In remembrance of our dear Linda Leslie, and in partial thanks to all who have been so kind to me since her passing, I'd like to share two contra dances that you may not have in your collections, that were written for (not by) Linda Leslie.
I wrote "Fun Dance for Linda" fourteen years ago, and first called it on May 15, 2004. I think it truly is a fun dance, and so did Linda, but I called it infrequently - whenever Linda was on the dance floor, and I was on stage, and those gigs were few and far between. I thank Lisa Greenleaf for including "Fun Dance for Linda" at Linda's celebration of life at the Concord Scout House on May 20. There are no circle-left figures in this lively and upbeat dance, which makes it a nice choice at times to drop into an otherwise-circly program.
FUN DANCE FOR LINDA (for Linda Leslie)
Bob Golder
Duple Improper
Two swings, Partner & Neighbor (P. & N.)
A1) Gents Allemande Left 1-1/2 (face P. ) / Half Hey (pass P. by R. to start)
A2) Partner Balance & Swing (end facing N. across set; give inside hand to N. - gents R. hand, ladies L. hand)
B1) (With N.) Inside-Hand Balance; Star Through / (Same 4) Ring Balance, Twirl to the Right
B2) (Same) Neighbor Balance & Swing
An earlier dance, written for Linda Leslie by Danish dance leader Frede Olsen, is "Linda's Surprise." My notes show that I first called it in 1998. There are several surprises, the first of which was that Linda didn't know that Frede had written a dance in her honor until he announced it from the stage. Another surprise is that the full hey for four travels beautifully across the musical phrase from the end of the A2 into the beginning of the B1. The transition is smooth as silk when the band plays romantic reels. Still another surprise is that although there are two swings, they are both danced with one's partner. Linda liked the dance but did not often call it because she worried about dancers who might be stuck with a less-than-satisfactory partner. I loved to call the dance because it is so beautiful and was written for Linda. For brevity I use here Frede's original instruction to "gypsy." Please substitute your preferred term when calling the dance.
LINDA'S SURPRISE (for Linda Leslie)
Frede Olsen
Becket
Two swings, both with Partner
A1) Ladies Gypsy by the Right (once, and a little bit more) / Partner Swing
A2) Gents Gypsy by the Left (once around; face P.) / Begin full Hay, passing by R. shoulder to start
B1) Continue the full Hay for Four / Partner Swing
B2) Long Lines Forward & Back / Circle Left once around, Slide Left to new N.'s
To these dances written for Linda Leslie may be added Don Veino's "¡Que Linda!," which he shared on this list in April. Enjoy! … Bob Golder
I thought up a cool little ending to a Revolving Door and have incorporated
it into a couple of new dances. I call the action "Revolving Door to a
Wave" and it's as follows:
from couples facing across - Ladies start an Allemande Right 1x while
depositing the gent they were with on the other side, as the ladies come
back across and are finishing, they slide nose-to-nose past the other gent
(who has turned a 3/4 turn to their right) to put the gents in the middle
of a wave across. Gents have left hands in the middle and right hands with
the lady they did not start with. If you are familiar with MWSD, it feels a
bit like the call Spread. Here are the dances that use it. Only the
second has been road-tested.
Please share your reactions.
Title of Contra by Andy Shore
Contra/Becket-CCW
A1 -----------
(8) Revolving Doors (Ladies RH) **to a wave (gents in middle, N in RH)
(4,4) Balance the Wave, Walk Forward to the Next
A2 -----------
(16) Next Neighbor Balance & swing
B1 -----------
(8) Mad Robin - gents in front to the right
(8) Gents allemande Left 1.5
B2 -----------
(16) Partner balance and swing
when out, wait with partner on the 'wrong side'
Doorbits
by Andy Shore
Contra/Improper/Int
A1 -----------
(16) Neighbor balance and swing
A2 -----------
(8) Revolving Door (Ladies RH) **as if to a wave**
(8) Men allemande Left 1.5 while Ladies Orbit CW across
B1 -----------
(16) Partner balance and swing
B2 -----------
(8) Ladies Chain
(8) Star Left
In this dance, they do not actually form the wave, but gents take LH in the
middle for the Allemande
** as you finish the revolving door, Slide Past Parnter nose-to-nose to put
Gents in the middle to star the next move, gents are facing in original
direction of progression, ladies are anti --
/Andy Shore
http://site.andyshore.com/
best email - andyshore(a)gmail.com
Sent from my iPad
> On May 17, 2018, at 9:25 PM, Tom Hinds <twhinds(a)earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> If I'm reading it correctly I would say some dancers circulate and the others circulate half.
>
> It looks so close to the mwsd diamond circulate.
>
> Tom
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>> On May 17, 2018, at 2:09 PM, Jack Mitchell via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>
>> What would you call a circulate like this? Would it be a partial circulate? Or, in the interest of not adding any more terminology, since only half of the people are going to end up in a wave after each one, would it be better to just say "ladies take 4 steps forward to a long wave of ladies, gents face in", etc?
>>
>> A1 Balance Wave
>> Circulate (Gents Loop, ladies take 4 steps forward) to a long wave of ladies
>> Balance Wave of Ladies
>> Circulate (ladies walk forward and face in, gents take 4 steps forward) to a long wave of gents
>> A2 Balance Wave of Gents
>> Gents step forward – N Sw
>> --
>> Jack Mitchell
>> Durham, NC
>> _______________________________________________
>> List Name: Callers mailing list
>> List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
What would you call a circulate like this? Would it be a partial
circulate? Or, in the interest of not adding any more terminology, since
only half of the people are going to end up in a wave after each one, would
it be better to just say "ladies take 4 steps forward to a long wave of
ladies, gents face in", etc?
*A1* Balance Wave
Circulate (Gents Loop, ladies take 4 steps forward) to a long wave
of ladies
Balance Wave of Ladies
Circulate (ladies walk forward and face in, gents take 4 steps
forward) to a long wave of gents
*A2* Balance Wave of Gents
Gents step forward – N Sw
--
Jack Mitchell
Durham, NC
Thanks to Nick & the others that were in touch with me by email.
I think you all have provided great starting points which I will pass along
to the parents and, presumably, on to the offspring in the strawberry patch.
Regards,
Ken
Hi all,
I'm not a member of the musicians list and I may have success here, hence
this post.
A client informed me that his 20-something daughter - fiddler since 5 - had
moved to Modesto, CA a year ago and not yet linked in with a community of
musicians. She has apparently sat in with the Old Sod Band here in Ottawa
at some point for a dance. I've not met her.
At this point, having recently started a new job, she may not be actively
seeking musical contacts. Nonetheless, if anyone can suggest a contact for
her - Bay area? Sacramento? Alvin, Yogi, Smoky in Yosemite? - which I can
pass along, I would be happy to do so.
Ken Panton
I cannot recall dancing a modern contra in the last few years that does not
include a Partner Swing, so I have a few questions.
First, do you call any such modern dances without a partner swing? Why or
why not?
Second, if you do, do you announce it before the preceding dance so as to
inform those pairs of dancer that love to swing together?
The Tease by Tom Hinds is one such creative dance that begs to be called.
Rich Sbardella,
Stafford, CT
Hi, all,
I’m calling the contra dances in Montpelier, VT, and in Cambridge, MA next weekend. I’m hoping to get some insight from people who have danced there or called there about the dance crowd and how they are as a community in helping each other, how many beginners usually come, are they fluent in dances that leave the minor set, any tips for that specific area, etc . I have info from the organizers but would love to hear from you as well. Thanks! You can respond in this group or to me directly at quiann2(a)gmail.com <mailto:quiann2@gmail.com>.
Thanks for any feedback you can provide!
Jacqui Grennan
Los Angeles, CA
