Hi Lenore,
I think part of the challenge with contra is that there is so
little teaching done at dances. Technique is very rarely taught; people are
just supposed to pick it all up as they go along. As a result people who can
get through challenging dances consider themselves “advanced” while still
having no basic dancing skills.
One of the most frustrating sequences for me is “Men Allemande
Left 1.5; Neighbour Swing”. I like to spin out of the Allemande into my
Neighbour’s arms for the Swing. But no-one ever teaches Allemande technique
and very few dancers do it well (the ladies tend to be much better than the
men). I get offered all sorts of strange hand positions; the dancers put their
arms at strange angles which prevent you disengaging smoothly; many of the
dancers seem to think that they are arm-wrestling instead of dancing; some of
them have misunderstood the term “give weight” and lean away strongly so that I
have to devote myself to stopping them from falling over (very tiring!); and,
possibly as a result of all this poor connection, they don’t move fast enough -
their steps are too small. All of this means that getting around 1.5 times
takes too long and there is no time to add a spin out of the Allemande.
You can’t build on shifting sands.
Whenever I teach a Swing Variations workshop I always start by
going over the basics of a good swing. It’s amazing how many people afterwards
thank me and say they hadn’t realised that they could improve their basic
swing. See http://contrafusion.co.uk/Contra.html#swinging for details.
You may also find some ideas you can use at
http://contrafusion.co.uk/Contra.html#connection.
For improving technique in twirls (e.g. in and out of swings, and
multiple twirls in a Ladies’ Chains), see
http://modernjive.com/history/tension.html. Although this article was written
for a different dance style, the technique points apply equally well to contra
twirls. Note: this article refers to Lead & Follow which is not a fundamental
part of contra dance. However, for many flourishes the Lead & Follow
principles apply for the duration of that flourish.
Some flourishes that can be done easily by yourself are:
Spin into a Tidal Wave (long wavy line)
Twirl yourself going from Up The Hall in Lines of Four into a Circle Left
Spin yourself out of Allemandes - great fun if you can do all four in a Contra
Corners
Do something on beat four of Long Lines Go Forward & Back: shimmy, stamp, hip
bump the opposite person (if you know them well), bow…
I hope some of that helps.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
http://contrafusion.co.uk/KentCeilidhs.html for Live Music Ceilidhs
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive DVDs
From: Callers <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> > On Behalf Of Lenore Frigo via
Callers
Sent: 26 April 2019 22:45
To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: [Callers] Easy flourishes or other "bonus" movements?
I would like to teach some of my more advanced dancers some flourishes or other
embellishments to contra dance. I'd like to start with things that are easy
and obviously that can be smoothly integrated into a dance.
Simpler is better and I am especially looking for "extras" that can be done
singly rather than within a couple. For example, simply twirling during a
do-si-do, or little "meanwhile" things you can do while waiting out as your
partner allemandes with their diagonal.
I've found some YouTube videos, but they tend to be for more elaborate
technique than I am interested in introducing at this time.
Thanks for any thoughts, tips, support, or warnings! :)
Lenore Frigo
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