Martha Kelly - our caller this Sunday - is interested in getting together with local folks to have dinner and talk about caller stuff. She would be available around 4:00 Sunday. I am open to suggestions - but a good "St Louis" place is Blue Berry Hill.
It would be nice to have some kind of idea of the number of people - so email me - even if you can't come so I know how many people have read this and can try to find the others.
mac@macandmarsha.com
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Guest Callers at Childgrove
With Martha and Bob off enjoying a week of dance at Cumberland Dance Camp there's nobody to congratulate the Guest Callers at last night's Childgrove Dance, so I guess I'll do it.
It wasn't a typical Childgrove dance. We always get new dancers, but last night there were so many dancers in the beginners' workshop that Mac actually formed two contra lines. This is most certainly a good thing, but it meant that all evening long there was a lot more teaching going on than usual.
Karen called her first dance in public, Salmonchanted Evening, by Steve Zakon. She did very well. Her timing on the calls was admirable. The only complaint I had as a dancer was that she continued to call throughout the entire dance. When I asked her about it later, though, she said she had to. With so many new dancers in the group, whenever she stopped calling the dance started falling apart.
My dance came a little bit later. I sat out the square dance that came right before my dance just to get my thoughts in order. Unfortunately, people were having trouble with relatively straightforward square dance movements (like "circle left!"). Mac finally had everyone go back home and started again with a much simpler square.
I was not feeling confident at this point. Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss is a fun dance (I hope) but it is not a beginners dance!
The good news is that the band, The Mound City Slickers, had agreed to play the old-time song after which the dance was named. Since that was the song I had been using to practice the call, I was on familiar ground.
Of course, the dance used a couple of moves for the first time that evening which meant they were brand new for some of the dancers. "Hands across Star" wasn't a big problem, but we had to do an extra walk-through of the "Ladies pass-left-shoulders-in-the-center hey."
The real problem during the walk through came at the two places during the dance when I wanted to stop and talk. At both these places the gents and ladies were doing different things and they could dance it faster than I could talk it. Once you get dancers moving it's hard to make them hold still (grin).
When all was said and done, however, the dance went well. It was a little bit ragged throughout -- I was able to stop calling, but I still had to add gentle reminders to get people back on track when the dance started to drift away. By the end of the dance, I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing.
Now I'm eager to hear how "Fly Around..." was received when Bob and/or Martha called it at Cumberland.
It wasn't a typical Childgrove dance. We always get new dancers, but last night there were so many dancers in the beginners' workshop that Mac actually formed two contra lines. This is most certainly a good thing, but it meant that all evening long there was a lot more teaching going on than usual.
Karen called her first dance in public, Salmonchanted Evening, by Steve Zakon. She did very well. Her timing on the calls was admirable. The only complaint I had as a dancer was that she continued to call throughout the entire dance. When I asked her about it later, though, she said she had to. With so many new dancers in the group, whenever she stopped calling the dance started falling apart.
My dance came a little bit later. I sat out the square dance that came right before my dance just to get my thoughts in order. Unfortunately, people were having trouble with relatively straightforward square dance movements (like "circle left!"). Mac finally had everyone go back home and started again with a much simpler square.
I was not feeling confident at this point. Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss is a fun dance (I hope) but it is not a beginners dance!
The good news is that the band, The Mound City Slickers, had agreed to play the old-time song after which the dance was named. Since that was the song I had been using to practice the call, I was on familiar ground.
Of course, the dance used a couple of moves for the first time that evening which meant they were brand new for some of the dancers. "Hands across Star" wasn't a big problem, but we had to do an extra walk-through of the "Ladies pass-left-shoulders-in-the-center hey."
The real problem during the walk through came at the two places during the dance when I wanted to stop and talk. At both these places the gents and ladies were doing different things and they could dance it faster than I could talk it. Once you get dancers moving it's hard to make them hold still (grin).
When all was said and done, however, the dance went well. It was a little bit ragged throughout -- I was able to stop calling, but I still had to add gentle reminders to get people back on track when the dance started to drift away. By the end of the dance, I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing.
Now I'm eager to hear how "Fly Around..." was received when Bob and/or Martha called it at Cumberland.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Hatched!
Woo hoo! Karen joins the Hatchlings, calling two dances at Reida's last night. Great job, too. Dan caught one of them on pixels and put it up on YouTube. Didn't we just have fun?
Dale called his latest revision of Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss, then called the one just before the last one (he called it n minus 1). We pronounced n-1 a keeper.
Can't tell you how proud I am that we Hatchlings are able to call for house parties, Flash Dances, spontaneous events, beach parties on deserted islands...
Dale called his latest revision of Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss, then called the one just before the last one (he called it n minus 1). We pronounced n-1 a keeper.
Can't tell you how proud I am that we Hatchlings are able to call for house parties, Flash Dances, spontaneous events, beach parties on deserted islands...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
As those of you who were at the hatchling party last night found out, I've tried my hand at writing a dance. Martha suggested that I post the dance here so people could comment.
First of all, thanks to the guinea pigs (er.. I mean willing volunteers) who helped me try it out. Your feedback (lots of it!) was helpful. Based on that feedback, I made some adjustments to produce this version that I think is almost ready to go.
Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
(V0.4 Beta)
Dance: Dale Wilson (with a little help from his friends)
Song: Traditional
Improper duple contra
A1
(8) Left hands across star once around.
Gents, when you get back to your place turn out to the right to give the ladies room to continue the star.
(4) Ladies continue the star 1/2 way until you see your partner.
(4) Right hand allemande your partner 1/2 way
A2
(16) RIght hand pull by your partner sending the ladies into a full hey -- ladies pass left shoulders in the center.
B1
(8) Gypsy your partner
(8) Break down into a partner swing.
B2
(8) Right and left through with a courtesy turn
(8) Circle left three places and California twirl to new neighbors (left hand across star)
Last B2
Right and left through
Balance and swing your partner
I'll attach the version I called at the party as an comment to this post. The major change addresses a timing problem at the end of A1/start of A2. Because of the fix, the ladies start the hey rather than having the gents do it. This also means the gents don't have to start a hey while facing the wrong direction (oops.) The rest of the fixes are cosmetic -- improving the descriptions of the moves.
I plan to try this out again at the next hatchling party so speak now if you have ideas for improvement. The floor is open for comments.
First of all, thanks to the guinea pigs (er.. I mean willing volunteers) who helped me try it out. Your feedback (lots of it!) was helpful. Based on that feedback, I made some adjustments to produce this version that I think is almost ready to go.
Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
(V0.4 Beta)
Dance: Dale Wilson (with a little help from his friends)
Song: Traditional
Improper duple contra
A1
(8) Left hands across star once around.
Gents, when you get back to your place turn out to the right to give the ladies room to continue the star.
(4) Ladies continue the star 1/2 way until you see your partner.
(4) Right hand allemande your partner 1/2 way
A2
(16) RIght hand pull by your partner sending the ladies into a full hey -- ladies pass left shoulders in the center.
B1
(8) Gypsy your partner
(8) Break down into a partner swing.
B2
(8) Right and left through with a courtesy turn
(8) Circle left three places and California twirl to new neighbors (left hand across star)
Last B2
Right and left through
Balance and swing your partner
I'll attach the version I called at the party as an comment to this post. The major change addresses a timing problem at the end of A1/start of A2. Because of the fix, the ladies start the hey rather than having the gents do it. This also means the gents don't have to start a hey while facing the wrong direction (oops.) The rest of the fixes are cosmetic -- improving the descriptions of the moves.
I plan to try this out again at the next hatchling party so speak now if you have ideas for improvement. The floor is open for comments.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Three Minute Rule
Here's a terrific way to deal with (us) callers who take too long in the walkthrough: Notes on the Three Minute Rule
(by Gene Hubert, commented by Dot Kent).
(by Gene Hubert, commented by Dot Kent).
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Spontaneous Calling Opportunities
I knew there was a reason we are doing this. I used to think I wanted to learn to call dances so that if I was ever on a deserted island with eleven other people, we could contra dance. Now I realize that you don't need the deserted island for calling opportunities to just pop up. A Flash Dance does just as well.
And, of course, just as our Flash Dances are carefully planned spontaneous events, complete with backup plans in case of rain, it helps to bring your cards and a battery-operated speaker system, and a group of five boomboxes all playing the same thing at the same time, thanks to an iPod and an FM transmitter. Add dancers and you've got yourself a dance!
Here's where we were dancing last night. Minutes before I got there, it was thundering and lightening and raining like crazy. During the time we were there, the sun came back out.
Mostly we waltzed, but I got to call "Joy Ride" (shown here on YouTube) and "Boomerang", and Bob called "XYZ". As always, calling is super simple when the dancers are good.
Still, notice that it seems that a lot of people cut the Mad Robin and the half poussette down to about six or seven counts each, causing the hey to start early, yet they finished the hey at almost the right time. Does that mean that the "half a hey plus the men passing left shoulders one more time" (Gaye said it was a three-quarters hey for the men) cannot be done in eight counts? I believe it does. By my count, a three-quarters hey should take twelve counts. I begin to think the hey in this dance actually should be started as many as four beats early, meaning we should call it early too! (horreurs!)
Here's the dance as it's written:
Joyride - Erik Weberg Improper
A1: 1. Neighbor Gypsy
2. w/Neighbor Mad Robin
A2: 3. 1/2 Pousette clockwise (Gents backing up to begin)
4. 1/2 Hey (Gents st L sh); finish Gents passing Left
B1: 5 & 6. Partner Swing
B2: 7.Ladies chain;
8. Star Left to next Neighbor
No one will mind (or notice, probably) that the moves in Joy Ride don't always fit the phrase of the music since it flows in such a curvy smooth way. There are exactly NO points of punctuation, no balances, no long lines fwd and back, no Petronellas! Except for the brief time that the men wait while the ladies chain, no one ever stops moving. So although the timing is crucial, it can be unusual. Instead of the expected ||8-8-8-8||16-8-8|| timing, it can be something rather more like ||8-6-6-12||16-8-8|| or ||8-8-6-10||2-14-8-8|| or sometimes ||8-8-8-8||4-12-8-8||, causing the end of the hey to take place at the top of the B1 during partner swing time.
P.S. I found two clips of Joseph Pimentel, that fabulous caller, calling Joy Ride. In the first, at Huntsville weekend with music by Ed and Elsie, he takes the Poussette way wayyyy out so that it takes a lot more than 8 counts, which kind of has the effect of making the hey start just four counts before the top of the B1, so that most of the hey is in the first 8 counts of the B1, with the swing only 8 counts in the second half of the B1. It works...
The other one, taken at the Ann Arbor Dawn Dance, is closer to the ||8-8-6-10||2-14-8-8|| that I now think is probably The Answer for this dance. The music by the Great Bear Trio for this one is especially slow and dreamy, which may be the best kind of music to make this dance really put you into that fabulous trance state we have come to know and love.
M
E
And, of course, just as our Flash Dances are carefully planned spontaneous events, complete with backup plans in case of rain, it helps to bring your cards and a battery-operated speaker system, and a group of five boomboxes all playing the same thing at the same time, thanks to an iPod and an FM transmitter. Add dancers and you've got yourself a dance!
Here's where we were dancing last night. Minutes before I got there, it was thundering and lightening and raining like crazy. During the time we were there, the sun came back out. Mostly we waltzed, but I got to call "Joy Ride" (shown here on YouTube) and "Boomerang", and Bob called "XYZ". As always, calling is super simple when the dancers are good.
Still, notice that it seems that a lot of people cut the Mad Robin and the half poussette down to about six or seven counts each, causing the hey to start early, yet they finished the hey at almost the right time. Does that mean that the "half a hey plus the men passing left shoulders one more time" (Gaye said it was a three-quarters hey for the men) cannot be done in eight counts? I believe it does. By my count, a three-quarters hey should take twelve counts. I begin to think the hey in this dance actually should be started as many as four beats early, meaning we should call it early too! (horreurs!)
Here's the dance as it's written:
Joyride - Erik Weberg Improper
A1: 1. Neighbor Gypsy
2. w/Neighbor Mad Robin
A2: 3. 1/2 Pousette clockwise (Gents backing up to begin)
4. 1/2 Hey (Gents st L sh); finish Gents passing Left
B1: 5 & 6. Partner Swing
B2: 7.Ladies chain;
8. Star Left to next Neighbor
No one will mind (or notice, probably) that the moves in Joy Ride don't always fit the phrase of the music since it flows in such a curvy smooth way. There are exactly NO points of punctuation, no balances, no long lines fwd and back, no Petronellas! Except for the brief time that the men wait while the ladies chain, no one ever stops moving. So although the timing is crucial, it can be unusual. Instead of the expected ||8-8-8-8||16-8-8|| timing, it can be something rather more like ||8-6-6-12||16-8-8|| or ||8-8-6-10||2-14-8-8|| or sometimes ||8-8-8-8||4-12-8-8||, causing the end of the hey to take place at the top of the B1 during partner swing time.
P.S. I found two clips of Joseph Pimentel, that fabulous caller, calling Joy Ride. In the first, at Huntsville weekend with music by Ed and Elsie, he takes the Poussette way wayyyy out so that it takes a lot more than 8 counts, which kind of has the effect of making the hey start just four counts before the top of the B1, so that most of the hey is in the first 8 counts of the B1, with the swing only 8 counts in the second half of the B1. It works...
The other one, taken at the Ann Arbor Dawn Dance, is closer to the ||8-8-6-10||2-14-8-8|| that I now think is probably The Answer for this dance. The music by the Great Bear Trio for this one is especially slow and dreamy, which may be the best kind of music to make this dance really put you into that fabulous trance state we have come to know and love.
M
E
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
No! No calling party this week.
_Crying___.gif)
No (sniff!) there is no calling party this week (July 9, 2008).
Next week! And the week after that! Yes!
M
E
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