrote: >But you are right. I'm not aware of any regularly scheduled dances for >basically non-dancers, unless you count Family dances. But a Family dance >that goes on for a while begins to resemble a contra dance - those darn kids >learn so fast! Since my first contra dance I have considered contras to be: "...regularly scheduled dances for basically non dancers...." This perception is based upon the fact that there are no separate lessons, and the events are open to the public. I understand that "barn dances," might fit this definition more closely. Still, I think contras are as close as we come to this definition in this country. More to the point, this might be the best frame from which callers can view these events. It would certainly place the task of integrating first-timers into the dance event at the forefront of the caller's job. I consider contra dances to be, primarily, social events. The contra dance form is used because it is so effective at sweeping in newcomers. Once you begin to re-frame a contra dance as an open public social event...the task of the caller changes and, I believe, the event becomes more fun for everyone. Just a thought. - Greg

15 years, 2 months

dance floor capacity

by John Sweeney

Hi Martha, You said "Wouldn't it follow that sometimes some of the 1.5 square yards will have to be wasted if the width isn't a multiple of 10 feet (for contra) or 15 feet (for English)?" Absolutely, it is just a quick rule of thumb to get an idea of the capacity of a hall, i.e, No you can't get 150 people doing a dance at the same time! I susepct a wedding party will be happy to squeeze two lines into that space, especially if you can push the chairs back a bit to make it slightly bigger. And of course, for a wedding party, I wouldn't be calling modern American contras, or what you call English Country Dancing (Playford-style). I would be selecting simple barn dances such as you will find at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/greenery/BarnDances/ http://www.mts.net/~jinks%20/fd/menu.htm http://www.ceilidhcalling.co.uk/dancelist.php I'm not sure if you do this sort of stuff much in America; when I visit I only ever seem to find contra and ECD (which is fine, as I love both). But here in England there is a whole other stream of social folk dance known as Barn Dance or Ceilidh. Hope that helps. Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk <http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/> for Contra Dancing in Kent

15 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] Dare to Be Square Archive

by Suzanne Girardot

I thought I had heard about Bob doing DTBS in Brasstown. I might just have to take a trip there - it's only been 20 years since I was last there. Thanks, David! -----Original Message----- >From: David Millstone <David.Millstone(a)valley.net> >Sent: Jun 17, 2010 3:15 PM >To: suzanneg(a)wolfenet.com, callers(a)sharedweight.net >Cc: Tony Mates <CKittyroo(a)aol.com> >Subject: Re: [Callers] Dare to Be Square Archive > >--- Suzanne Girardot wrote: >If you are curious about DTBS, we will be having another DTBS weekend in Seattle >on November 4-7. >--- end of quote --- > >And Bob Dalsemer is organizing one for the following year at the John C. >Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. Dates are November 18-20, 2011. That's >the weekend before Thanksgiving. Full details coming soon. > >David Millstone

15 years, 2 months

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