Hi Jeanette,
For star holds see:
http://lists.sharedweight.net/pipermail/callers-sharedweight.net/2016-October/001950.html
Embellishments are best achieved in a microsecond by a good
leader initiating the embellishment and a good follower following it.
Unfortunately, since contra dancing is fundamentally a dance genre which does
NOT use leaders and followers, the techniques are not normally taught as they
are not relevant to the basic dance.
Countless swing holds, and entries and exits, do work perfectly
well in contra as long as both dancers are experienced and know how to ensure
that both dancers finish facing in the correct direction at the right time.
Here is one of my old posts covering many aspects of this
question in detail:
My beliefs, understandings, opinions - some points:
1) Contra is not intrinsically a lead/follow dance style; calling the roles
"leader" & "follower" is incorrect, misleading and generally a bad idea
2) Within contra there are opportunities to do some lead and follow, but either
role can be the leader
3) There is a difference between leads, signals and connections, though
connections are often used to lead beginners
4) Lead & Follow works better if both dancers have good lead/follow technique,
and some of the flourishes also benefit from good technique
5) Leads can be with fingertips, body angles, eyes, and anything else that works
6) The end of a swing is not symmetrical and it is much easier to let the "man"
control the end of the swing; that's not sexist, it is physics!
7) Most dancers would benefit from good teaching on this subject, but sadly
there is very little teaching provided
Details below. Read on if you are interested...
First, I should perhaps explain my background. I have been dancing for over
fifty years and teaching dance for over forty-five years. As well as contra,
square, ECD, ceilidh, Morris, clog, etc. I also dance many partner dances such
as West Coast Swing, Lindy/Swing, Argentine Tango, contra waltz and Modern
Jive/LeRoc/Ceroc: http://www.modernjive.com.
Modern Jive is an English, simplified form of Swing which has no fixed footwork
and very few close-hold moves. It is led primarily by the man's fingertips and
has a very wide range of moves. I specialise in Double Trouble: one man
leading two ladies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE6Iu6Fh6bw
This is a cabaret performance so we are doing some choreographed moves, but
most of it is being led by me and the ladies don't know what I am going to do
next. When I go to new venues I dance with lots of ladies to see how well they
follow, then I dance Double Trouble with two of the good followers and I can
lead them into a wide range of interesting moves. Leading two strangers
simultaneously only works if they are following well, and because I have spent
a lot of time studying lead and follow and developing my leading skills so that
I can do this.
So, back to contra:
1) Contra is not intrinsically a lead/follow dance style; calling the roles
"leader" & "follower" is incorrect, misleading and generally a bad idea
I agree entirely with what many others have said already. The caller teaches
the dance. The dancers dance it to the music. Everyone knows (at least in
theory!) what is coming next, so there can be no lead or follow. The whole
point of lead and follow is that the leader chooses the next move and has to
let the follower know what it is through the lead; the follower then has to
react to that lead in whatever way they choose.
2) Within contra there are opportunities to do some lead and follow, but either
role can be the leader
When you execute the dance as the caller called it then there is no lead or
follow. If you add some flourishes then they MAY involve some lead and follow,
but which role leads depends on the actual move.
A nice flourish at the end of "Up the Hall in Lines of Four; Bend the Line" is
for a middle person to raise their hand and turn their end person into the
circle. This is not part of the dance; the end person may not be expecting it
and has to react to it; this is lead & follow. The genders/roles of the
participants are completely irrelevant.
Note: this can also be performed by the twirlee as an independent flourish - as
long as the dancer whose hand you are holding allows it! Many dancers are so
rigid that I can't raise their arm to twirl under it! (If only everyone would
relax the muscles that they don't need to be using, and let their hands be
moved!)
3) There is a difference between leads, signals and connections, though
connections are often used to lead beginners
When you help each other to redirect your momentum that is not really lead &
follow. Examples are "Circle Left; Neighbour Dosido" or "Long Lines Go Forward
& Back with the Ladies Rolling the Men Away from Right to Left; Ladies' Chain".
Keeping connected and using the elastic in your arms to redirect the momentum
and change direction makes these really satisfying moves. But no-one is
leading or following; you are both just using good technique to help each other
execute pre-defined moves. Of course if one dancer is experienced and the
other is new to contra, this type of connection can be used to help the new
dancer to move in the correct direction. Connection, gestures and eyes are all
great for helping everyone achieve the dance.
Signals are pre-defined gestures that lead to choreographed moves that both
participants know. An example in contra is the twirls at the end of a Ladies'
Chain. As a man, I offer my left hand high, fingers pointing down to let the
lady know that I am willing to help her twirl - this is a signal; she responds
with a high or low hand to let me know what she wants to happen. If she goes
high then we start the twirls and I make very small circular movements directly
above her head to help her twirl twice (or just once if she resists). Once I
have established rapport with a dancer and realised they want to do more twirls
then, on subsequent interactions, we may get up to around seven twirls - but
only if both of us have good dance technique.
Of course, a lady can lead herself into this move as well by just raising the
man's hand and hoping he doesn't resist too much!
Again this is more a signalled, playful, co-operative move than a lead and
follow, since the lady knows what is going to happen and is equally involved in
the decision about how many twirls are done.
Genuine lead & follow, where the leader leads a follower into something they
are not expecting, is quite rare in contra.
4) Lead & Follow works better if both dancers have good lead/follow technique,
and some of the flourishes also benefit from good technique
Moves like Ladies' Chain twirls works best when both dancers have good
technique. The techniques for leading and following and executing good twirls
are identical to those used in Modern Jive. There is an article about lead and
follow and twirling technique at http://www.modernjive.com/history/tension.html
- you may find some useful material there.
5) Leads can be with fingertips, body angles, eyes, and anything else that works
When I dance Modern Jive with a beginner lady, I spend the first couple of
minutes teaching her the techniques for following; I do this through simple
moves and exercises. If she has a good sense of rhythm and good balance then,
during the second track that we dance to together, I can lead her through fifty
different moves - she doesn’t need to know the moves; she needs to know how to
follow. This is lead & follow, and is very different from what happens in a
contra dance.
The main leads are done with the fingertips, but a good leader will use
anything that works to let the follower know what they are trying to achieve.
The lead is an invitation. The follower can react in many ways to the
invitation and the two dancers can play off each other in fun ways. Of
course, always remembering that, if this is in the middle of a contra dance,
you need to have both players facing the right way in the right place for beat
one of the next move!
6) The end of a swing is not symmetrical and it is much easier to let the "man"
control the end of the swing; that's not sexist, it is physics!
A simple swing does not involve lead and follow, but someone has to control the
end of the swing. The objective is to end side by side facing the correct way.
If the lady stops when she is facing the right way then the man has already
turned too far and he is facing the wrong way; he then has to turn back against
his momentum. To avoid this the lady would have to stop the man, get out of
his embrace, and continue turning herself while making the man stay still. This
is quite hard.
On the other hand, If the man stops the swing on around beat 6 then he just
releases the lady and her momentum takes her out smoothly to face in the same
direction as the man.
This is just physics, based on the fact that we choose to swing clockwise and
to finish with the man on the left.
This is not lead and follow; this is a mutual agreement as to how many times to
go around, and how fast, and then to let the man end the swing so that it ends
smoothly.
Good dancers of course make the end of the swing flow into the next move. But
here I am talking about a basic swing for ordinary dancers.
Of course if one of you wants to twirl or be twirled at the end of the swing
then you start moving into lead & follow territory, and since many of the
embellishments are based on moves stolen from couple dances, then most such
flourishes are commonly led by the man. But that is not a rule - the lady can
initiate a twirl of herself or her man, or both if she has good leading
technique and he has good following technique.
7) Most dancers would benefit from good teaching on this subject, but sadly
there is very little teaching provided
As I have said, elements such as leading, following and twirling work well if
the dancers have developed good technique. But where will they learn it in the
contra world? I teach workshops on the subject, but that seems to be quite
rare. I also occasionally teach flourishes at our regular weekly dances.
Sometimes it only needs a caller to drop in a few good one-liners into an
evening's calling to pass along a little bit of knowledge. If callers don't do
it who will?
Hmmm... I have probably rambled on for too long now. I hope some of you find
some of that useful. If you want to hear me talk on the subject for nearly two
hours please contact me about getting a cheap copy of my Toolkit DVD:
http://www.modernjive.com/tmjt.html :-)
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
From: Jeanette Mill <[email protected]>
Sent: 06 March 2018 05:21
To: Callers List <[email protected]>
Subject: [Callers] Leading, consent in embellishments
Hello
I am devising a workshop for a festival here in Australia, and have long been
of the opinion that there are no "leaders" in contra dance couples. Moves
should be executed with mutual consent, especially embellishments such as
turning under out of a ladies' chain. Conventions such as waltz hold swings are
really useful here. In Australia, other related dance forms use a variety of
swing holds, which lead to confusion and interruption of flow. I plan to place
some emphasis on conventions of holds, such as allemande and star holds.
I would value people's opinions on this, as it may ruffle some long-held
conventions. Any words of wisdom from the gender free dance community would be
especially welcome.
Also, I believe that if dancers are to enjoy embellishments, they must be by
mutual consent. This is so difficult to establish in a microsecond. I would
value any thoughts on how to advise reaching this consent in the context of a
contra dance.
Looking forward to your thoughts
cheers
Jeanette
Jeanette Mill
Contra dance caller, musician, workshop facilitator
Canberra, Australia
Phone: +61 (0)449 686 077
Email: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Skype: jeanette.mill
"The piano - 88 little mistakes waiting to happen" Kate Barnes
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