As a very old dancer, I have 2 objections to the clap: 1. I enjoy flow and slight changes in momentum. I can't think of a sequence off-hand where there isn't at least a slight pause and change in momentum caused by clapping. If balance and swing is the next move, instead of turning directly to one's partner and getting the balance underway, one pauses for a second to smile at one's neighbors after such a satisfying moment, and to think about what comes next. With other sequences the disruption is more marked - I dislike standing ready to take hands and circle while others are clapping. Etc. There is no way an action that requires stopping movement and standing in one place can not interfere with what comes next - I assume that most people enjoy clapping more than momentum. I understand your feeling about clapping in a Rory, but assume that the clapping will spread and become universal for that as well. Different strokes... 2. People learn the clap by osmosis, so everyone claps for everything, whether it is disruptive to the next move or not (if one assumes it can not be disruptive). If dancers were experienced enough to think about what they are doing, so they only did it when the effect was minimal, that would be marginally better - but they aren't, for the most part.
It is a lost cause. I can't imagine what could make clapping stop once it starts - but we'll see. Perhaps clapping will spread to so many points in the dance (after heys!) that everyone says, "Enough already!" and agrees to ban clapping. Or dancing will just be different, changed as it has been so many times in the past. Curmudgeonly yours, David On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 11:50 AM Maia McCormick via Contra Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > tldr: those of you who are anti-Petronella claps (in general, not just in > specific cases where they interrupt flow from the spin into the next move), > I want to understand why! > > Clapping on Petronella turns has been the overwhelming norm ever since I > started dancing, but I know that it wasn't always this way, and that some > folks vehemently dislike it. Well recently I've noted the (baffling?? > inexplicable??) rise of clapping after the spin on Rory O'Moore's, which > makes my blood boil (it's so satisfying to catch hands in the new wave out > of the spin, why would you ever NOT do that??), and it's making me think > more about Petronella claps. > > Clapping on a Rory bugs me so much because it interrupts the momentum of > spin-and-catch-hands. I'll admit that I don't understand the objection to > Petronella claps, at least through that lens. Like certainly, in a > specifically Cure for the Claps-type* dance (with e.g. Petronella spin into > allemande left, Petronella spin into swing, etc.), clapping interrupts the > momentum, and it's way more satisfying to spin directly into the next move. > But given a bog standard "Petronella, Petronella, balance and swing" or > similar, I don't feel like the claps interrupt the momentum or disrupt > transitions, and in fact are a nice fun way to fill space. > > To be clear, the above isn't an argument in favor of Petronella claps, > just me explaining where I'm coming from. So now we come to my question: > > 1. *those of you who are anti-Petronella claps, can you explain why?* I > want to understand! Is it a satisfying momentum thing that I've just never > experienced because I'm so used to clapping? Dedication to historical > accuracy? Something else entirely? > > 2. *what dance(s) would you use to make your case to a contemporary > contra hall, that aren't explicitly written as Cure for the Claps dances?* > Petronella > spin to a swing feels great, and of *course* you shouldn't clap there > (although some folks inexplicably do, sigh)—but if you'd prefer that we > didn't clap even in a dance like Tica Tica Timing, then a CftC dance isn't > the whole story. If you had the infinite good will of a contemporary contra > hall, and were able to say to the dancers "don't clap on the Petronellas in > this one and just pay attention to how nice it feels to X and how > satisfying it is to Y", what dance would you use, what things would you > tell the dancers to clue into, etc. to make your case? (And what would you > ask the band for?) > > Thanks as always for your expertise! > > Cheers, > Maia > > * Cure for the Claps contra: a dance that discourages clapping during the > Petronella turn, often by putting moves directly after the Petronella that > flow nicely from a spin. May be intentional or incidental. See e.g.: The > Cure for the Claps > <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=10364> > (Bob Isaacs), Becket in the Kitchen > <https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=17> > (Becky Hill) > > > -- > Maia McCormick (she/her) > 917.279.8194 > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >
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