I feel lucky that in our area these dances are occasionally part of a standard "social dance" program (from whence they originally came). While I can no longer claim to be a new dancer, when I was one I got exposed to these dances and it opened my dance horizons, enough so that I wanted to seek out opportunities to learn more about them at a more focused workshop (which David does so well).
British Sorrow IMO is an example of a very fun dance that shows its age well and is very accessible. Chorus Jig is done in at least one dance community near me as a weekly feature. My wife was originally not fond of Money Musk, until she got a chance to dance it with a great partner at Ralph Page/UNH and "got it". It became such a favorite for her that I taught myself to do a singing call of it for her as a gift at our post-wedding dance party. I enjoy getting a chance to dance these alongside the latest hot new DI dance in our area dances. -Don On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 12:42 PM, Greg McKenzie <[email protected]> wrote: > Dave wrote: > > > Sure, there are times at festivals where callers might program a > > particular theme and > > > discuss dance history, or experienced dances where callers might teach > > complex dance figures, but these are not the open, public dances that > > you're talking about. > > > > I'm glad we are in agreement on this. Keeping the program appropriate for > the venue was the main point I was making. > > Dave then wrote: > > > Fostering musical and dance traditions does not come at the cost of > > accessbility. I don't see how doing so takes away from the "central > > purpose" of having a fun evening. > > > > Good point. It doesn't necessarily conflict. It's a matter of being aware > of the purpose of the event. > > Incidentally, I have not heard David Millstone call, so I would not presume > to comment on his conduct of an open public contra dance. I'm sure David's > cultural enrichment is all very appropriate for an open, public event. > > - Greg > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers >
