[Callers] Fuel-efficient dancing

[Richard Hopkins via Callers]

I share the concern about driving a lot to get to dance events.

FWIW:  The Concord Scout House is 0.6 miles from the Concord commuter rail 
station, which has approximately hourly service (more frequent in rush hour) to 
and from North Station in Boston and intermediate stops (including Porter 
Square for the Red Line subway).  Last inbound train just before 11:30 pm.

By contrast, I can pretty easily get to dances in Burlington, VT, from my home 
in Middlebury, VT, by public bus during rush hour, but there is no return 
service late in the evening.   I need to be more diligent about seeking people 
to carpool with, but not everyone wants to get to the dance as early as the 
caller has to, nor stay till the bitter end.

Richard


``

Richard Hopkins

850-544-7614
hopkin...@comcast.net


___
List Name:  Callers mailing list
List Address:  Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/

[Callers] Prompting, circa 1890

[Richard Hopkins via Callers]

In Otter Creek Books, in Middlebury VT, the other day I picked up a little book 
called “Prompting: How to do it”, by John M. Schell, “One of Boston’s leading 
prompters”.  It “Contains the figures of all modern dances in common use, and 
how to call them”.  It was published by Carl Fisher Inc (whom I think of as a 
music publisher) in 1890.  

It contains instructions for numerous multi-part quadrilles (Plain, Lancers, 
Caledonian, Double Lancers, Saratoga Lancers, etc), and a couple of individual 
square dances.  It also has about 120 contra dances, all in proper formation 
and almost all described as duple (many seem as though they could just as well 
be done improper).  The instructions say they are for six-couple sets.  Every 
contra is to be followed by “All forward (4); turn partners (4); all promenade 
around the hall.”  (I interpret this as forward and back, swing partner, 
promenade.).The ones that have familiar names (Petronella, Money Musk, 
Hull’s Victory, Vinton’s Hornpipe etc) have a family resemblance to the dances 
that were codified by Ralph Page and others or appear e.g. in Zesty Contras, 
but often aren't quite the same.  

This book was apparently one of Ralph Page’s main sources, and he felt free to 
update them some as he adapted them.  in 1995, in connection with the 8th Ralph 
Page Legacy weekend at UNH, Tony Parkes wrote:  "In preparing for this session, 
I reread Ralph's account of his early years as a caller ("One More Couple: Some 
Memories of 30 Years of Calling." Northern Junket, vol. 6 no. 12 and vol. 7 no. 
1. February and May 1960) and discovered that Ralph learned to call with the 
aid of two different books: Prompting: How To Do It by John M. Schell (1890) 
and The Prompter’s Handbook, edited by J.A. French (1893)".

Here is some of the advice from the first few pages of the book.  It looks like 
the task and role of the prompter/caller have not changed very much in 129 
years:  

—

Be a gentleman always; many questions will be asked and many minds to please.  
Answer each in a pleasant manner in every instance.

Should any complain of the tempo adapted by the orchestra…. inform such that 
you are playing according to the instructions of the floor manager, to whom you 
pleasantly refer them, adding that you will willingly change it is his 
wish…..In the case of a new party, or no instructions regarding tempo, watch 
the effect of the music, and change it if it seems too fast or too slow.

Grand Right and Left:  It is well to make this call “Right hand to partner, 
grand right and left”.

Ladies’ Chain (8 bars): Danced by opposite couples at same time.  Opposite 
ladies cross, give right hand in passing, join left hand with opposite gent, 
and turn half around.  (Before the invention of the courtesy turn — perhaps as 
a flourish, as suggested recently on this list-serv).  

The Voice:  Do not strain the voice under any circumstances; the effect is 
injurious, and will soon render it useless.  A few lessons in elocution, for 
the purpose of learning to throw out the voice, as in singing, will prove money 
well invested.  

Commit to memory one set of figures of a quadrille, for example, and call aloud 
and with the music until perfectly learned and the calls exactly in time; then 
take up the next.  The first attempts are nervous times at best, so that all 
calls should be perfectly committed in the order they are to come, leaving 
nothing to memorandums or books before entering the hall. Practice with the 
music until the calls are thoroughly mastered on time, and distinct. (This 
reminds me of a square calling workshop I attended at Augusta in 1990 taught by 
Larry Edelman, in which we were forbidden to have dance cards in our hands 
while calling — though we could use them in teaching.)

Figures requiring two calls, such as right and left etc, give the first call on 
the eighth bar (i.e. counts 15 and 16), the last on the fourth (i.e. counts 7 
and 8). Invariably finish calling before the strain begins, otherwise the 
dancers will be behind, which detracts from their pleasure and the general 
effect.



``

Richard Hopkins
Middlebury, VT

850-544-7614
hopkin...@comcast.net


___
List Name:  Callers mailing list
List Address:  Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/

[Callers] What is a contra?

[Richard Hopkins via Callers]

The name of my local dance community, chosen >30 years ago, is Tallahassee 
Community Friends of Old-time Dance.  Many dancers now prefer evenings made up 
entirely of contras, narrowly defined, but some still prefer our traditional 
mix of formations. When I advertise our dances on Facebook, I subtly call the 
events that I expect to be all-contras ‘contradances’, and the others ‘old-time 
dances’. I don’t know whether anyone notices. We aren’t the only such 
organization with ‘old-time’ in our name.  

Richard Hopkins
850-544-7614
hopkin...@comcast.net

Sent from my iPhone

> 
> ***

___
List Name:  Callers mailing list
List Address:  Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/

Re: [Callers] Politically Correct

[Richard Hopkins via Callers]

 I am an example of someone who gradually left a dance community partly because 
of what I saw as offensive lyrics in singing calls….. When my wife and I were 
dancing modern western squares in the late 1980s, in Ohio, many callers were 
using contemporary pop and country songs for their singing calls.  Maybe they 
still do.  One of the reasons we left MWSD after a few years was their choice 
of country songs for their singing calls (which were about half the dances 
called in a typical evening).  I particularly remember cringing at use of Hank 
Williams Junior’s song “If the South Woulda Won the War”, which argues that if 
that had happened we wouldn’t have the social problems we have now (or had in 
the late ‘80s).Not to belittle the concerns that others have brought up, 
but there are (or were) a lot more offensive songs available — at least 
offensive to me — than have been mentioned here.  And I am at least half a 
southerner myself…. 

I'd make my Supreme Court down in Texas,
And we wouldn't have no killers gettin'off free.
If they were proven guilty, then they would swing quickly,
Instead of writin' books and smilin' on T.V.
We'd all learn Cajun cookin in Louisiana,
And I'd put that capitol back in Alabama.
We'd put Florida on the right track 'cause, we'd take Miami back,
And throw all them pushers in the slammer.

Read more: Hank Williams Jr. - If The South Woulda Won Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

 

Richard Hopkins

``

Richard Hopkins

850-544-7614
hopkin...@comcast.net


___
List Name:  Callers mailing list
List Address:  Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/

[Callers] Name and author for circle mixer?

[Richard Hopkins via Callers]

Dear colleagues, 

I have had this circle mixer in my box since before 1990, and have long ago 
lost its name or origin.  Could any of you help?  It has served me well many 
many times.

Formation:  Circle of couples

A1Forward and Back
Forward again, just the gents come back (ladies turn to face out)
A2  All turn right, promenade single file (ladies clockwise, gents CCW)
  Return
B1  Partner (the last one you swung) dosido
  Corner Allemande left, pass partner by the right
B2  New Partner B and S

Richard


``
Richard Hopkins
Tallahassee, FL
850-544-7614
hopkin...@comcast.net

[Callers] Does this dance exist?

[Richard Hopkins via Callers]

What is ‘slice’?  And is it different from ‘yearn’?

Richard



``
Richard Hopkins

850-544-7614
hopkin...@comcast.net

[Callers] Contra Friendly Squares -- people left over.

[Richard Hopkins via Callers]

Over the past several years, we have had several ‘extra’ dances here in 
Tallahassee that are advertised to the contra dance listserv and elsewhere as 
old-time or square dances, or old time square dances, with live music.  We have 
had anywhere from 8 to 30 dancers come. One of the things we heard from dancers 
was that they did not like being left out — wanting to dance but not enough 
dancers for a full square.   We decided on a policy of leaving no-one sitting 
who wants to dance.   That means that we don’t decide what dance to call (at 
least not for sure) until we see how many couples stand up to dance; and it 
means that I have dances ready to go for 4, 5, 6 or 7 couples.  With 6 or 7 it 
can be a longways set, a contra, a circle mixer, or a big circle square-dance.  
With 8 or 12 it’s a 4-couple square.  Folks seem to appreciate the concern for 
their enjoyment, and there are plenty of good dances to choose from for any 
number of couples.  (Although I could wish for more good five-couple dances, 
the vast repertory of circle mixers comes in handy.) I have also used a couple 
of 6- or 9-couple dances I learned from Phil Jamieson. 

Others have recently dealt with the situation where you have only three or even 
two couples. 

Richard 

``
Richard Hopkins

850-544-7614
hopkin...@comcast.net

[Callers] 4 person do-si-do

[Richard Hopkins via Callers]

In southern-style square dancing, there are several variations on a figure 
which is often called “dosido” for two couples, and they are nothing like what 
Luke is imagining.  They go by names like Georgia Rangtang, Georgy-Alabam, 
Do-si, Dosido and (I think) in MWSD a version of it is called Do Paso.   That’s 
not to say that the figure you are describing isn’t a good one for your dance; 
it’s just another reason to avoid calling it a dosido.  

Richard

``
Richard Hopkins
Tallahassee FL
850-544-7614
hopkin...@comcast.net


> On Dec 1, 2015, at 4:01 PM, via Callers  
> wrote:
> 
> Send Callers mailing list submissions to
>   callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> 
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>   http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>   callers-requ...@lists.sharedweight.net
> 
> You can reach the person managing the list at
>   callers-ow...@lists.sharedweight.net
> 
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..."
> 
> 
> Today's Topics:
> 
>   1. Caller needed: 1/16 Stanford barn dance (Aahz via Callers)
>   2. Re: Caller needed: 1/16 Stanford barn dance (Aahz via Callers)
>   3. 4 person do-si-do? (Luke Donforth via Callers)
>   4. Re: 4 person do-si-do? (Tom Hinds via Callers)
>   5. Re: Caller needed: 1/16 Stanford barn dance
>  (Aahz Maruch via Callers)
>   6. Re: 4 person do-si-do? (Aahz Maruch via Callers)
>   7. Re: Caller needed: 1/16 Stanford barn dance
>  (Bill Olson via Callers)
>   8. Re: 4 person do-si-do? (Hilton Baxter via Callers)
>   9. Re: 4 person do-si-do? (Rich Sbardella via Callers)
>  10. Re: 4 person do-si-do? (Don Veino via Callers)
> 
> 
> --
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2015 14:27:22 -0800
> From: Aahz via Callers 
> To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> Subject: [Callers] Caller needed: 1/16 Stanford barn dance
> Message-ID: <20151130222722.ga23...@panix.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> 
> Howdy,
> 
> I've been asked to run a barn dance Saturday Jan 16, 9pm-11pm, but I'm
> busy.  The dance will be part of the Western Regional Outdoor Leadership
> Conference:
> 
> http://outdoored.stanford.edu/center/wrolc-2016/
> 
> If you don't know where Stanford is, you're probably coming from too far
> away to make sense.  ;-)
> 
> There will be 100+ college students.  The theme for this year's
> conference is "diversity", and they would prefer a caller who can fit the
> theme in addition to having experience with one-night-stand environments.
> 
> I've offered to be a filter so that they don't need to deal with the
> responses, so please respond privately to me if you're interested and
> available.  I've already explained that booking will be somewhat
> difficult both because of the relatively short notice and because it's
> Ralph Page weekend.
> 
> I probably will also be sending out an e-mail blast to people I have
> addresses for, apologies if you get this twice.  They have already
> contacted other callers so you may actually get three copies...
> -- 
> Square/Contra Callerhttp://caller.aahz.ws/
>  <*>   <*>   <*>
> "Those who hear not the music think the dancers mad."
> 
> 
> --
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2015 16:10:45 -0800
> From: Aahz via Callers 
> To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Caller needed: 1/16 Stanford barn dance
> Message-ID: <20151201001045.ga4...@panix.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> 
> On Mon, Nov 30, 2015, Aahz via Callers wrote:
>> 
>> I've been asked to run a barn dance Saturday Jan 16, 9pm-11pm, but I'm
>> busy.  The dance will be part of the Western Regional Outdoor Leadership
>> Conference:
>> 
>> http://outdoored.stanford.edu/center/wrolc-2016/
>> 
>> If you don't know where Stanford is, you're probably coming from too far
>> away to make sense.  ;-)
> 
> Someone pointed out that I should at least have mentioned that this is
> California.
> 
> 
> --
> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2015 05:45:27 -0500
> From: Luke Donforth via Callers 
> To: "Callers@Lists.Sharedweight.net" 
> Subject: [Callers] 4 person do-si-do?
> Message-ID:
>   
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
> 
> It's 5 am, and I find myself awake and writing dances; specifically 4x4s.
> Unfortunately, I don't have 8 dancers waiting on my insomnia to test
> things, so I figured I'd send them to shared weight...
> 
> Possibly this is