So I've been reading.
And one of the things I read was this remarkable essay by Henry Morgenstein:
For a number of reasons many contra dancers do not like English Country Dances (ECD). The most common complaint is that ECD is too slow, too stately, and too often some dancers stand around while other dancers get to do all the moves. The complaint against ECD echoes the complaint against "proper" contras: they are not aerobic enough. There is too much standing around & waiting.
There are other reasons why contra dancers do not like English Country Dances. The Swing is the most popular move in Contra dancing and, with the rare exception of one or two dances, there are no swings in English Country Dances. Some English Country Dances are very complex and take a long time to teach. Contra dancers want a minimum of teaching, a maximum of dancing. For some Contra dancers, English Country Dances remind them of pompous nobility, a class system -- all that America is not. I have met dancers who say they can't stand the feelings ECD engenders in them.
Personally, I love the very different feel of English Country Dances. I, too, do not like the more complex English Country Dances. I like the simple flowing dances that do not take too long to teach. In some English Country Dance workshops, I have encountered the contra dancer's ultimate nightmare: 45 minutes of teaching, six minutes of dancing. But there is a beauty in English Country dances that is simply radically different from the beauty found in Contras. In addition, the music is sublime, and it is music that you will miss hearing if all you do is Contra dances.
One final word which is aimed primarily at American dancers. When we think of English Country Dances we are really thinking of one "sub-set" of such dances: Playford Dances, or dances that were popular hundreds of years ago. We think English Country Dance is a "dead" form, an ancient, irrelevant, stagnant form that was done in drawing rooms by genteel nobility and is simply being aped/revived in our time.
We know (or should know) that on any given night, nine out ten of the Contras we dance were written within the last twenty years. If you dance English Country Dances today in England, perhaps eight out ten of the dances were written within the last twenty or thirty years. English Country Dances are a living dance form in England. In England, Contras are merely one kind of English Country Dance. It is only in America that Contras are seen as a totally different kind of dance, one that is not anything like English Country Dances. As I explain in another essay, contras are simply one kind of English Country Dance.
Wow. I had no idea. I thought it was all re-enactment, all the time, and I still loved it. But this is great. If ECD is a living tradition in England, why not here too? Does anyone know of a source of "modern" English dances? Let's see, I've heard of Fried de Metz Herman (spelling?) and Colin Hume and Jenson, and I know that Jenny Beers wrote my favorite dance (okay, maybe it's just my favorite tune), Key to the Cellar. And Chrystal Galliacci. She's good. Anyone know any others?
I've been reading Mary Dart's book on the change in contradancing from the older, slower, less active form of seventy years ago to the "zesty" form we know now, and wonder if that's what happened in England to ECD. Is there a "zesty" English tradition in England now?
Edit added later: Here's a video that suggests that there is a very "zesty" tradition of ECD in England. This is the Newcastle English Country Dancers dancing Mage on a Cree to the tune of Lilibulero.
Edit added even later: Never mind. This is the zesty English tradition from Southern California.
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10 comments:
Well, uh, I just love to dance. And I love history (as in everything seems to be related if you look closely/long enough). I will never understand why some people must conpartmentalize types of dance from each other. Yes, English and Contra are diffent! But, they are directly related and, I believe, complementary. Choose what you like best, and let's dance!
Sue P. has written some lovely ones--"Maiden Fair" is wonderful, and she wrote the music for it as well.
we have 2 (TWO) ECD dance writers in our midst?
wow.
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I am the man whose essay you read: Henry Morgenstein. First, thanks for placing it on the blog -- and many more of my essays appear on my web site: www.henryandjacqui.com You ask many good questions, but basically, many Americans are currently writing English Country dance. The very-very best is Gary Roodman. He has written dozens of great dances "in the English (not contra) style.' You need to type "English Country Dancing" into google -- and into You Tube. In fact, I am learning the moves in many terrific English Country Dances by watching you tube clips of English Country Dances.
Finally -- what area of the country does your blog "cover." I never knew about you. Again, thanks for finding & posting my essay.
Henry - Thanks so much for writing! Our little blog here usually feels pretty much like our parties - a few friends over to drink wine and practice calling dances. Having a guest commenter is like having a "real" caller come to our parties (which, happily, does happen sometimes). We stand up a little straighter and try a little harder.
We're in St. Louis, Missouri, and welcome (encourage, beg, plead) our dancer friends to try calling. We figure we don't know where the talent is until people have tried calling a LOT more than once, so we try to make a safe space for people to give it a go.
It's not really a "caller's workshop" since that implies that there is a knowledgeable leader who imparts his or her expertise to the others. Instead, everyone with a good idea is the expert of the moment. So we read, and ask, and ponder. And then have a party.
The people who come to the calling parties are mostly contra dancers, and they happily dance an English dance when someone wants to call one. But we have a lot of contradancers in St. Louis who try English once and never go back, and I have decided that that is a shame. I'm a recent convert, as I have said, and want to figure out how to make English as fun and attractive as contra is. I know it can be done, because I've seen it done. I just want to see if we can do it here.
I'm thinking we could do an "English as a Second Language" or "English with Contra Subtitles" workshop at our dance weekend coming up, and was looking for other people's explanations of the differences when I ran across your article, and thought it went right to the heart of the matter.
I'm now thinking we can use your list to choose which moves need to be introduced, and I've been thinking of ways to explain the difference - I think I'll start a new post for those - but the basic difference is the distant contact - two hand turns instead of swings, and a lot of moves you do with yourself alone, with only gravity and centrifugal force as your partner. I'm thinking I might explain why THAT is fun by noting the difference between the "Persian Goodby" in Oklahoma versus the "Oklahoma Hello". Yes, the "Oklahoma Hello" is great when you're, um, close friends, but the "Persian Goodby" was the move that set Annie Oakley's heart a-flutter.
You wrote": a lot of moves you do with yourself alone, with only gravity and centrifugal force as your partner."
Wow! How well said. as you know, I'm a writer & analyzer. I knew (sensed) some people hated English country dancing -- and you put your finger on it! It isn't just pulling, reacting, it is "moves you do with yourself alone" -- and if you are not graceful, it shows. No wonder some people hate ECD: it is not their kind of dancing: they rely on pull, tug. "Gravity & Centrifugal force" are difficult partners to deal with. In a sense, they leave you out there on your own -- but gravity & centrifugal force do exert a pull you must counteract.
There will always be people who do not like English country Dancing. For a long-long time it did not appeal to me. Too tame. No wild swinging. If you are trying to convince contra dancers, you'll have a hard sell. Good luck.
OH, Henry, say it is not so!
The thing is, I'm not sure that ECD is all that tame. There are a lot of dances where you have to really book it if you're going to get where you have to be on time.
And I have seen a crowd of 200 people, only perhaps 30 of whom were English dancers, have a great time dancing contra. Of course, Joseph Pimentel was calling, all the dancers were good dancers, and the band was a combination of the Groovemongers and Stringdancer, who were so happy to be playing together that the music came out pretty high energy.
It has taken me a long time to be able to do a passable turn single, and I have to admit, it wasn't fun until I could. Of course, I didn't like gypsies either - until I learned to do a turn single! It's that little lean into the center that makes the difference. What if a caller had told me that right off?
So I'm thinking that it may take a lot of education - first on the part of the callers, who need to know exactly how the physics works and then figure out how they can explain it simply. (The more I know, the more simply I can teach.) Then the callers need to educate the dancers in some fun and succinct way. It is possible that we may not be able to become good enough callers to be able to do the job that Joseph did, but he did show it could be done...
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"I didn't like gypsies either - until I learned to do a turn single! It's that little lean into the center that makes the difference. What if a caller had told me that right off?" Once again you put your finger on it: "little lean into the center...What if a caller...." A good caller makes all the difference in the world: they make the difficult seem easy. As you say "the more I know the more simply I can teach." A caller needs to know a lot -- as I just learned something new from you -- "that little lean into the center" makes it all easier. My wife explains that when she twirls, she tries "to stay over her feet." (My first thought? Where the heck else would you stay but over your feet?") But she is right! Don't let the bottom of your body wander away from the top: stay over your feet. English country dancing needs a good teacher who explains moves well, chooses good dances (and yes, some dances do move fast. A good caller will make sure he has a good bunch of those in his program -- if he is seeking to convert contra dancers. And finally, hire Joseph Pimentel again & again & again.... He & I have crossed paths in many places. He is a heck of a good caller
OK, so I am behind in the blog reading. First of all...I have only MODIFIED 2 English dances. Changed the A or B part to make it something I like more. I'm not really an ECD writer. You give me far more credit than I deserve. I steal other peoples stuff and change it so I like it more. It's pure selfishness really. Secondly...my last name is GALLACCI...for the time being.
I don't know, Miss Gallacci. Every time I try to change a dance, I get boxed into a corner where it is impossible to progress. You don't.
And I think the best dance writers are all tinkerers, like you. The thing is, if you change a dance, is it really the same dance? Would the original dance writer want his or her name on it? If not, then it's your dance. For the sake of academic honesty, it's good that you always tell people where the dance came from and what your part in it is. Dancers may not care, but other dance writers surely would!
Mary Dart has a section of her book, soon to be made available online, that is on this very topic of "ownership" of dances. It's quite interesting!
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