I was emailing with Greg just now about what it was that made Sunday's contra such a fantastic experience for me. He asked if it was "Gaye's calling? The complexity of the dances? The great music? The competent dancers from all over the US?" My answer was "all of the above"--it's a synergistic kind of thing, of course.
One of the dances in particular stands out for me. I think it was the one called "Lost in Space" (or it might have been the one right before or after that one). Those of you who were there will probably know which one I mean--it has you doing an allemande with your neighbor, I think, then pulling by your partner, the next person, turning the next one left and coming all the way back.... Something like that.... (Can you tell I'm not a caller yet?)
Anyway, the point is that the energy of that dance was so high that I wasn't the only one yipping and shouting for the sheer joy of it. And I wonder if Gaye, our fabulous caller, pulled a little trick on us to set us up for that experience: As she taught the dance, she kept saying that she'd seen it break down many, many times, and that we'd do it until somebody fell down, and then she'd ask the band to quit. She actually said that about a couple of dances, as I recall. At the time I wondered why she was "scaring" us, but now I wonder if she was deliberately adding to the anticipation, and to the exhilaration when we actually did it right. I mean, she knew she had a hall full of really good dancers who could more than likely pull it off....
What think, you all?
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Memorable Callers
Who’s the best caller you’ve ever danced to? Any dance form, any time in your life. What made them memorable? Can you put down in words just what the experience of dancing to their calling was like?
I remember a square dance caller—wish I could remember his name—who called for our club in Downey, CA (a suburb of Los Angeles) back in the early 80s. Dancing to his calling was exhilarating—the tempo was fast, but the moves flowed so perfectly into one another, and he always seemed to let you know what to do next at the precise instant when your free hand was ready to reach out for the next person, or your body was ready to turn. There was never any sense of waiting for a cue—you never stopped moving. And squares rarely broke down, even when the dancers weren’t all experienced. “Flow.” That’s maybe the most important word. It all just flowed.
I square danced for years when I lived in LA, to probably 50 different callers, but he’s the only one I remember. There was just something that set him apart from all the rest. He used to do a singing call to “Sweet Fantasy” (any old-time square dancers in the group might know this one) that I still dream about—it put me into a state of ecstasy.
I remember a square dance caller—wish I could remember his name—who called for our club in Downey, CA (a suburb of Los Angeles) back in the early 80s. Dancing to his calling was exhilarating—the tempo was fast, but the moves flowed so perfectly into one another, and he always seemed to let you know what to do next at the precise instant when your free hand was ready to reach out for the next person, or your body was ready to turn. There was never any sense of waiting for a cue—you never stopped moving. And squares rarely broke down, even when the dancers weren’t all experienced. “Flow.” That’s maybe the most important word. It all just flowed.
I square danced for years when I lived in LA, to probably 50 different callers, but he’s the only one I remember. There was just something that set him apart from all the rest. He used to do a singing call to “Sweet Fantasy” (any old-time square dancers in the group might know this one) that I still dream about—it put me into a state of ecstasy.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Dance Diagrams
Here for your amusement is what I meant by the circles and arrows. I was trying to figure out where your next neighbors would be in the dance "Roll in the Hey" when you were getting ready to do the hey. Be warned: I think I got it wrong. I used an eight-point star and a circle with a plus for the number one gent and lady, and a six-point star and a circle with a minus for the number two gent and lady. Color coding might work better. Or perhaps a different approach, using a different brain...
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Teddy Bears and Salt Shakers
Tonight at Dance Discovery, Missy referred to having worked out the dance she was teaching with her stuffed animals. I thought that was a hoot!
Bob tells me that he was dancing with Becky Hill when someone called a dance she wrote. She said she had never danced it before, and that it sure seemed different from when she was doing it with salt and pepper shakers.
How do people work out dances before they have dancers to play with? Those online animated diagrams are cute, but do you find them hard to follow? I do.
Sue said she walks every person's part through. That sounds workable, though requiring lots of extra brain cells.
Have any of you heard of, or do you use, any other methods?
M
E
Bob tells me that he was dancing with Becky Hill when someone called a dance she wrote. She said she had never danced it before, and that it sure seemed different from when she was doing it with salt and pepper shakers.
How do people work out dances before they have dancers to play with? Those online animated diagrams are cute, but do you find them hard to follow? I do.
Sue said she walks every person's part through. That sounds workable, though requiring lots of extra brain cells.
Have any of you heard of, or do you use, any other methods?
M
E
Friday, July 6, 2007
Welcome to Eric and Larry and David and Lyndon and Susan and Deborah!
Welcome to our three, no, four, no, five, no, six new members! You made it all the way through blogger.com's forms, and you're here! Yay!
Feel free to add your comments to any thread, or start your own. I find I have to click "Sign In" even if I'm already signed in, if I want to add a new post. If anyone knows a better trick, let us know!
Be sure to look at some of the links to caller resources on the side. If you know some good ones, please share.
It's good to have you aboard...
M
E
Feel free to add your comments to any thread, or start your own. I find I have to click "Sign In" even if I'm already signed in, if I want to add a new post. If anyone knows a better trick, let us know!
Be sure to look at some of the links to caller resources on the side. If you know some good ones, please share.
It's good to have you aboard...
M
E
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Calling Card Thoughts
Click on the title, by the way, to see the whole thread. This one has some good comments...
Here's something I'd like to share. This is one of the ways a traditional caller's card might look:
The moves that are done in each part of the music (each 8 counts) are shown in a grid - In the A1 section of the music, 8 counts for the circle left, 8 counts for the neighbor swing; in the A2 Section, 8 for the circle left and 8 for the partner swing.
Then in B1, 8 counts for the long lines forward and back, and 8 counts for the ladies chain. In B2, the hey for four takes all 16 counts.
That's 64 counts from beginning to end, just like all contra dance tunes, and quite a few (though not all) English Country Dance tunes.
I found another way to write down the calls for this dance in a book by Tony Parkes. He shows an 8-count grid, with the A1 A2 B1 B2 form just like the music, that writes the words in BEFORE the moves, in the place where they are CALLED, instead of in the place where they are DONE, like this:
There's an Intro line for the call you do before the music starts. "Get ready to circle left and swing your partner when the music starts."
Then you say nothing through the A1 section until the last 4 beats, when you say "circle left three quarters". Compare this notation with the card above, and you'll see what I mean.
The important words are spoken ON the COUNT. It's a bit of a task to find the right words to be super clear on, fit them into four counts, and make sure the important syllables are accented, but surely that's what we're supposed to do.
When I was practicing for my Big Calling Debut (even now I can feel the jitters, and it's over!) I couldn't believe how often the calls came up too fast for me to even think about getting them out of my mouth. The several hours of practice I did just for this one simple dance were all about trying to get my brain to believe that there was not much time between "chain the ladies" and "ladies pass right in a hey for four". The darn music just wouldn't stop while I pondered my next call.
What I've noticed about all the callers people pay money to bring to dance weekends is that they call rhythmically. When Bruce Hamilton calls English Country Dances, he often "deedles" the music so it's clear how much time you have for the moves and the transitions. On the other hand, I asked Chris Bischof if he called "musically" on purpose, and he claimed he didn't. I think some callers are completely unaware that they're doing it - they just do, and people like it. I don't know any big-name caller who doesn't.
M
E
Here's something I'd like to share. This is one of the ways a traditional caller's card might look:
The moves that are done in each part of the music (each 8 counts) are shown in a grid - In the A1 section of the music, 8 counts for the circle left, 8 counts for the neighbor swing; in the A2 Section, 8 for the circle left and 8 for the partner swing.
Then in B1, 8 counts for the long lines forward and back, and 8 counts for the ladies chain. In B2, the hey for four takes all 16 counts.
That's 64 counts from beginning to end, just like all contra dance tunes, and quite a few (though not all) English Country Dance tunes.
I found another way to write down the calls for this dance in a book by Tony Parkes. He shows an 8-count grid, with the A1 A2 B1 B2 form just like the music, that writes the words in BEFORE the moves, in the place where they are CALLED, instead of in the place where they are DONE, like this:
There's an Intro line for the call you do before the music starts. "Get ready to circle left and swing your partner when the music starts."
Then you say nothing through the A1 section until the last 4 beats, when you say "circle left three quarters". Compare this notation with the card above, and you'll see what I mean.
The important words are spoken ON the COUNT. It's a bit of a task to find the right words to be super clear on, fit them into four counts, and make sure the important syllables are accented, but surely that's what we're supposed to do.
When I was practicing for my Big Calling Debut (even now I can feel the jitters, and it's over!) I couldn't believe how often the calls came up too fast for me to even think about getting them out of my mouth. The several hours of practice I did just for this one simple dance were all about trying to get my brain to believe that there was not much time between "chain the ladies" and "ladies pass right in a hey for four". The darn music just wouldn't stop while I pondered my next call.
What I've noticed about all the callers people pay money to bring to dance weekends is that they call rhythmically. When Bruce Hamilton calls English Country Dances, he often "deedles" the music so it's clear how much time you have for the moves and the transitions. On the other hand, I asked Chris Bischof if he called "musically" on purpose, and he claimed he didn't. I think some callers are completely unaware that they're doing it - they just do, and people like it. I don't know any big-name caller who doesn't.
M
E
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