Re: [Callers] Calling a "box circulate"

Back in the 1980's, when I first encountered dances with this figure, the term "Box Circulate" hadn't been coined as far as I know. I've only been hearing that term fairly recently (which could easily be 10 years or more I suppose, I don't know when it was first used). Back then the term I

Re: [Callers] Calling a "box circulate"

I've heard "rotate" used for calling this figure. I think I may have used that myself. Jonathan On 1/7/2019 2:45 AM, Lenore Frigo via Callers wrote: I'm planning to call a dance with a box circulate, for the first time, and got to thinking, how do you call it during the dance? Do you use

[Callers] contra dance survey

Hello Contra Dancers: Researchers Jonathan Sivier and Jan Buhrmann are currently conducting a study on contra dance, in preparation for developing an article that will introduce contra dancing to a wider audience. Their goal for this article is to help promote the benefits of this form

Re: [Callers] Transgressions

Star Wars by Peter Foster has couples from each line go out and star with couples from the next line. Does that count? Jonathan On 10/9/2018 3:05 PM, Tepfer, Seth via Callers wrote: When a couple moves up and down the lines, we call that 'progression'. When a couple moves ACROSS the

Re: [Callers] Handheld mic advice

anyone have any recommendations on cases? Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you

Re: [Callers] Programming a Dance

. It also needs to be done well in advance so that the band can be informed of the dances. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance

Re: [Callers] May the Fourth be with you!

- Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call! On 2/27/2018 5:23 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers wrote

Re: [Callers] Colonial Dances Adapted for ONS?

I'm always hesitant to include dances with swings in a ONS. Sometimes it can work, but it very much depends on the group. Besides he was asking about Colonial dances that have been simplified for non-dancers. Throwing a swing in makes a dance more challenging for non-dancers and

Re: [Callers] Colonial Dances Adapted for ONS?

with 2nd man (1-8) B1 - Down the hall 4 in line, 1's in the center, turn alone (1-4), Return and bend the line to a circle (5-8) B2 - Circle left (1-4), Star left (5-8) Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu

Re: [Callers] Holiday Contra

I need to get that page updated. It's on my list of Things To Do Real Soon Now. Maybe I can get to that over the holidays. ;-) Here is the dance. Champaign Cocktail Jonathan Sivier duple improper 1 - Neighbor do-si-do 2 - Ladies allemande left 1 1/2 3-4 Partner balance and swing

Re: [Callers] Holiday Contra

It depends on what you consider to be a holiday theme. Here are some dances I included in my program at our local contra dance last Friday. What we are all trying to do at this time of year - Losing Weight by Michael Barraclough For New Years Eve - Champaign Cocktail by Jonathan Sivier

Re: [Callers] Swing Like Thunder

Thanks. It would be nice if there was a link to this on the home page, or one of the other pages that are linked from the home page. Jonathan On 6/14/2017 12:36 PM, Erik Barry Erhardt wrote: This is Lloyd Shaw's index of dances. http://www.lloydshaw.org/dance-figures.html This is also a

Re: [Callers] Swing Like Thunder

Is there an index of dances on the Lloyd Shaw Foundation web site? I see to recall that there used to be one, but the link I had bookmarked no longer works with the new web site. I'm assuming that the Docey Doe in this dance isn't just a dos-a-do, but is a more complex set of movements.

Re: [Callers] ACK! First time calling night of *squares* -- any last minute advice?

the dance and came up with some little rhyming phrases that I could use for some of the calls. I didn't do all of this right away, but my second attempt at calling a square, with a simpler dance, went much better. I hope this is helpful. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Cont

Re: [Callers] Contras which feature a "Dublin Bay" figure

We probably need someone with more knowledge to weigh in on this, but my understanding is that the dance known as Dublin Bay was published in Playford in the early 1700's and the Gay Gordon's dance is more likely from the late 1800's. So if these dances are related at all it would be the

Re: [Callers] Floor Space Requirement

le and La Bastringue. Good luck. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call!

Re: [Callers] Challenging Contras

progression. Stars and Stripes Jonathan Sivier (1994, 1995) duple improper, double progression; intermediate 1 - long lines forward and back 2 - left hand star 1 time 3 - right hand star 1/2, allemande left 3/4 with next neighbor to a wavy line across the set, men in the center 4 - balance

[Callers] Fwd: Re: Boomerang

left" goes very quickly, taking maybe only 2 beats. The rest tends to be slower, one word per beat. Writing this out may not be the best way to convey my meaning, but hopefully it gives you some idea. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances

Re: [Callers] Young Adult Rose

roove" the way many dancers like to do. I don't think this is always the case, but I have certainly come across occasions when it just seemed like we were turning by the wrong hand or whatever. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances jsivier A

[Callers] yet another gypsy substitute (YAGS)

term. I'm not aware of this term already being used for some other dance figure, let me know if it is. Even though it has 3 syllables instead of 2 I kind of like the sound of "vis-a-vis and swing!" Just putting it out there for your consideration. Jonathan - Jonathan S

Re: [Callers] another new word idea

sk On Jan 25, 2016, at 11:26 AM, Jonathan Sivier via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: I've been thinking about this as well. I'd like to propose "Gimbal" as a substitute for gypsy. You could even spell it "Gymbal" if you liked. ;-) This also ha

[Callers] another new word idea

support that allows the rotation of an object about a single axis, so it also makes some sense with respect to the movement being named. It is sometimes used as a verb, as in the movement of rocket motors used for guidance, as well as being a noun. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, Squar

Re: [Callers] 1820s-1830s Dances

On 3/18/2014 12:53 PM, rich sbardella wrote: Can someone explain the dance below? Also, is this dance 128 steps and 64 bars? Here are my notes on the dance. The phrases have 4 bars and so the dance is 32 bars, even though the music is played AABBAABB. When doing dances from the 1700's

Re: [Callers] 1820s-1830s Dances

s lead out at the sides Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call!

Re: [Callers] Three Couples or Less Dances

On 2/28/2014 10:01 AM, rich sbardella wrote: Friends, I have a small weekly dance session with seniors in CT and often lack dancers. If anyone could share dances for 5 or 7 people, or two or three couples, I would greatly appreciate it. I often fall back on solo lines similar to the

Re: [Callers] ONS Plus Circle Mixers

. Hildenbrand Heel and Toe Polka Mixer La Bastringue Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you

Re: [Callers] question about Disturbed By Insects

On 2/19/2014 2:17 PM, Donald Perley wrote: Maybe I'm more disturbed that there's enough material for 31 annual film festivals on the topic. It's run by the U of I Entomology department. Always a good time. http://www.life.illinois.edu/entomology/egsa/ifff.html Jonathan

[Callers] question about Disturbed By Insects

llow" or "Gents, push your partner back again" or something similar. Does anyone have any advice on this? Thanks. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.htm

Re: [Callers] Dances with three or more allemandes

their fingers around the other's thumb/wrist junction, keeping their own thumbs pointing straight up. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can d

Re: [Callers] Planned vs. "on-the-fly" call wording (was Re: Circle & pass through as the last move of a dance)

specific example at the moment, but I know that I do this all of the time and it isn't something that I plan ahead of time. I do like to work out economical phrases for complex sequences of figures as you mention, but I also like to keep my options open to allow additional words where nee

Re: [Callers] Circle & pass through as the last move of a dance

they have for a given figure, I know that I do this fairly often, but the dancers fail to absorb the information for one reason or another. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me

Re: [Callers] Some history of Cross Trail Thru (was Re: Square through vs Cross-trail)

On 1/7/2014 5:31 PM, James Saxe wrote: The complete run of the magazine is available online at http://digitaldu.coalliance.org/fedora/repository/codu:59239 It seems like large chunks of the set are missing and many are mislabeled. For example if you look at March of 1955 you

Re: [Callers] Unsual dances

urtesy turn once or twice as time allows. You end up with a new partner.) Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of

Re: [Callers] How to Devise a Program

are warmed up, and it's a good time to get them mixed around a bit, especially if there are new dancers present. I also like to plan for a couple of squares and some non-typical formation dances, such as 4 face 4 or Sicilian circle dances, during the evening for variety. Jonathan - Jonathan

Re: [Callers] Fwd: List of contra dance figures

- Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call!

Re: [Callers] a mad and fruitless search

ML 1½; Sw P This dance is by Becky Hill. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what

Re: [Callers] "Full sashay"/"MadRobin" (was Re: Arms Folded in Dosidos)

Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call!

Re: [Callers] Historic dances, Sacktt's Harbor

could easily have added a 3rd or even a 4th workshop. We hope to give our local dancers a feel for some of the history of contra dance and where some of the figures they encounter in modern dances came from. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier

Re: [Callers] Dances With Minimal Partner Time (Was: dances with ultimate partner time)

succumbed to ECD as a cloverleaf turn single. Just saying. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends

Re: [Callers] Waltz contras - does anyone have any in their box?

On 1/28/2013 6:00 PM, Alan Winston wrote: On 1/28/2013 7:40 AM, John Sweeney wrote: Someone mentioned The Spanish Waltz - lovely dance. But I am often working with groups who can't waltz, so it all breaks down in B2. So I change the waltz in B2 to: Take Promenade Hold, Men put Left Shoulders

Re: [Callers] easy modern-day contras with petronella turns

w B2. \( 8) Pass thru (across), CA twirl .. \( 8) Cir lf 1/2, slide lf one cpl Here's a similar dance with a neighbor swing instead of a partner swing. Brainstorm Scott Miller & Jonathan Sivier duple improper; beginner-intermediate 1-2 Petronella balance and twirl twice 3-4 Repeat 5-6

Re: [Callers] ideas for callers about sidelines

On 1/16/2013 2:54 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote: I've recently started mentioning that very thing in the beginner sessions. After talking about how we switch partners after each dance I tell them that partnering tends to happen really quickly, so don't be shy about asking folks. I usually mention

Re: [Callers] Progression and "Going Out"

On 1/14/2013 4:22 PM, Yoyo Zhou wrote: On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 1:09 PM, Don Veino wrote: I'm wondering whether someone has developed a simple accurate mnemonic for Thinking about this, I think it's easier to watch what's going on. You can usually identify a

Re: [Callers] cards - writing in pencil vs pen???

r English dances, but not at our contra dances. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call!

Re: [Callers] Inclusivemess & Older Dancers

ghbor (or whomever) isn't right in front of you, they are probably right behind you." This seemed to be helpful at least some of the time. Luckily this wasn't an issue with most of the dancers and they were able to help the ones who had some troubles. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller

Re: [Callers] Feeling the Music

me feel somewhat like you describe. I've heard other callers do this and some are very good. Particular tunes and/or dances seem to lend themselves to this. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http

Re: [Callers] What is the best contra dance(s) ever written?

it at the next dance I go to. Jonathan P.S. ;-) - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call!

Re: [Callers] How to Call a Petronella Turn?

at. Probably something to do with the Coriolis effect. ;-) Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance

Re: [Callers] How to call a Petronella Turn?

On 11/23/2012 6:06 PM, Laur wrote: I find spin sounds too close to swing so I use twirl... Maybe only my accent or enunciation I also tend to say twirl. In fact, I will sometimes call the move the Petronella Twirl, that is the twirl figure from Petronella. I've only called the original

Re: [Callers] Increase in Youth Attendance

On 10/20/2012 11:16 AM, bob...@aol.com wrote: Has anyone seen an increase in Youth attendance at local dances since the NPR spots aired last week? Here's the link to one of them. The other was with Bob Boilen, a closet contra-ist We've had an increase in attendance by young dancers,

Re: [Callers] Calling for Absolute Beginners?

e, actives in the center 8 - all back up, actives arch joined hands, inactives duck through the arch to meet new neighbors Good luck. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_l

Re: [Callers] mixers for regular dancers not ons

and left and slide right, past partner, as in Rory O'More, reform the wavy circle 6 - Balance left and right and slide left, past partner again 7-8 Balance and swing the next person, your new partner This is a great mixer and I use it quite often. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra

Re: [Callers] Gender Neutral Dance Request

. They all work with 32 bar tunes. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call

Re: [Callers] Dancing in prison at Christmas: does anyone remember this? Did I post it here?

ahoo group. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call!

Re: [Callers] The Role of the Caller

keeping things in perspective and enjoying events for what they are, not for what I think they should be. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can

Re: [Callers] ISO: a few good diagonals...

the hey with their second corners and the inactives will not be partners, but will be trail-buddies Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance

Re: [Callers] Request about requests

is or isn't included in the program. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call!

Re: [Callers] Easy and Fun

f various kinds. My impression is that groups of college kids like these learn things pretty fast and are plenty active, so you shouldn't have to simplify things very much. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page:

Re: [Callers] (no subject)

Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call!

Re: [Callers] Contact information for Hank Morris

ladies chain A2 hey for four B1 partner balance & swing B2 circle left 3/4 neighbor swing Jonathan ----- Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels

Re: [Callers] alternate formations

the next figure. Jonathan - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call!

[Callers] changing message subjects (was Re: Callers Digest, Vol 79, Issue 20)

the subject line, clipped the contents and added my reply. I'm using Mozilla Thunderbird. - Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Home Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html - Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin