I've been struggling with the term "partner" in contra mixers. My experience is that the term leads dancers to expect to stay with that person.
My current approach is to use the phrases "there are no partners," "navigate on your own," and "everyone is a neighbor." For a particular example, Contrablend, I found it helpful to name the various neighbors by the action you take with them, e.g. "rollaway neighbor" "swing neighbor" and "come-back neighbor" (whom you remember and return to). A corollary here, if you don't have partners, "Becket" doesn't mean as much. I say gents/larks progress two places left and ladies/robins progress one. (Or maybe it's the other way round - one and two places left.) Timothy Knoxville TN On Thu, 2024-01-25 at 08:31 -0500, Becky Liddle via Contra Callers wrote: > > > > On Jan 25, 2024, at 12:00 AM, contracallers- > > [email protected] wrote: > > > > > > Late in a regular evening dance a caller recently threw in a > > > > contra > > > with larks and robins progressing in opposite directions or at > > > different rates. Although it was announced as a mixer, it was > > > sufficiently unexpected that chaos and discomfort ensued. I'd > > > have > > > been happier with that in a workshop setting. "Dance with who's > > > coming at you." > > > > > > David, I'd love to have this dance for uh, scientific purposes > > > and > > > certainly not to sow chaos 👀 > > > > > > > > > -- > > > Maia McCormick (she/her) > > > 917.279.8194 > > Here is one: Note: I can’t guarantee I have everything right here. I > think I remember prepping to call it and then chickening out! :-) > > > ð BECKET MIXER > No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk > by Chris Weiler > > Teaching: > Note: warn Robins that they’ll feel stuck at ends when not stuck. If > there’s nobody on your side to dance with, then dance with the person > across from you and face back in LL/RR as usual. Larks triple > progress, but robins progress forward 2 and back one so it can feel > like you’re stuck when you’re not. Don’t fix it or you will get > stuck! > A1 BECKET: on side of set w/partner: Partner balance & swing > > A2 (6) Circle left 3 places & pass thru along the set > (8) New neighbor swing > > B1 (8) long lines forward and back > (8) third neighbor (beside you along side of set, who you did NOT > just swing) allemande left 1 ½ > (there’s an awkward hand-hold switch here: robins, you can make it > smoother if you take the lark’s left hand you’re holding in your > right hand, and put it into your left hand for the allemande left 1 > ½ ) > > B2 (8) Robins chain (to current partner— then say goodbye) > (8) Star left (all the way around) to a new partner > > Calling Notes: > Note: If you’re out at the ends and there’s nobody on your side to > dance with, then do the move (whether partner or neighbour) with the > person across from you and face back in LL/RR as usual. > warn Robins that they’ll feel stuck at ends when not stuck. Larks > triple progress, but robins progress forward 2 and back one so it can > feel like you’re stuck when you’re not. Don’t try to fix it or > you will get stuck! > Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7At3Dhq-G0 > > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to > [email protected]
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