Fascinating!
That also implies if you do a promenade larks passing left, it flows nicely 
into a circle RIGHT




Seth Tepfer, MBA, CSM, PMP (he, him, his)

Senior IT Manager, Emory Primate Center
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                Book time to meet with 
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________________________________
From: Elizabeth Bloom Albert via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 6, 2024 3:37 PM
To: Alexandra Deis-Lauby <[email protected]>
Cc: Julian Blechner <[email protected]>; [email protected] 
<[email protected]>; Contra Callers <[email protected]>
Subject: [Callers] Re: [External] Re: Choreographic No-Nos

well, that's some thinking-outside-the-box stuff, right there!
thank you Alex!

On Tue, Aug 6, 2024 at 2:35 PM Alexandra Deis-Lauby 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
The last time I danced one of these, I learned that if you promenade with the 
Robins passing right shoulder, this flows very well.  So if one MUST call it, 
you might change the promenade direction.

Alex


On Aug 6, 2024, at 3:32 PM, Elizabeth Bloom Albert via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
 wrote:

Please, pretty please, with sugar on top!
Please don’t call (or write) any more dances where a Half-Promenade (across the 
set) is followed by a Circle to the Left! With the possible exception of 
interlocking long wavy lines-- another big ugh! in my book, there is nothing 
more jarring than the 1/2 Prom to a Circle Left combo
I once attended an (out-of-town) dance where three dances were called that had 
that combo (three!) and in spite of all the (other) pretty good dances and 
excellent dance partners, this is what I remember about that experience to this 
day!

On Tue, Aug 6, 2024 at 8:29 AM Julian Blechner via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
 wrote:

My biggest nono is "too much clockwise". If moves are awkward or with meh flow, 
that's not a health or safety thing. Whereas getting dizzy is.

In dance,
Julian Blechner
He/him
Western Mass

On Tue, Aug 6, 2024, 8:40 AM Angela DeCarlis via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
 wrote:

Surprised no one's mentioned interlocking long wavy lines, yet — I think it's 
relatively well-known that Lisa Greenleaf hates this move! Can't say I'm a huge 
fan, either, but it has its moments.

For my two-cents, butterfly whirls are on thin ice! I'll program dances that 
include this figure with a partner on rare occasion, and symmetrical dances 
with both a partner and neighbor whirl could be novel enough to be okay (???) 
on a cold day, but I think I would essentially never call a dance with only a 
neighbor butterfly whirl.

There are too many excellent dances to ever bother with the mediocre ones, 
honestly.

On Tue, Aug 6, 2024, 3:14 AM Neal Schlein via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
 wrote:
I agree with Jonathan about your existing list, and think that almost any 
sequence CAN be used if done with knowledgeable intent.

However, for the general list of things to avoid I would nominate what I like 
to call “fudge down the line,” which is any adjustment that a) happens solely 
because the sequence doesn’t fully progress the couples and b) does not flow 
naturally from the existing movement.  (This most often happens in Beckett 
dances or those substantially in Beckett formation; examples include a 2 count 
sideways slide along the line or a slightly angled right and left thru.)

Notably, the 4 beat slide in “With Thanks to the Dean” and similar dances would 
not count because they are full and discrete actions that are specifically 
accounted for in the flow and timing.

Neal Schlein
Librarian, MSLIS


On Mon, Aug 5, 2024 at 10:28 PM Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
 wrote:
Depending on the flow of the dance,  balance and box the gnat  can often 
replace  dsd and shoulder rounds 1 1/2

On Mon, Aug 5, 2024 at 11:17 PM Maia McCormick via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
 wrote:
I don't have Bob's list handy, but I cribbed heavily from it to make this (much 
less extensive) list of figures + 
timings<https://contra.maiamccormick.com/assets/pdfs/esc-choreo-figures.pdf>, 
in case it's useful to anyone!

(This reminds me of some more things I don't like, ha. Circle L and pass 
through to swing -- IME the swing always gets truncated. Dosido 1.5x and right 
shoulder round 1.5x don't quiiite fit in 8 counts of music and are often 
frustrating. And I don't call couples' dosidos anymore, they're a pain to 
execute correctly unless everyone in the hall is EXTREMELY on top of it.)
--
Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194


On Tue, Aug 6, 2024 at 12:02 AM Joe Harrington 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Is Bob Isaacs in the house?  He has a giant spreadsheet with every possible 
move transition and a count of the number of times it occurs in a set of dances 
that now numbers in the hundreds or maybe a lot more.  It’s interesting which 
unlikely combinations do occur and which rarely do.  I hope this someday sees 
the light of day.

—jh—


On Mon, Aug 5, 2024 at 11:29 PM Maia McCormick via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
 wrote:
Jeff, impressively bad, well done!

My biggest pet peeve is a RH chain (or promenade, or other move with a CCW 
courtesy turn) into a circle L—though this is a very of-the-moment style 
preference, as I know plenty of the classic dances have this combo. (Likewise 
for dances where just the 1s do a figure while the 2s stand around, doubly so 
if the dance doesn’t alternate active couples.)

Long lines followed by a chain is quite idiomatic—and probably in part because 
of the strength that idiom, a chain (or other courtesy turn figure) followed by 
long lines drives me up a wall.

I don’t love long lines into a circle—I’ll tolerate it if the rest of the dance 
is really exceptional, ehhhh.

--
Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194


On Mon, Aug 5, 2024 at 10:31 PM Jeff Kaufman via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
 wrote:
Balance neighbor (4), swing partner (12)

Ones dosido below while twos seesaw above (8).

Long lines forward (4), swing on the side (8), long lines back (4).

Circle left 1x (6) pass through (2)

Jeff

On Mon, Aug 5, 2024 at 9:51 PM Tepfer, Seth via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
 wrote:

  *
A right chain INTO a swing
  *
A swing into a circle right
  *
Standard right shoulder hey into a swing

Plenty other bad flow examples


Seth Tepfer, MBA, CSM, PMP (he, him, his)
Senior IT Manager, Emory Primate Center
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            Book time to meet with 
me<https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/[email protected]/bookings/>
________________________________
From: Jonathan Sivier via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Sent: Monday, August 5, 2024 9:48 PM
To: New Contra Callers List 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Subject: [External] [Callers] Re: Choreographic No-Nos

I don't agree with your list.  Yes, swings on the first half of a phrase are 
challenging and I might try to avoid them.  There are dances with this that 
generally work fine, especially if the caller is aware of the potential issue 
and teaches and calls accordingly.  The do-si-do across can be a bit awkward in 
a crowded line, but only if everyone is doing the do-si-do.  If only the 1's or 
2's are doing it then there is no problem.  Shadow swings seem to be a personal 
preference or dislike and not really a choreographic issue.  I actually think 
that a right chain after a swing can work very well.  If you end the swing with 
the pointy hands pointing across then the right hands of the right hand dancers 
are right there ready to pull by.  I suppose you might say there is a momentum 
change, but that can be very welcome in a dance where everything seems to be 
traveling the same way.  Not every dance has to have continuous motion in the 
same direction all the time.  I danced a dance with that set of figures just 
last Friday and I was thinking to myself how well it seemed to work.

So I see #1 and #3 as more of a challenge than a problem.  #4 is a personal 
preference and #2 seems like a perfectly fine transition between figures.

Jonathan

On 8/5/2024 7:37 PM, Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers wrote:
> I am accumulating a  list of figures, or figure sequence that significant 
> dance writers (not necessarily a majority) consider Choreographic No-Nos
> My list so far:
> 1. do-si-do across
> 2. right chain after a swing
> 3 short swings on an odd phrase
> 4. Shadow swings
> Does anyone have further suggestions?

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--
Elizabeth Bloom Albert


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--
Elizabeth Bloom Albert

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