Contra Callers

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

18 participants
4362 discussions

by Jerome Grisanti

Hello All, I was considering adding some of the Chestnuts to my calling repertoire, and I was wondering if I could get your best advice on approaching triple minor dances in the Midwest (Lawrence Kansas). I believe most of the contra dancers here have never seen such a critter, although a very few will have seen it at an English Country dance. I was considering calling a triplet or a duple minor dance with contra corners in the first half to make sure everyone was comfortable with that figure, and then calling "Sackett's Harbor" in the second half, which turns the minor set 90 degrees (or 270 degrees, to be technical) so all the men are all facing the stage and the women are facing down. I want to lay out the rules of triplets very succinctly: Ones remain ones all the way down the hall, while the twos become threes and then twos again as they progress up. Threes also alternate roles, becoming twos and then threes again. At the top, the first couple out waits out two iterations of the dance before becoming ones. At the bottom, the threes must trade places with the ones or they will remain out indefinitely. Are these rules accurate as stated? Any suggestions from New England? Elsewhere in the Midwest? Points beyond? --Jerome -- Jerome Grisanti 660-528-0858 660-528-0714 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com

17 years, 4 months

Winter Whirlwind Weekend and Callers Workshop with Becky Hill

by Jack Mitchell

Two Clarifications: 1) All dances cost $8 and are pay at the door. The callers workshop is $10 and requires advance registration 2) Friday's dance is at Pleasant Green Community Center in Durham, NC, Saturday afternoon and evening are at the Carrboro Century Center in Carrboro, NC.

17 years, 4 months

Winter Whirlwind Weekend and Callers Workshop with Becky Hill

by Jack Mitchell

Hello All-- The First Saturday Dance and Triangle Country Dancers will be hosting the Winter Whirlwind weekend February 29 - March 2 in Durham and Carrboro, NC. We will have three dances plus a callers workshop, all led by Becky Hill. On Friday 2/29, there will be a dance at Pleasant Green Community Center in Durham with the Elftones. On Saturday (3/1) afternoon, we will have an advance dance, also with the Elftones and Becky. Then on Saturday evening, we will have a dance with Footloose and Becky. Finally, on Sunday afternoon (beginning at 12:30), Becky will lead an intermediate level callers workshop (Becky's more detailed description of the workshop is at the end of this message. More information about the weekend can be found at www.winterwhirlwind.com. If you know if any other callers that might be interseted in attending, please pass this on to them! I hope that many of you will be able to join us for some or all of these events. If you are interested in attending the callers' workshop, please let me know as soon as possible. We do require advance registration for the workshop. Since I'm also the one that's coordinating housing for out of town folks, if you need housing with a local dancer, please let me know that as well (even if you think I already know!!!) So, I need the following information: Who you are That you're planning on coming to the workshop What calling experience (in a sentence or so) you've had (ie. "Called some single dances in an evening." "Been calling for 20 years." etc) If you need housing with a dancer (and if so, for which nights) --if you need housing, are you allergic to anything (cats, dogs, stupidity.....) Let me know if you have any questions!! Hope to see many of you next month. Jack Workshop Description/Details: 1. We will begin the workshop by pairing new callers with experienced ones. Each team of two will "chart" a dance which will enable callers to parse the dance for the walkthrus, including specifics such as who and where each person lands in the line, discovering shadows, and negotiating knotty end effects. 2. Programming: each team will be given 11 dances sequenced in the best order to program for a given evening. We will all share the outcome and explain how each team made their decisions. 3. Precision calling: the participants will be given dances with dicey timing issues. Using the empty timing sheets in the large handout, the participants will fill in the blanks so that the timing is precise with the music. 4. Voice control: breathing from the diaphragm and "on the fly" deep relaxation techniques in the face of adversity. We will do some exercises for both men and women, so that they may avoid shrill female voices and angry sounding male voices. 5. Positive teaching techniques; avoiding the use of negative words; praising the dancers and the band for a job well done. 6. Maintaining variety; the participants will fill out the "Dance-at -a Glance" sheets with a sample program using the previous programming exercise to check for variety of dance moves.

17 years, 4 months

Re: [Callers] Is there an editor in the house?

by Richie K.

Hi.... I'll give you some help.... grammar and spelling you can forget about ..I failed those subjects for years .. but I can check all but the most complicated contra dances for format.. sufficient timing etc....... I can even link you to my page at contrausa.com if you like after you get your website set up Also if you need any web help I may be able to give it to you.... but maybe not .....I'm not an expert at that just have had my feet gotten wet is all :) :) best.. Richie Katz Tampa -- "Chris Page" <chriscpage(a)gmail.com> wrote: Hi, I'm getting close to finishing a web page with my dance sequences, and was wondering if anyone out there would be interested in volunteering to check it in the near future? It's about 35-40 dances of varying complexities, primarily contras. Primarily I'm looking for someone to verify the sequences are correct, and that the descriptions of the strange bits are sufficiently complete. (Secondary is stuff like grammar, format, links, and presentation, but I'm not as much worried about that.) Any help, either partial or whole, would be greatly appreciated. Please email me for details. Thanks, -Chris Page San Diego _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers _____________________________________________________________ Click to create your dream Las Vegas vacation now. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2121/fc/Ioyw6i3nKfcFqGK6RLSFP2iJI7KmFb6…

17 years, 4 months

Re: [Callers] Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend

by lynn ackerson

I'll be there, too. That makes three of us Californians flying to New Hampshire in January. Hmmmmm Lynn ----- Original Message ---- From: Cynthia Phinney <online(a)starleft.org> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 7:16:57 AM Subject: [Callers] Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend Hello all, Who will be attending the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend in Durham, NH this weekend and is there interest in again meeting as a group for lunch? I'll be there! Love, -cynthia _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

17 years, 4 months

Re: [Callers] Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend

by Chrissy Fowler

I'm looking forward to seeing all of the aforementioned at the RPDL weekend - a long-standing favorite! I agree with Jeremy that there's a wealth of interesting content this year -- dancing, Ralph Sweet retrospective, workshops, videos, tune jams -- perhaps we can spread ourselves out and go to different sessions and then do some debriefing during our lunchtime gatherings. (And by the way, much appreciation to Chris for initiating these SW gatherings at RP -- it's a perfect weekend to think about dances, share calling experiences in person, and really just hunker right down for a satisfying little "caller geek fest." Delicious! Speaking of delicious... Potluck lunch again for those bringing food? Safe travels all, Chrissy Fowler ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.belfastflyingshoes.org _________________________________________________________________ Get the power of Windows + Web with the new Windows Live. http://www.windowslive.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_powerofwindows_012008

17 years, 4 months

Re: [Callers] Valentine's Day Dances

by David.Millstone＠VALLEY.NET

Ted Sannella wrote a lot of dances with titles that could fit your intended theme. Off the top of my head, here are a few: Be My Valentine Hearts and Flowers Yours for the Asking New Friendship Reel The Perfect Match Double Happiness Golden Anniversary Flirtation Reel, by Tony Parkes DAvid Millstone Lebanon, NH

17 years, 4 months

Annual Ralph Page Gathering

by Chris Weiler (home)

Hello everyone, Cynthia beat me to the punch. Yes, it's time for the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend again. Yes, we shall have a SharedWeight gathering during lunch on Saturday in the dining area. For those who haven't been there before, we push a bunch of tables together for an informal gathering. I always look forward to seeing people from far away and meeting people new to the lists. I try to be there early with a little printed SharedWeight sign on the table at the back of the dining hall. You'll recognize me on the dance floor sporting a tie-dye bandanna. Or you can look at the picture on my website: http://www.chrisweiler.ws/ Safe travels everyone! Chris Weiler Goffstown, NH

17 years, 4 months

Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend

by Gale T. Wood

I'll be there!

17 years, 4 months

Re: [Callers] Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend

by David.Millstone＠VALLEY.NET

--- You wrote: That makes three of us Californians flying to New Hampshire in January. Hmmmmm --- end of quote --- Clearly a sign of good sense! David

17 years, 4 months

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Contra Callers