Suwannee Roots Revival

Suwannee Roots Revival

Calling buddy Susie Rudder and I got to call at the Suwannee Roots Revival recently with a Florida favorite "The Dunehoppers."  I've come to love these kinds of dances.  The dancers will happily dance any dance I call.  No one is whining that there aren't enough neighbor swings, or the dances are too easy, or too hard, or whatever.  I wrote a simple square for the event that I call "The Suwannee Star."  Has it been written already?  Probably! 

Suwannee Star -

Gents to the Middle and Back to the Bar

Ladies to the Middle with a Left Hand Star

Turn that Star go all the way

Back to your Partner Allemande Right 

Go once and halfway more

Gents to the Middle with a Left Hand Star

Turn that Star go all the way

Scoop up your Partner, Star Promenade

Ladies Roll Back and Swing the Next

And Promenade to the Gents Home Place.

I called a simple break in the beginning, middle, and end.  This dance doesn't require you to know who your corner is, neither does it matter if you're a head or a side.  It could be made even simpler by not changing partners, just star promenade home and swing when you get there.

Other dances I called:  Monkey in the Middle, Haste to the Divorce, Galopede, Barrowdale Exchange, Lucky 7, etc.  I get to call another dance this weekend in McIntosh Florida for a group of teenagers.  FUN!

Are We Too Sexy for this Dance?

Last night I called a dance in Jacksonville FL that was truly inter-generational.  There were folks ranging in age from 6 to 60s (70s?) with everyone dancing happily together.  Isn't that the ideal we've always wanted in the contra dance community?

I've read facebook posts from many communities saying they're losing young people, especially young women, because contra doesn't feel like a safe space for them. I see responses from the older generation (MY generation) saying "flirting is the contra way" or "if you're not flirting, you're not doing it right' and that young people are being too sensitive, or the young people are just using it as an excuse to avoid dancing with older folks. 

Is flirting really the contra way?  Since when?  Well definitely since I started dancing in 1996.  But I was freshly divorced so flirting was a lot of fun for me!  And I considered it "safe" flirting.  I could do it without sending the message I was going home with anyone but myself. 

I think it's time to make adjustments, and as a caller, I want to withdraw my participation in making contra about sex, even "innocent" sex.  A phrase like "g***y until you can't stand it anymore and then melt into a swing" implies that the sexual tension is so high you just can't keep your hands off each other.  Really?

When you think about it, a phrase like "snuggle-up next to your partner" is creepy if you're talking to a 16 year old girl partnered with a 60 year old man.  "Another beautiful lady coming your way" is not something I want to tell a 7 year old boy about to dance with his grandmother.  Who cares if she's beautiful or not?!  It may not even be a "she" coming your way!

I am using those scenarios as a yardstick to determine how I want to talk to the dancers.  Would I feel comfortable saying that to a small child dancing with an adult?  If not, I say it differently.

If it is true that "flirting is the contra way," do we want to change that? What if it was "community is the contra way."  Callers have a huge responsibility for culture-creation in our community.  We're the ones with the microphones.  If you're a caller, I invite you to examine the language you use when talking to the dancers.  What phrases can you change to make the dance a safer place for all ages? 

Are you "Ambi-DANCE-terous?

Note in this dance that there are two lines of all women dancers, and one line of all men dancers.  And scattered throughout are people who are swapping roles throughout the dance.  And there's a surprise later on as well.  Watch to the end!

I wanted to pass along dance organizer Will Loving's suggestion for a New Year Resolution:

"In the next year, become “ambi-danceterous”, meaning being equally comfortable in both starting positions/roles.”

As the new year approaches, I would now like to suggest to the broader contra community to consider offering this suggestion to dancers and to encourage organizers to personally take it on themselves and to offer/suggest it on New Year’s Eve dances and at your dances in the coming year.

Why? Well, there is a trend in contra dance culture towards this in general, but I would also suggest that it has many positive benefits, including:

• double the number of people you can ask to dance
• become a better dancer (really, it will change the way you dance)
• build connection and friendships with dancers you don’t know as well
• increase your ability to welcome and integrate new dancers by being able to dance with any new person
• increase awareness that there is really little difference between the roles
• learn better communication with your partners and neighbors
• have twice as much fun ;-)

For male organizers in particular though, it means having regular close contact with other male dancers. Based on my own experience, I think that this can have a positive effect on breaking down the sexist role expectations among the small number of male “problem dancers” who interact almost exclusively with female dancers. This is my own take on it but I think that the more men there are out there dancing the traditional “ladies” position, the better."

Happy New Year everyone!  May you have many blissful hours on the dance floor in 2016.

Contra Dancers Delight Holiday 2015

Calling with Great Bear is like driving a Lamborghini!  The dance is "Catch Me if You Can" by Jim Hemphill.

Duple Improper (Starts with men in the middle of a short wavy line)
A1 Balance the Wave, Men slide past each other as in Rory O'More into partner's arms for a swing
A2 Women Chain, Women Allemande R 1 1/2 to a short wave
B1 Balance the Wave, Women slide past each other as in Rory O'More into Neighbor's arms for a swing
B2 Circle L 3/4, Balance the Ring and Petronella.  Turn to face new neighbors and reform the wave.