Thanks Amy. Family Contra is my favorite go-to "real" contra dance for novices. I recently tried following it with Broken Sixpence but it fell apart. Good plan to lead everyone into a circle. I've also found leading people into a snake works well too.
Cheers! Vicki Sent from my iPhone > On Aug 2, 2017, at 12:25 AM, Amy Wimmer via Callers > <[email protected]> wrote: > > HA! My set list was "Family Contra" by Sherry Nevins, followed by an attempt > at "Reel Easy" by Cary Ravitz. That one fell apart and I turned it into a > barn dance: circle left, circle right, in to the center, back out, swing your > partner, repeat. Then it was quiet hour and we had to stop. We had very > little time to begin with, but it ended up being just enough. That was also > good because my voice was giving out, shouting over the chatter. > > -Amy > >> On Aug 1, 2017 5:17 PM, "Claire Takemori via Callers" >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> Hi Amy, >> Would you be willing to share your program set list for the Cows/Chickens >> dance? >> I’m curious what kind of dances went so well. >> >> Thanks ! >> Claire Takemori (Campbell CA) >> >>> On Mon, Jul 31, 2017 at 12:59 PM, Amy Wimmer via Callers >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> Hi All, >>>> >>>> I recently had the opportunity to call a contra to a group of rank >>> beginners >>>> in a difficult situation: outdoors, on sloping concrete, without >>>> amplification for either myself or the band, to people not expecting a >>>> dance, with a band mostly unfamiliar with either contra or fiddle tunes, >>> who >>>> had no opportunity to practice or choose tunes. It was a staff party >>> with a >>>> barnyard theme. Granted, this particular good of people is accustomed to >>>> being spontaneous and silly at times, most are in their 20's, and it's a >>>> liberal, accepting group. >>>> >>>> The organizers wanted to use the terms "cows" and "chickens" instead of >>> any >>>> other usual terms for dancers. When they arrived at the party each person >>>> chose a name tag with either a cow or a chicken on it. They didn't know >>> it, >>>> but this determined which role they'd play in the dance. I arbitrarily >>> chose >>>> to "put the chicken on the right, because the chicken is always right." >>> (I >>>> keep chickens, and they ARE always right) >>>> >>>> There was not time for much of a lesson, either. It'd have been much >>> easier >>>> if everyone had joined the dance at the beginning. All said, just about >>>> everyone had a really great time, myself included. The band was hyped up >>> to >>>> try another dance evening later in the week, though that never >>> materialized. >>>> >>>> I never mentioned gender in any way. That part just seemed to not matter. >>>> They were dancing with their friends. It didn't matter that they weren't >>>> experts or even very good. >>>> >>>> I was heartened and encouraged to try something like this again, perhaps >>>> with more widely used dancer terms. >>>> >>>> -Amy >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Callers mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net >> > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
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