> Hello All, > I was considering adding some of the Chestnuts to my calling repertoire, and > I was wondering if I could get your best advice on approaching triple minor > dances in the Midwest (Lawrence Kansas). I believe most of the contra > dancers here have never seen such a critter, although a very few will have > seen it at an English Country dance.
> I was considering calling a triplet or a duple minor dance with contra > corners in the first half to make sure everyone was comfortable with that > figure, and then calling "Sackett's Harbor" in the second half, which turns > the minor set 90 degrees (or 270 degrees, to be technical) so all the men > are all facing the stage and the women are facing down. > I want to lay out the rules of triplets very succinctly: Ones remain ones > all the way down the hall, while the twos become threes and then twos again > as they progress up. Threes also alternate roles, becoming twos and then > threes again. At the top, the first couple out waits out two iterations of > the dance before becoming ones. At the bottom, the threes must trade places > with the ones or they will remain out indefinitely. > Are these rules accurate as stated? No, because triplets are three-couple sets, and the progression is different; typically, you'll dance each of the three roles in three times through the dance. Substituting "triple minors" I think these are essentially correct, as stated. I tend to lay out the rules with somewhat different verbiage (when calling to English dancers, anyway; I haven't called triple minors for contra dancers). I say to the ones "you can't come in until you have two couples of your very own to dance with." "Ones have it easy - they do the same thing all the way down. Eventually you'll only have one other couple - dance with a ghost couple, or at least trade places with them, or they'll *never* get in." "The secret to triple minors", I'll say, "is not to fuss about whether you're a two or a three. If you're not a one, you want to look *up* the set to where the 1s are, and then do what they need. If somebody's trying to do a right-hand star with you, do it." [What I'm trying to do here is to get the dancers out of their heads and out of counting, and into their senses, looking outward and seeing the whole dance. I *think* this is at least marginally helpful, although some people are still going to spend the whole dance looking inward and constantly being surprised when they're supposed to do something.] I think you are correct not to mention the rather peculiar process of going from being a 2 to being a 1. You've gotten up near the top, you do the dance as a 2, your 1s migrate past you, and you're out one round even though you have a couple above you. Then you're in one round, then you're out two rounds and come back as 1s. I generally try not to discuss this and just use the "until you have two couples of your very own" rule. > Any suggestions from New England? Elsewhere in the Midwest? Points beyond? I hope you'll accept California. I'd suggest, as a first-ever triple minor, "Young Widow", if your band knows the tune. No swings, but a killer fun dance with balancing, etc, and it isn't all solos for the 1s. -- Alan -- =============================================================================== Alan Winston --- [email protected] Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056 Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025 ===============================================================================
