Youth Contra

Well that was a lot of fun! It was family night at Youth Contra. Of course the Boyers are always there as a family, but some others of us had family home for the holidays. I got to show off my son, Peter, of whom I am most proud, and to meet Martha's offspring. I now have a face to go with the dance "Where's Alex?"

On the hatchling front, Karen and I called (I don't think Larry is a hatchling(?) -- he started the evening.) Karen's dances went smoothly, but I discovered what happens when communication breaks down between the caller and the band -- totally my fault by the way. I couldn't remember how long ago I had given them the "two more" signal and apparently I gave it in the A part anyway. After I wrapped the dance up with a partner swing, the band kept playing. Fortunately the dancers continued too-- I just had to tell them "Dance with the one you're with now" and they made it through one more round. I think "a learning experience" is a kind description of the result.

Otherwise, I was pleased with both my calling and Karen's. We're getting better at this.

And who could fail to enjoy an evening that featured "Joe the Juggler", although Bob was forced to comment that he was so proud of being a juggler that he was a juggler vain.

Calling Party on Saturday at Reida's

Reida has kindly invited us to her house for a Calling Party. Saturday night, 7:00pm.

Bring CDs if you have them! I'll bring some for English, and a copy or two of Bob's, Billy's, Chrystal's, and Dales's dances.

Here's a Google Map to her house.

M
E

Monday's ECD dance to benefit Focal Point

Hey, all. The proceeds from Monday's St. Louis English Country Dance will go to benefit Focal Point. It would be great if all of us could attend and support this great resource for our music and dance community. Tell everyone you know, and bring friends! Location: Focal Point! Workshop at 7:00, dancing from 7:30 until 9:30. See you there!

Calling Party on Wednesday November 19

Thanks to the 15 or so people who showed up to the Calling party tonight! We had a great practice session - so preparations for our two dances (the Chicklings calling this Sunday's Childgrove dance, and the Dec 6 First Saturday Hatchling Dance) are coming along nicely. But we do have our work cut out for us.

Speaking of Chicklings, have you ever seen anything yellow and fuzzy look as tough and, let's face it, cool, as our Chickling badges? Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Watch out, kids, when we come calling...

Today I gathered together all the dances I've been collecting that were composed by Hatchlings and other St. Louis people, and printed them all on cards so we could lay them all out and figure out how to make a good evening out of them. So far, I have about twenty dances - and I still don't have all of Billy's! Wow. Six from Chrystal, five from Bob, two of Billy's, and Dale's Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss, which is causing quite a stir in the dancer cosmos. We also have a dance Andrew Limanni wrote for Karen's wedding to Dan, and two dances, one by Deborah Hyland and one by Ken Johnson, that are published in Midwest Folklore.

If we should happen to run out, we have bunches of good dances from People Formerly From St. Louis, like David Kirchner, Peter Lippincott, and Gene Hubert (okay, not strictly from St Louis, but his parents were from close by). I'm pretty positive this is not a complete list, but asking around and doing a bit of google research has not turned up others. So far.

And don't miss the Jovial Beggar English Country Dance Ball in Rolla this weekend! You will be amazed at the skill and enthusiasm of this young crowd. Seriously, folks, I've been to one of these, and it's worth the drive! See the posting just below for details!

Jovial Beggar English Country Ball

Hello Fellow Dancers!

The Jovial Beggar English Country Ball is coming up This Weekend, Saturday the 22nd.

It's in Rolla, at the Redeemer Lutheran Church. The address is:
1701 Highway 72 East Rolla, 65401

Come in period costume, or nice dress, remember however, to be modest.

It is $5 per person. Only ages 12 and up allowed, please. ;-)

A workshop begins at 5:45Ball begins 6:30 and we'll dance until at least 10 PM.

The Hall family will be calling, and the Hibernia Station Band (A great family band full of young people, led by the dad) from Jefferson City will be playing.

If you have any questions please feel free to email us jovialbeggars@gmail.com

Hope to see you there!
One of the Jovial Beggars
~Kimberly

What makes a caller great?

After last night's dance I've been trying to decide what makes Adina Gordon such a great caller. Of course she had a wonderful band to work with. Celticladda played interesting music; the beat was strong; the timing was impeccable. That helps the caller a lot. But even given such powerful music, how did Adina manage to teach so well that many times she only walked us through the dance once, and she was able to drop out after two or occasionally three rounds of the dance. No one seemed to get lost. Even the inexperienced dancers seemed to show up right where they were supposed to be. And everyone was smiling.

The best I have been able to come up with is Adina trusted the dancers. I think I have a tendency to overexplain during the walk-through and maybe over call during the actual dance. Maybe if you expect the dancers to do well they live up to your expectations. Or maybe Adina just has a magic touch.

In any case, it was certainly a fun evening.

What a great dance!

Wow--wasn't it a wonderful dance last night?! And what a crowd--Martha said we nearly broke even, and would have if we hadn't had so many young folks--which is itself a blessing. And a challenge.... I thought everyone did very well, especially considering how many total beginners we had. Wonderful music, good calling, a friendly crowd, and CAKE--it doesn't get any better than that. Thanks to everyone for their efforts. For me, it really was a night to remember.

Hugs all around!