Contra Callers

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19 participants
4362 discussions

by Chris Weiler

Hello everyone, I have the opposite problem from Richard at the Down East Festival in March. My session, titled "Unbalanced Contras", was intended to feature smooth, flowing dances. The session has been scheduled opposite the dance medley. I'm concerned about the mix of the crowd that I will get in my session. Will I only get beginner dancers? Or are there experienced dancers that will come? I know that there are several veterans of the Down East Festival on this list, so maybe they can share their experiences if they called during this slot. I'd also like to hear from anyone who has ideas about dances that I could call. What are your favorite flowing dances? Maybe you think that I should only call wild, wacky and crazy dances to use another meaning of "unbalanced". 8^) Thanks for you help, Chris Weiler Goffstown, NH

17 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] Waiting for Lefty

by crunchymama＠juno.com

Ha! Yes I'm right handed, so kept quiet. My mother is left handed, and my oldest boy. But I have been known to nurse a kidlet while calling. :o) -Alison Murphy "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." ~ James Madison HTTP://WWW.RONPAUL2008.COM -- "Chris Page" <chriscpage(a)gmail.com> wrote: On 2/6/08, Tepfer, Seth <LABST(a)emory.edu> wrote: > What about all the righties? Are all the people not speaking up right handed or left handed and not chiming in? > > I'm really curious about this now. This is fascinating. Probably because the group that feels they're in the majority doesn't bother responding because they feel it's a less interesting answer. I'd assume you'd get the same thing if you asked how many callers called while trying to manage a young child at the same time. Cheers, -Chris Page San Diego (off on the right) _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers _____________________________________________________________ Live your dreams. Click here to find information on becoming a lawyer. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2111/fc/Ioyw6iigeohZ7i6YDZO1JvhVMp47zm3…

17 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] downeast

by gtwood＠worldpath.net

Hi Chris I'll be at Downeast. If your going aginst the medly, sorry I'll be in the other room... that's the tough thing about festivals there is always to much to do and conflicting venues. Good luck with the workshop! See ya there. Gale -------------------------------------------------------------------- myhosting.com - Premium Microsoft® Windows® and Linux web and application hosting - http://link.myhosting.com/myhosting

17 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] A Question About Nantucket Sleigh Ride

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

Gale's right that "ride the waves" is a common shortcut for the figure, but I also like to get into a rhythmic chant: Actives arch and the inactives under, Inactives arch and the actives under, Actives arch and the inactives under, One more time, and dosi do... (or "Ones arch and the Twos under" if that works for your crowd. The name "Nantucket Sleigh Ride" refers to whaling. After the sailors harpooned a whale, it often would swim off at great speed, pulling the small whaleboat behind it. David Millstone

17 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] A Question About Nantucket Sleigh Ride

by gtwood＠worldpath.net

clicked out to soon (darn computer) Nantucket Sleighride is one of my favorite dances to dance and call! The "Ride the Waves" looks great from a high stage. (The arches resemble ocean waves thus the name) Beginners as well as experianced dancers seem to really enjoy the dance. (nuf said) Original Message: ----------------- From: Rickey holt.e(a)comcast.net Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:47:04 -0500 To: callers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: [Callers] A Question About Nantucket Sleigh Ride Hi All, In B1 of Kirstin Koths' dance Nantucket Sleigh Ride there is a figure I will call "Arches". In this figure everyone is facing up and the ones, who are now below the twos, join inside hands, make an arch and walk forward, while the twos duck and back under that arch. Then the twos arch and walk forward while the ones duck under to place. My notes say to do arches twice. It would appear from the timing that that entire sequence - ones over twos under and twos over, ones under - is repeated twice. Is that what you remember? Rickey Holt Fremont, NH _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers -------------------------------------------------------------------- myhosting.com - Premium Microsoft® Windows® and Linux web and application hosting - http://link.myhosting.com/myhosting

17 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] A Question About Nantucket Sleigh Ride

by gtwood＠worldpath.net

Hi Ricky, You can teach it as 1s Arch 2s back through 2s arch 1s back through (2X) the traditional call after teaching the dance is "Ride the Waves" which is the whole arch sequence. It saves a lot of 'talk' during the dance. Gale Original Message: ----------------- From: Rickey holt.e(a)comcast.net Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:47:04 -0500 To: callers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: [Callers] A Question About Nantucket Sleigh Ride Hi All, In B1 of Kirstin Koths' dance Nantucket Sleigh Ride there is a figure I will call "Arches". In this figure everyone is facing up and the ones, who are now below the twos, join inside hands, make an arch and walk forward, while the twos duck and back under that arch. Then the twos arch and walk forward while the ones duck under to place. My notes say to do arches twice. It would appear from the timing that that entire sequence - ones over twos under and twos over, ones under - is repeated twice. Is that what you remember? Rickey Holt Fremont, NH _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web.com - Microsoft® Exchange solutions from a leading provider - http://link.mail2web.com/Business/Exchange

17 years, 2 months

A Question About Nantucket Sleigh Ride

by Rickey

Hi All, In B1 of Kirstin Koths' dance Nantucket Sleigh Ride there is a figure I will call "Arches". In this figure everyone is facing up and the ones, who are now below the twos, join inside hands, make an arch and walk forward, while the twos duck and back under that arch. Then the twos arch and walk forward while the ones duck under to place. My notes say to do arches twice. It would appear from the timing that that entire sequence - ones over twos under and twos over, ones under - is repeated twice. Is that what you remember? Rickey Holt Fremont, NH

17 years, 2 months

Re: [Callers] Can you name this dance ? Well I can !

by The Witful Turnip

Hey gang, Kathy's in Costa Rica at the moment (I'm so envious!) but took a minute to email and let me know that she wrote the dance I asked about below. It's called Top Spin. There you go... Bev ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:25:36 -0500 From: "The Witful Turnip" <wturnip(a)sympatico.ca> Subject: [Callers] Can you name this dance ? To: <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Message-ID: <000001c870f3$3bf22d30$6d00a8c0@BB1> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi all, I was poking around on YouTube for banjo tunes and happened to stumble across a video of Kathy Anderson calling this dance in St Louis. Does anyone know the name and author of this dance? Thanks in advance! Bev A1. (starts in a wavy line, ladies in ctr by L, neigh in R) Balance wave, neighbors allemande R 1/2 Gents allemande L 3/4 to long wave down the ctr, balance wave A2. Gents allemande L 3/4, partner swing B1. Ladies allemande R 1 1/2 Neighbor swing B2. Partners R hand balance across, pull by R, pull by neighbour L (sq thru) With the next, do si do (into the wave) *************************************************************************** The Witful Turnip wturnip(a)sympatico.ca "Ambition is the last refuge of failure." - Oscar Wilde *************************************************************************** ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers End of Callers Digest, Vol 42, Issue 15 ***************************************

17 years, 2 months

challenging contras

by Richard Green

Hello, I am posting this on both the sharedweight and trad-dance-callers lists: Next month at the Downeast Festival in Maine I am scheduled to do a short session which I have called "challenging contras." At the time that I suggested it, I thought that I fondly remembered enjoying challenging dance sessions at dance festivals. But as I think more about it I realize that the only ones I can actually remember were sessions where the dances seemed so complex that it was almost impossible to get 4 or 6 people together at once who understood what to do, or on the other hand being somewhat disappointed because the dances didn't seem challenging enough. I am sure the line between too much and too little is probably different for everyone. Can anyone suggest dances that experienced dancers might find somewhat challenging, perhaps something with an unusual figure? I have heard several people on this list mention that anyone can dance anything as long as the teaching is good enough, so that will be my own challenge. I plan to try a couple dances that are not the standard duple formation, but I would like to find at least one that is duple, so any suggestions or advice are welcome. If you can also include the transcription or tell me where to find the dances I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance! Richard

17 years, 2 months

Can you name this dance ?

by The Witful Turnip

Hi all, I was poking around on YouTube for banjo tunes and happened to stumble across a video of Kathy Anderson calling this dance in St Louis. Does anyone know the name and author of this dance? Thanks in advance! Bev A1. (starts in a wavy line, ladies in ctr by L, neigh in R) Balance wave, neighbors allemande R 1/2 Gents allemande L 3/4 to long wave down the ctr, balance wave A2. Gents allemande L 3/4, partner swing B1. Ladies allemande R 1 1/2 Neighbor swing B2. Partners R hand balance across, pull by R, pull by neighbour L (sq thru) With the next, do si do (into the wave) *************************************************************************** The Witful Turnip wturnip(a)sympatico.ca "Ambition is the last refuge of failure." - Oscar Wilde ***************************************************************************

17 years, 3 months

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