What an exciting opportunity! A half hour is a very tight period of time but also very workable if you keep it simple. If it were me, I'd talk less, show more and get them dancing to something really simple so they recognize the freedom of Contra dance (no fancy steps, unlike the Ballroom dance). Agreed regarding the virtual dance compositions so far being tailored to existing dancers... so here's a couple that I'd feel comfortable using in your situation.
Be sure to test your tech for calling over music beforehand - many platforms fail to handle both without specific tricks. Good luck - let us know how it goes! Don Easiest: Haste to the Video Call - Solo/Singlet - Don Veino 20201116 No need to care about separate PNR roles. Obv. riff off *Haste to the Wedding* & for that tune. A1 Line/2 Forward & Back; (w/PNR) Sashay to Camera & Back (or repeat Fwd & Back) A2 Allemande/Star Left to fill music; Right B1 PNR Dosido 1x; Clap, 2-Hand Turn 1x B2 PNR Dosido 1x; Clap, 2-Hand Turn 1x & face to camera As solo, can omit any mention of Partner and face camera instead. Should be very robust, most moves can be reversed in direction with no negative outcome. A Notch Higher: Bubbly Starter - Solo/Singlet - Don Veino 20201116 No need to care about separate PNR roles. A1/B2 riff off my *Sourdough Starter* to make it easier. A1 Line/2 Forward & Back; PNR Dosido (or repeat Fwd & Back) A2 Circle Left; Right B1 Star/Allemande Right; Left B2 Loop Single Right (away from PNR & back); PNR Swing (can substitute Dosido for Swing if A1 done as 2x Line/2 Fwd & Back) As solo, can omit any mention of Partner and face camera instead. On Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 11:52 AM Adam Carlson via Contra Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi All, > > At work, we have a Fun Friday thing where someone does a 1/2 hr > presentation on something of interest. It could be travel, a hobby, or > whatever. They're asking me to do one on contra dance. In the before times > when we could do it in person, I would have taught them a simple dance to > recorded music. But I'm trying to think about what to say about contra in > 1/2 an hour that'll be fun. Someone else did latin ballroom dancing and > they tried to share their screen and play a bunch of videos, which was a > total fail, but then they shared the youtube links and people loved it. > Contra isn't quite as sexy as that, and he was doing performances rather > than taking videos of salsa at the club, so it was pretty impressive. > > Thoughts? I know a little about contra history, but I'm not super > passionate about it. I can certainly play a bunch of the great music. I can > show clips of large events (Folklife), techno contra, family dances, and > other variants (tractor contas, anyone). > > One thing I'd love to do is to get people up and dancing, but I realize > that's probably not going to work. I regularly attend Zoom dances, but I > don't think a bunch of non-dancers will just get up and have fun having > never learned any of the moves. If anyone's got a great dance that > beginners can do (no terminology) and that's designed for singles or the > occasional couple, please share. Luckily a bunch of singles dances are > being written now, but they mostly assume an experienced audience. > > Cheers, > Adam > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >
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