IMHO, many callers run dances too long. I often aim for 12 times through
(about 6 minutes), 15 at the high end.
Lisa Sieverts
Nelson, NH
Lisa Sieverts
603-762-0235
[email protected]
On 5 Sep 2024, at 8:43, Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers wrote:
Hi John (and everyone), just catching up on the listserv and went to
your "Callers and Music" page--
very helpful info there!
I wish I had found it last year when I was looking for resources for
this caller-and-musician workshop that we did.
In particular, I had searched all over the internet last year for some
clue as to how many times through a typical improper duple contra
dance would run, and had a real hard time finding that info.
I had concluded that with 5 duples in a set (our usual), we might
dance through up to 17 times, which would take about 9 minutes at
117bpm..... so that those who started at the top would get back to the
top.
Do you think that's too long?
I was under the impression that in the US the lines are often longer
than 5 duples, and that the convention was to dance long enough to let
everyone travel up and down the line the whole way....so I was
thinking that in a seasoned contra dance group the dance might go on
15 minutes or more?
Very curious about this now!
Kat Kitching in Halifax NS
Sep 4, 2024 3:16:24 PM John Sweeney via Contra Callers
<[email protected]>:
Hi Seth,
Linda Game (English Contra Dance Band) ran
a session for the Irish musicians who were going to play for the
first contra dance that we ran in Paris. I have put a copy of her
notes at
https://contrafusion.co.uk/documents/LindaGameMusicianWorkshop.jpg -
I hope Linda won’t mind.
One interesting exercise that she did was
to get four dancers to do some Rory O’Mores to a Reel, then the
same sequence to a Jig so that the band could see the effect on the
dancers.
This is meant for callers:
https://contrafusion.co.uk/CallersandMusic.html but you might find
some useful points there.
I have danced (ceilidh, but same
challenge) to a band who seemed to think that they were playing for a
concert. They put in extra beats and ran improvisations across
the phrases. They went so wild that you couldn’t hear the
phrasing. It was fantastic to listen to, but a nightmare to try to
dance to!
It is crucial that the band understand
that the dancers are listening to the beat and the phrasing. They
especially want to hear the beginning of A1 and B1 clearly and
unambiguously.
Good luck!
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 01233 625 362 &
07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in
Kent
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected]
To unsubscribe send an email to
[email protected]
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected]
To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
