In refereence to John's comment about hairy, sweaty wrists in MWSD, it has been an unwritten rule, or at least a courtesy, that men wear long sleeve shirts to avoid such hairy, sweaty, contact. Long sleeves are still the norm in MWSD. Rich Sbardella
On Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 5:40 AM, John Sweeney via Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > Thanks to all those who contributed. Here is a summary of the key points > that were made. It is clear that the wrist lock star is indeed the > standard > across the USA, with only a few areas using hands across. > > Summary > > Names: Wrist Star, Box Star, Wrist-Grip Star, Wrist-Lock Star, Pack-saddle > Star, Wagon-Wheel (Star), Basket Handhold > Also, but these can mean Hands Across: Millstone Star, Mill, Windmill, > Moulinet, Old Mill > Alternative Star Holds: > Hands Across (that term goes back to at least 1650!) > Palm Star (MWSD only) > Lump (Bunch of Bananas, Limp Lettuce) - to be avoided at all costs > > Etymology of Mill references: > Alan Winston: Go back far enough (1700s) and you get "moulinet" in French > sources, "mill" in some English sources, for what I'm pretty sure are > hands-across stars. > Colin Hume: In the Netherlands it's called "molen" which means "windmill". > John Sweeney: The early 19th century Quadrilles and dances like The Lancers > used the term Moulinet for Star. As far as we know it was always a Hands > Across Star. Moulinet means turnstile, crank or propeller. Whether it > independently became known as a Windmill/Mill or whether it was badly > translated as Moulin = Windmill is unclear. > > Wagon-Wheel: in the Appalachians it was a shoulder star - see 2 minutes in > at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht9kjeKcOsg. > > There is a general view that the term Wrist-Grip should be avoided, and > that > it should be emphasised that you don't grip (keep your thumb up top with > your fingers!). > > I like the term "Wrist Lock" since it makes it clear that we are using > wrists, and since the shape you make looks like the Lock that sword and > rapper dancers make when they interlink them all and raise them high. I > also love that wrist-locks work perfectly for three or five dancers in a > star (I call lots of different styles). But I am sure that although the > move may become even more ubiquitous, the terminology will retains its > local > flavour. > > Any ideas on when it started? > > Dan Pearl: Sylvia Miskoe, in rec.folk-dancing on March 4, 1999 said: "Wrist > grip stars became popular after the appearance at New England Folk Festival > (NEFFA) of the Lithuanian Dance Group doing their dances and they all used > wrist grips. The square dancers thought it was a neat idea and adopted > it." > Any idea when that festival was? > > 1964 in Northern Vermont shows wrist-lock stars: > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZubTju7g_s > 1981 Ted Sanella's "Balance & Swing" defines a star in New England as > "grasp > the wrist of the dancer ahead". > 1983 Larry Jennings' "Zesty Contras" refers you to Ted's book. > > Exceptions: > When choreography dictates, e.g. "men drop out, ladies chain" works > better with hands across > One night stands > > Dave Casserley: > https://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/assets/ > documents/linguistics/ > 2007_kaufman_jeff.pdf > This shows that ten years ago wrist-stars were common everywhere in the US > except in some parts of the South. > > Amy Wimmer (Seattle): > The wrist lock is the common star formation in the Northwest, with a hands > across being the exception. > > Tim Klein (TN): > I call for dances in Knoxville, TN and occasionally in the surrounding area > (Jonesboro, Chattanooga). I've been dancing here for 30 years. I recall > hands across stars in Knoxville, Atlanta, Brasstown, Asheville and points > between, but wrist grip stars in Lexington, Louisville and Nashville. > > Chet Gray (KY): > I tend to consider my home dance, Louisville, KY, and nearby Lexington, as > two of the last bastions of hands-across-by-default. Wrist-grip seems to be > the default even in relatively nearby cities: Indianapolis, Bloomington, > IN, > Nashville, Cincinnati. Not sure about Berea and Somerset, KY, also nearby. > > Jerome Grisanti (Midwest): > I agree with Chet that Louisville's default star is hands-across, although > weekend festivals in nearby cities tend toward the millstone star. The > Midwest where I dance/call now is pretty solidly wrist-star territory (St. > Louis, Columbia MO, Kansas City, Lawrence). > > BUT... > Susan McElroy-Marcus: > Just a bit of Louisville dance community history on this subject-when my > husband started dancing there in the late '70s and I came in 1982, the > Monday night dance was a mix of English and contra. The default contra > dance star grip was the "wrist lock" not hands across as in English. We > called it a basket handhold or wrist grip. Our influence came from New > England because our friend, Norb Spencer, who started the group along with > Marie and Frank (Cassidy?) and who called much of the time-learned in New > England. We then taught it that way when we moved to Cincinnati and > started > that group. Louisville only became a "bastion of hands-across-by-default" > sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s during my calling hiatus. When I > re-entered the calling scene 6-7 years ago, I was surprised and bemused > upon > calling in Louisville to learn of the high regard held for their > 'traditional' hands-across star style. > > Andrea Nettleton: > Somewhere south of Asheville and leading west possibly into the lower > Midwest, is the land of hands across stars. They are standard in Atlanta, > the heart of hands-across-land. > > George Mercer: > The wrist lock dominates everywhere I've danced over the years > > Meg Dedolph (Chicago): > Checking in from Chicago, where wrist-grip stars are the norm and > hands-across stars need to be specified. When I started dancing, 14 or 15 > years ago, in Michigan, many dancers reached for a hands-across star first, > though I don't see that so much anymore. > > Jane Thickstun (Michigan) > When I was dancing in Michigan, I found it to be a mess, with maybe half > doing wrist grip and half hands-across, and everyone just throwing their > hands in the middle without doing either. I wish callers would specify for > each dance which kind of star they recommend, to avoid this kind of thing. > > Angela DeCarlis (Florida): > Where I've called recently, in the Northeast and in New England, wrist-grip > is definitely the default, and I wasn't aware that parts of the south > default to hands-across. Neat! > Here to comment that Florida, where I'm from originally, holds true to its > role as the Exception to the Rule: despite being in the South, they > definitely default to wrist-grip there, as well. > > Jacob Bloom: > When I attended the Berea Christmas Dance School forty years ago, and put > my > hand on the wrist in front of me during a walk through, someone complained, > saying, "He said a star, not a mill!" > > Don Veino: > "lay it on the wrist of the person in front of you, like a pack saddle on a > horse" [Thanks! I could never work out why it was called a pack saddle! JS] > And yes, very much the default star form from my experience. > > Louise Siddons (Stillwater, OK): > Here in Oklahoma I call it a wagon-wheel grip, but I think I picked up that > term in either Michigan or California when I was starting to dance contra > circa 2008. Wagon-wheel stars are the default in OK/TX/KS/MO local dances, > and also seem standard in the SF Bay Area. > > Neal Schlein: > Whatever you call it, today a wrist star is the US standard for most of the > country. > > Joy Greenwolfe (Durham, NC): > Central North Carolina here. In this region, wrist-grip or wagon-wheel > stars > are the default. Some dances specify hands-across if the choreography asks > for it. > > John Sweeney (itinerant): > I have danced in Florida, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Asheville, > Phoenix and festivals such as Berea Christmas Dance School, LEAF, Flurry > and > don't remember ever seeing anyone do Hands Across in a regular contra > dance. > > Chet questioned the relevance of dance weekends, but my point was that when > people from different area get together, in my experience, they tend to use > wrist-lock stars, which, to me, does seem to be an indicator that it is > accepted as the default. Of course, as Chet says, some of those dancers > may > well use their regional style at their home dances. > > Rich Sbardella referenced MWSD: In MWSD, hands are often just put into the > center, sometimes raised as in a contra allemande, sometimes just straight > forward from the shoulder. > From CallerLab: "Palm Star: Place all hands together with fingers pointing > up and thumbs closed gently over the back of the adjacent dancer's hand to > provide a degree of stabilization. Arms should be bent slightly so that the > height of the handgrip will be at an average eye level.. Men's outside arms > in natural dance position, women's outside hands work skirt. Some areas > dance any stars containing men with a Box Star/Pack-saddle Star: Four men > with palms down take the wrist of the man ahead and link up to form a box." > > Neal Schlein: > The Palm Star was the standard style around Colorado in the 1930s when > Lloyd > Shaw got started, and for many years after. Pretty much, you'll only find > it among square dancers, people who danced with Calico and Boots in > Boulder, > Colorado, or folks with an exaggerated respect for history. Guess I > qualify > as all three. > > John Sweeney: > I have heard that ladies don't join in wrist-stars in MWSD because of the > hairy, sweaty men's wrists in the south! > > Happy dancing, > John > > John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 01233 625 362 > http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net >
