Archive-Date: Fri, 03 May 1996 10:28:36 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 03 May 1996 13:28:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Erik.Vanlennep-AT- Dartmouth.EDU (Erik Vanlennep) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Maypole dance sought To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <19402337-AT- cupid.Dartmouth.EDU> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Hi, friends of mine are getting married soon and looking for the choreography of (any, I presume) maypole dance to include in the ceremony. Can you help?? Thanks Erik van Lennep <> ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 03 May 1996 12:59:14 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 03 May 1996 15:58:59 -0500 (EST) From: AAHAYDEN-AT- amherst.edu Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Maypole dance sought To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <01I49WD2KVIA96WMHH-AT- amherst.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT For Erik van Lennep, who was looking for a maypole dance: The Country Dance & Song Society's sales department has a nifty little booklet published in England that contains good directions for a maypole dance; there's also an accompanying tape with appropriate music. You can reach the Country Dance & Song Society at (413) 586-9913 (ask for Sales), or write to 17 New South St, Nothampton, MA, 01060. Good luck. Robin Hayden ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 03 May 1996 13:42:49 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 03 May 1996 16:41:24 -0500 (EST) From: AAHAYDEN-AT- amherst.edu Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Maypole dance sought To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <01I49XWN3H9E96WMMW-AT- amherst.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Oops--correction on the phone number for CDSS: it's (413) 584-9913, not 586. Robin ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sun, 05 May 1996 07:40:42 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Sun, 05 May 1996 10:42:17 -0400 From: mgoodman-AT- albany.net (Mary Beth Goodman) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Lovely time had by all at Hartford Ball To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Thanks to all the Reel Nutmeggers who once again gave a lovely Hartford Ball. For those who haven't been lately, the new site is definitely the find of the century! But more than that, the Hartford Ball is always a relaxed evening of pleasant dancing enjoyed by all present. Music was provided by Pleasures of the Town and dances were taught and prompted by Roselle Schultz and Helen Davenport. Well done ladies! Mary Beth Goodman ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sun, 05 May 1996 17:28:17 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Sun, 05 May 1996 20:26:24 -0400 From: mes-AT- world.std.com (Mary E Stafford) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Lovely time had by all at Hartford Ball To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605060026.AA06858-AT- world.std.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Hear, hear! We two Bostonites (Mary and Charity Stafford) also had a wonderful time. These people know how to run a dance that is not a tense and worried examination of one's expertise, but a good time. Dances were very well taught and called, there were plenty of pleasant partners, and the refreshments were delicious. In addition, there was a very nice hotel within walking distance, as well as many dinner restaurants. The hall is gorgeous- we look forward to next year! Mary Stafford Allston, MA ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Mon, 06 May 1996 11:18:36 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Mon, 06 May 1996 14:15:01 -0400 From: Barbara Ruth Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Lovely time had by all a To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Reply to: RE>Lovely time had by all at Hartford Ball I found Saturday's Hartford Ball to be one of the most delightful evenings of dance I can remember ever having experienced. Two things in particular struck me. One was how carefully the dances had been chosen to be balanced. There were none of those frustrating dances that are absolutely heavenly for the actives while everyone else basically stands there trying to stay awake enough to remember to move up or down at the appropriate time and just hope that they will get to the head of the set in time to have a few rounds of enjoyment. Every dance had plenty for the ones, twos -and threes when called upon, to keep things fun and lively for everyone. The other thing that I found particularly noticable about the evening was the awareness I had of dancing not only with a partner or even with my set, but of the whole room. I don't know if this was due to the structure of the ballroom itself, of the dances chosen, just a particular mood I was in, or some combination of the above, but for much of the night I found myself especially conscious of the way all the dancers on the floor were moving in concert to form patterns across the room. At particular moments, such as the two gorgeously flowing circles of Indian Princess, being part of that unity of flowing motion was just breathtaking. Barbara Ruth New Haven ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Mon, 06 May 1996 15:50:59 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Mon, 06 May 1996 23:32:30 +0100 From: Jerry Fox Subject: Re: Lovely time had by all a To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Message-ID: <96May6.234339bst.35767-AT- oveja.u-net.net> (4) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT > From: Barbara Ruth > Reply to: RE>Lovely time had by all at Hartford Ball >... There > were none of those frustrating dances that are absolutely heavenly for the > actives while everyone else basically stands there trying to stay awake enough > to remember to move up or down at the appropriate time and just hope that they > will get to the head of the set in time to have a few rounds of enjoyment. ... Am I right in thinking that these dances were devised so that the 'resting' couples could then talk out of earchot of their chaperones? Jerry Fox, Monmouth, Wales ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 16:10:40 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 19:06:43 -0400 From: Barbara Ruth Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Lovely time had by all To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Reply to: RE>>Lovely time had by all a Am I right in thinking that these dances were devised so that the 'resting' couples could then talk out of earchot of their chaperones? Jerry Fox, Monmouth, Wales I have heard something to that effect said. However, times being what they are, I would rather have the opportunity to dance than talk. B. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 21:44:43 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 21:36:01 -0700 (PDT) From: "Paul J. Stamler" Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: How many? How long? To: English Dance Maillist Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Hey folks: I would like to hear from other dance groups across the country: 1) How long is an evening of dancing in your group (regular dances, not special events like balls or performances)? 2) How many dances do you do in an evening? Thanks! Private replies OK, or post to the list as you choose. Peace. Paul ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 07:12:30 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 10:11:51 -0500 From: eferguson-AT- umassd.edu (Emily L. Ferguson) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: How many? How long? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT >Hey folks: > >I would like to hear from other dance groups across the country: Boston Centre, CDS > >1) How long is an evening of dancing in your group (regular dances, not >special events like balls or performances)? Three sections of about an hour each. First section at more introductory level, with emphasis on introducing essential figures while not driving experienced dancers up the wall. Second section at more experienced level. Emphasis on more complex sequences and newer material with Dance of the Month somewhere in there. Break, brief. Third section requests - talk-thru only with repeats of one dance from each of the previous two sections, the remainder selected from requests and the repertoire of the leaders/teachers/callers. Final waltz > >2) How many dances do you do in an evening? About 5 per section + the waltz. Sometimes we manage 6 requests. > Emily L. Ferguson - Cape Cod, Massachusetts Photographer, English Country Dance leader, weaver/spinner ------------------------------------------------------------------- No matter which side of the fence you're on, the grass will always turn brown if you don't water it. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 08:02:58 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 10:02:51 -0500 From: Jonathan Sivier Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: How many? How long? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605151502.AA02361-AT- ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT The Central Illinois English Country Dancers is a relatively new group in Champaign-Urbana, IL. We have been having monthly dances since last September at the local park district. Prior to that we met at the home of some of our members. Our monthly dances are 2 hours (with a break) and we usually do 5 to 7 dances during that time, depending on which dances and how many new people in attendance. We've been averaging around two dozen dancers at each session. We held a Christmas Ball last December and had 33 dancers and we will be holding our first Playford Ball on June 8. Jonathan ------------------------------------------------------------------- | Jonathan Sivier | Ballo ergo sum. | | j-sivier-AT- uiuc.edu | (I dance therefore I am.) | | Flight Simulation Lab | - des Cartwright | | Beckman Institute | | | 405 N. Mathews | SWMDG - Single White Male | | Urbana, IL 61801 | Dance Gypsy | | Work: 217/244-1923 | | | Home: 217/359-8225 | Have shoes, will dance. | ------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 08:30:54 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 08:30:43 -0700 From: dodson-AT- violet.berkeley.edu (allen and alisa dodson) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: How many? How long? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT >Hey folks: > >I would like to hear from other dance groups across the country: > >1) How long is an evening of dancing in your group (regular dances, not >special events like balls or performances)? San Francisco Bay Area: About 2 1/2 hours (8 p.m. to 10:30). Occasionally a little shorter or longer. One series is preceded by a 7:30 newcomers session if any newcomers arrive that early. >2) How many dances do you do in an evening? Usually 8 to 10, depending on dance difficulty and experience level of dancers. At a monthly experienced dance, we sometimes do as many as 12. Alisa Dodson ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 09:38:56 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 09:21:21 -0800 (pst) From: afeldman-AT- oacis.com Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: How many? How long?: SF Bay area To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <9604158321.AA832178027-AT- ccsmtp.bellahs.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT In the San Francisco Bay area, most of our English Country dance evenings are 2 1/2 hours long (including a break), and we do 9-10 dances (or occasionally 11). Anise Feldman San Bruno, CA ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 09:49:21 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 09:45:18 -0700 From: EVANS Nan E Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Portland Dances To: ecd (Return requested) Message-ID: <"06DFE319A0A1E001*/c=us/admd= /prmd=or.gov/o=PRD/ou=MSMail/s=EVANS/g=Nan/i=E/"-AT- MHS> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT 1) How long is an evening of dancing in your group (regular dances, not special events like balls or performances)? At our regular "more experienced" monthly (soon to be twice monthly dances) - about 3 hours with a 20 minute break At the monthly "more beginning" level dances - about 2 + hours (no break) 2) How many dances do you do in an evening? At the "more experienced" dances - 9 or 10 or 11 plus 2 waltzes (before break and at the end) At the "more beginning" dances - it varies a lot - 6 to 8, plus 1 waltz at the end Nan Evans Portland, Oregon ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 10:25:11 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 10:28:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Richard Sauvain Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: How many? How long? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <2.2.32.19960515172815.0127eb10-AT- uffa> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Nominally three hours in Rochester NY, but we typically start 20 minutes late and take a break of about 20 minutes half way through. So roughly 2 1/4 hours of dancing time. In that period we typically do 10-11 dances. At 09:36 PM 5/14/96 PDT, you wrote: >Hey folks: > >I would like to hear from other dance groups across the country: > >1) How long is an evening of dancing in your group (regular dances, not >special events like balls or performances)? > >2) How many dances do you do in an evening? > >Thanks! Private replies OK, or post to the list as you choose. > >Peace. >Paul > -- Richard Name: Richard Sauvain | Xerox Corp. Research & Technology EMail: sauvain-AT- wrc.xerox.com | Mail Stop 128-29E Phone: (716) 422-3379 | 800 Phillips Road Fax: (716) 265-7133 | Webster, NY 14580 ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 11:50:57 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 13:50:49 -0500 From: Jonathan Sivier Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Playford Ball in Illinois, June 8 To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605151850.AA26798-AT- ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT The Central Illinois English Country Dancers Present Their First Annual P L A Y F O R D B A L L The Central Illinois English Country Dancers will be holding their first annual Playford Ball on Saturday, June 8, 1996. The dance will be held at the Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon, Urbana, IL, on the campus of the University of Illinois. There will be a review of the dances from 7:00 to 8:00, followed by the Ball from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. Fans and finery are encouraged. There will be a $4.00 suggested donation to help cover the cost of the hall. All lovers of English Country dance and music are welcome. Dances Lead By: Susan Burt, Jane Hobgood, Patricia Moffitt and Jonathan Sivier Music Provided By: The Flatland Consort Dance Review: 7:00 p.m. Christmas Ball: 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. Date: Saturday, June 8, 1996 Location: Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon, Urbana, IL Suggested Donation: $4.00 The dances: Christchurch Bells Dargason Draper's Gardens Female Saylor Galopede Geud Man Of Ballangigh Good Man Of Cambridge Grimstock Heartsease Jenny Pluck Pears Nottingham Swing Queen's Jig Scotch Cap For further information contact Jonathan Sivier (j-sivier-AT- uiuc.edu) at 217/359-8225. Thanks for the support of the Champaign Park District and the Urbana Country Dancers. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 15:29:07 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 18:28:55 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Arnold Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: How many? How long? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT In Ann Arbor we have two regularly scheduled English Country dance events: there is a monthly dance and a fortnightly dance workshop. The monthly dance meets on fourth Saturdays from 8 to 11 pm, with a break of typically 15 minutes roughly halfway through, and a typical evening would include around 10 set dances, a final waltz, and often a couple dance of some sort -- waltz, hambo, zwiefacher, etc. just before of after the break. The fortnightly dance workshop meets on alternate Tuesdays from 7:30 to 10 pm, has a 10-15 minute break in the middle, and usually we work on at least 6 dances but rarely more than 10. There may or may not be a final waltz, sometimes decided by a poll of the dancers between that and another set dance, and there may be a couple dance ot two during the break, depending on the mood of the musicians. The teaching element is usually worked in to a framework that is basically designed to be entertaining, and it may include a review of known dances for their own sake or with some style pointers added, a fairly vigorous attempt to sharpen up a specific dance, a more complicated dance from the standard Playford repertoire, one or more of the traditional dances collected from around the turn of the century, something from the now-standard twentieth-century repertoire, or a relatively new dance. Sometimes there will be some sort of explicit or implicit theme that underlies the program, sometimes not. Usually both events start fairly close to their scheduled starting times. The Tuesday workshop always ends promptly at 10 pm. The Saturday dance is a bit more flexible in its terminaton time, but usually goes until just past 11 pm. Eric Arnold Ann Arbor ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 16:32:55 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 18:08:54 -0400 From: "m.a.j. mckenna" Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: DC dances To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605152332.TAA15384-AT- borg.mindspring.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT i'll be in the DC area - actually, at University of Maryland, with varying times of escape from evening lectures - from 2-9 June. as a result, i miss (sulk) the monthly meeting of English Country Dance Atlanta (pause to allow wild cheers from the audience) - and i'd like to know whether i can satisfy my dance jones in DC or Beltway-ville. replies, if any, would probably be better off list. ta very much. maryn mckenna ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 07:04:02 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 10:03:51 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Arnold Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: "True Brit" dates? To: ECD Mailing List Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT I have been looking for information on the "True Brit" weekend in the New York area for this fall, but have been unable to find anything yet. I would appreciate it if anyone who knows when it is scheduled, or who knows where to get the information, would either put it up on the mailing list or email me at eba-AT- umich.edu. Thanks bunches! Eric Arnold Ann Arbor ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 08:23:31 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 11:03:13 +0000 (GMT) From: Margherita Modica Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: "True Brit" dates? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <12D5E94377F5-AT- obgyn.amc.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Eric Arnold wrote: > I have been looking for information on the "True Brit" weekend in the New > York area for this fall, but have been unable to find anything yet. I > would appreciate it if anyone who knows when it is scheduled, or who > knows where to get the information, would either put it up on the mailing > list or email me at eba-AT- umich.edu. The True Brit weekend has evolved into an every other year event, since it requires a lot of creative involvement to produce a new theme, mummers play and all the spoofs involved. It alternates on that weekend with an "Again Let's Be Merry" festival, held in NYC. The date is the weekend of October 11-13. The exact schedule is being worked on as we speak. Stay tuned. Margherita Davis ************************************************************************ Margherita M. Modica mmodica-AT- obgyn.amc.edu Obstetrics & Gynecology (518) 262-6405 Albany Medical College (518) 262-5292, fax ************************************************************************ ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 10:48:31 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 13:47:20 -0400 From: mes-AT- world.std.com (Mary E Stafford) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: How many? How long? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605161747.AA04071-AT- world.std.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Paul (and others)- I dance ECD on Wednesday evenings in Cambridge, MA at a CDS-Boston Centre dance. We run from 7:30 to 10:30 pm, with a short (10-15 min) break at about 9:30. I would guess (Emily, can you give a better estimate?) we do about 12-15 dances. We have a format using two teachers, and supposedly progress from easy to hard over the two hours of teaching. The time after the break is "no-call"; we do a couple of dances from ones taught earlier, then some from dancer requests. I look forward to hearing from others on this question. We also have a =UKamonthly ECD for "experienced" dancers. I don't often go, as it competes with another commitment, but I'll ask my daughter what the details of that dance are and post tomorrow. Mary S. Allston, MA ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 11:57:47 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 14:57:00 -0400 From: RiverStSch-AT- aol.com Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Lovely time had by all To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <960516145659_114972385-AT- emout07.mail.aol.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT When developing the list of dances for the Hartford Ball, Roselle and I considered about 6 variables; mood, tempo, key, activity level, difficulty level, dance formation and dance figures. It's actually quite a process. I guess at one point being able to talk/flirt away from your ever watchful adults was very important. Today people want flow and energy and they "sit one out" to do the major socializing. Frequently I'm sad because dancers complain about the slower dances but the best dancers also know these too can have grace, flow and energy! Helen Davenport- Director of Reel Nutmeg and The Hartford Ball ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 12:44:22 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 14:45:08 -0500 (CDT) From: FORBES-AT- GEORGE.BAKERU.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Lovely time had by all To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <960516144508.1f05-AT- GEORGE.BAKERU.EDU> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT The lower dances can be the hardest to do well. It's a matter, I think, of awareness and personal pride. Forbes/Baker U - Kansas ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 14:35:31 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 14:35:22 -0800 (PST) From: Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing Subject: re: How many? How Long? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Message-ID: <009A26BD.60D767C8.23-AT- ssrl01.slac.stanford.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT From: iptech!debbieb-AT- uunet.uu.net (Debbie Bruton) Hello All, Wow, I'm very impressed with the lengh of dance practices so many folks do. I'm a member of an English Country dance troupe that performs at various Ren. faires through-out California, during Faire season we meet weekly on fridays 7:30 - 9:00, the first 45 minutes dedicated to teaching, a 10 -15 min. break and the second half dedicated to dancing our "set list" usually 10 - 12 dances (correct me if I'm wrong, Tim). If there's energy left "them that know" will do something vigoruos at the end to get our "ya-ya's" out. Very nice! Deborah Bruton Barley Corn Country Dancers San Luis Obispo, Ca ================================== Forwarded by Alan Winston. (The ECD list is configured so that you can't post to it unless you subscribe, so that we can avoid spams by, for example, magazine salesmen. Deborah's message bounced, so I'm forwarding it to the list, and I have also subscribed her so that she can catch responses.) -- APW ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 14:45:43 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 14:45:35 -0800 (PST) From: Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing Subject: RE: re: How many? How Long? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Message-ID: <009A26BE.CDEC8E78.37-AT- ssrl01.slac.stanford.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Deborah wrote: >Hello All, >Wow, I'm very impressed with the lengh of dance practices so many folks do. >I'm a member of an English Country dance troupe that performs at various >Ren. faires through-out California, during Faire season we meet weekly on >fridays > 7:30 - 9:00, the first 45 minutes dedicated to teaching, a 10 -15 min. >break and the second half dedicated to dancing our "set list" usually 10 - >12 dances (correct me if I'm wrong, Tim). If there's energy left "them that >know" will do something vigoruos at the end to get our "ya-ya's" out. Very >nice! >Deborah Bruton >Barley Corn Country Dancers >San Luis Obispo, Ca I think you're comparing apple(y house)s and oranges (and lemons), to steal a joke from someone else on this list. Barley Corn is a performance troupe, so you have a limited repertoire which you're polishing for vigorous display. I think everyone else who's responded on this question is talking about social dancing, where there's likely to be a very wide repertoire that varies considerably from session to session, and which are (probably) not practiced to perfection. There's probably a higher ratio of teaching to dancing at social dances than at performance practices, and from what I've seen at RenFaires, there are probably slower tempos than you folks use. By the way, do you know what's become of Holyrood Morris? -- Alan ================================== Tedious e-mail stuff follows; feel free to ignore. Alan wrote: >Forwarded by Alan Winston. (The ECD list is configured so that you can't post >to it unless you subscribe, so that we can avoid spams by, for example, >magazine salesmen. Deborah's message bounced, so I'm forwarding it to the >list, and I have also subscribed her so that she can catch responses.) -- APW Actually, Deborah was already subscribed, but the mail went through a different route this time and so the mailing list processor didn't recognize her. I'll subscribe her under the new route with NOMAIL set, so she won't get two copies of every posting but will be recognized however the mail comes. -- APW =============================================================================== Alan Winston --- WINSTON-AT- SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 415/926-3056 Physical mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 69, PO BOX 4349, STANFORD, CA 94309-0210 =============================================================================== ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 17:22:01 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 18:58:06 -0400 From: "m.a.j. mckenna" Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: How many? How long? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605170021.UAA29237-AT- borg.mindspring.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT oops. hit the wrong button. sorry, list. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 17:22:08 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 18:58:03 -0400 From: "m.a.j. mckenna" Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: How many? How long? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605170021.UAA29220-AT- borg.mindspring.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT At 01:47 PM 5/16/96 -0400, you wrote: >I don't often go ... but I'll ask >my daughter ... have i finally figured out the relationship between you and Charity? is she your daughter? i've seen you mention her once-twice on the list. whatever the relationship., please tell her hugs from Maryn McKenna, member-in-exile, Rose Galliard NM. maryn, atlanta ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 18:42:27 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 20:08:22 -0400 From: mes-AT- world.std.com (Mary E Stafford) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Lovely time had by all To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605170008.AA03639-AT- world.std.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Helen- I heard no complaints about the mix of dances at Hartford. Indeed, anyone who spoke with me did so to say how wonderful the program, the hall, the company, and the calling were! You and Roselle made a wonderful evening for us all; I only wish I could make the Boston Ball as fine!! Mary Stafford ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 19:19:49 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 22:18:26 -0400 From: The Dupres Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: How Long? How Many? To: 'ECD List' Message-ID: <01BB4375.C37B6860-AT- dupre.nerc.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi, All! I am so glad to hear your virtual voices out there!! I = hadn't received any ECD list mail for many days and thought you'd all = decided to think about things other than English country dance - such a = relief to know you're not so fickle! And now to the topic at hand: The monthly dance in Titusville, NJ is 3 hours long with a 20 minute = break. I think 11-12 dances per evening is typical. Sue Dupre dupre-AT- nerc1.nerc.com ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 20:23:33 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 23:23:07 -0500 From: eferguson-AT- umassd.edu (Emily L. Ferguson) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: recreational ECD repertoire To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT >I think everyone else who's responded on this question is talking about social >dancing, where there's likely to be a very wide repertoire Interesting question. How wide is your group's repertoire? My book has over 400 dances in it and most of them are not strangers to someone who comes consistantly for two or three years. Our record keeper shows that in 1994 we danced 652 dances during the entire season (Sept. to June) of which 270 appeared once or more. (He likes to keep records like that, in case you think we're compulsive in Boston.) > On another thread: Just had a very interesting experience with a visiting dancer at our regular dance. He had a good time until we arrived at the final hour, where he felt seriously intimidated by the situation and the behavior of the dancers. He was a capable dancer from another group and it was a pleasure to have him dance with us, except he was really not at all certain he would ever come back because of the final hour, for which he felt totally unprepared, despite the fact that we thought he did fine. He maintained that a walk-through would have been a lot less intimidating because of the visceral aspect of it. A talk-through was just information overload for him. Do other groups try for talk-throughs only, or dances for-those-who-know without any talk-through even? Or is this sort of thing restricted to Balls? (Parenthetically, here, I would like to say that I have heard that my community's dance has a reputation of being ... un... shall we say *challenging*, and would like people who wish to respond to these threads to share their perspectives without feeling that they have to be careful not to say something unpleasant.) Emily L. Ferguson - Cape Cod, Massachusetts Photographer, English Country Dance leader, weaver/spinner ------------------------------------------------------------------- No matter which side of the fence you're on, the grass will always turn brown if you don't water it. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 08:29:12 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 10:28:34 -0600 From: seniort-AT- newtrier.k12.il.us (Thomas J. Senior) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: How Long? How Many? To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Hello out there, Here in Chicagoland (Evanston to be more specific), we have a small group which meets on fourth Wednesdays from 8 to 10 P.M. I usually get in 8 to 10 dances done during the evening. Tom Senior At 09:36 PM 5/14/96 PDT, you wrote: >Hey folks: > >I would like to hear from other dance groups across the country: > >1) How long is an evening of dancing in your group (regular dances, not >special events like balls or performances)? > >2) How many dances do you do in an evening? > >Thanks! Private replies OK, or post to the list as you choose. > >Peace. >Paul > Those who can, do. Those who understand, teach. Thomas J. Senior New Trier High School 1232 St. Johns Ave 385 Winnetka Ave Highland Park, IL 60035-3425 Winnetka, IL 60093-4295 847-433-8704 847-446-7000 x2128 seniort-AT- newtrier.k12.il.us ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 08:33:59 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 11:33:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Arnold Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: recreational ECD repertoire (long) To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT On Thu, 16 May 1996, Emily L. Ferguson wrote: > . . . . Our record keeper > shows that in 1994 we danced 652 dances during the entire season (Sept. to > June) of which 270 appeared once or more. Emily, did you mean to say "twice or more", or were 382 of these dances "Mensa" dances? Does the 652 represent the number of dances including the repetitions, or the number of individual dance titles represented? Perhaps your record keeper would be so kind as to keep track of *who* danced *which* dance with *what* frequency, so those of us with a lower frequency of ECD events to go to can more realistically compare our provincial experiences to the milieu at Boston Centre [ (;-), in case anybody's wondering!] (By the way, how many weeks of the year does your dance group *not* meet?) > On another thread: > Just had a very interesting experience with a visiting dancer at our > regular dance. He had a good time until we arrived at the final hour, > where he felt seriously intimidated by the situation and the behavior of > the dancers. He was a capable dancer from another group and it was a > pleasure to have him dance with us, except he was really not at all certain > he would ever come back because of the final hour, for which he felt > totally unprepared, despite the fact that we thought he did fine. I feel that a group with the level of activity that your group has is entitled to design its program to satisfy its regular membership, and failure to meet the needs of the more experienced dancers would result in their losing interest and drifting off, just as failure to meet the needs of beginners and less-experienced dancers will result in their not returning, leading to an aging group that lacks the highly invigorating effect of new blood. I get the impression that your group makes a serious effort to address all of these needs. If dancing the better-known dances without a walk-through were simply an elitist idea designed to make the dancing more difficult and increase the division between "those who know" and those who don't, there would be no excuse for it at a public social dance. But I believe that not only is there good historical precedent for dancing this way, there are a number of benefices that can result from learning to be less dependent on the the teaching. For one thing, it means that the dancers have the basic figures of the dance already well fixed in their heads, although the talk-through may still be helpful to bring them to the surface. This means that more of the dancing time will be spent on interaction with the other dancers and there will be more opportunity to be aware of the movement of the major set, both things which can contribute to really fine dance experiences. Another thing that this practice can easily lead into is spontaneous dancing when opportunities present themselves; I think anyone who has participated in this can testify that a dance that is done spontaneously is particularly delightful. These things do not happen as long as the crutch of the walkthrough is clung to, because it remove the need for the dancers themselves to remember the dance. If your visitor felt uncomfortable during the last hour of your dance because he perceived pain in the expressions of those he was dancing with because he did not meet their expectations, if he was really dancing quite well then the burden would be on the group, but if his dancing was truly distracting and painful, then he might better have excused himself and be content to watch that part. But if he felt uncomfortable, in spite of a welcoming and happy reception by your group, because he was unable to meet his own expectations of himself under the circumstances, then the need for growth is primarily with him, and it would appear that your group would offer him the opportunity for that. > He maintained that a walk-through would have been a lot less intimidating > because of the visceral aspect of it. A talk-through was just information > overload for him. (This is implicitly addressed above.) > Do other groups try for talk-throughs only, or dances for-those-who-know > without any talk-through even? Or is this sort of thing restricted to > Balls? We only *very* occasionally have a no-walk/talk-through; some of us have, as a bit of a goal, to reach the point where some of our regular dancers can do a small repertoire of dances on this basis, but we're not there yet. But I'd like to see it happen, because I believe that it is a significant step in the process of becomming a better dancer. > (Parenthetically, here, I would like to say that I have heard that my > community's dance has a reputation of being ... un... shall we say > *challenging*, and would like people who wish to respond to these threads > to share their perspectives without feeling that they have to be careful > not to say something unpleasant.) It is good to know that there are places which are not bound by the typical levels of ECD that one finds around the country, but that does not come without its own problems, which are probably most succinctly described by a tendency to generate a degree of snobbishness in some of the dancers, which effectively prevents them from helping to raise the general level elsewhere -- it makes it harder for others to dance in your area until they have really built up their confidence level -- and it is harder for expatriates from your area to mix into the local communities and add their experience in a way that helps to raise the overall level (which they can do simply by dancing regularly in the new locale). A specific reaction by a good dancer from our area who danced in Boston was that a lot of dances were done with brief teaching, but the dances were over so quickly -- maybe 7 times for longways dances, once through for set dances, that they weren't very satisfying, at least to this visitor. But I look forward to an opportunity to experience it firsthand! Eric Arnold Ann Arbor ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 08:37:06 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 11:35:00 -0400 From: Barbara Ruth Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: talk-throughs, walk-through To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Reply to: talk-throughs, walk-throughs (was recreational ECD repertoire From: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.Stanford.EDU >He maintained that a walk-through would have been a lot less intimidating because of the visceral aspect of it. A talk-through was just information overload for him.< >Do other groups try for talk-throughs only, or dances for-those-who-know without any talk-through even? Or is this sort of thing restricted to Balls?< Different people have different ways of learning and processing information. I am one of those who has a great deal of difficulty visualizing something from verbal description, therefore like your visitor, I find talk-throughs only to be information overload and, for myself anyway, extremely frustrating as I struggle to process this information that my mind can't quite absorb. A walk-through, for me, is simple, direct and effective as a learning tool. I must add to that, that I think doing English dancing for the past three years or so has _improved_ my visualization skills considerably. I discovered this earlier this Spring on a trip to an out of town ball, when one of the travelers in our car read the dance instructions from the program aloud. It took a great deal of effort and concentration but I found that I could in fact visualize the sequences that were being described, whereas in previous such situations I'd always found that the reading sounded like so much gobbledy-gook, and I got impatient and upset from the frustration of trying to make sense of what I was hearing. I am curious as to whether anyone else has had a similar experience. Barbara Ruth New Haven, CT ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 09:04:15 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 12:04:06 -0400 From: Kim Barrett Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: talk-through only intimidation To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <23582.9605171604-AT- banshee.harlequin.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT > Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 23:23:07 -0500 > From: eferguson-AT- umassd.edu (Emily L. Ferguson) > > Just had a very interesting experience with a visiting dancer at our > regular dance. He had a good time until we arrived at the final hour, > where he felt seriously intimidated by the situation and the behavior of > the dancers. He was a capable dancer from another group and it was a > pleasure to have him dance with us, except he was really not at all certain > he would ever come back because of the final hour, for which he felt > totally unprepared, despite the fact that we thought he did fine. > > He maintained that a walk-through would have been a lot less intimidating > because of the visceral aspect of it. A talk-through was just information > overload for him. As someone who is only a very occasional attendee of the Cambridge MA dance, I can understand the intimidation felt by this visitor. Because I don't do all that much ECD (I'd love to do more, but as a friend puts it, "You can't videotape life."), it is quite likely that I've never even heard of most of the dances that get done in that final hour, and I don't have the knack of learning a completely new dance from just a talk-through. It helps me remember a dance if I can recognize familiar chunks that are larger than the individual figures. I find that recognition process much easier in a walk-through than from just a talk-through. Probably something about the ears being connected directly to the feet, leaving the mind free to think about what the instructions actually mean. That said though, my response to this situation seems to be quite different from your visitor. In spite of how hard it is for me, I actually think this is one of the things that really appeals to me about the Cambridge dance. I like being able to dance to really good music without having to listen to it around a caller's voice. So I hope he comes back, and would encourage him to do so. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 09:14:04 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 12:13:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Dianne E Sears Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: DC dances To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605171613.MAA09035-AT- wilde.oit.umass.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > i'll be in the DC area - actually, at University of Maryland, with varying > times of escape from evening lectures - from 2-9 June. > > as a result, i miss (sulk) the monthly meeting of English Country Dance > Atlanta (pause to allow wild cheers from the audience) - and i'd like to > know whether i can satisfy my dance jones in DC or Beltway-ville. > > replies, if any, would probably be better off list. ta very much. > > maryn mckenna > Dear Maryn McKenna, There are dances in the DC/College Park area. You should be able to get info on them from the Country Dance and Song Society. Their e-mail address is 71231.2526-AT- compuserv.com. Actually, they have a newer e-mail address, but I think the old one still works. The University of Maryland has a beautiful campus; I was there in March and caught the American Ballet Theater at the Kennedy Center in DC, plus a free clogging demo beforehand put on by a group from North Carolina. Bon voyage, Dianne Sears dsears-AT- frital.umass.edu ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 09:21:46 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 09:17:17 -0700 From: EVANS Nan E Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: FW: Lovely time had by all To: ecd (Return requested) Message-ID: <"03244319CA68D001*/c=us/admd= /prmd=or.gov/o=PRD/ou=MSMail/s=EVANS/g=Nan/i=E/"-AT- MHS> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT I would be interested in hearing how folks who program Balls mix the kind of variables listed below in Helen Davenport's note. What do you try to acheive in a Ball evening in terms of energy flow, challenge and comfort, excitement, pauses and releases, variety etc? I have been programming our Portland Oregon Ball for 3 years (that is how old it is!). I seem to use some mix of dance intuition and music/dance knowledge, and would love to know what others do. On another subject - We have a fairly new ECD community of dancers (with some old timers thrown in). I try to keep our dances and Balls accessible and fun in order to attract and keep dancers coming back for more. I also try to program evenings with enough interesting things to keep experienced dancers challenged and having a good time. The Balls have been very special events, but we do very quick walk throughs for most dances with a few (usually 2) "for those who know" with a few verbal reminders, no walk through, and prompting only if it looks like the room is having trouble (e.g., with Terpsichore 2 years ago, the hall was falling apart so I prompted it one time through and then it was danced without prompting). At our regular "experienced" monthly dance we always do walk throughs (unlike Boston) for the same reason - to be accessible, welcoming and to encourage everybody to dance. When I have called at the monthly "beginners" dance, I have done one "for those who know" dance as an example of what English Country Dancing can be like if folks stick with it. I have chosen dances like Fandango and program it in the place a break would otherwise be. (The organizers of this dance have decided not to have a break since the dance evening is rather short.) What thoughts do you folks have? ---------- From: RiverStSch-AT- aol.com To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Subject: Re: Lovely time had by all Date: Thursday, May 16, 1996 12:30PM When developing the list of dances for the Hartford Ball, Roselle and I considered about 6 variables; mood, tempo, key, activity level, difficulty level, dance formation and dance figures. It's actually quite a process. I guess at one point being able to talk/flirt away from your ever watchful adults was very important. Today people want flow and energy and they "sit one out" to do the major socializing. Frequently I'm sad because dancers complain about the slower dances but the best dancers also know these too can have grace, flow and energy! Helen Davenport- Director of Reel Nutmeg and The Hartford Ball ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 09:56:55 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 12:56:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Arnold Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: talk-throughs, walk-through To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT On Fri, 17 May 1996, Barbara Ruth wrote: > Reply to: talk-throughs, walk-throughs (was recreational ECD > repertoire [snip] > >He maintained that a walk-through would have been a lot less intimidating > because of the visceral aspect of it. A talk-through was just information > overload for him.< [snip] > Different people have different ways of learning and processing information. [snip] > I must add to that, that I think doing English dancing for the past three > years or so has _improved_ my visualization skills considerably. I discovered [snip] > I am curious as to whether anyone else has had a similar experience. Yes, indeed -- I used to say, and believe, that I needed the walkthrough to get the dance into my head, or body, or wherever it resides (maybe both). Scottish dancing I found particularly difficult, not just because it was more physically demanding and they were more particular about footwork, but also because in general they didn't do walkthroughs, and i would hear just so much gibberish on the talkthrough -- even when we did a brief walkthrough, the subsequent talkthrough review detracted instead of added to my recollection of the dance figures. But I discovered that I could learn to remember dances; it helped a lot when I started to think of what the whole set was doing, not just what I was doing (then I would get totally thrown off if someone else wasn't exactly in the right place). I found that if I forced myself to review mentally at some point -- either during the walkthrough, reminding myself constantly how we got to the current position -- or immediately at the end of the walkthrough, reminding myself how it started, and then what the next move was before we got to it, or even after the dance was over, if I particularly liked it and wanted to write it down but couldn't do it at the time, I would review in my mind the sequence of figures, and get someone to prompt me if I got stuck, then it would often stick in my mind until I got a chance to write it down. It would also come back to me much more easily later on. After I had been doing this for a while, I began to discover that some dances were preserved in my memory well enough that after two or three weeks, I could still write them down, without any particular effort to capture them at the time. But this happens only with dances that make a distinct impression on me when danced. There is absolutely no question in my mind at all that working on this kind of memory training improves one's dancing. I feel that it belongs in the teaching side of every English Country Dance program. I believe that it is probably the most significant factor in getting ECD off of the mundane up into the heavenly, because it frees the dancers to be much more relaxed and aware of what each other is doing, and allows them to concentrate on the subtler things that distinguish dance from ordinary movement. Probably, just like learning movement, learning to remember is different from individual to individual. But try to find something that works -- it really pays! Eric Arnold Ann Arbor ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 10:01:09 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 12:00:57 -0500 From: Jonathan Sivier Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: talk-throughs, walk-through To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605171700.AA24187-AT- ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Barbara Ruth >Different people have different ways of learning and processing information. >I am one of those who has a great deal of difficulty visualizing something >from verbal description, therefore like your visitor, I find talk-throughs >only to be information overload and, for myself anyway, extremely frustrating >as I struggle to process this information that my mind can't quite absorb. A >walk-through, for me, is simple, direct and effective as a learning tool. > I must add to that, that I think doing English dancing for the past three >years or so has _improved_ my visualization skills considerably. I discovered >this earlier this Spring on a trip to an out of town ball, when one of the >travelers in our car read the dance instructions from the program aloud. It >took a great deal of effort and concentration but I found that I could in fact >visualize the sequences that were being described, whereas in previous such >situations I'd always found that the reading sounded like so much >gobbledy-gook, and I got impatient and upset from the frustration of trying >to make sense of what I was hearing. > I am curious as to whether anyone else has had a similar experience. Your experience here is very common I think. I work at a human-factors lab dealing in aviation and many of our experiments have as a fundemantal aspect the difference between spatial and verbal skills. Different people have different levels of natural ability in these areas. Conversion from one to the other and increased ability in either or both can be learned, but is not trivial. One thing that improved my ability here was learning to call. When practicing calling at home (or writing dances) I don't have a group of dancers to watch and so must visualize the figures and location of the dancers in my head. Jonathan ------------------------------------------------------------------- | Jonathan Sivier | Ballo ergo sum. | | j-sivier-AT- uiuc.edu | (I dance therefore I am.) | | Flight Simulation Lab | - des Cartwright | | Beckman Institute | | | 405 N. Mathews | SWMDG - Single White Male | | Urbana, IL 61801 | Dance Gypsy | | Work: 217/244-1923 | | | Home: 217/359-8225 | Have shoes, will dance. | ------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 11:47:27 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 11:47:17 -0800 (PST) From: Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing Subject: RE: FW: Lovely time had by all To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Message-ID: <009A276F.10232D6E.57-AT- ssrl01.slac.stanford.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Nan wrote -- I would be interested in hearing how folks who program Balls mix the kind of variables listed below in Helen Davenport's note. What do you try to acheive in a Ball evening in terms of energy flow, challenge and comfort, excitement, pauses and releases, variety etc? I have been programming our Portland Oregon Ball for 3 years (that is how old it is!). I seem to use some mix of dance intuition and music/dance knowledge, and would love to know what others do. I would find it very interesting here if people would publish set lists of Balls they've programmed (or particularly enjoyed) with comments on their selection process and how well it came out. (I'm not asking for 3d-party reviews, although those are interesting too, but rather for programmers to say "this is what I chose to do, this is why, and this is how it came out.") Perhaps I'm asking for Nan's question to be answered by specific example as well as by general discussion. Naturally, your selection process includes your assessment of your community's wants and needs, so please include a brief gloss on that as well. I think Nan's question is great! -- Alan =============================================================================== Alan Winston --- WINSTON-AT- SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 415/926-3056 Physical mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 69, PO BOX 4349, STANFORD, CA 94309-0210 =============================================================================== ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 11:56:52 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 14:56:44 -0400 From: nparr-AT- k12.oit.umass.edu (Nancy Parr (Hitchcock Center)) Subject: Re: talk-throughs, walk-through To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Message-ID: <199605171856.OAA26192-AT- k12.oit.umass.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT On Fri, 17 May 1996, Eric Arnold wrote: >There is absolutely no question in my mind at all that working on this >kind of memory training improves one's dancing. I feel that it belongs >in the teaching side of every English Country Dance program. I believe >that it is probably the most significant factor in getting ECD off of the >mundane up into the heavenly, because it frees the dancers to be much >more relaxed and aware of what each other is doing, and allows them to >concentrate on the subtler things that distinguish dance from ordinary >movement. > >Probably, just like learning movement, learning to remember is different >from individual to individual. But try to find something that works -- >it really pays! Let's not forget the role of the music in helping at least some of us learn. Every experience of "getting it" for me has happened with the music and without many words. With tunes and steps that go together as they do in English dance, the music can be a tremendous aid to memory. Not to mention the most important part: that dance is response to and interaction with the music. Nancy Parr ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 12:11:24 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 15:10:48 -0400 From: RiverStSch-AT- aol.com Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: talk-throughs, walk-through To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <960517151048_296466405-AT- emout19.mail.aol.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT There are 3 types of learners:auditory, visual and physical involement(no pun intended). I need to do it to learn it! When faced with a talk through of a dance, I remember the first 2 moves and ignore the rest and let" dance sense" lend a hand as the dance progresses. Helen ;) ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 15:04:35 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 17:03:59 -0500 (CDT) From: Tom Roby Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: talk-throughs, walk-through, play-throughs To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <9605172203.AA24330-AT- conley.math.wisc.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Reiterating Nancy's, theme, I find it enormously helpful to listen to the tune before any sort of teaching (or talk-through, or walk-through). As an experienced dancer it helps me recall the dance much more easily, but even as a beginner it helped greatly. As the teaching is going on, the tune is my outline as to where we are in the dance. I'll think, "Aha, that must be twice through the A", or "just four bars left", or "turn single music coming up". Because there's so much variety to ECD music, there's no way to guess the pace of the dance, which meter (duple, jig, triple, waltz, hornpipe, slipjig), whether there are any odd length phrases, etc., until it's played. (This is in stark contrast to the contra situation, where I can hum my favorite 32 bar jig or reel [or "Newcastle" (Hi, Colin) for that matter] along with the walkthrough and not be floored when the music comes on.) Unfortunately, very few callers consistently play even a bit of the tune before starting to teach. Many callers, however, notice that many dancers have trouble dancing to the music. Jacqueline Schwab made a point of playing tunes first at Folklore Village in April, to a crowd of wide-ranging experiences. I realize there may be occasional logistical difficulties, but just one musician, or a caller who can hum on key, is all that's needed. It's also one of the best ways to get the crowd's attention--much better than asking folks to be quiet. Tom Tom Roby Department of Mathematics metis-AT- math.wisc.edu University of Wisconsin [Off] 608-263-3971 480 Lincoln Drive [Fax] 608-263-8891 Madison, WI 53706-1388 ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 15:30:34 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 17:29:57 -0500 (CDT) From: Tom Roby Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: recreational ECD repertoire To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <9605172229.AA25713-AT- conley.math.wisc.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT [Emily Ferguson] > the dancers. He was a capable dancer from another group and it was a > pleasure to have him dance with us, except he was really not at all certain > he would ever come back because of the final hour, for which he felt > totally unprepared, ... My early experiences with the last hour of the Cambridge, MA dance were also punctuated by occasional frustration. I would try to follow the directions, but without the framework of a tune to hang them on, I'd get lost even in dances I'd done before. Many times the talk-through would be scrambled around in my head, then the tune would come on and I'd go "Oh, THAT one." Unfortunately, it would take several times through the dance to reassemble the directions to the tune; on the occasions when I heard a snatch of the tune beforehand, I could dance it properly straight off. [Emily Ferguson] > despite the fact that we thought he did fine. I got the impression that the dancers in Cambridge could do a better job of letting the less experienced know that we were doing fine. I understood eventually, of course, after I got to know people, but it took years. (Regaling us with stories of your grandest screw-ups is one good tactic.) There's also a fine art to guiding those who don't know a dance through it without pushing or ordering them around. Bruce Hamilton gave a great workshop in Portland, OR where he taught a dance to half the dancers, then brought their other halves in and had everyone dance it with no further ado. It was forbidden to communicate orally or touch someone other than as called for in the dance. It was amazing how much better the communication was on the dance floor! I wish these rules were more respected in dance communities. When someone handles me physically (or orders me around) in an attempt to guide my dancing, it always raises my dander. A close inspection reveals that only some of this dander can be accounted for by "wounded experienced dancer's pride". However, I greatly enjoyed the challenge of the Boston Centre dances. I'd happily dance there weekly if I still lived in the area. (Eric, I think Emily meant 652 dances counting repeats, 270 distinct dances. It probably includes 36-9 Wednesday dances, 9 First Friday experienced dances, 3 parties, and a Playford Ball, for an average of about 13 dances per event. Perhaps someone could get permission to reprint the article from the "CDS Boston News", Winter 1993 issue, which included detailed stats for 1963-93, including lists of favorites and perreniels.) Tom Tom Roby Department of Mathematics metis-AT- math.wisc.edu University of Wisconsin [Off] 608-263-3971 480 Lincoln Drive [Fax] 608-263-8891 Madison, WI 53706-1388 ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 10:35:48 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 13:36:46 -0800 From: iptech!debbieb-AT- uunet.uu.net (Debbie Bruton) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: walkie-talk throughs To: uunet!playford.slac.stanford.edu!ECD-AT- uunet.uu.net Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Thank God for "muscle-memory"! I am yet another who learns best by being walked through a dance. Still prone to stage fright, I can rely on the music to tell me what moves come next, as my muscles WILL remember. Although Alan was right when he pointed out that practicing for a performance may be different then bi-monthly or monthy ECD sessions, Barley Corn is still open to beginning dancers, so we still teach, ALWAYS by walk through, and given our hectic schedule (and the talent and patience of Chris Mitchell, dancemaster) we are able to glean new performers (and folks who just love to dance) in a short amount of time. Debbie Bruton San Luis Obispo, Ca ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 12:44:54 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 12:43:10 -0700 From: dgilli-AT- slip.net (Dan Gillespie) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: talk throughs To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Several people have said on the list recently that hearing the music can help them in learning the sequence of dance steps for a particular dance. Several of the callers/teachers who I enjoy dancing with the most in Society for Creative Anachronsim put this to good use. Much of the time, almost all the dancers on the floor are either total novices or just slightly more advanced. Several of the more common dances that we do are "sung" as they as being taught (Gathering Peascods).....the verbal instructions to the dance are more or less set as doggerel poetry & are sung while teaching. It may sound a bit corny, but this often seem sto really help folks who need a fair bit of teaching. Thanks for the fascinating discussion about how different people learn via different mechanisms. Dan Gillespie Martinsburg, West Virginia ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 16:56:11 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 19:55:39 -0400 From: The Dupres Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Pinewoods Web Page To: "'ECD-AT- PLAYFORD.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU'" Message-ID: <01BB44F4.055E5D80-AT- dupre.nerc.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Folks, I've been lurking and looking over Sue's shoulder. Pinewoods Camp, Inc. now has a web page. If you have opinions about = what might make it more useful to you, please let me know. It's URL is = http://www.nerc.com/~dupre/Pinewoods.html -Bob Dupre ( dupre-AT- nerc1.nerc.com or bdupre-AT- ets.org ) ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 19:26:57 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 22:28:31 -0400 From: mgoodman-AT- albany.net (Mary Beth Goodman) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Strafford Ball To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Speaking of Balls -- I'm wondering if the upper Vermont area dancers have recovered enough from their maiden ball in October to decide to have one again this year? I had a good time last year at the Strafford Ball. Mary Beth Goodman ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 06:35:26 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 09:35:17 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Arnold Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Strafford Ball To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT On Sat, 18 May 1996, Mary Beth Goodman wrote: > Speaking of Balls -- I'm wondering if the upper Vermont area dancers have > recovered enough from their maiden ball in October to decide to have one > again this year? I had a good time last year at the Strafford Ball. In the latest issue of CDSS News (May/June 1996) in the list of special events, the Strafford Ball is listed for Oct. 5. Greg Burke, 603-643-1245 or gregory.c.burke-AT- dartmouth.edu is listed as the contact for more information. Eric Arnold Ann Arbor ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 15:38:30 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 18:37:28 +0000 (GMT) From: Margherita Modica Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Program planning To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <4E387B68FC-AT- obgyn.amc.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT I would like to add to the thread about selecting a program for an event. At the English Dance Leadership Training in Music seminar which Gene Murrow ran at Pinewoods last summer, he emphasized that particular care must be paid to the music, which greatly infulences the succes of a program. In his sylabus he notes, "Music touches people deeply and unconsciously; moving to music heightens the effect. When making up your program, consider the tunes as much as you consider the dance." He went on to name a few points: use tunes you like (you project more enthusiasm), ensure variety among the tunes (mix up reels, jugs, waltzes, etc), note progression of keys and build on the band's favorite (aka best) tunes. Gene uses a table format to help him plot the evening. The column headings are: Name of Dance, Key, Formation, Meter, Difficulty, Music Source (less essential now that Barnes '95 is out) and Leader (for multiple callers in an evening). This tool then gives you an advantage in making sure that the evening has interest and variety. Margherita Davis ************************************************************************ Margherita M. Modica mmodica-AT- obgyn.amc.edu Obstetrics & Gynecology (518) 262-6405 Albany Medical College (518) 262-5292, fax ************************************************************************ ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 19:30:32 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 19:34:41 -0700 From: Diane Schmit Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Program planning To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605200234.TAA10107-AT- dfw-ix5.ix.netcom.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Margherita, Thanks for passing on Gene's thoughts on program planning. In Baltimore, we have always done something similar. In the early days, the first draft of our ball program was just given to one of our musicians (usually Marty Taylor) to review from the musical point of view, and then changes made as necessary. Now, we try to take care of that from the start, but still get it reviewed by the musicians. For a ball program that usually has 20 dances, 10 each half danced in groups of 3-4 with *small* breaks, we do the following: - 5-6 dances in triple time (3/4 or 3/2, no more than 1 in each small group); the rest a mix of jigs and reels. - Minor key vs. major key - we choose the majority (something more than 1/2) of the dances in a major key, and try not to have 2 minor key dances back to back. - 5-6 set dances (no more than 1 in each small group of dances) - 1-2 triple minor dances - AT LEAST 3-4 dances where you get to dance with your corners as well as your partners (e.g. Indian Queen) - since there are too many people at a ball to be able to dance with everyone, this gives a chance to interact with more people on the dance floor. - Level of difficulty and unfamiliarity - we group these together since even a very easy dance that is unfamiliar/unknown to a lot of people will be a 'scary' name seen on a ball program and will add to the anxiety of going to a ball, and may even prevent some people from coming at all. We TRY to keep the number of the difficult/unfamiliar dances low - the exact number is always a matter of interpretation, and is based on the Baltimore/DC and neighboring English dance communities. We usually (not always) include one dance "for those who know" - i.e. a somewhat more difficult dance that won't be talked-through. (We generally talk-through all other dances at a ball, and have an afternoon run-through of most of the dances.) - Since we call it a "Playford Ball" (we do so loosely), we try to limit the number of modern dances, even though in the Playford style, to about 2-3 max. - We usually remember to ask the band if there is something in particular they would really like to play. - We look over a proposed list for the types of formations, figures, musical style, etc. included to be sure we have a nice mix and aren't being redundant. - We always let our musicians review the program before we publish it - both for musical content, and they get veto power if they really don't like something. (That usually doesn't happen.) - We always ask our local dancers for suggestions of dances to include, although we never promise to use them (because of all the above criteria) (and we tell them so up front). - Probably a couple of other subtleties I can't remember at the moment... By the way, the FIFTEENTH ANNUAL BFMS (Baltimore Folk Music Society) PLAYFORD BALL will be on October 5, 1996. (The recent CDSS News has a tentative date listed as Sept 28, but it will really be October 5.) More details later. And, to answer another question that has been asked in this group, both the Baltimore and DC weekly English dances run 8:00 - 10:30, with a 20 minute break. We teach/dance 9-12 dances in an evening. Diane Schmit dschmit-AT- ix.netcom.com Gaithersburg, MD At 06:37 PM 5/19/96 +0000, you wrote: >I would like to add to the thread about selecting a program for an >event. At the English Dance Leadership Training in Music seminar >which Gene Murrow ran at Pinewoods last summer, he emphasized that >particular care must be paid to the music, which greatly infulences >the succes of a program. In his sylabus he notes, "Music touches >people deeply and unconsciously; moving to music heightens the >effect. When making up your program, consider the tunes as much as >you consider the dance." He went on to name a few points: use tunes >you like (you project more enthusiasm), ensure variety among the >tunes (mix up reels, jugs, waltzes, etc), note progression of keys >and build on the band's favorite (aka best) tunes. > >Gene uses a table format to help him plot the evening. The column >headings are: Name of Dance, Key, Formation, Meter, Difficulty, Music >Source (less essential now that Barnes '95 is out) and Leader (for >multiple callers in an evening). This tool then gives you an >advantage in making sure that the evening has interest and variety. > >Margherita Davis >************************************************************************ >Margherita M. Modica mmodica-AT- obgyn.amc.edu >Obstetrics & Gynecology (518) 262-6405 >Albany Medical College (518) 262-5292, fax >************************************************************************ > > ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 21:32:34 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 00:32:16 -0500 From: eferguson-AT- umassd.edu (Emily L. Ferguson) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: my incoherently expressed data To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT >On Thu, 16 May 1996, Emily L. Ferguson wrote: > >> . . . . Our record keeper >> shows that in 1994 we danced 652 dances during the entire season (Sept. to >> June) of which 270 appeared once or more. Well, I suppose it was late and I wasn't thinking too clearly. That probably should have been more than once. > >Emily, did you mean to say "twice or more", or were 382 of these dances >"Mensa" dances? > >Does the 652 represent the number of dances including the repetitions, or >the number of individual dance titles represented? Including repetitions, i.e. the total number of individual dances done. Bah! English (American) is not made for these situations. > >Perhaps your record keeper would be so kind as to keep track of *who* >danced *which* dance with *what* frequency, so those of us with a lower >frequency of ECD events to go to can more realistically compare our >provincial experiences to the milieu at Boston Centre [ (;-), in case >anybody's wondering!] I'm glad you're in a good mood this evening! > >(By the way, how many weeks of the year does your dance group *not* meet?) Sorry, I left that out too. We meet weekly from approx. the third week of Sept. to the third week of June. This comes out to somewhere around 40 weeks. Sometimes we have special events in the summer (Colin's coming this year) > > Emily L. Ferguson - Cape Cod, Massachusetts Photographer, English Country Dance leader, weaver/spinner ------------------------------------------------------------------- No matter which side of the fence you're on, the grass will always turn brown if you don't water it. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 21:34:12 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 00:33:59 -0500 From: eferguson-AT- umassd.edu (Emily L. Ferguson) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Boston's intimidated visitor To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT >That said though, my response to this situation seems to be quite different >from your visitor. In spite of how hard it is for me, I actually think this >is one of the things that really appeals to me about the Cambridge dance. >I like being able to dance to really good music without having to listen >to it around a caller's voice. So I hope he comes back, and would encourage >him to do so. Well, some are intimidated and some are challenged. The real question is how to hold the intimidated ones long enough for them to move into seeing the challenge and relishing their successes. Personally I hope he doesn't stay intimidated. He was fun to dance with, and I enjoyed his visit to our dance. Emily L. Ferguson - Cape Cod, Massachusetts Photographer, English Country Dance leader, weaver/spinner ------------------------------------------------------------------- No matter which side of the fence you're on, the grass will always turn brown if you don't water it. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 21:34:25 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 00:34:15 -0500 From: eferguson-AT- umassd.edu (Emily L. Ferguson) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: playing cards as an aid to preparation To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT >When practicing calling at home (or writing dances) I don't have a group of >dancers to watch and so must visualize the figures and location of the dancers >in my head. Pretty good for calling, but for choreography I think Ted Sannella was definitely on to something with his king and queen of each suit of cards. I've used that to trouble-shoot when preparing new dances for presentation on Wednesdays in Boston and it really helps see where everyone is. Emily L. Ferguson - Cape Cod, Massachusetts Photographer, English Country Dance leader, weaver/spinner ------------------------------------------------------------------- No matter which side of the fence you're on, the grass will always turn brown if you don't water it. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 21:34:50 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 00:34:29 -0500 From: eferguson-AT- umassd.edu (Emily L. Ferguson) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: talk-through, walk-through To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT >I found that if I forced myself to review >mentally at some point -- either during the walkthrough, reminding myself >constantly how we got to the current position -- or immediately at the >end of the walkthrough, reminding myself how it started, and then what >the next move was before we got to it, or even after the dance was over, >if I particularly liked it and wanted to write it down but couldn't do it >at the time, I would review in my mind the sequence of figures, and get >someone to prompt me if I got stuck, then it would often stick in my mind >until I got a chance to write it down. It would also come back to me >much more easily later on. I've found, with the local madrigal singers, that they respond well to a little assignment that they have to write down sections of the dance and bring them in and distribute them to each other. This helps them correlate the standard terminology with the movement and helps me later when I present new material to them. Since I only train them twice a year for about five weeks each time, I don't have a regular dance to reinforce this stuff for them. > Actually, for me there is a very strong connection between the figures and the music. I don't have a good memory for strings of figures, but if I hear the music I find the figures popping right up out of my memory. But that's another whole thread. Emily L. Ferguson - Cape Cod, Massachusetts Photographer, English Country Dance leader, weaver/spinner ------------------------------------------------------------------- No matter which side of the fence you're on, the grass will always turn brown if you don't water it. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 07:38:00 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 10:37:47 -0400 (EDT) From: David.Millstone-AT- VALLEY.NET (David Millstone) Subject: Strafford Ball To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Message-ID: <1069009-AT- hanover.VALLEY.NET> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Yes, indeed, we are having the second annual Strafford Ball, Saturday, October 5, in the scenic village of Strafford, VT. Scott Higgs will lead the dancing with music again provided by Bare Necessities. The organizing committee last year received lots of helpful feedback and we hope to make this year's Ball run even more smoothly than last year's. There will be fewer dancers admitted--we were a bit crowded--and we're planning to improve the changing rooms and the supper. Same friendly and welcoming atmosphere, same excellent leadership and music, same Vermont-fall-foliage scenery. Note: the date this year does NOT fall on the Columbus Day weekend, which makes it a little harder for folks at a distance. For registration information, contact the registrar, Gregory.C.Burke-AT- dartmouth.edu Last year's inaugural ball was a wonderful blend of experienced dancers--many from afar--and eager newcomers, many of whom were attending their first Ball. Welcome all! David Millstone Lebanon, NH ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 09:29:35 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 12:28:57 -0400 From: RiverStSch-AT- aol.com Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: talk-throughs, walk-through, play-throughs To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <960520122857_200273759-AT- emout17.mail.aol.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT I AGREE!...let's hear the music first so we know how the pattern fits to the music. I call a dance first Saturday of the month in South Amherst, Mass. and I've trained myself and my wonderful musicians to always play at least an A if not the A&B ...it helps me and the dancers! ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 16:57:12 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 19:55:08 -0400 (EDT) From: Charlene Charette <72430.224-AT- CompuServe.COM> Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Adson's Saraband reconstruction To: ECD Message-ID: <960520235508_72430.224_EHB65-1-AT- CompuServe.COM> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT I have been working on Adson's Saraband and have gotten to the point of asking for others' opinions. I've been comparing 1st edition Playford with Sharp and, for the most part, I agree with what Sharp has done. There are two places, however, that I'm getting stuck on. In the fourth part of the dance Playford says "Change all places with your owne". This movement is in 8 beats rather than the usual 4. Sharp has the dancers do a single away from their partner, a single towards their partner, and a double to change places. Does anyone do this differently or have any other ideas on how to change places in 8? One possibility is to do a very fast turn (probably two-hand) 1-1/2 times around. While this is possible, and appeals to our mostly college-aged and bouncy dancers, I'm not sure it's the best solution. The other place I'd like comment on is in second part. Playford says "Men go all down while the Wemen go up, men slip to the right hand and We. to the left, fall even on the Co. side, set and turn S. All this again the Co. way to your places, set and turn single." This is all done in 16 counts. My problem with Sharp's interpretation is that he has the "going up/down" and the "slipping" combined. He also has the dancers ending in a single line rather than on the contrary side. What we came up with is: Men go a single backward while women go a single forward; men go 4 slips to the right while women go 4 slips to the left; partners set and turn single. Women go a single backward while men go a single forward; women go 4 slips to the right while men go 4 slips to the left; partners set and turn single. Comments? Does anyone do this another way? Thanks, --Charlene ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 11:06:46 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 14:06:09 -0400 From: RiverStSch-AT- aol.com Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: playing cards as an aid to preparation To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <960521140609_495641904-AT- emout07.mail.aol.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Hi Emily! For your same purpose I've made a set of 6 couples useing simple wood cutouts( men & women) I found in a craftstore. I made bases from tongue depressors and numbered the bases(W1, M1ect). Actually one could get quite elaborate..I know someone who has dressed up corks. But you can't bet cards for portability! Helen Davenport ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 15:04:54 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 14:57:15 -0700 From: EVANS Nan E Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Not exactly an ECD question, but... To: ecd (Return requested) Message-ID: <"0485231A38DBB002*/c=us/admd= /prmd=or.gov/o=PRD/ou=MSMail/s=EVANS/g=Nan/i=E/"-AT- MHS> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Dear ECD Folks, I have a question that really isn't an English Country Dance question, but I would really appreciate any input. My local contra dance community has asked me to lead a special evening of waltz workshops and elegant dances at the end of May. Not my normal venue, but likely to be fun. I have been doing a lot of thinking about waltz workshops I have participated in - what worked and what didn't. I would love to hear from others, either from the perspective of a dancer or a teacher. I expect the skill and experience level will be highly varied, and I would like to stress some basics which will get new waltzers waltzing and more experienced waltzers waltzing better. Any ideas or comments?? Nan Evans Portland Oregon nan.e.evans-AT- state.or.us ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 12:01:17 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 18:55:19 +0000 (GMT) From: bestockp-AT- oz.net Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Not exactly an ECD question, but... To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605231855.SAA03584-AT- emerald.oz.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Hi Nan, Apologies in advance-- you are probably doing all this anyway, but here are some of the things I do-- maybe some of this will be helpful. Alone-- no partners: Swinging forward and backward-- one impulse per measure. Then Right foot Forward, left foot backward, three steps per measure in place not turning, still one impulse per measure. Then turning quarter turns, with right foot forward turned out, left foot backward turned in. Finally half turns, Right foot turned out moving in line of direction, left foot backward, moving in line of direction. Then partners. That's where the problems start A mistake commonly made by beginners is trying to get AROUND their partner. This is unsucessful-- the person is directly in the way, and so they are forced them to take overly large steps. I keep stressing that the right foot goes BETWEEN your partner's feet. And the first steps of each measure are still forward and backward, not sidewards. Weight or counterbalance is one of the keys' to good waltzing and it is nearly invisible, and so hard to teach or demonstrate. If you do have a mixed group, see if you can get the more experienced dancers to dance with the less experienced ones .In my classes, which are of high school kids, I have the confident dancers stand on one side of the room, or raise hands or do something to indicate that they are potential tutors. Then I have the less experienced dancers choose a partner to work with. This forces the experienced dancers to split up and gets the beginners together with someone they think they can trust with their ego. I don't know if you want to do something so "teachery" with adults-- your call. I waltz with as many students as possible-- at some point a beatific look comes over their faces, as they feel the counterbalance for the first time and go smoothly around. Then I say, "Go show that to your partner." I try to do a waltz mixer so that as many as possible get to dance with the few who've got it. I check body position and hand placement-- many women have been taught to place the hand delicately on the man's shoulder. This puts all her weight on his right wrist and arm. Both parner's should be equally resonsible for sharing the weight, but can't do it unless she is retaught-- hand behind man's shoulder, supporting him, too, creating a frame. (Some guys have been taught "social" dancing with the right hand on the side of the woman's waist, not behind her back-- they too have to be retaught position before waltzing will work.) Since you are working with contra dancers, most of them will have had the experience of rapid rotation in couples using counterbalance in a swing, which makes it easier to get the waltz. Sometimes holding the free hands out to the side leaves that side sloshy, and the frame falls apart. You can suggest that the W's R and M's L hands hold on at the elbow, making a little circle. This helps both sides of the body work to create the counterbalance. Any more ideas out there? The waltz is a glorious experience and should be shared by all, especially English Country and Contra dancers, who get to do it to fabulous tunes, played at a luxuriously slow tempo. Have fun-- let me know how it goes, nan! Vicky >Dear ECD Folks, > >I have a question that really isn't an English Country Dance question, but I >would really appreciate any input. My local contra dance community has >asked me to lead a special evening of waltz workshops and elegant dances at >the end of May. Not my normal venue, but likely to be fun. > >I have been doing a lot of thinking about waltz workshops I have >participated in - what worked and what didn't. I would love to hear from >others, either from the perspective of a dancer or a teacher. I expect the >skill and experience level will be highly varied, and I would like to stress >some basics which will get new waltzers waltzing and more experienced >waltzers waltzing better. Any ideas or comments?? > >Nan Evans >Portland Oregon >nan.e.evans-AT- state.or.us ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 13:38:11 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 16:37:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Arnold Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Not exactly an ECD question, but... To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT On Wed, 22 May 1996, EVANS Nan E wrote: [snip] > . . . My local contra dance community has > asked me to lead a special evening of waltz workshops and elegant dances at > the end of May. Not my normal venue, but likely to be fun. [snip] > waltzers waltzing better. Any ideas or comments?? > > Nan Evans > Portland Oregon > nan.e.evans-AT- state.or.us > After you get them moving to the basic rythm, I think that it is improtant to stress that waltzing is a *turning* dance with a definite direction of movement around the hall (counter-clockwise), and it helps *enormously* if this is generally understood. Similarly, a couple which is not moving this way makes serious waltzing quite difficult. If one hasn't gotten a little dizzy, chances are there were too many such obstacles along the way to get a good turning waltz going. If there are enough folks already doing a good turning waltz (180 degrees per waltz measure) to warrant it, there are some nice little twirls that Steve Zakon-Anderson teaches in his waltz workshops. These always come on the second measure of two-measure pairs: in the first one, the leader raises his left hand over the follower's head and gently encourages the follower with the right hand on the back to turn once around clockwise in three steps back into ballroom position; the raised-hand lead would probably fall on beat 3 of the first measure of the pair, and the gentle nudge on one of the second measure. From this position (the leader will find that the left hand is now palm-down instead of palm-up) the leader can now easily lead the reverse of this turn; not changing the left hand position to the normal is the indicator that this is coming, but it doesn't have to be on the next pair of measures (but it can be): the lead here involves bringing the left hand (with the follower's right) between the leader & the follower and then raising it after the direction of rotation is established by this first move; the right hand of the leader permits this rotation by releasing the hold against the follower's back, but it can remain in contact at or slightly above the waist so that the follower doesn't go far away. The timing is similar to the previous turn, perhaps the lead being just before one of the second measure. The follower needs to lift his/her left elbow, with the hand held close to the body, to get it over the leader's right arm at the end of the turn in order to get back into ballroom position easily. The two turns make a fairly showy pair and can be taught by demonstration much more effectively than with printed words... One can lead the second turn independently, but the follower needs to be paying close attention to the leads, which are somewhat more unexpected if not preceeded by the clockwise version first. Eric Arnold Ann Arbor ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 10:14:19 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 13:14:10 -0400 From: zorro-AT- netdepot.com (David Marcus & Peggy Lamberson) Subject: Baroque Dance Workshop To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Message-ID: <199605241716.NAA22206-AT- jupiter.netdepot.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8BIT References: <"0485231A38DBB002*/c=us/admd= /prmd=or.gov/o=PRD/ou=MSMail/s=EVANS/g=Nan/i=E/"-AT- MHS> Announcing the 23rd Annual STANFORD UNIVERSITY BAROQUE DANCE WORKSHOP July 22 - August 2, 1996 For Dancers, Musicians, Dance Scholar, Musicologists, Choreographers, and Theater Movement Specialists Faculty: WENDY HILTON, Director LINDA TOMKO, Co-Director PAIGE WHITLEY-BAUGUESS THOMAS BAIRD BRONWEN PUGH Enjoy an intensive workshop in the style and technique of French court and theater dance, taught on the beautiful campus of Stanford University. Participants will study the relationship of dance steps and music in such dances as the bourree, gavotte, sarabande, gigue, courante, and loure. Classes are for beginning to advanced students; no previous dance experience is required. A selection of ENGLISH COUNTRY DANCES will be taught to be danced by students of all levels at the final demonstration (participation in the demonstration is optional). Students will learn how these country dances were performed in period, including dance steps, form of repeats, etiquette, etc. Students may use the libraries of Stanford University, including the large collection of dance source material (featuring the Lully Archive) in the Stanford Music Library. Wendy Hilton’s DANCE OF COURT & THEATER, THE FRENCH NOBLE STYLE 1690-1725 is the text used for the workshop. ANTHONLY L’ABBE and F. LE ROUSSEAU Two French Masters Working in England The 1996 Workshop features dances by dancing masters Anthony L’Abbe and F. Le Rousseau, (who also was the notator and publisher of “A New Collection of Dances” by L’Abbe, now available in facsimile edition). Six dances by Le Rousseau are contained in a manuscript, including a comic “Entree for two French Country Gentlemen” and a version of his famous “Chaconne for Arlequin”. The music for Le Rousseau’s dances remains anonymous, but the L’Abbe collection has dances to music by Lully, Destouches, Lacoste, Campra, and Paisible. Advanced students may reconstruct dances by L’Abbe or Rousseau from notation, or choose to choreograph a solo in Baroque style and develop it for performance in the Workshop demonstration. Intermediate students will reconstruct Le Rousseau’s “The Villette” for two (a sarabande/passepied/rigaudon). Beginning students will reconstruct a bourree/menuet/bourree. MALE TECHNIQUE CLASSES Thomas Baird will teach six session in male technique in order to better examine the most difficult of L’Abbe’s monumental dances. Included are examples of sarabande, chaconne, passacaille, gigue, canarie, and hornpipe. These sessions are open to sufficiently advanced men and women, at the discretion of the instructor. All other students may observe. WENDY HILTON, Director of the Workshop, is the author of DANCE OF COURT AND THEATER and co-author with Donald Waxman of DANCE PAGEANT. Her choreographic credits include “La Dafne” by Marco de Gagliano, “Dardanus” by Rameau, and the American premier of “Mary, Queen of Scots” by Thea Musgrave. She is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and general editor of the Pendragon Press series “Dance and Music: The Alliance of the Two Arts”. she has been consulted by such modern choreographers as Jerome Robbins and Trisha Brown. LINDA TOMKO, Co-Director, is a dancer, reconstructor, and historian. She holds an M.A. in Dance and a Ph.D. in History from UCLA. She is a faculty member in the Dance Department at U.C. Riverside in its Ph.D. program in Dance History and Theory. PAIGE WHITLEY-BAUGUESS holds an M.A. in Dance History from U.C. Riverside. She directs the Craven Historical Dancers, and has lectured and performed 18th-century dance internationally. Her publications include “Dance Music of the French Baroque”, a series of scores in modern notation. THOMAS BAIRD, founder and director of the Early Dance Alliance, also directs the dance and music ensemble, “Apollo’s Banquet.” He and Ms. Whitley-Bauguess appear frequently as guest artist with other music ensembles. Mr. Baird has taught ballet at Sarah Lawrence College and has been a guest teacher in Baroque dance at The Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and Princeton University. BRONWEN PUGH, a specialist in Baroque violin, studied at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with Sigiswald Kuijken. She has played in chamber ensembles and Baroque orchestras throughout Europe. She is a founding member of the ensembles “Restoration” and “Sonnerie”, based in Wellington, New Zealand. FEES Two weeks (July 22- Aug. 2) $450 One Week (July 22-26) $335 Application Fee is $15 prior to May 31, 1996 ($30 thereafter). Housing is available at $37 per night for single or $26.25 per night for double accommodations. To receive a brochure with more information, contact: Department of Music Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-3076 415/723-0038 melinda.mcgee-AT- forsythe.stanford.edu ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 10:37:53 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 12:37:44 -0500 (CDT) From: Patricia A Moffitt Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Grand March music To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Hello everyone- Would any of you have some suggestions as to what tunes might be appropriate to use for a Grand March? What music have you used, and/or what have you always thought about using? Thanks very much, and please respond to the list as a whole if you don't mind this time, as someone in addition to me needs to read your responses. Enjoy the holiday! :-) Patricia Moffitt ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 11:08:35 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 14:08:23 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Arnold Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Grand March music To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT I think I recall seeing a page of stuff for a Grand March in the new edition of Peter Barnes' book of ECD music. Eric Arnold Ann Arbor ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 11:32:48 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 13:33:31 -0500 (CDT) From: seniort-AT- newtrier.k12.il.us (Thomas J. Senior) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Grand March music To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT In my Scottish experience, we use bag pipes playing marches that sound moderately military. I would suppose that at an English country dance might use any march that sounds right. It might be pretty funky to do it to a hornpipe like Steamboat though. Tom > Hello everyone- > > Would any of you have some suggestions as to what tunes might be >appropriate to use for a Grand March? What music have you used, and/or what >have you always thought about using? > > Thanks very much, and please respond to the list as a whole if >you don't mind this time, as someone in addition to me needs to read your >responses. > >Enjoy the holiday! :-) >Patricia Moffitt Those who can, do. Those who understand, teach. Thomas J. Senior New Trier High School 1232 St. Johns Ave 385 Winnetka Ave Highland Park, IL 60035-3425 Winnetka, IL 60093-4295 847-433-8704 847-446-7000 x2128 seniort-AT- newtrier.k12.il.us ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Sat, 25 May 1996 10:40:29 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Sat, 25 May 1996 10:33:37 -0700 (PDT) From: "Paul J. Stamler" Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Grand March music To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT For the last several years our group has used "St. Timothy's March", a recently composed piece by Judy Morningstar, as the grand march for our annual ball. It's sprightly and lifts the feet well, has great openings for our melody people to improvise, and just plain moves wonderfully. (It's also doubly appropriate for us, since we dance at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church for our ball.) Peace. Paul ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 06:15:04 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 09:14:53 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Arnold Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: All Saints' Day To: ECD Mailing List Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT I have a question about the timing of figures in "All Saints' Day", which is danced to "Doves' Figary". The dance is published in CDSS News #99 (Mar/Apr 1991). The music has an 8-measure A section and an 8-measure B section, and is played ABB for this dance. Each measure gets two beats (steps). The dance is a longways duple minor, all proper at the beginning. At the beginning of B1, the dancers are improper and progressed. The instructions for B1 are: All fall back a double, forward, cross (passing right), turn right into a no-hands circle, 1st woman leading to a line of four across the room (1W-2W-2M-1M). [line faces up -- eba] This gets 8 bars of music, or 16 steps. In my recollection from having danced this, I seem to recall just a balance back (2 steps -- back, together), then coming forward & crossing in a continuous movement, crossing on or about steps 5-6 and turning on 7-8 (steps, not measures!), then having 8 steps for the circle. But the instructions here suggest using 4 steps (a Double) at the beginning, then followed by "forward" for some unspecified time (a Double to place with a pause, then cross? or a Double back, then continuous motion forward including the cross & turn in four more steps?). It seems difficult to get the end of the circle (1M) into the line if there is less than half of the B music to do it in. The music supports well the two-step balance back and forward, but since the B2 instructions call for "Line lead up a double", there is a certain parallel to B1 which might be exploited by falling back a [full] double there. For those of you who call this dance or know it well enough to recall the details, what do you do? I notice, also, that while the instructions say "circle no-hands to a line..." that the 1W in fact just walks straight across the set, and 2W does only 1/4 circle, so the instruction "circle" can be a bit confusing. Please reply promptly if you can, because I intend to lead this dance tonight! But I'm still interested in your thoughts if they come in after that. Thanks, Eric Arnold Ann Arbor ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 10:58:04 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 13:57:34 -0400 (EDT) From: vskowron-AT- geos.rdrc.rpi.edu Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Playford at Old Songs Festival To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <9605281757.AA01764-AT- geo7.rdrc.rpi.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT There is going to be a Playford session at the Old Songs Festival in Altamont, NY on Sunday June 30. The caller will be Nancy Yule and the Baltimore Consort will provide the music. The Old Songs Festival is a weekend (Friday, June 28 through Sunday, June 30) of traditional music and dance. It is held at the Altamont Fairgrounds, about 20 miles west of Albany, NY. For further information contact Old Songs, Inc PO Box 399 Guilderland, NY 12084 518-765-2815 (Monday - Saturday, 10 am - 4 pm) Victor Skowronski ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 13:08:49 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 13:08:37 -0800 (PST) From: Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing Subject: RE: All Saints' Day To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Message-ID: <009A301F.3F08A3A8.1-AT- ssrl01.slac.stanford.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Eric Arnold wrote: >I have a question about the timing of figures in "All Saints' Day", which >is danced to "Doves' Figary". The dance is published in CDSS News #99 >(Mar/Apr 1991). The music has an 8-measure A section and an 8-measure B >section, and is played ABB for this dance. Each measure gets two beats >(steps). What is it about "Doves' Figary"/"The Chestnut" anyway? Don't we now have _four_ dances to this tune, including the three mentioned so far and "The Pilgrim"? (And is "Lord Foppington" danced to the original "Pilgrim" tune, or this one.) >The dance is a longways duple minor, all proper at the beginning. At the >beginning of B1, the dancers are improper and progressed. The >instructions for B1 are: >All fall back a double, forward, cross (passing right), turn right into a >no-hands circle, 1st woman leading to a line of four across the room >(1W-2W-2M-1M). [line faces up -- eba] >This gets 8 bars of music, or 16 steps. In my recollection from having >danced this, I seem to recall just a balance back (2 steps -- back, >together), then coming forward & crossing in a continuous movement, >crossing on or about steps 5-6 and turning on 7-8 (steps, not measures!), >then having 8 steps for the circle. But the instructions here suggest >using 4 steps (a Double) at the beginning, then followed by "forward" for >some unspecified time (a Double to place with a pause, then cross? or a >Double back, then continuous motion forward including the cross & turn >in four more steps?). It seems difficult to get the end of the circle >(1M) into the line if there is less than half of the B music to do it in. I haven't seen the notation for this, but my memory of having danced it in San Jose matches yours. Balance back, come forward, cross, turn into circle and come into line in continous movement. Even with this it can be slightly tricky to get the 1st man into line at the right time. >I notice, also, that while the instructions say "circle no-hands to a >line..." that the 1W in fact just walks straight across the set, and 2W >does only 1/4 circle, so the instruction "circle" can be a bit confusing. We turn 1/4 left to face _around_ rather than _across_ the circle, so the dancers are lined up around a circle rather than making a circle, if that distinction makes any sense. >Plese reply promptly if you can, because I intend to lead this dance >tonight! But I'm still interested in your thoughts if they come in after >that. Good luck! -- Alan =============================================================================== Alan Winston --- WINSTON-AT- SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 415/926-3056 Physical mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 69, PO BOX 4349, STANFORD, CA 94309-0210 =============================================================================== ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 16:05:42 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 18:05:31 -0500 From: Jonathan Sivier Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Playford Ball, June 8 in central Illinois To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605282305.AA01754-AT- ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT The Central Illinois English Country Dancers Present Their First Annual P L A Y F O R D B A L L The Central Illinois English Country Dancers will be holding their first annual Playford Ball on Saturday, June 8, 1996. The dance will be held at the Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon, Urbana, IL, on the campus of the University of Illinois. There will be a review of the dances from 7:00 to 8:00, followed by the Ball from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. Fans and finery are encouraged. There will be a $4.00 suggested donation to help cover the cost of the hall. All lovers of English Country dance and music are welcome. Dances Lead By: Susan Burt, Jane Hobgood, Patricia Moffitt and Jonathan Sivier Music Provided By: The Flatland Consort Dance Review: 7:00 p.m. Christmas Ball: 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. Date: Saturday, June 8, 1996 Location: Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon, Urbana, IL Suggested Donation: $4.00 The dances: Christchurch Bells Dargason Draper's Gardens Female Saylor Galopede Geud Man Of Ballangigh Good Man Of Cambridge Grimstock Heartsease Hunsdon House Jenny Pluck Pears Nottingham Swing Queen's Jig Scotch Cap For further information contact Jonathan Sivier (j-sivier-AT- uiuc.edu) at 217/359-8225. Thanks for the support of the Champaign Park District and the Urbana Country Dancers. ------------------------------------------------------------------- | Jonathan Sivier | Ballo ergo sum. | | j-sivier-AT- uiuc.edu | (I dance therefore I am.) | | Flight Simulation Lab | - des Cartwright | | Beckman Institute | | | 405 N. Mathews | SWMDG - Single White Male | | Urbana, IL 61801 | Dance Gypsy | | Work: 217/244-1923 | | | Home: 217/359-8225 | Have shoes, will dance. | ------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 16:40:28 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 23:34:47 +0000 (GMT) From: bestockp-AT- oz.net Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: All Saints' Day To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <199605282334.XAA25280-AT- emerald.oz.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT >I have a question about the timing of figures in "All Saints' Day", (SNIP) >At the beginning of B1, the dancers are improper and progressed. The >instructions for B1 are: > >All fall back a double, forward, cross (passing right), turn right into a >no-hands circle, 1st woman leading to a line of four across the room >(1W-2W-2M-1M). [line faces up -- eba] > >This gets 8 bars of music, or 16 steps. In my recollection from having >danced this, I seem to recall just a balance back (2 steps -- back, >together), then coming forward & crossing in a continuous movement, >crossing on or about steps 5-6 and turning on 7-8 (steps, not measures!), >then having 8 steps for the circle. But the instructions here suggest >using 4 steps (a Double) at the beginning, then followed by "forward" for >some unspecified time (a Double to place with a pause, then cross? or a >Double back, then continuous motion forward including the cross & turn >in four more steps?). It seems difficult to get the end of the circle >(1M) into the line if there is less than half of the B music to do it in. I learned this in California a few years ago, and have taught it in Seattle quite a bit. We have been falling back for 4 counts, coming forward for four counts, moving more on the forward so that partners have crossed by the end of the first 8 counts. Then everyone turns RIGHT (not left-- you are facing out at this point) so that is like a promenade Indian Style only moving CW instead of CCW. >I notice, also, that while the instructions say "circle no-hands to a >line..." that the 1W in fact just walks straight across the set, and 2W >does only 1/4 circle, so the instruction "circle" can be a bit confusing. . If she were facing in, she would move directly across the set, turning to face up at the end. But she finished the first 8 counts facing OUT. In the next 8 counts (the "circle) she turns gradually in an arc to the right to make 1/2 turn, moves across the set, turning and 1/4 to face up at the end. Because she has to make 3/4 of a turn while moving across the set, she will actually move in a somewhat curved path. You are right in your mental picture that it is not technically a circle (which is done facing in) but a follow the leader, or promenade Indian style CW, with each person facing the back of the person in front. You are also right that the others move more places around the circle, so that this does look like people moving in a circle, with the circle following the leader out into a line. I hope this is helpful. Good luck tonight! Vicky Bestock ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 06:01:46 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 07:59:34 -0600 From: burt-AT- VAXA.CIS.UWOSH.EDU (Susan Meredith Burt) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: talk-throughs, walk-through, play-throughs To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT I was glad to read Tom Roby's suggestion that one have dancers listen to the music before talk/walk-through's. I have done this in my beginning ECD classes and I think it is vital. I am also glad to know that there is ECD in Wisconsin (I'm new to the state)! Susan Susan Meredith Burt During the academic year: Department of English University of Wisconsin Oshkosh 800 Algoma Blvd. Oshkosh WI 54901 USA internet: Burt-AT- vaxa.cis.uwosh.edu During January, June, July and August: 602 Normal Avenue Normal, IL 61761 Internet: smburt-AT- heartland.bradley.edu ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 13:27:26 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 16:27:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Arnold Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: RE: All Saints' Day To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT On Tue, 28 May 1996, Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing wrote: [snip] > What is it about "Doves' Figary"/"The Chestnut" anyway? Don't we now have > _four_ dances to this tune, including the three mentioned so far and "The > Pilgrim"? (And is "Lord Foppington" danced to the original "Pilgrim" tune, > or this one.) I don't recall "Dove's Figary" & "Chestnut" being two separate dances, but two names associated with the same dance or tune, I'm not that familiar with "Lord Foppington", but as I recall, there is yet another dance to this tune -- Colin Hume's "Mayfair", for two-couple sets. We chose these dances to give ourselves as much flexibility as possible for working with the situation of a band with a somewhat limited repetoire due to some band-member changes in the fairly recent past, combined with a dance event that is sometimes small enough that the number of people present influences the choice of dance through the size of the set, which we usually choose to minimize the number left out. Another tune that has at least three different ECDs to it is "Early One Morning". [snip] > I haven't seen the notation for this, but my memory of having danced it in San > Jose matches yours. Balance back, come forward, cross, turn into circle and > come into line in continous movement. Even with this it can be slightly tricky > to get the 1st man into line at the right time. > > We turn 1/4 left to face _around_ rather than _across_ the circle, so the > dancers are lined up around a circle rather than making a circle, if that > distinction makes any sense. > > Good luck! > > -- Alan Thanks, Alan. We didn't in fact get to do it last night, since the ratio of relative neophytes to fairly esperienced dancers was unusually high, but I expect to have an opportunity to do this in the fairly near future, so additional input is still welcome. Eric Arnold Ann Arbor ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 13:42:04 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 13:41:52 -0800 (PST) From: Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing Subject: RE: All Saints' Day To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Message-ID: <009A30ED.0EE30078.2-AT- ssrl01.slac.stanford.edu> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Eric Arnold wrote: >On Tue, 28 May 1996, Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing wrote: [snip] >> What is it about "Doves' Figary"/"The Chestnut" anyway? Don't we now have >> _four_ dances to this tune, including the three mentioned so far and "The >> Pilgrim"? (And is "Lord Foppington" danced to the original "Pilgrim" tune, >> or this one.) >I don't recall "Dove's Figary" & "Chestnut" being two separate dances, >but two names associated with the same dance or tune, I'm not that >familiar with "Lord Foppington", but as I recall, there is yet another >dance to this tune -- Colin Hume's "Mayfair", for two-couple sets. I don't have my dance references here, so I'm largely talking off the cuff. I assumed "Dove's Figary" & "The Chestnut" were two separate dances to the same tune just because both names are given, although it's entirely possible that I'm just wrong about that. "The Pilgrim" is definitely a different dance done to this tune. "Mayfair," however, is to the tune of "Grimstock." [I _am_ sure about that, and perhaps saying so will save Colin the bother of replying.] >We chose these dances to give ourselves as much flexibility as possible >for working with the situation of a band with a somewhat limited >repetoire due to some band-member changes in the fairly recent past, >combined with a dance event that is sometimes small enough that the >number of people present influences the choice of dance through the size >of the set, which we usually choose to minimize the number left out. Ah. So it's a positive benefit to have tunes that work for multiple dances in different formations. >Another tune that has at least three different ECDs to it is "Early One >Morning". I'm only acquainted with the Scott Higgs version, although I can't at present find the pamphlet in which it's published. Can you tell me anything about the other versions? (I've loved the tune ever since I happened to hear some people rehearsing it in high school.) >[snip] >> I haven't seen the notation for this, but my memory of having danced it in San >> Jose matches yours. Balance back, come forward, cross, turn into circle and >> come into line in continous movement. Even with this it can be slightly tricky >> to get the 1st man into line at the right time. >> >> We turn 1/4 left to face _around_ rather than _across_ the circle, so the >> dancers are lined up around a circle rather than making a circle, if that >> distinction makes any sense. Vicky Bestock correctly pointed out that this is 1/4 RIGHT, not 1/4 LEFT. I definitely was wrong on this one. -- Alan =============================================================================== Alan Winston --- WINSTON-AT- SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 415/926-3056 Physical mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 69, PO BOX 4349, STANFORD, CA 94309-0210 =============================================================================== ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 14:43:54 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 14:45:03 -0700 From: James.Langdell-AT- Eng.Sun.COM (James Langdell) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Grand March music To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU CC: jamesc-AT- Eng.Sun.COM Message-ID: <199605292145.OAA27826-AT- bassclar.eng.sun.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT My band (the Divertimento Dance Orchestra) has used a variety of music for Grand Marches, depending on the theme of the dance event. Most often we play for Regency-era dances. For generic march music from that time, I've used --a march for piano by James Hook (from a set of twelve piano sonatinas by that long-lived English Georgian composer) --the first of three marches for piano 4-hands by Beethoven (other instruments deriving parts from the piano composition) --English military marches, obtained in reprints from W.I.N.D.S. in Northridge, California Other circa-1800 theme dances have included more tailored music: --FLOWERS OF EDINBURGH BALL had some marches from the Gow collection --THIEVES' KITCHEN had a medley of march tunes used in the Gay/Pepusch "Beggar's Opera" --BASTILLE DAY BALL had a French revolutionary march by Gossec --AMADEUS BALL had the march from the third act of "Marriage of Figaro" and Mozart's contradance arrangement of "Non piu andrai" from that opera --MADISON INAGURAL BALL had "Madison's March" followed by "Hail Columbia" --LEWIS AND CLARK BALL had "Jefferson's March" For events in other eras, we've played a variety of music: --Schubert's "Marche Millitaire" (the best known of his set) --Ketelby's "In a Persian Market" (all sections, in a consistent tempo) for a Fairy Tale theme ball. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 16:14:05 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 19:27:08 -0500 From: "Mary E. Jones" Subject: Re: All Saints' Day To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Message-ID: <31ACEB5C.603E-AT- javanet.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <009A30ED.0EE30078.2-AT- ssrl01.slac.stanford.edu> Eric Arnold wrote: > >Another tune that has at least three different ECDs to it is "Early One > >Morning". Alan Winston replied: > I'm only acquainted with the Scott Higgs version, although I can't at present > find the pamphlet in which it's published. Can you tell me anything about the > other versions? (I've loved the tune ever since I happened to hear some people > rehearsing it in high school.) > Alan - Barbara Finney called,to the tune of Early One Morning, a very nifty 5 couple square (normal square formation with a 5th couple facing up in the center) at the Brattleboro, VT ECD that preceeds the All-Night Contra dance on Memorial Day. It was entitled Winter Solstice and had the feel of a newly composed dance with old figures. I did not get a chance to ask her about it but we all loved it; although it is pretty ambitious if there are a lot of new dancers in the group. Mary Jones Amherst, MA ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 00:53:48 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 00:54:30 -0700 (PDT) From: HUGH-AT- edsug.com Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: All Saints' Day To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: <01I5AQPCQGDU00I6HC-AT- UG.EDS.COM> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT >> It was entitled Winter Solstice and had >> the feel of a newly composed dance with old figures. correct -- it is newly composed by Wendy Crouch ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 06:33:09 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 09:32:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Arnold Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: RE: All Saints' Day To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT On Wed, 29 May 1996, Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing wrote: > "Mayfair," however, is to the tune of "Grimstock." [I _am_ sure about that, > and perhaps saying so will save Colin the bother of replying.] Hmmm. Could be I goofed here. We *do* use "Chestnut" for Mayfair here (I learned the dance from Erna-Lynne Bogue) but I'm not familiar with the Urtext version. I'ne put out a query to Erna-Lynne on the subject & I or she will report back to clarify the discreancy. > >We chose these dances to give ourselves as much flexibility as possible > >for working with the situation of a band with a somewhat limited > >repetoire due to some band-member changes in the fairly recent past, > >combined with a dance event that is sometimes small enough that the > >number of people present influences the choice of dance through the size > >of the set, which we usually choose to minimize the number left out. > > Ah. So it's a positive benefit to have tunes that work for multiple dances > in different formations. It does have its disadvantages too, of course... > >Another tune that has at least three different ECDs to it is "Early One > >Morning". > > I'm only acquainted with the Scott Higgs version, although I can't at present > find the pamphlet in which it's published. Can you tell me anything about the > other versions? (I've loved the tune ever since I happened to hear some people > rehearsing it in high school.) Scott has published a little booklet with the same title; there's another longways dance to the tune by Ernst van Brakel, one of the Dutch School of ECD composers, and it is published in a little booklet entitled "Dutch Crossing" which goes with the CD of the same title. It is a good dance, a duple minor longways, 1st couple improper, double progression. It's one of my favorites. An open ladies' chain up and down the set is worked nicely into the flow of the dance and is the feature of it that distinguishes it in my mind. Mary and Hugh, in separate messages, have correctly identified "Winter Solstice" by Wendy Couch as the third dance to "Early One Morning". I picked it up at the CD*NY Yuletide Cotillion last year where Helene Cornelius led it. The formation is basically a square with an extra couple in the middle; the figures include mirror heys for the 1's, middles, & 3's while the 2's & 4's do something else on the sides, then the middles split & hey on their respective sides while the heads do something else. A series of promenades has the couples changing position, the middles changing with the 1's, who then change with the 2's, who then change with the 3's etc. and the dance repeats from the new positions until all are back to original places. Definitely worth knowing, since there aren't all that many 5-couple dances, and doing longways dances with 5 couples quickly gets frustrating. But a good dance in its own right, nice to have in one's bag (or book) of tricks. Eric Arnold Ann Arbor ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 07:19:30 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 10:19:17 -0400 (EDT) From: David.Millstone-AT- VALLEY.NET (David Millstone) Subject: 5 couple dances To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Message-ID: <1115563-AT- hanover.VALLEY.NET> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Eric Arnold wrote,"There aren't all that many 5-couple dances, and doing longways dances with 5 couples quickly gets frustrating. " Another good five-couple dance is "Wibsey Roundabout" by Gary Roodman, which was published a few years ago in CDSS News. It's a five-couple round which accompanies a wonderful quirky tune, "Hugh O'Donnell," by the great Irish harper and composer O'Carolan. We danced it as part of an entire evening of dances to Carolan tunes and have used it on other occasions. David Millstone Lebanon, NH ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 08:04:42 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 11:04:26 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Arnold Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Mayfair (fwd) To: ECD Mailing List Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT This is what Erna-Lynne Bogue said about Mayfair, in response to my query: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 09:46:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Erna-Lynne Bogue To: Eric Arnold Subject: Re: Mayfair Hi Eric I only know Mayfair as it appeared on the Phillie Ball program where, as you say, it was done to the tune of the Chestnut. That is, unfortunately, my total knowledge of the thing. I'll be interested to hear what you find out. Erna-Lynne ********************************************************* Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results. ********************************************************* * Erna-Lynne Bogue/ ebogue-AT- umich.edu/ Univ. of Michigan * ********************************************************* So the use of "Chestnut" with "Mayfair" goes back even farther. Anybody have any more information on how this came about? Eric Arnold Ann Arbor ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 09:50:50 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 12:50:30 -0500 From: eferguson-AT- umassd.edu (Emily L. Ferguson) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Re: Mayfair (fwd) To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT > > >So the use of "Chestnut" with "Mayfair" goes back even farther. Anybody >have any more information on how this came about? > >Eric Arnold > Ann Arbor Colin's collection "New Dances for Old", which is still in print and all leaders should try to get ahold of, has the melody for Mayfair identified in the table of contents as Grimstock. Having done it for the demonstration at NEFFA three years ago, and doing it fairly often in Boston, I can't imagine it to any other tune. I, too, wonder how it got mixed up with Chestnut. Emily L. Ferguson - Cape Cod, Massachusetts Photographer, English Country Dance leader, weaver/spinner ------------------------------------------------------------------- No matter which side of the fence you're on, the grass will always turn brown if you don't water it. ================================================================================ Archive-Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 08:51:55 PST Sender: owner-ecd-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 11:51:45 -0500 From: eferguson-AT- umassd.edu (Emily L. Ferguson) Reply-To: ECD-AT- playford.slac.stanford.edu Subject: Early One Morning To: ECD-AT- SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Formation: 5 cpls in a square, the 5th cpl standing in the middle of the square facing the 1st cpl Tune: Early One Morning Tempo: moderately leisurely Choreographer: Wendy Crouch A1: 1s, 5s & 3s mirror image hey (5s bulge) WHILE 2s & 4s side (CS), set & t s. A2: 5s do heys for 3 w/ their nearest side cpls (5L w/ 2s (on her r side - english numbering - she begins by passing l shldr with 2L, 5M w/ 4s beg. passg r shldr w/ 4M WHILE 1s & 3s side and set & t s (Sort of a mirror hey also, but the square stays square) B1: 1s & 5s half prom (1s in ctr trn l to face 2s), 1s & 2s half prom (2s in ctr trn l to face 3s), 2s & 3s half prom (3s in ctr trn l to face 4s), 3s & 4s half prom (4s in ctr trn l to face 5s (in top pos.) Repeat four more times to get back to orig place. B must has two endings, you might think it's two Bs, but actually it's one long B really a nice dance and perfect for Solstice celebrations. I guess, from the Boston perspective, on my difficulty schedule of 1=easy to 6= very hard, I'd give it a 3. Emily L. Ferguson - Cape Cod, Massachusetts Photographer, English Country Dance leader, weaver/spinner ------------------------------------------------------------------- No matter which side of the fence you're on, the grass will always turn brown if you don't water it.