[SCA-Dance] Suggestions Wanted

[Mary Railing]

Trying to think of what dances fit that description, the first dance that comes 
to mind is Posties Jig. As long as the dancers don't collide, it doesn't matter 
if they are on the phrase. It's a high-energy dance that *isn't* longways 
duple-minor, so it would provide a good variation from whatever duple-minor 
dances you do include.

Another dance that might work is Black Nag. With the exception of the hey, the 
chorus figures are very forgiving, and even the hey, because there is a turn in 
place at the end that is easily left out if the dancers are behind, is more 
forgiving that most heys. It's another high-energy dance they might find fun.

--Urraca



________________________________
From: Mary Railing <mrailing2 at yahoo.com>
To: Scot and Michelle Henry <cshenry at peoplepc.com>
Cc: sca-dance at sca-dance.org
Sent: Sun, April 24, 2011 10:19:08 AM
Subject: Re: [SCA-Dance] Suggestions Wanted

I don't do contra, but I read the ECD mailing list, where there is frequent 
discussion of calling ECD for contra dancers and of the differences between 
contra and ECD, what makes contra "more fun" for some people, etc. You could try 

looking through their info  http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/~winston/ecd.htmlx

One issue that repeatedly comes up in those posts is that many contra dancers 
don't feel obliged to stay with the beat as long as they get through the figure. 

Since contra dances aren't linked to specific tunes, there is less incentive to 
pay close attention to the music. Since ECD  choreography is linked to specific 
music (and renaissance balli even more so) we get used to tying to be on the 
correct foot at the correct beat and expecting the music to tell us what to do. 
Apparently this is a foreign concept to many contra dancers, and the 
opportunity to just bliss out as you swing your way down the line is what makes 
contra fun for them. So maybe you need dances like Trenchmore that work that 
way, rather than dances like Jenny Pluck Pears that require paying close 
attention to the phrasing of the music.  Also don't think that you are failing 
or that the dancers are failing if everybody is not on the beat, but the dance 
isn't crashing and they are having fun.

Note, I am saying this as an outsider reporting other people's observations. 
Your group may be different.

--Urraca