Contra Dance Planning
On Wednesday, my contra calling class had a meeting to plan our May 2 graduation dance. I got some insight into dance programming by listening to Merri think out loud as she placed callers in the lineup.
I spent time on Tuesday and Wednesday researching dances on line. There are a lot of sources, including a Filemaker database (American Country Dances On Line, served on a Mac), that is downloadable. Which I did. And then started adding other dances. Here’s a list of sources of dances, both online and off (scroll for online resources).
I find myself attracted to dances by name, which is probably dangerous. But how could I resist a dance called “24th of October” (my birthday). I can’t give you a URL directly to the dance; it’s in the American Country Dances On Line database. So here it is:
24th of October
By Don Lennartson
| Level | med (assigned by the editor) |
| Type | Contra |
| Formation | Becket |
| A1 | (8) Long lines go forward and back (8) Ladies chain |
| A2 | (8) Left-hand star This is the progression (8) With a new neighbor allemande right 1 1/2 to long waves with gents facing in |
| B1 | (4) Balance the wave (4) Circulate to new waves (gents cross into P’s place; ladies arc right into N’s place) (4) Balance (4) Circulate to new waves (gents arc, ladies cross) |
| B2 | (4) Balance (4) Circulate (gents cross, ladies arc) (8) Partners swing |
Editor’s Notes:
Based on Steve Schnur’s 24th of June.
This dance is from American Country Dances On Line
All rights reserved by the author; used by permission.
Added to database 3/19/1997; last revised 3/5/1999; edited by Russell Owen
As an MWSD dancer and caller, the circulates look pretty trivial. But Merri thought this would be pretty hard to call…spitting out the “balance” and “circulate” (plus any helper words to get the dancers through an unfamiliar figure) will be challenging. I’m looking forward to it. And I’m practicing.