Contra Callers

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

41 participants
4388 discussions

by Luke Donforth

I was recently thinking about star to star transitions. There are lots of great dances that go star 1x to opposite hand star 1x (such as Lisa Greenleaf's "Poetry in Motion", Robert Cromartie's "Al's Safeway Produce", Linda Leslie's "Burlington Spirit"...); and then there are the star -> same hand star dances (Mike Richardson's "Star Trek", my "Voyager", Dugan Murphey's "The Next Generation"...) Are there dances that use star just half way -> with next, opposite hand star 1/2 way? I'm envisioning something with a bit of a zig-zag feel, but that could be done in crowded dance halls where you don't want folks swooping out laterally (like John Coffman's "Boys of Urbana"), but more connected than a single file promenade snake like Cary Ravitz's "March of the Coffee Zombies". Are there already dances out there like this? Switchback Stars Improper, single progression A1 With #1 Neighbors, Left Hand star 1/2x With #2 Neighbors, Right Hand star 1/2 With #3 Neighbor, left shoulder gyre 1x A2 With #2 Neighbor, right shoulder gyre and swing (now current neighbors) B1 Circle Left 3/4 Partner Swing B2 Ladies chain across to neighbor Long Lines forward and back If so, how do they handle the timing? And for that dance (assuming it doesn't already exist), would you prefer it as written above, or shifted to put the progression in B2? Switchback Stars + 16B Improper, single progression A1 With Neighbor, right shoulder gyre and swing A2 Circle Left 3/4 Partner Swing B1 Ladies chain across to neighbor Long Lines forward and back B2 With #1 Neighbors, Left Hand star 1/2x With #2 Neighbors, Right Hand star 1/2 With #3 Neighbor, left shoulder gyre 1x come back to Neighbor #2, now current neighbor -- Luke Donforth Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>

7 years, 4 months

Star 1/2 - seat 1/2

by Tom Hinds

Luke I think you've come up with something original. The only dances I know of that have a series of half stars were written by Rod Linnel. He came up with a figure (i believe) he called grand star and used in a double square. Sent from my iPad

7 years, 4 months

New (?) simple dance without a neighbor swing

by Luke Donforth

Hi folks, This is a pretty simple dance without a neighbor swing. Anyone recognize it as already existing? A1 Neighbor Allemande Right 1 1/2 Gents Allemande Left 1 1/2 A2 Partner Balance and Swing B1 Long Lines forward and back Promenade across set with partner B2 Ladies chain back to neighbor Left hand star 1x Thanks -- Luke Donforth Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com <Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com>

7 years, 4 months

Fwd: Identify some dances

by K Panton

>Yoyo Zhou <https://www.mail-archive.com/search?l=callers@lists.sharedweight.net&q=from…> Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:19:18 -0400 (EDT) <https://www.mail-archive.com/search?l=callers@lists.sharedweight.net&q=date…> >Thanks, all. I've found that the first dance (? 1), as I noted it, isn't in >any of your collections, because it doesn't work: This is an old thread, but I was searching for an easy introduction to an alle/orbit figure and landed on it. I have made a fix to Yoyo's original transcription that, as he described, resulted in couples swapping sides and, my guess, cycling back and forth within one place of the starting point forever! The fixed dance is as follows and has a CCW progression. I swapped a LL for the R/L and juggled a figure here or there in A. the only hiccup is the slight grinding of gears (i.e. reverse of momentum) for the ladies transitioning from a swing to a chain (but not a biggie and it occurs often in the repertoire). *A1* *(8)* *LL F & B* *(8)* *Gents alle L 1.5* *A2* *(8)* *N Swing* *(8)* *Ladies Chain* *B1* *(8)* *Cir L 3/4; pass thru* *(8)* *New ladies alle L 1.0* *Gents orbit CW* *B2* *(16)* *P Bal & Sw* I've discovered this is very similar to Cary Ravitz's "Amy's Harmonium" leading me to think that Yoyo might have had that dance in mind. https://danceminder.com/dance/show/amysha *A1* LLFB (partners roll away w/half sashay on the way back) Gents allemande right 1 3/4 8 *A2* Neighbor balance and swing 8 *B1* Ladies chain across Circle left 3/4, Pass thru (up/down) to new couple 8 *B2* Ladies alle lt 1x while Gents orbit 1/2 CW(left) Partner swing I like Cary's better for flow (his balance/no balance swings are a better fit) BUT the roll-away is an extra thing to throw off novices. On the other hand, there's no reason that, in the first version, partners couldn't flow right into a 16 beat swing (or dancers' choice), foregoing the balance.

7 years, 4 months

Re: [Callers] New (?) simple dance without a neighbor swing

by K Panton

Hi Luke: There is a resemblance to this one which can be found in a 2016 posting: Dick and Mary's Departure (for Dick and Mary Ashbrook) Jan Larsen Duple, improper A1 Neighbor allemande right 1 ½, Men allemande left 1 ½ A2 *Partner balance and swing ( *alt: gypsy and swing) B1 Ladies allemande right 1 ½ Swing your neighbor B2 Half promenade, Left hand star Regards Ken Panton

7 years, 4 months

Playing With Butterflies

by Don Veino

Had a recent inspiration on a couple of Butterfly Whirl sequences - looking for input on a few questions/options... opinions welcome! Thanks, Don Butterfly DRAFT 20180410.1 - 4 Face 4 - Don Veino A1 LLF&B, Circle/8 RIGHT 1/2x A2 Circle/4 Left 3/4x, Opposite N Swing [at Gent’s progressed home] B1 (option A) Gents Star Left ~3/4x (to P) P Star Promenade 1/4x [all at progressed home], Butterfly Whirl to face center (option B) Opposite Gents Allemande Left 1+1/2x (to P) P Star Promenade 1/2x [w/in opp. 4; to all at progr. home], Butterfly Whirl to face up/down B2 (option A) Ladies Star Right 1x (to P), P Swing & face progression (option B) Opposite Ladies Allemande Right 1x (to P), P Swing & face progression Questions: - Option A, IMO, is more of a "real" 4 facing 4 - but I'm uncertain if the timing will work? (Option B = bog standard timing.) - Is there a strong argument for one option vs. the other - will dancers care if the majority of the action is in 2-couple groups with opposites rather than involving all 4 couples? - Will there be a significant space problem when all 4 couples pass through the center in B1 option B? Butterfly DRAFT 20180410.2 - DI - Don Veino A1 N Balance & Swing A2 Gents Allemande Left 1+1/2x (Ladies left arm over P’s right as picked up), P Star Promenade 1/2x, Butterfly Whirl CCW along set to next Ns*, stay connected with P B1 Ladies Catch RH, Star Promenade P 1/2x CW, Butterfly Whirl CW into P Swing [on L’s home side] B2 Ladies Chain, Half Hey (back to THIS N...) End effects: re-enter in Butterfly hold with P (where/how depends upon answer below) *Question: I believe the butterfly shift could progress this dance forward (whirl shift to right as face out) or reverse (shift left). I believe reverse progression would flow/feel slightly better but forward progression could be less confusing to dancers - which would be best?

7 years, 4 months

please remove me

by Liz Benjamin

Since I call exclusively family dances, I have not found this busy list valuable to me right now, so please unsubscribe me. thanks, Liz Benjamin

7 years, 4 months

Re: [Callers] New (?) 4x4 contra

by Dugan Murphy

Hi, Luke, Great new ideas on 4X4 choreography! In regards to the "Tamlin's Cross," I think the rollaway-swing transition in A1 would feel less than ideal, or even awkward because the direction of the rollaway is counter to the direction of the swing. I love that transition when the gent is sashaying left and passing a dancer in the lady role from the gent's left hand to gent's right hand right, then the gent can catch the other dancer in the lady role in a swing (as in "Rollin' with Rhode" by Jim Hemphill, "Rollaway Sue" by Bob Isaacs, "Luna in the Library" by Ron Blechner,""Roll Twelve" by Chris Page, and "Into the DMZ" by Cary Ravitz, among others). I fear that the rollaway-swing transition as it is written in "Tamlin's Crossing" wouldn't be as satisfying as int he dances I listed. Thank you for your innovations and I look forward to seeing more! Dugan Murphy Portland, Maine dugan at duganmurphy.com www.DuganMurphy.com www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com > Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2018 12:16:42 -0400 > From: Luke Donforth <luke.donev(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Callers] New (?) 4x4 contra > > Thanks all for the feedback! I'll reach out to Erik and Nils. > > As Rick pointed out, the dance could work from standard 4x4 lines; and I > certainly wouldn't object to folks dancing it that way. In my head, the > half grand hey precludes this from many dance events, so I figured dancers > I could toss this at would probably not be thrown by the bent formation. > But keeping the non-hook moves simple is worthwhile. > > I haven't done a Dutch Crossing workshop, although I've been meaning to. > Nice to see Lisa getting everyone through it, thank you for the link; and > the reminder to learn Dutch Crossing. > > Colin, I don't remember the last time I got to call a 48 bar dance. But if > I get a band itching to play one, now I've got some things in the quiver. > > Jim, I'll admit Heymania is intimidating to me. I like the fixed timing of > contra, the squishyness of squares is a challenge for me. I'd have to work > up to that one with some simpler non-musically-square squares. > > As for this dance, dropping the balance before the partner swing and > letting the hey flow into B2 seems the simplest and most forgiving way of > handling the timing. I like the idea of the reunion moment being marked in > time though, so that partners know when they're supposed to find each > other. You could give the hey more time in B1 at the expense of some of the > neighbor swing. What about the following variation, informed by Chris's > comments on timing? > > Tamlin's Cross (variation) > 4x4 (lines or bent) > > A1 > (4) All 8 go into the middle > (4) Gents roll partners away on the way out > (8) Corner Swing, square set > A2 > (8) Gents left hands across star 1x; gents drop out > (8) Ladies left hands across star 1x; > ladies keep hands, and take right hand with corner (making crossed wavy > lines of 4) > B1 > (4) Balance the wavy lines of four > (12) half grand hey, start passing corner you swung by right > then turn away from corner you swung > B2 > (16) Partner Balance and Swing > End the swing facing new couple, having swapped sides with your trail-buddy > couple > > That gives both roles the muscle memory of a left hand star in the middle > as prep for the handless-star in the hey; which could either be helpful or > monotonous. > <digression> > I wouldn't usually chase a left hand star with a left hand star, but I > think left will flow better for the gents out of a swing; and I want the > corners to take right hands (because getting folks to balance left then > right seems impossible outside of Rory o'More). The two left hand stars > would also leave some room for silliness on the part of the dancers. > A2 could be ladies right hand star, then gents left; but I'm not super fond > of the swing->ladies go in transition. It happens a lot in swing->chain, > but I don't think it would add to the dance here. > </digression> > > Thanks again for sharing your experience :-) >

7 years, 4 months

Re: [Callers] new dances

by Charles

Hello all - I have two dances I've been calling of late, and wanted to verify they are both original to the best of our collective knowledge. Both have been satisfying to call and dance, so I also wanted to share them in the hopes that others might want to call either or both. I'm not including instructions for the Zia dance - there are already general instructions in Shared Weight for Zia set up and calling tips. Thanks, Chuck X, Y, and Zia (Zia formation, double progression) Chuck Abell 3/18 A1 - Into the middle and back (8) Balance the ring/square, circle left four steps (8) A2 - Bal the ring/square, w/ partner California Twirl (8) New N swing on side (8) B1 - Give right to partner, balance square through past two (8) Give right to partner, balance square through past two (8) B2 - P bal and swing in middle, face new N (16) Caller’s Delight (Becket) Chuck Abell 2/18 A1 Bal ring, pass through across and turn alone (8) RHS (right hand star) 1x to long wavy line, gents face out (8) A2 Bal, box circulate 1x (8) N swing (8) B1 On left diagonal ladies chain, make ring (8) Bal ring, PT to ocean wave (8) B2 Bal wave, all walk fwd (8) P swing (8) w/ same N…

7 years, 4 months

Does this already exist? If so, what's its name and who wrote it?

by Ric Goldman - Letsdance

Hi all, I thru this together on the fly for a no walk thru, but I have to think someone already wrote this. Does anyone know the name and author? Temporary name “Just Do It”, improper A1 1-8 Neighbors balance and swing A2 1-4 Long lines fwd and back 5-8 Gents allemande left 1-1/2 B1 1-8 Partners balance and swing B2 1-4 Promenade across the set 5-8 Circle left ¾, pass thru Thanx, Ric Goldman letsdance(a)rgoldman.org

7 years, 4 months

Jump to page:

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

Contra Callers