Hi Becky, Lots of good references and advice here. Three things I would add are:
1. If you are diagramming, you will have better results using items with "faces". For a lot of dances, which direction each dancer is facing can also be important (think of box circulates and the like). 2. Like many things, diagramming is a skill that gets better with practice. Even if you find a good app online, keep diagramming at least a few dances on your own. You will find it easier over time. 3. If a dance is really difficult to diagram, it's most likely not worth it, except as diagramming practice. Consider that all the trouble you have diagramming is likely to extend as you figure out how to teach a particular dance. Best of luck in your search, Greg On Sun, Feb 9, 2020 at 2:02 PM Becky Liddle via Contra Callers < contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > I doubt this exists, but thought I’d ask: > I have seen on-line apps that demonstrate just one particular move (a > ravens chain or whatever) showing how each dancer moves in that single > call/move. > But has anyone yet programmed something that allows you to put in all the > moves of a full contra dance, so you can see how all the dancers in a > contra line interact? > I’m trying to figure out movements and end effects using a magnetic > whiteboard, moving magnets around, but it is both painstakingly slow and I > keep screwing it up. > > I know the ideal way to figure out end effects and make sure a dance works > before calling it is to get a few friends together to walk it thru, but > short of getting that many contra dancers in a room (I have one friend who > offers them pie as incentive, but I’m no pastry chef!), has anyone figured > out a better system for visualizing dancer interactions and end effects > other than magnets on a whiteboard? > > Assuming an on-line simulator doesn’t exist, I’m about to go that > magnet/whiteboard route, so if anyone cares to suggest the least > mind-boggling way to set that up (Lark 1A, Raven 1A, Lark 2A, Raven 2A, > etc?) do chime in! I need some way to label each dancer so that when they > leave their minor set, and then, say, do a left diagonal ravens chain back > to their partner I can tell if it really IS their own partner or if I’ve > screwed up again. :-( > > I find online videos can sometimes help me visualize the interactions in > the middle of the line (if the videographer will hold still long enough for > me to see a whole run-thru of the dance with one minor set), but I can > almost never see end effects in those. > > Thanks for any suggestions! > Becky Liddle, Toronto > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net > To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net >
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