I call for dances in Knoxville, TN and occasionally in the surrounding area
(Jonesboro, Chattanooga). I've been dancing here for 30 years. Kaufman was
correct. I recall hands across stars in Knoxville, Atlanta, Brasstown,
Asheville and points between, but wrist grip stars in Lexington, Louisville and
Nashville. I'm certain about Knoxville, but perhaps others can confirm for the
other cities.
The wrist star has gradually taken over as the default in the area, but a
couple of us old-timers are still holding out. I still teach the hands across
star in the pre-dance lesson because it's quicker, but acknowledge that there
are variations. When I call and dance, I still prompt and encourage the
hands-across grip. We've got to hold onto our traditions and fight the
globalization of contra, right?
Of course, there are situations where one variety works better than another -
to/from a move with an adjacent person (star to alemande, courtesy turn to
star) suggests a wrist star, while moves where the contact is across (star old
neighbors to star with new, ladies start star then gents join in) suggest the
hands across. In those cases, I'll explicitly suggest one version in the walk
through.
Tim KleinKnoxville, TN
From: Dave Casserly via Callers <[email protected]>
To: John Sweeney <[email protected]>
Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2016 8:37 AM
Subject: Re: [Callers] Wrist-Lock Stars
Jeff Kaufman wrote a paper on regional variations in contra dance. Here's what
he found for wrist-grip stars (page 31 of the link). Basically, they're common
everywhere in the US except in some parts of the South. This is based on data
from ten or more years ago, so I'm not sure if that's still true. I would not
be surprised if it isn't-- there's enough cross-contamination that wrist-grips
could have taken over even in the South. We do have people from Georgia and
North Carolina on the list; hopefully they'll chime in.
-DaveWashington, DC
On Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 4:31 AM, John Sweeney via Callers
<[email protected]> wrote:
Hi all,
I have been to contra dances and festivals all over America and
everywhere I have danced everyone automatically uses a wrist-lock star
(unless the caller has specified hands-across because of the subsequent
choreography).
But I am constantly challenged in England by people claiming that
wrist-lock stars are not the standard in America.
When I go to somewhere like The Flurry and see 600 people from all
over the country all doing wrist-locks it seems to me that it must be the
standard way of doing things.
And obviously it has been common in America for a long time; this
video is from 1964 in Northern Vermont and shows wrist-lock stars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=pZubTju7g_s
So, are there still significant communities that don't use
wrist-locks?
Is the wrist-lock the de facto standard?
Thanks.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 01233 625 362 & 07802
940 574
http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events & DVDs
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
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