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 | | From: | Mean Green Dancing Machine | | Subject: | Two beginner contras (repost) | | Date: | 2 Jan 2005 20:35:04 -0800 |
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 | Happy New Year! Didn't get much response last time, let's try again:
Before I repeat the last post, I'm adding another question: I borrowed
some contra CDs from a friend, and it appears to my hearing-impaired ear
that the recordings don't have the intro that live contra music has
(making it harder to start dancing). Can anyone recommend a recording
that sounds more like live contra?
I'm going to a gathering of a group of people I know from the Net this
month, and suddenly the idea of running a contra during the gathering was
brought up. We'll probably have about 8-16 people dancing. Some of the
people who want to join in have never done contra before; I've never
taught or called contra myself, but because of my experience teaching
folk dancing (including things like Levi Jackson Rag), I'm elected. I'm
not too worried about the teaching/calling, but I'd like some help
selecting dances.
(One of the people attending sent me zir CDs of contra music; I hope
I'll be able to match dance to music.)
My goal is to give the newbies enough experience to go to a contra on
their own, plus enough fun for the experienced dancers to enjoy the
lesson. I'll probably have 1-1.5 hours. What would be ideal is two
duple improper dances that between them cover the following calls (only
one form of a right/left call needs to be covered):
Circle left/right
Star left/right
Allemande left/right
Ladies chain
Right-and-left thru
Lines of four down/up set
Balance and swing
Square through (not sure about this one)
(Did I miss any important ones? I figure people can pick up things like
do-si-do easily enough.)
Other calls are optional (I can handle all the standard ones). However,
I do NOT want a dance with a hey (though I'll probably do a run through
to make sure people get right shoulder / left shoulder trick). Would
probably be a good idea for one of the dances to not have a swing so I
can run that one first.
--
--- Aahz <*> (Copyright 2005 by aahz@pobox.com)
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
Androgynous poly kinky vanilla queer het Pythonista
Fourteenth Virtual Anniversary: 364 days and counting
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| | From: | Mean Green Dancing Machine | | Subject: | Re: Two beginner contras (repost) | | Date: | 5 Jan 2005 06:46:18 -0800 |
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| Dan Pearl sent me private e-mail, which he gave permission to respond to
publicly:
On Mon, Jan 03, 2005, Dan Pearl wrote:
>
> Two dances for 1-1.5 hours is not enough material. You should be able
> to do two dances in 25 minutes.
That's true for a regular contra dance, where each dance lasts 10-15
minutes with almost no break in between. However, for this event, I'm
adding 30-45 minutes of instruction and more break time. I've also got
the Beckett dance I wrote in reserve. Finally, I hope I'll be able to
do one or two more dances, but I want to make sure the first two dances
contain all the figures I want to teach. (If possible -- judging by the
lack of response so far, it's not as easy as i thought.)
> Lots of recordings have suitable intros. "Full Swing" on the Great Meadow
> label is particularly good: http://www.greatmeadowmusic.com/
Thanks!
> Two dances? Do Wood's Hole Jig by Tony Parkes followed by Scout House
> Reel by Ted Sannella. You are done.
Wood's Hole Jig looks perfect (assuming I have enough space for lines of
four down). Scout House Reel is too similar; it's missing a couple of
figures I want to teach.
--
--- Aahz <*> (Copyright 2005 by aahz@pobox.com)
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
Androgynous poly kinky vanilla queer het Pythonista
The problem with an ever-changing .sig is that you have to keep changing it
--
--- Aahz <*> (Copyright 2005 by aahz@pobox.com)
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
Androgynous poly kinky vanilla queer het Pythonista
The problem with an ever-changing .sig is that you have to keep changing it
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| | From: | Dan Pearl | | Subject: | Re: Two beginner contras (repost) | | Date: | Thu, 6 Jan 2005 00:00:58 -0500 |
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| > > Two dances? Do Wood's Hole Jig by Tony Parkes followed by Scout House
> > Reel by Ted Sannella. You are done.
>
> Wood's Hole Jig looks perfect (assuming I have enough space for lines of
> four down). Scout House Reel is too similar; it's missing a couple of
> figures I want to teach.
Ahhhh... The "secret" of an effective teach is to build upon an existing
framework. You don't want to introduce too much new stuff for each dance,
maybe a basic or two. The others should be repeats from earlier dances.
Every third dance should be a "cruiser" dance, where the students can relax
and enjoy what they've learned.
Try to teach too much, and they'll take away nothing!
Dan
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| | From: | Dave Goldman | | Subject: | Re: Two beginner contras (repost) | | Date: | Sun, 02 Jan 2005 23:21:35 -0800 |
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| In article , aahz@pobox.com (Mean Green
Dancing Machine) wrote:
> Before I repeat the last post, I'm adding another question: I borrowed
> some contra CDs from a friend, and it appears to my hearing-impaired ear
> that the recordings don't have the intro that live contra music has
> (making it harder to start dancing). Can anyone recommend a recording
> that sounds more like live contra?
There's _The Portland Megaband_ ().
Which sounds live because it was recorded live.
- Dave Goldman
Portland, OR
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| | From: | Chris Page | | Subject: | Re: Two beginner contras (repost) | | Date: | Fri, 07 Jan 2005 19:21:44 -0500 |
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| In article , aahz@pobox.com (Mean Green
Dancing Machine) wrote:
> Happy New Year! Didn't get much response last time, let's try again:
>
> Before I repeat the last post, I'm adding another question: I borrowed
> some contra CDs from a friend, and it appears to my hearing-impaired ear
> that the recordings don't have the intro that live contra music has
> (making it harder to start dancing). Can anyone recommend a recording
> that sounds more like live contra?
"Choose your partners!" recorded by the Smithsonian has a half dozen.
(Stay away from "Farewell to Whiskey," though.) I bought it off Barnes&
Noble two years back.
I'm sure there's plenty of other more obscure ones. Have you checked the
NEFFA web site?
>
> I'm going to a gathering of a group of people I know from the Net this
> month, and suddenly the idea of running a contra during the gathering was
> brought up. We'll probably have about 8-16 people dancing. Some of the
> people who want to join in have never done contra before; I've never
> taught or called contra myself, but because of my experience teaching
> folk dancing (including things like Levi Jackson Rag), I'm elected. I'm
> not too worried about the teaching/calling, but I'd like some help
> selecting dances.
Risky. I recently was at a dance where slightly under half of about 16
people were new, with an experienced caller who was a good teacher, and
Haymaker's Jig broke down horribly, in several different ways. (Including
long lines crashing into each other, one going forward and the other back.)
Haymaker's Jig:
Improper
A1: Neighbor balance + swing
A2: Ones balance + swing
B1 Down the hall, turn alone, return, bend line
B2 Ladies chain x2
So be prepared for anything to break down, and be ready with some simple
mixers/sicillian circles to fall back on.
>
> (One of the people attending sent me zir CDs of contra music; I hope
> I'll be able to match dance to music.)
>
> My goal is to give the newbies enough experience to go to a contra on
> their own, plus enough fun for the experienced dancers to enjoy the
> lesson. I'll probably have 1-1.5 hours. What would be ideal is two
> duple improper dances that between them cover the following calls (only
> one form of a right/left call needs to be covered):
>
> Circle left/right
> Star left/right
> Allemande left/right
> Ladies chain
> Right-and-left thru
> Lines of four down/up set
> Balance and swing
> Square through (not sure about this one)
Square through is not a basic/common move. Other ones taught in a beginner's
session include pass through, do-si-do, long lines, and promenade.
There's also concepts like giving weight, eye connection, and the woman
ends on the right.
I'd also be very wary about fractional moves.
Expect confusion with when and on which side to end the swing. And which
direction.
Difficult moves (like courtesy turn) may be best done with a neighbor,
so everyone gets to practice with different people.
I don't know many dances. The only one I can think of that'd be doable
for raw beginners would be the Awesome Double Progression Dance:
by Donna McAllister, Improper, double progression
A1: Down the hall, turn alone, return, bend line.
A2: Circle left, star left
B1: Balance and swing new neighbor.
B2: Long lines, Ones swing.
The Nice Combination is pushing it, as it has fractions, turn as
a couple, and ladies' chain. It's also tight with the phrasing.
>
> (Did I miss any important ones? I figure people can pick up things like
> do-si-do easily enough.)
>
> Other calls are optional (I can handle all the standard ones). However,
> I do NOT want a dance with a hey (though I'll probably do a run through
> to make sure people get right shoulder / left shoulder trick). Would
> probably be a good idea for one of the dances to not have a swing so I
> can run that one first.
You'll probably have to modify a dance to do that, or use an older one.
> --
> --- Aahz <*> (Copyright 2005 by aahz@pobox.com)
>
> Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
> Androgynous poly kinky vanilla queer het Pythonista
>
> Fourteenth Virtual Anniversary: 364 days and counting
-Chris Page
page@studentnojunk.physics.upenn.edu
(Fix email address to reply.)
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