Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

On Tue, Oct 04, 2016, Yoyo Zhou via Callers wrote: > > Try not to cancel the dance unless you all literally would rather go have > some ice cream. Dancers don't go to a dance like this expecting the contra > contra contra experience, but simply that you will lead them in dance and > help them have

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

“Improper is tougher” It certainly sounds like an opportunity for people to switch roles, and that it’s tougher suggests it’d be a new experience. If they’ve never done that before, even familiar and simple dances will seem new and newly challenging. Read Weaver Jamaica Plain, MA

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

Kliban via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> Sent: Wednesday, October 5, 2016 3:44:45 PM To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net Subject: Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas? On 10/4/2016 9:58 PM, Michael Barraclough via Callers wrote: > I am sure that Kalia will kill me fo

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

On 10/4/2016 9:58 PM, Michael Barraclough via Callers wrote: I am sure that Kalia will kill me for this (as I know she knows) but the dance is really Pride of the Pingle by the late Ken Alexander (UK). Someone from the USA saw it in the UK, misheard the name, assumed it was Irish and called it

[Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

Scottish dances can also be a good source when you're short on numbers. And if you have internet, you can look them up when you arrive at the venue, as the abbreviated instructions for many of them can be found at http://my.strathspey.org/dd/index/ (you can filter for set size using the menu:

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

On 2016-10-04 2158, Michael Barraclough via Callers wrote: I am sure that Kalia will kill me for this (as I know she knows) but the dance is really Pride of the Pingle by the late Ken Alexander (UK). Someone from the USA saw it in the UK, misheard the name, assumed it was Irish and called it

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

I am sure that Kalia will kill me for this (as I know she knows) but the dance is really Pride of the Pingle by the late Ken Alexander (UK). Someone from the USA saw it in the UK, misheard the name, assumed it was Irish and called it Pride of the Dingle when they called it in the USA. Such is the

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

Thanks to everyone for your great responses! I’ve taken notes, looked up dances, watched videos, and will be ready (without panic) for the next dance where we have very few dancers. Kalia, I love Pride of Dingle and did call it that night as a 7-person dance. I had Dingle skip the last

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

blockquote, div.yahoo_quoted { margin-left: 0 !important; border-left:1px #715FFA solid !important; padding-left:1ex !important; background-color:white !important; } I have a few dances - I'm tight on time, will send soon. I want more though so I hope others continue to share. Laur Sent

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

On 10/4/2016 2:37 PM, Winston, Alan P. via Callers wrote: Its really tempting to cancel a contra if you only have a few people, but you don't want to punish the people who showed up - they may have foregone other options for their evenings. And there's a sense of triumph if you can show them a

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

On Oct 4, 2016, at 3:18 PM, Yoyo Zhou via Callers wrote: > - Do 4-person dances and let the 5th person cut in wherever they please. The notion of cutting in can also apply to other situations where you have a fixed-size set or sets and an extra person (or more

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

The Appalachian dance tradition has a bunch of two-couple figures. See, for example, http://www.bubbaguitar.com/squaredance/littletoc.html http://round.soc.srcf.net/round/dances/krs/guts Usually they'd usually be used in a context where pairs of couples dance together and then one or

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

On Tue, Oct 4, 2016 at 12:19 PM, Dale Wilson via Callers < callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > We have something we call the "calling party progression" because we > sometimes try out new dances with only four people present (or four + a > caller). > > We form one set with "Up" being "North"

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

Jacqui -- I feel your pain. (I spent a couple of years trying to run an English Ceilidh series - bouncy sweaty dances with swings - and while we once had 42 people we more typically had 6 or fewer. I collected and made up a bunch of five person dances, but most of them aren't very contra-y.

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

Jacqui, I have called proper longways dances (without diagonals or out-of-minor-set interactions) for two couples, switching active couples with every other iteration but maintaining the same orientation in the room. Works well with many English dances -- for example Softly Good Tummas -- because

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

Dale, Thanks for answering my query. This sounds like a great idea! Jacqui > On Oct 4, 2016, at 12:19 PM, Dale Wilson wrote: > > We have something we call the "calling party progression" because we > sometimes try out new dances with only four people present (or four

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

On 10/4/2016 12:09 PM, QuiAnn2 via Callers wrote: I recently called at a contra dance where we had exactly 6 dancers for almost the entire evening (one joined us later but only occasionally danced). This was unexpected as they usually have attendance in the 12-20 range. I was able to piece

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

I've had this dance for years to use when there are only 2 couples. Can't remember which contra dance it comes from, but it's modified by adding a square thru 5-hands (zesty) instead of 4-hands to take you back to your partner for the Balance & Swing. It's fun and can be exhausting depending on

Re: [Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

We have something we call the "calling party progression" because we sometimes try out new dances with only four people present (or four + a caller). We form one set with "Up" being "North" (for example). At the end of the dance we progress by changing "Up" to be "East." and turning to face the

[Callers] Fewer than 6 dancers - Ideas?

I recently called at a contra dance where we had exactly 6 dancers for almost the entire evening (one joined us later but only occasionally danced). This was unexpected as they usually have attendance in the 12-20 range. I was able to piece together a night of mixers, triplets, and oddball