Hi All,
The dance Jeff noted as "New Friendship Reel" looks like a
conglomeration of Ted's dance, New Freindship Reel and a dance by Penn
Fix, Honor Among Thieves. Penn's dance, along with notes on how it came
to be and the variations it went thru, are in his book, Contradancing in the
Northwest, published in 1991 by CDSS and still available from them
<www.cdss.org>. I have found the book very interesting to read, both for the
dances and the history it contains.
I have used both dances but prefer Penn's dance as it "sets up" the #1
lady to be chased around the #2 couple by her partner. In Ted's dance, the
chase figure begins after the #1 couple dances a Do Si Do and the #1 lady
has to turn around to face out of the set to start the next figure. One of the
nice features about Ted's dance is that it does not contain the now
ubiquitous "circle left 3/4 and swing someone" figure.
Honor Among Thieves By Penn Fix, 1986
Contra, Duple, Improper
A1 Neighbor Do Si Do
Neighbor Almd Right 1 1/2 X
A2 Active Lady around two and the Active Gent cuts thru (Lady round 2
and the Gent cuts thru)
Active Gent around two and the Lady cuts thru (Gent round 2 and the
Lady cuts thru)
B1 Same Four, Circle Left 3/4
Partners Swing
B2 Lines Forward & Back
Ladies Chain Across
The "chase" figure in A2 has the #1 Lady moving up the set clockwise
around the #2 couple followed by her partner who "cuts thru" down the
center between the #2 couple. At that point he is "chased" by his partner
clockwise around the #2 couple and Lady #1 "cuts thru" the #2 couple and
all end where they began at the end of the A1. It is a fun figure with lots of
opportunity for flirting and frivolity.
Enjoy, John McIntire, Unity, ME
Hey Everyone!
Looking for some help... Looking for interesting contra dances with a
star promenades.? Also wondering if anyone has the dance sequence
"Through The Looking Glass" by Wendy Greenberg.
Thanks,
j_petro
The caller in Bethlehem called the New Friendship Reel tonight and I've
been trying to figure it out enough that I could call it. I'm mostly
unsure about the phrasing of the "X around through, Y cut though". I
have the dance as:
Aleman right 1.5 (#1 lady facing out)
Gent around two, lady cut through
Lady around two, gent cut through
Circle left 3/4, swing partner
Circle left 3/4, swing neighbor
And would break it up as:
A1: (8) Aleman R 1.5
(8) Gent around two?
A2: (4) Lady cut through?
(8) Lady around two?
(4) Gent cut through?
B1: (16) Circle L 3/4, swing P
B2: (16) Circle L 3/4, swing N
This seems weird, though. I I remember "X around through, Y cut though"
as taking 8 counts. Am I forgetting a figure?
Jeff
--
Jeff Kaufman
http://sccs.swarthmore.edu/~cbr/
While we're on the subject of the Star Promenade move, I want to express an
opinion on the mechanics of the move and ask for feedback.
When I am dancing in the center of the star promenade, I prefer to place my
hand behind the woman's back (as in the courtesy turn) and I prefer her to
place her hand not on the small of my back but rather on my nearest
shoulder. My contention is that this hold is much easier to release,
particularly into a hey or something involving the next neighbor. I think a
secondary benefit is that my shoulder tends to be dryer than the small of my
back, particularly later in the evening, and thus should be more comfortable
for her as well.
When I suggest this to a female partner, I just tell her I find it more
comfortable for me. I don't bother suggesting anything to neighbors, since
the move is brief. And as a caller, I suggest that this placement of hands
gives the woman more power or discretion.
What I want feedback on is this: Does this rationale make sense, or am I
just trying to sell my own personal comfort here?
Thanks,
Jerome
--
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
660-528-0714
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
Hi,
Thanks to all of you who sent in tips for calling, thanks to all of you who
sent in dances with star promenades and thanks to Richard and Jeff for
asking. We all benefit!!!
Rickey Holt.
Here are a few. Bevy of Butterflies is a wonderful dance that has two star promenades. I don't have "Through the Looking Glass" however.
Rich
Bevy of Butterflies - Bob Isaacs and Chris Page Improper
A1: (Next) Gent alle left 1 1/2, Scoop up partner
w/Partner Star prom across, butterfly twirl
A2: Ladies gypsy right 1x
Partner swing
B1: R/L thru across, Ladies alle right 1 1/2
B2: Ladies Scoop up Neighbor (with ladys arm on top)
Star prom, across, Neighbor swing
Carols Delight Tom Hinds (1990) Becket
A1: Ladies alle right 1 1/2
Scoop up N for Star Prom 1/2, Butterfly twirl*
A2: Gents alle left 1 1/2, Partner Swing
B1: Circle left left 3/4, pass thru, swing next
B2: LLFB, Ladies Chain
*Gents walk fwd, ladies back up
Heart of Glass - Cary Ravitz Becket
A1: Circle Left 3/4, pass thru across
Neighbor swing
A2: Gents Alle Left 1 1/2
Star promenade across
B1: Full Hey (Ladies st pass rt sh)
B2: Partner Balance and Swing
Pedal Pushers - Bob Dalsemer Improper
A1: Gents Alle Left 1 1/2, Scoop Up Partner
Star Promenade, Butterfly Twirl
A2: Ladies Dosido, Partner Swing (form ring)
B1: Ring Balance, Pass Thru Across the Set
Face Rt, Single File Prom 3 places,
Gents turn back &...
B2: Neighbor Balance & Swing
Hi!
Judging by the materials at http://www.quiteapair.us/calling (couldn't
find resources.html, though), seems like you've got plenty to choose from.
I doubt whether your workshop participants will be disappointed by
whatever you decide on. I see you have material from Cary Ravitz. Have you
also already considered material from his "Notes on Choreography for Duple
Minor
Improper Contra Dances"? Even though it's intended for dance composers as
well as callers, it's loaded with little tidbits and not-so-little
profundities that could help a new caller with choosing dances, deciding
what's worth pointing out during the walkthrough, and generally developing
the "big picture" about how dances work.
I found it at http://www.concentric.net/~ravitz/dance/chor.shtml
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:32:42 -0700
> From: "William Watson" <wjw1961(a)gmail.com>
> Subject: [Callers] New callers material?
> To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID:
> <d97046180704121532xa1650e4nd9afa858f663a7f5(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> Greetings!
>
> I've been asked to lead a short workshop session for folks possibly
> interested in starting calling. While I have a number of handouts from
> callers' sessions at different camps I've attended, I don't really feel
> that
> I should hand out copies of those notes. I've started pulling together
> some
> material of my own, but thought I'd ask the list members if they know of
> any
> materials already on-line. I did check the "contra dance links" page,
> did
> a quick scan, and picked a few items from the list to include on mine.
>
> If you want to see what I have so far, you can look here:
> http://www.quiteapair.us/calling/<http://www.quiteapair.us/calling/resources.html>
>
>
> Please let me know of any materials you found helpful when starting, or
> that
> you recommend I suggest to new callers.
>
> Thanks!
>
> William
> --
> wjw1961(a)gmail.com
> William J. Watson
>
Hello William,
I'd recommend adding Ted Sannella's books to your list of resources. The first
two books provide a nice selection of dances, many of them less complex than
some of the dances in Give and Take. I've found that one common problem that new
callers have is selecting dances that are too hard for them to call well; they
hope to make a big splash, showing that they can call hot dances that they have
enjoyed dancing themselves, but all too often get tangled up in lengthy
explanations orlet the timing slip on their calling. They would have done better
to pick something more straightforward, teach it quickly, keep up with the
calls, and get out of the way.
In addition to Ted's collection of dances, what I like about his first two books
(_Balance and Swing_ and _Swing the Next_) are his detailed notes on how he
teaches the dance, sometimes offering specific wording, and a rationale for why
he makes the choices he does. The careful reader can learn a lot about how to
teach and how to program from reading Ted's comments.
The third Ted publication, his notes on calling traditional New England squares,
is valuable for many reasons. First, New England style squares are the easiest
kind of squares for most callers to learn, and his notes, combined with the many
squares presented in the first two books, are a helpful guide. Second, Ted pays
a lot of attention attention to breaks, that bane of many contra callers.
Finally, the booklet comes with a CD that offers 15 examples of Ted's calling.
Callers wanting to call traditional New England style squares could do a lot
worse than to pattern themselves on Ted Sannella's timing and diction.
David Millstone
Just testing whether or not attachments go through. I looked through the
settings and don't see anything that wouldn't let a .doc or .pdf through.
Chris
P.S. The attached form is one that I use for working out the prompts for
a dance. One line (Moves) is for what the dancers are doing. The lines
represent one word or syllable. The form seemed to get more elaborate as
I tried to call higher piece count dances. First I write down what I
think will work, then I pound a beat on the table and try to read what I
wrote, out loud, in time with it.
