Does anyone know the source for this square?
Roll Away
A1: Heads* forward and back
Heads right and left thru
A2: Heads pass thru, cross trails; go around 2
Make lines at sides (gent, gent, lady, lady)
8 go forward and back
B1: Ladies roll away*
Gents roll away
Centers roll away
Everybody roll away
B2: Swing Pt
*Note: roll away is right-person rolls to the left, no matter the gender-role.
Thanks,
sue
Sue Hulsether
shulsether(a)mac.com
www.suehulsether.com
608-632-1267 Cell
608-629-6250 Home
P.O. Box 363
Viroqua, WI 54665
In discussions among dance callers and organizers, online and off, a variety of topics come up from time to time that might be grouped under the heading of empowering people (especially new dancers) to say "No". Some examples:
* Assuring new dancers that it's ok to decline an invitation
to dance as someone's partner, and that doing so doesn't
oblige them to give a reason nor to sit out the dance.
* Telling people that if they're not comfortable making eye
contact, they can look at, for example, the forehead or
ear of the person with whom they're swinging as a way to
avoid getting dizzy from looking at the walls.
* Teaching how to decline a partner's or neighbor's attempt
to lead a twirl or other embellishment.
Without downplaying the importance of empowering people to say "No", I'd like to know if anyone has ideas about empowering people to say "Yes" (while still empowering them to say "No"). For example:
* While I agree that nobody should feel compelled to dance
with any particular partner, I think it's nice to be in a
community where most dancers are comfortable dancing with
a variety of partners and where a single person arriving
with no regular partner of group of friends doesn't face
the prospect of being an involuntary wallflower for most
(or all) of the evening.
* While I agree that nobody should feel required to make
eye contact if they find it uncomfortable, I rather like
dancing in a community where people generally do enjoy
making more eye contact on the dance floor than they do
with random passing strangers on the street. I wouldn't
want to emphasize teaching avoidance of eye contact to
point of developing into a community where everyone
habitually looks at or past their partner's ear. (And
no, that doesn't mean I think it's ok for dancer A to
gaze at dancer B as if he meant to fall through her eyes
into her very soul while dancer B very obviously is not
responding in kind. [Stereotyped gendered pronouns
intentional, but the same point applies with any other
pair of pronouns.])
* I've sometimes heard the action borrowed from "Petronella"
described with words such as "move or spin one place to
the right." To me that seems to suggest that just walking
to the next spot around the ring is the standard version
of the figure and that spinning is an embellishment. I'd
rather suggest that the spin is standard and the leaving
it out is an adaptation for those with limited mobility,
energy, or balance.
Perhaps some of you can think of other examples.
When someone makes two remarks--call them P and Q--that seem to suggest different courses of action, it's tempting to read them as being connected by a "but" ("P but Q") and to assume that the person means to imply that whichever remark came second (that is, the one after the explicit or implicit "but") thoroughly overrides the one that came first. That's not my intention here. I'd really like to get some conversation going about helping people feel empowered to say "Yes" and ALSO helping them feel empowered to say "No". As an illustration that those need not be conflicting goals, let me mention that IMO one of the things that can most empower someone to say "Yes" is confidence that they'll be respected when they want to say "No".
Thoughts, anyone?
--Jim
Woody:
it's been many years since I danced to your calling.
Q: in your intro session, how have you got the dancers configured (circle,
long lines)?
Your comments suggest, to me, that you have them in long lines throughout.
Ken Panton
>
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I'd like to hear from any of you who can share experience or advice about making use of music during the introductory lesson (a/k/a "new dancers' orientation", "beginners' workshop", etc.) that often precedes a regularly scheduled contradance.
What source of music do you use? (Recorded music played on a device that you control? Live music played by a musician assisting with the lesson? Music that you yourself can play on some instrument while leading the session? Your own singing of song lyrics, nonsense syllables like "la la la", or dance calls? Music that may happen to be coming from the evening's band doing their sound check at the other end of the hall? ..) How--in as much detail as you care to supply--do you use that music in your teaching? What do you think/hope your use of music contributes to the effectiveness or fun of the lesson?
I tossed out a few ideas on this topic, with much uncertainty about which ones were any good, in a message I sent on September 2 in the "Brain Dead - Need Suggestions" thread. I'm re-raising the topic here under a more descriptive Subject line in hope of getting responses from people who can offer comments based on actual experience.
Thanks.
--Jim
I have a private family dance gig with a church this weekend. In our
touching base just now, the contact brought up a request to include *some*
material that would be amenable to a couple of folks who wish to
participate but have mobility issues.
I'm seeking further detail from them to know the scope of the challenges
but thought I'd reach out to see how others have dealt with similar
situations. In my normal calling for family events, I'll often mention
alternative moves for folks who don't bend as well as they used to, etc.
but I'm guessing the needs here may be more significant.
Do you have any particular material you'd use within an otherwise standard
family/community dance context to suit mobility challenges? I know there
are things like the seated squares session at NEFFA but am hoping for
material that wouldn't require rearranging the furniture, etc. between
selections.
Thanks!
Don
Hello all!
I'm calling a delightful small-town dance here in Melrose, Florida this
Friday...which is Friday the 13th, and also a full moon.
I love using theme opportunities to collect new dances! Anyone have any
ideas?
Off the top of my head, I'll probably need to look into Mirror Mirror (Jim
Kitch, I believe) and Cats and More Cats (Melanie Axel-Lute). I wonder if I
could convince the band to play Stevie Wonder? 😉
Thanks!
Angela
Music by Ruth Rose and Thomas Bending. Colin Hume will present an evening of good dancing (American, Playford, Traditional,
Scottish, etc.) for those who want to enjoy themselves and be challenged occasionally too. Not suitable for beginners!
Tickets are £13.20 each from http://colinhume.com/nye
Numbers are limited to 65, so if you haven't booked please check the website rather than just turning up.
No alcohol or smoking on the premises, and you will need to bring finger food to share, plus your own drink.
Colin Hume
Email colin(a)colinhume.com Web site http://colinhume.com
I will be calling a dance at our local State Fair next month. It will be
open to the public, and we've also invited several Contra Communities
around the State to join us in helping to introduce people to Contra
Dancing, and other forms of Folk Dance. I suspect that most people of the
general public will stay and watch/join maybe 1 or 2 dances, and then they
will move onto the next exciting thing at the Fair.
We will have about 3.5 hours to fill, and I want a good variety of dances
to choose from.
So my question to you is, what simple, fun, beginner-friendly dances would
you recommend? Being able to "build up" to more advanced dances I don't
think will be very possible, simply because we expect a steady stream of
people joining and leaving at any given moment, so I need a variety of
simple and fun dances to share that don't require much prior experience.
I already have several ideas as to some dances to include, but I'd love to
hear your suggestions.
They don't have to be Contra-specific, as I'm planning to throw in a few
circle mixers, and a couple easy English Country Dances as well.
Maybe Hole in the Wall, or even the Virginia Reel... The genre of the
dances isn't that important.
Just any other fun, family dances that you can send my way. Many thanks in
advance.
I look forward to reading your suggestions.
Excitedly,
JJ.
