Okay. It's time to tell an embarrassing story on myself.
Another caller and I once concocted an unusual medley for use at the transition
between our sets at an all-night dance: We would begin with one of those
four-face-four dances in which the dancers briefly get into square formation,
then medley into another four-face-four also featuring a temporary square, then
keep the dancers in squares for a while, and finally turn each column of
squares into a duple-minor contra set. We carefully worked out all the details,
such as being sure that the square dance wouldn't have a promenade with an
ambiguous ending position, and figuring out how to make the dancers have the
same direction of progression in the final duple improper dance as they had had
before the transition from four-face-four to squares.
At the actual event, the other caller got the dancers lined up four facing
four, making sure that there were an even number of foursomes in each set (so
that nobody would be left out when we switched into the square dance) and that
they were well spaced along the length of the hall (so that the eventual duple
improper sets wouldn't be too crowded), walked them through the first dance,
and cued the band to start playing.
All went well as we medleyed into the second four-face-four dance and then into
the square dance. As the time approached for the final transition from squares
to duple improper contra lines, I was at the microphone.
I maneuvered the dancers into lines at the sides and had them go forward and
back. OK so far. Then I had them make ``long contra lines'' and go forward
and back again. There were audible ``Oh''s from the floor as some of the
dancers anticipated what was supposed to happen next. The final step of the
transition was a fairly ordinary contemporary contradance ending, something like
Women [the term then in use] chain [to original partner]
Circle left 3/4; pass through [along the set]
that would leave the dancers ready to balance and swing the next in line as the
band kicked into the final tune of their set.
[Before you read the rest of this message, I invite you to guess what went
wrong.]
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Within two seconds after uttering the words "Circle left" I saw to my dismay
that about half the dancers were in circles of four as I'd intended, but the
other half were in circles of eight! It was beyond whatever presence of mind I
could muster at that hour of the morning to find a way to recover, and I
eventually just signaled the band to go out as the floor dissolved into chaos.
(Sigh!)
Addendum 1: At another event several years later, I did manage to call the same
medley without having it dissolve into chaos, this time using timely and
emphatic calls that left no doubt about which groups of FOUR dancers were to
form the circles.
Addendum 2: I've sometimes seen callers new to calling squares create some
confusion with a much less spectacular build-up than in my story above, simply
by calling a sequence like
Head couples go forward and back.
Circle left.
without being explicit about whether the call "Circle left" was directed to the
heads or to all eight dancers.
--Jim
Santa Clara, CA
> On Apr 25, 2023, at 10:20 AM, Dorcas Hand via Contra Callers
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I immediately think of the 4x4 dances that have a portion be in square
> formation. But yes, the transition would be interesting.
> Dorcas Hand
> Houston
>
> From: Jeff Kaufman via Contra Callers <[email protected]>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2023 7:13 AM
> To: Contra Callers <[email protected]>
> Subject: [Callers] Putting a square in a contra medley
>
> "if we had more time we'd throw in a square"
>
> The contra dance medley at NEFFA is normally six dances, each six times
> through (well, the last one is five or seven). I was thinking about what
> you'd need to do if you actually wanted to include a square...
>
> The main problem is that you need to switch the dancers from groups of four
> to groups of eight, and there isn't really a great way to do this. In
> computer science speak the issue is that it takes time linear in the number
> of dancers. But maybe you could have the top couple sashay down from the
> top, and everyone takes hands eight as they pass, which is fast enough even
> in a long hall that it's ok (~16 beats, and you adjust the time by figuring
> out how much intro to do on the square)? And then tell anyone left out at
> the bottom to square up?
>
> (Going back into contra lines from aligned squares should be easier: side
> couples circle left three quarters and twirl to swap, lines at the sides, etc)
>
> Would this work?
>
> Jeff
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