AI is invading our lives, but can sometimes be useful — for example,
ChatGPT is pretty good at reformatting contra dances!
In Philly we have mostly multi-caller evenings, where the coordinator gets
dance submissions from many callers (in many formats), creates a program,
and sends out the result. Sometimes the program looks like a fruit salad of
formats, but (OCD?) I like everything to be concise and uniform.
See example below, where ChatGPT unifies dances in 4 formats — Callers Box,
one posted here, my website, and Bob Isaacs’ format. It took a few tries to
refine the instructions (and I only tried this one output format), but in
the end it’s a pretty amazing result from minimal instructions in plain
English.
Rick
=========================
My Instructions to ChatGPT
=========================
Please reformat the contra dances below as follows:
Format dance headers as e.g. “Title (Author) Formation”
If formation is omitted, use “Duple Improper”
Format part names as e.g. “A1: ”.
Eliminate beat counts for figures (like “8”).
Put a part’s figures on one line, separated by commas, no period or spaces
at the end.
And this is important — format as plain text, do not format as markdown.
Centrifugal Hey
by Gene Hubert
Permission: full License: CC-BY-NC
FormationBase: Duple Minor
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#duple-minor>
- Improper
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#improper>
Progression: Single
Figures:
A1
(8) Neighbor allemande
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#allemande>
right
1 & 3/4
(8) Men <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#men>
allemande
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#allemande> left
1 & 1/2
A2
(16) Hey
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#hey>
(PR;WL;NR;ML;PR;WL;NR;ML)
B1
(16) Partner swing
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#swing>
B2
(8) Right and left through
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#right-and-le…>
with
partner
(6) Circle left
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#circle-left-…>
3/4
(2) Pass through
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#pass-through>
along
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/Glossary.htm#across-along>
(NR)
Stars are Aligned
by Lisa Sieverts
BECKET, CCW
1.
LH Star
2.
RH Star
3.
P Do Si Do (on side)
4.
P Swing
5.
Whole Set Oval Left
6.
Whole set Oval Right
7.
F&B
8.
LH Star, on to the next, partners moving along the line
*Trip to Trillium* Bob Isaacs Becket-L
A1. 8 Circle L ¾
8 w/Partner weave the line past
two (1)
A2. 8 w/N3 square through three
8 N2 swing
B1. 8 Robins chain to partner
8 ½ hey (RR, N2L, LR, -)
B2. 4,12 Partner balance, swing
Fluidity
By Rick Mohr; September 2017
Contra, BecketCaller's Box
<https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=18477>
Level: Easy/Intermediate
A1:
3/4 Hey *(larks pass left shoulders to start)* (12)
Robins allemande left (4)
A2:
Gypsy and swing neighbor (16)
B1:
Right and left through (8)
Circle right (8)
B2:
*(With next couple)* Circle left 3/4 (6)
Swing partner (10)
=========================
Output from ChatGPT
=========================
Centrifugal Hey (Gene Hubert) Duple Improper
A1: Neighbor allemande right 1 & 3/4, men allemande left 1 & 1/2
A2: Hey (PR, WL, NR, ML, PR, WL, NR, ML)
B1: Partner swing
B2: Right and left through with partner, circle left 3/4, pass through
along (NR)
Stars are Aligned (Lisa Sieverts) Becket CCW
A1: Left-hand star, right-hand star
A2: Partner do-si-do, partner swing
B1: Whole set oval left, whole set oval right
B2: Forward and back, left-hand star on to the next, partners moving along
the line
Trip to Trillium (Bob Isaacs) Becket Left
A1: Circle left 3/4, with partner weave the line past two
A2: With N3 square through three, N2 swing
B1: Robins chain to partner, half hey (RR, N2L, LR)
B2: Partner balance, swing
Fluidity (Rick Mohr; September 2017) Becket
A1: Three-quarter hey (larks pass left shoulders to start), robins
allemande left
A2: Gypsy and swing neighbor
B1: Right and left through, circle right
B2: With next couple circle left 3/4, swing partner
I've had a request which I would love to honor, to teach *Moneymusk* to my
dance community. It's a perpetual "advanced beginner/intermediate" group,
with some very good dancers here and there. I think that with time, we
could make it work, but I would love to introduce the concept of triple
minor with something simpler. I could certainly do any number of ECDs, but
do any of you know of a relatively easy contra in triple minor? Sort of a
"Triple Minor 101"?
Thanks!
Allison in Maine
--
www.huntandallison.nethttp://thsmaritime.com/www.centralhallcommons.org
Sam, cool-looking dance! My main comment -- just from running through the
dance in my head, mind you -- is the importance of giving weight after the
roll-away, as the robins need to change momentum in order to zig left.
Depending on the crowd you're calling to, you can either let an advanced
crowd figure that out or stress this when walking through with a
less-than-advanced crowd.
I'm also wondering about available space for the roll-away across the set.
It's been several years since I actually danced, so maybe this is okay.
Only way to find out is to try it out :-)
Regarding interrupted/balanced square throughs, I learned it as "balance
square through" from Donna Hunt. That said, it's somewhat a moot point as I
never used the term when addressing dancers. I just taught them the move
sequence in the walkthrough, and called the individual moves during the
dance ... and then felt a great sense of relief when the opportunity to
catch my breath finally came around!
Regards,
Mark Widmer
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Sam Winter <samawinter(a)gmail.com>
> To: contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2025 16:15:48 -0700
> Subject: [Callers] Interrupting Cow - ("new" dance )
> Hey all,
>
> Long time lurker, first time poster.
>
> This dance came to me on a hike. It's based on my favorite knock-knock
> joke as a kid and the wonderful dance "Cows are Watching" by Bill Pope and
> Judy Goldsmith.
> Knock-Knock. *Who's there?* Interrupting cow. *Interrupting cow wh-*
> MOOOO!
>
> I haven't tested it and I don't *really *know if it counts as a "new"
> dance, but I think it's funny and wanted to share it with someone who might
> appreciate it!
>
> Cheers,
> Sam
>
> Interrupting Cow by Sam Winter
> Contra / Becket / CCW
> *based on "Cows are Watching" by Bill Pope and Judy Goldsmith*
>
> A1: (8) Interrupted Square Through Two (NR, PL)
> (8) Interrupted Square Through Two (NR, PL)
>
> A2: (4) Neighbor balance across the set
> (12) Larks draw Neighbor across and swing
>
> B1: (4) Balance ring
> (4) With Partner across, Robins roll away, Larks half sashay
> (8) Zig left, zag right to N2
>
> B2: (8) Larks allemande left 1 (and a bit) with new Lark
> (8) Partner swing
>
> Notes: I like the *idea *of starting with the B1 (so the interruption
> happens in the middle), but not sure I really want to complicate things
> with an indecent starting formation.
>
>
Hey all,
Long time lurker, first time poster.
This dance came to me on a hike. It's based on my favorite knock-knock joke
as a kid and the wonderful dance "Cows are Watching" by Bill Pope and Judy
Goldsmith.
Knock-Knock. *Who's there?* Interrupting cow. *Interrupting cow wh-* MOOOO!
I haven't tested it and I don't *really *know if it counts as a "new"
dance, but I think it's funny and wanted to share it with someone who might
appreciate it!
Cheers,
Sam
Interrupting Cow by Sam Winter
Contra / Becket / CCW
*based on "Cows are Watching" by Bill Pope and Judy Goldsmith*
A1: (8) Interrupted Square Through Two (NR, PL)
(8) Interrupted Square Through Two (NR, PL)
A2: (4) Neighbor balance across the set
(12) Larks draw Neighbor across and swing
B1: (4) Balance ring
(4) With Partner across, Robins roll away, Larks half sashay
(8) Zig left, zag right to N2
B2: (8) Larks allemande left 1 (and a bit) with new Lark
(8) Partner swing
Notes: I like the *idea *of starting with the B1 (so the interruption
happens in the middle), but not sure I really want to complicate things
with an indecent starting formation.
Dear list members,
Since the beginning, the archives for this list have been public. This was an effort to make information easier to search, to find, to link to, and to share. However, the days of free information online have changed. AI bots are now scraping the web for data to train on and privacy is more of an issue.
As we move to groups.io, Chris and I would like to make the archives private. The biggest reasons are member privacy and to protect us from AI training/scraping. This means that you’ll need a free account on the new site to view the archives.
We feel this is a good change for our community. Since the only barrier to the archives would be subscribing, we think this is a reasonable trade off between privacy and accessibility.
If you have concerns about this change, please reply! (Once we make the archives at groups.io <http://groups.io/> private, we cannot make them public again later.)
Thank you,
Seth & Chris
Dear Colleagues,
Here's the scenario: You are finishing up a new dancers' lesson, and will
be starting the dance in a few minutes. In walks a significant number (say
6+) of newbies, all friends who want to dance together. Besides the two
most common solutions, lower the difficulty and insist they NOT do the
first couple of dances together, does anyone have an additional
creative/elegant solution, enhancement actions to make the basics more
effective, or important issues for consideration that are commonly missed?
Greg
Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for this conversation! Here's an anonymous poll to fill out:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZ2D-jqR7noL6GSOI6rFx1jx6868FKttd…
There is a separate poll for organizers and musicians. (I thought that the content of the different lists may generate different answers.)
Thank you,
Seth
Hi Folks,
The admins of Shared Weight have some exciting news… Contra Callers (and all the other CDSS Shared Weight email lists) are moving to Groups.io!
Groups.io is a more secure and stable mailing list platform, with less spam and fewer bounces. Also, there will be more useful features like a calendar, photos, files, wiki and more. The move will make much less work for our sysadmins, and will bring much more reliable email delivery.
The existing archives will be coming along with us to the new site. The archive interface is a lot better than the old Mailman3 site and has better searching.
All members and the archives will be automatically moved. You do not need to do anything (other than update the email address you send to once the move is complete).
Once completed, the new address for this list will be: contracallers(a)sharedweight.groups.io <mailto:GROUPNAME@sharedweight.groups.io>
This move is financially supported by CDSS. We appreciate their involvement and support, and we could not do this without them. Please consider supporting CDSS. In addition, this new platform allows members to donate directly through groups.io <http://groups.io/> to help defray the hosting costs. (More on this once the migration is complete.)
There will be another email with lots more details once the move has been completed.
Seth & Chris
