Re: [Callers] Irish Contra Dances

[Don Heinold via Callers]

Thanks to one and all for their inpu and support! Just what I needed. ~ Don
   From: Liz and Bill via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net>
 To: John Sweeney <i...@contrafusion.co.uk> 
Cc: John Sweeney via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net>; 
callers-requ...@lists.sharedweight.net 
 Sent: Saturday, April 4, 2015 4:11 PM
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Irish Contra Dances
   
Hi John and Don,

    The "English" people in the clip you mentioned are mostly
Kiwis but close enough. That was taken at our monthly
dance when we were joined by a contra tour from the USA
and also John and Hilary Turner from the UK.

    We often get a large group of teens coming because I used
to run barn dances for them. As a 'reward' for supporting the
contra dance I usually have Waves of Tory for them half way.
They are so 'good' at dipping and diving that they want it even
faster than normal, so they  form a set of 7 couples and
dance double speed while the rest are dancing the 5 couple version
to the 48 bar music.

> English people dancing Waves of Tory:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1qtN-kw6Mg
>
> Note how the timing, styling, speed are all completely different, especially
> on the Dip 'n' Dive - the Irish take their time, the English rush through
> it.

Scroll down the page http://christchurch.contradance.nz/past.html
to February 2012 to see more the dances
we ran at that time when we had the contra (and English) visitors.

Cheers, Bill
PS - Similar visits will happen Feb 2016, so NZ will be the place
for contra gypsies.



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Re: [Callers] Irish Contra Dances

[Liz and Bill via Callers]

Hi John and Don,

The "English" people in the clip you mentioned are mostly
Kiwis but close enough. That was taken at our monthly
dance when we were joined by a contra tour from the USA
and also John and Hilary Turner from the UK.

   We often get a large group of teens coming because I used
to run barn dances for them. As a 'reward' for supporting the
contra dance I usually have Waves of Tory for them half way.
They are so 'good' at dipping and diving that they want it even
faster than normal, so they  form a set of 7 couples and
dance double speed while the rest are dancing the 5 couple version
to the 48 bar music.


English people dancing Waves of Tory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1qtN-kw6Mg

Note how the timing, styling, speed are all completely different, especially
on the Dip 'n' Dive - the Irish take their time, the English rush through
it.


Scroll down the page http://christchurch.contradance.nz/past.html
to February 2012 to see more the dances
we ran at that time when we had the contra (and English) visitors.

Cheers, Bill
PS - Similar visits will happen Feb 2016, so NZ will be the place
for contra gypsies.

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Re: [Callers] Irish Contra Dances

[John Sweeney via Callers]

Hi Don,
As has been said, you really need to find out what they think they
mean and what they are hoping for.  As an example:

Irish people dancing Waves of Tory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsDw57nqUrk

English people dancing Waves of Tory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1qtN-kw6Mg

Note how the timing, styling, speed are all completely different, especially
on the Dip 'n' Dive - the Irish take their time, the English rush through
it.

You need to know which they are aiming for!

Even the waltzing is different.  I did a gig for an Irish group
recently,  The older ladies kept demanding higher speeds - their idea of
waltz was 50% faster than the average at a contra dance!

Good luck!

Happy dancing,
John

John Sweeney, Dancer, England j...@modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent

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Re: [Callers] Irish Contra Dances

[Yoyo Zhou via Callers]

On Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 5:13 AM, Don Heinold via Callers
 wrote:
> Hi SharedWeight callers & friends
>
> I'm a caller from RI and am fairly new to this site. I have been enjoying
> the informational posts on the many different issues that involve present
> day and past contra dancing.
>
> In April I have been asked to call at what is being billed as an "Irish
> Contra Dance". Contra dancing as I know has its roots in New England and
> before that in English Country Dancing and French Court Dances.
> Unfortunately I only know one Irish contra Dance that is used at some
> beginner contra dances - "The Sweets of May". Are there others that have
> been tailored to the set style of contra dancing?  Your suggestions will be
> gratefully received.

And the Sweets of May is done in a square formation, if I recall. You
should definitely find out what the organizers are expecting, and
given what you've been told already, it sounds like they don't have a
fully formed idea, so you may need to have some back-and-forth about
what they want and what you can offer.

If by some strange circumstance you are expected to present ceili
dances in contra formation, you probably want to find a local group
that does such dances first, but you can also take a look at Terry
O'Neal's _Syllabus of Irish Dances_ here, which has an index by
formation, among other things:
http://ceili.stanford.edu/ourDances.html

If on the other hand, they just want contra dancing to Irish music, as
Alan says, that is something more understandable. If the band hasn't
played for contras before then you'll want to talk with them about
expectations.

Yoyo Zhou
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Re: [Callers] Irish Contra Dances

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Don --

I think you should ask the organizers what they have in mind.  Have they 
booked an Irish band?  They might be perfectly happy with a regular 
contra program to Irish tunes, which is what I'd hope it would be.  What 
audience are they aiming for?  (If it's at the Irish Cultural Center for 
people who do Irish set or ceili dancing, that's kind of a different 
story than if it's intended for contra dancers or the general public.)


There are longways duple Irish dances (they call'em "long dances"), but 
in my limited experience they don't have ballroom swings and might be 
disappointing to any contra dancers who show up.


If you really want Irish dances in contra-ish formations:

http://www.bernards.cz/gallery/file/Ar-Rinci-Foirne.pdf

There are several Long Dances described in here.

Walls of Limerick (duple improper)
Siege of Ennis (4x4)
Harvest-Time Jig (3x3)
Rince Fada (duple proper)
Bridge of Athlone (same)
Haste to the Wedding
Siege of Carrick
Antrim Reel
Waves of Tory (whole set dance with 1s and 2s)
Rakes of Mallow (3x3)

-- Alan


On 4/3/15 5:13 AM, Don Heinold via Callers wrote:

Hi SharedWeight callers & friends

I'm a caller from RI and am fairly new to this site. I have been 
enjoying the informational posts on the many different issues that 
involve present day and past contra dancing.


In April I have been asked to call at what is being billed as an 
"Irish Contra Dance". Contra dancing as I know has its roots in New 
England and before that in English Country Dancing and French Court 
Dances. Unfortunately I only know one Irish contra Dance that is used 
at some beginner contra dances - "The Sweets of May". Are there others 
that have been tailored to the set style of contra dancing?  Your 
suggestions will be gratefully received.


Cheers,

Don


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Re: [Callers] Irish Contra Dances

[Don Heinold via Callers]

Hi SharedWeight callers & friends
I'm a caller from RI and am fairly new to this site. I have been enjoying the 
informational posts on the many different issues that involve present day and 
past contra dancing.
In April I have been asked to call at what is being billed as an "Irish Contra 
Dance". Contra dancing as I know has its roots in New England and before that 
in English Country Dancing and French Court Dances. Unfortunately I only know 
one Irish contra Dance that is used at some beginner contra dances - "The 
Sweets of May". Are there others that have been tailored to the set style of 
contra dancing?  Your suggestions will be gratefully received. 
Cheers,
Don___
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