A Number of Points:
1) Wm DSD 1.5 to progress works fine -- especially if you get the men in
the action: they also need to know who to look for, and step in towards
the woman coming at them.
--- A thought that comes up for me on this point: I've noticed that, now
that dances tend to be everyone active, and equal, we dancers have
forgotten much about how to "manage" a dance. And we callers have not
been effective at teaching it. That used to be the inactive's job. Now
I don't even use the word "inactive," I call them ones & twos. So, it
would help if we figure ways to remind dancers that they are responsible
for keeping the distance a good distance, not too far, not so close as
to crowd too much. And, it is everyone's role to help each other be
where they need to be...
2) Teaching effectively often takes a "dance with a challenge" into a
relatively "easy" dance. When I started calling I highlighted my cards
with green for easy, orange for medium, and red for challenging. After
about a year, many of those colors needed changing. Many "red" cards
changed to orange or green, and a few "green" cards needed a color
change up to orange or red. What was lacking was an understanding of
how to teach, and, at times, a misjudgement on something I thought easy,
but dancers didn't. Still, the better I got at the walk through, the
easier "hard" dances became. Still got a lot to learn...
3) To contradict point 1: I modify dances all the time, as my perception
of the need demands. So, even though I think a Wm DSD 1.5 might work
fine, I might change it because it is a somewhat "ambiguous" figure, no
direct connection on where you're going, along with the need to go
farther than the normal 8-beat DSD usually expects -- the challenge
callers are noting. If I do modify a dance, I'll call it a "minor
variation of ...".
4) As brought up: Chorus Jig: originally a triple minor. Petronella --
according to The Country Dance Book (if I recall correctly) originally
done only by the active couple. And, there are more Chestnuts that we
no longer dance as they were danced.
I recall when Ted Sanella came for Santa Barbara's Harvest Moon, we
started Chorus Jig as a triple minor. Then he had couples waiting out
at the top enter as a duple minor, so we got to feel the modern
difference as we progressed through the dance.
~erik hoffman
oakland, ca
On 6/20/2013 4:08 PM, Richard Fischer wrote:
May I respectfully disagree with Michael, Bree and Joyce? And offer an analogy?
Every five or six years I tell the Odyssey to the students at my school, one
book per week, over the course of the school year. I do make a few alterations
and omissions befitting my audience. And of course I could choose a different
story. But teachers, parents and students seem to cherish this classic
story--and deservedly so, I think! My minor alterations allow me to pass on a
great classic to my audience. Similarly, callers who cherish a classic dance,
and feel an alteration will allow them to present it an audience, should be
allowed to do so, in my opinion. Of course the authors of the dances may feel
differently about this!
Looking at contra history, haven't classic dances much older than 3-33-33
evolved in the past century or two, and aren't they called and danced regularly
today with those alterations?
Richard
On Jun 20, 2013, at 6:10 PM, Joyce Miller wrote:
Exactly. And if it can't be taught effectively to a certain group, choose
another dance.
On Jun 20, 2013, at 2:35 PM, Bree Kalb <[email protected]> wrote:
I agree with Michael. Especially in the case of a classic.
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Barraclough <[email protected]>
Sent: Jun 20, 2013 5:25 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Callers] Tampering with a classic again 3-33-33
There are thousands of contras. If one doesn't work, why not try
another one instead of altering that one?
Michael Barraclough
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