I'm pretty happy with the choreography, generally. I think adding a Gents' chain would serve to make the dance less accessible, and that wasn't my goal in writing it.
I recently picked up a dance by Don Veino that has an English figure in it, too. I think the figure is called Hole in the Wall? That's another figure I'd love to see plopped into more contra choreography for easy/intermediate dances! On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 6:34 PM, Alexandra Deis-Lauby <[email protected]> wrote: > If you find experienced folks do those moves faster, you could swap the > ladies chain/dosido for a gents chain and do si do and make the facing star > 1 1/4. I think that would make it clockwise becket. Amble on west? > > Thanks for working to fix that problem. I often wish my box had dances > with a pousette, or a ricochet, or a mad robin that had no other non-survey > figure and also had some built in recovery time. > > Alex > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Oct 2, 2017, at 5:50 PM, Angela DeCarlis via Callers < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Thanks all! I have a video uploading to YouTube now of the dance's debut > from last night, I'll post it here when it's done. You'll see that the > dancers are using up the music for both the poussette and the star, at > least in this crowd. Maybe it would be different for other (more advanced?) > crowds, but I encouraged everyone to take their time, and it seemed to work > out pretty well! > > While I like the dance of Ryan's, Maia, a big part of why I wrote this > dance was because I was struggling to find a contra dance that included a > pousette and *didn't* included any challenging figures (mad robins, > ricochet hey, etc). I thought about including a walk-around before the > partner swing, but the connection is already there, so I decided to just go > old-school and let the dancers swing their partners for the full 16 beats. > > Angela > > On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:36 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Your dance doesn't look familiar to me (for whatever that's >> worth)--though I agree with Dugan's point that experienced dancers will >> take fewer that 8 counts to do that pousette and fewer than 8 counts to >> turn the star 3/4 (probably a lot fewer!), so it will potentially be a >> very, very long swing. If you care, you could potentially get around that >> by doing a walk-around and swing to eat up that extra time. Or just leave >> it and let the dancers sort it out! >> >> Agreeing with Dugan yet again, I've been calling that figure a "facing >> star", which seems to work well and be descriptive. >> >> And if you're itching for a dance with pousettes and facing stars, I >> premiered this one of Ryan Carollo's at YDW this weekend and folks seemed >> to dig it: >> >> *Trip to Saratoga** by Ryan Carollo* || improper >> >> *A1:* half pousette w/ P (gents pull) >> facing star 1¼ (gents fwd) >> >> *A2:* P walk-around & swing >> >> *B1:* half hey (gents by L), ladies ricochet >> N swing >> >> *B2:* long lines & gents roll N >> half pousette w/ P (ladies lead) >> >> Ladies be proactive to catch P's hand in B2. B2 pousette should be >> leisurely or ppl arrive at A1 early. >> >> On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:09 PM, Bill Olson via Callers < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Mac, Well "Gypsy Star" and "Gypsy Waves" are two other Ravitz dances >>> that have the interwoven long wavy lines and the "Gypsy Star", not sure if >>> there are more. Probably.. But as long as you brought it up, the problem I >>> found that most dancers had with the figures was NOT the Gypsy Star but >>> rather the woven waves which, to many, were a little too "intimate" for >>> comfort.. Just my observation from admittedly a pretty small sample.. >>> >>> >>> bill >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> *From:* Callers <[email protected]> on behalf of >>> Mac Mckeever via Callers <[email protected]> >>> *Sent:* Monday, October 2, 2017 8:53 PM >>> *To:* Dugan Murphy; callers >>> >>> *Subject:* Re: [Callers] New Dance? >>> >>> Cary's dance is Woven Waves. I really liked it and called it several >>> times - and I hav also danced it on several occasions >>> >>> I stopped calling it because I was not getting good feedback on the star >>> figure from the dancers. >>> >>> Mac McKeever >>> >>> St Louis >>> >>> >>> On Monday, October 2, 2017, 3:30:07 PM CDT, Bill Olson via Callers < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> >>> Dugan and all, I don't know if Cary Ravitz actually "invented" the Gypsy >>> Star but he wrote a dance entitled that and a lot of others that include >>> it. Dugan, you're sort of Cary's protégé, right?, so you must know the >>> dance. This is the same figure, correct?? >>> >>> >>> bill >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> *From:* Callers <[email protected]> on behalf of >>> Dugan Murphy via Callers <[email protected]> >>> *Sent:* Monday, October 2, 2017 8:16 PM >>> *To:* [email protected] >>> *Subject:* Re: [Callers] New Dance? >>> >>> Hi, Angela, >>> >>> I've been calling the figure a "facing star," when I bother naming it at >>> all while teaching or prompting it. >>> >>> Also, nice dance, though I suspect that since experienced dancers tend >>> to take fewer than eight beats to do half poussettes and 3/4 stars, I >>> suspect that dancers may end up swinging for as many as 20 beats. >>> >>> Dugan Murphy >>> Portland, Maine >>> dugan at duganmurphy.com >>> >>> <http://duganmurphy.com/> >>> DUGAN MURPHY <http://duganmurphy.com/> >>> duganmurphy.com >>> Dugan Murphy is a nationally known contra dance caller, co-organizer of >>> Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine Storyteller, and a non-profit >>> consultant. He's based in ... >>> >>> >>> <http://duganmurphy.com/> >>> DUGAN MURPHY <http://duganmurphy.com/> >>> duganmurphy.com >>> Dugan Murphy is a nationally known contra dance caller, co-organizer of >>> Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine Storyteller, and a non-profit >>> consultant. He's based in ... >>> >>> >>> >>> www.DuganMurphy.com >>> >>> <http://www.duganmurphy.com/> >>> DUGAN MURPHY <http://www.duganmurphy.com/> >>> www.duganmurphy.com >>> Dugan Murphy is a nationally known contra dance caller, co-organizer of >>> Portland Intown Contra Dance, a Maine Storyteller, and a non-profit >>> consultant. He's based in ... >>> >>> >>> www.PortlandIntownContraDance.com >>> >>> <http://www.portlandintowncontradance.com/> >>> Portland Intown Contra Dance <http://www.portlandintowncontradance.com/> >>> www.portlandintowncontradance.com >>> Portland Intown Contra Dance is a weekly Thursday contra dance to live >>> music in town Portland, Maine that is delightful, welcoming to all humans, >>> and a heck of a lot ... >>> >>> >>> www.NufSed.consulting >>> >>> <http://www.nufsed.consulting/> >>> NUF SED <http://www.nufsed.consulting/> >>> www.nufsed.consulting >>> Nuf Sed is a Portland, Maine based communications & consulting boutique. >>> We offer services like branding, marketing, public relations, online >>> communications ... >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2017 14:03:37 -0400 >>> From: Angela DeCarlis <[email protected]> >>> To: callers <[email protected]. net >>> <[email protected]>> >>> Subject: [Callers] New Dance? >>> Message-ID: >>> <CA+h6_BYyybaF3qCeyDrJO1p=DLn9 x+CyJ75xEgGWiut3+4R+YA@mail. >>> gmail.com <dln9x%2bcyj75xeggwiut3%2b4r%[email protected]>> >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" >>> >>> Hey y'all! >>> >>> After a lovely weekend of both Contra and English at Youth Dance >>> Weekend, I >>> had an itch for programming some English-inspired choreography at BIDA >>> last >>> night. Since I didn't have a dance with the figures I wanted, I whipped >>> one >>> together on the drive home, tested it in the driveway, and debuted it >>> last >>> night. Success! >>> >>> Now the question, of course, is whether or not someone already wrote it! >>> >>> -===- >>> >>> Amble On East >>> Becket CCW >>> >>> A1: Long Lines Forward & Back >>> Ladies Chain Across (to Neighbor) >>> A2: Ladies Dosido 1x >>> Neighbor Swing >>> B1: Give & Take, Gents draw Partner into 1/2 Poussette CCW >>> With NEXT, Gypsy Star* 3/4 (Ladies backing up) >>> B2: Partner (Long) Swing >>> >>> -===- >>> >>> *Do we have a new name for this figure yet? I called it Gypsy Star in the >>> walkthrough once or twice before realizing I should maybe figure >>> something >>> else out, and the phrase "Special Star" actually escaped my mouth, to the >>> absolute delight of some of the dancers. During the dance itself, I just >>> called "Star." >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> List Name: Callers mailing list >>> List Address: [email protected] >>> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> List Name: Callers mailing list >>> List Address: [email protected] >>> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> List Name: Callers mailing list >> List Address: [email protected] >> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> >> > _______________________________________________ > List Name: Callers mailing list > List Address: [email protected] > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > >
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