Duples = duple minor = hands four


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

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________________________________
From: Amy Wimmer via Contra Callers <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2024 1:06 PM
To: Katherine Kitching <[email protected]>
Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers <[email protected]>
Subject: [External] [Callers] Re: Resources to turn musicians into dance 
musicians? - length of a typical dance?

Can someone please help my vocabulary? I've seen "duples" mentioned here 
several times. In my personal dictionary that means two people, as in a couple, 
or two moves. I think the usage here may be referring to a pair of couples, or 
4 people. Either way, it's not the way I'm accustomed to thinking.

I won't be using the term, but would appreciate understanding the word as used 
here.

-Amy Wimmer
Seattle

On Thu, Sep 5, 2024, 5:43 AM Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
 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]<mailto:[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]<mailto:[email protected]> 
01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574

http://www.contrafusion.co.uk<http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/> for Dancing in 
Kent

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