At the end of June, (Contra Syncretist reader!) Megan Emerson and her committee arranged to have Firecloud come and play a techno contra in Portland, OR. I caught up with her afterward and asked her about organizing, community reaction, and following up on Chelsea Co's dances in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR. 

"I went to Chelsea Co's Binary Blackout in 2010. It being my first alt contra, I was delighted to find the dorky folk dancing I knew and loved -- but strewn with glitter and infused with bass and rife with scandalous blues dips. I had been recently head-hunted by the Portland contra committee as a representative of younger dancers, and I decided we needed to get in on this Hot New Thing. Having no idea what I was doing, I asked Chelsea for tips on what worked and didn't, brought in the same caller and DJ, and invited all the Seattle dancers I could find to come down and show us how it was done."

How did the community react? Was there any pushback?

This week's flourish is a way out of a swing that ensures that both the follow and the lead get a twirl out of the deal. Be careful with which hand you grab on this one -- it's not terribly intuitive the first few times through.

You, too, can have your flourishes featured! Drop us a line!

Happy Friday,

CS

Last week when I posted this flow chart, I got a response from a reader that I thought was interesting and so got permission to share with the group for comment:

"Maybe another branch of the flow chart should incorporate the concept of:  do the people you lead in the flourishes LIKE it when you do it?  i.e., not just about safety or whether it works -- referring to the young men with more energy than finesse who horse around a lot, and it works out ok, but it's still too wild and uncontrolled, and gets really old after a while.... Same young men when dancing in pairs (i.e., one is lead and one is follow) are really wild and uncontrolled and while it works out fine for them to do their thing together, the rest of us feel like we need to give them a wide berth -- so it works, but the rest of us don't really like it.  Maybe that's an artifact of the fact that they are part of a younger demographic and it would be totally acceptable in a group with a different (i.e., younger) demographic.  Is that the same as or different that any of your branches?  Seems different to me but maybe it's just a subcategory."


I'm not sure either whether that counts as its own thing or not. I tend to subscribe to the "don't be a jerk" school, which says that you shouldn't go dampening the fun of others. However, this goes both ways. In the example, the dancers who are horsing around need to be conscious of the space they're taking and where they are in relation to the rest of their set/line/whatever. At the same time, other dancers who are unaffected directly by it really need to consider whether their concern is warranted.

I know a dancer who gets jittery whenever any other dancer -- even if they're in another line -- gets dipped or lifted. I am more than willing to curtail things in my repertoire in the interest of safety or in the interest of staying in my own allotted dance space; I am not, however, going to take a move out of my repertoire -- when I'm all the way across the hall, have enough room, and can perform the move safely for me and my partner -- just because someone, somewhere might have an issue with it.

(It reminds me a bit, tangentially, of my philosophy on improv lines -- horsing around is a choice, and that's fine, but you do not get to make that choice for others without their consent. I should be able to dance a dance in a well-done improv line as written and keep my partner and role while the dancers and roles change around us if I choose.)

That's my thought in response to the comment; I welcome others.

This week's flourish is really simple and is really more of a communication vehicle than anything else. What do you do when you go to twirl your partner/neighbor across the set, and she accidentally gets away?

It does end up looking a little silly, but this move also lets your partner know that it's safe to keep spinning (and generally they can be stopped by a -- gentle! -- hand to the shoulder such that they stop.

You, too, can have your flourishes featured! Drop us a line!

Attention DC-area readers: the Contra Sonic series in Glen Echo Park's Ballroom Annex has moved to third Saturdays for the remainder of 2012 (at least)! This month's installment is this weekend, July 21, at 7:30 PM. dJ improper will be spinning the tunes and Eric Harris will be calling!

Happy Friday,

CS

Among other comments, caller Ted Hodapp mentioned that something he might add to future techno calling gigs would be to "...try and figure out a few dances that might specifically link up to medleys devised by our DJ."

This reminded me of Louis Dow in Miami, FL discussing writing dances to go with specific songs he spins. Another caller I talked to touched on an interesting concept that more modern lyrical content has been introducing to contra dance -- the infusion of content, especially having to do with lyrics and the dimension they can add a new layer of mood to the experience.

In a traditional contra, a caller will generally approach the band and say something like, "I want the first dance to be smooth and sultry,  the second one to have a lot of Petronella turns and balances, and the third one has a lot of energy," and the band agrees on tunes to play accordingly. In a contra that incorporates music with lyrics, it can go the other way -- a DJ can say, "these are the tunes and mixes I have" and the caller can plan a program to suit (or, a DJ/caller might align tunes and dances due to a confluence of names, or even write dances to the tunes).

It's a reversal of the normal work order for a contra dance, and it seems like it might open up some intriguing possibilities. I wonder if others have experimented with this as well...and whether or not dancers (besides me) notice such things. I welcome your thoughts! 

A couple of conversations I've had recently, both in the comments of this blog and offline, have made me think about what an actual definition of a "contra dance flourish" might be. Sure, we know one when we see it, but what might be a functional, vaguely-objective definition? My take on it follows (inspired by someone I know doing an "Is It a Date?" flow chart):

This doesn't account for regional variants -- as Steve (rightly) pointed out to me, this does leave the question, "If everyone is doing it, is it still a flourish?" out. (This question was also asked, in a different context, by a reader.)

Both Steve and the reader have a point, although I suspect that norms vary enough between communities (dips are more usual in some communities than others, for instance) that one person's flourish is another's "dancing it as written" (e.g., if the norm for the community is to complete do-si-dos without twirls, and I go and spin like a top through mine, that might count as a flourish there, whereas it's a fairly normal thing at Glen Echo even if it's not explicitly in the choreography). 

I'm not sure how to incorporate that in the infographic, but I'm open to suggestions.

Thoughts? Opinions? Something I completely missed? Does a mostly-objective definition exist that doesn't implicitly or explicitly say that all flourishers are jerks by definition (a viewpoint that I will -- unsurprisingly -- contest)? 

Comment or drop us a line! 

Update, 7/25/12: The conversation on the flow chart continues in part 2!

This week's flourish comes to us via Laurel Boraz, who recently came to the Glen Echo dance community from New England. It's a variant on our very first video, a ripcord twirl. As with a normal ripcord twirl, be sure to follow the natural direction of the arm and pull down before you twirl your partner under, as this will help prevent shoulder injuries. Also be aware that this variant can take up a little more space, so don't pull it out in crowded conditions.

You, too, can have your flourishes featured! Drop us a line!

Happy Friday,

CS

One of the recent Contra Sonic series installations was called by local (to Glen Echo) caller Ted Hodapp. As it was his Contra Sonic debut, I asked him about the experience.

"I was asked by Penelope [Weinberger]. [I'm] always up for a new challenge in calling contras," he says. 

"[dJ improper and I] had a few brief discussions in advance, but mostly addressed how things would flow just prior to the dance. This was mostly concerned with timing, how to 'read' his display to help in the event that dancers moved off the phrasing, and how transitions would work."

Given the preparation involved, I found it particularly interesting to hear what Ted thought were the surprises in the experience: "I think the biggest surprise is how well certain types of music work for this genre, and how well certain types fail. Rhythm is clearly the dominant structure for most pieces of music, but the melodic themes also make a huge difference in the energy of the dancers.... The biggest difference [between traditional and alternative contra] is that there is very much less phrasing information available to the dancers [in alternative contras]. Consequently, using dances with more basic moves helps a great deal. Besides, doing intricate dances can get in the way of enjoying the music.... [It's] all a part of the larger continuum of enjoying social dance. It's not for everyone, but it is a fun way to enjoy contra." 

Would he do it over again? "Absolutely. I would try and figure out a few dances that might specifically link up to medleys devised by our DJ."

Ted will get a chance to implement that when he and dJ improper put on a techno contra at the Tapestry Folkdance center in Minneapolis, MN on August 23, 2012. Many thanks to him for talking with Contra Syncretist!

This week's flourish is a simple flourish and is one of the very first flourishes that Steve learned. It's a neat and different way to pass the time allotted to a swing; if you like, it can also be used as a switch flourish with a small modification.

You, too, can have your flourishes featured! Drop us a line!

Next week there will be more syncretistic goodness as I talk to Ted Hodapp, who called a recent installment of the DC area's Contra Sonic techno contra series. Stay tuned!

Carry on Dancing,

CS

So while I am back safe and sound in DC, I spent the first part of this week up near Boston, where I did manage to get out to the contra & international dance on Copley Square (yep, outside, and the downright magical atmosphere in the Square stood in striking contrast to the high-rise offices surrounding -- it was wonderful to see some of you there!). While it took the dancers a little while to get used to the concrete dancing surface (I never realized how much I appreciated the lack of friction on a wooden floor), once it all clicked it was awesome and wonderful.

When I talked to Will Mentor last fall about Contrashock and Contrastock, one of the things he talked about was the idea of a venue's ability to contribute to the flow of a dance. This gets me thinking -- what makes a good venue for a contra dance? Do techno contras and traditional contras have wildly different factors when choosing setting to set a mood, or is it entirely a trick of the music and the lighting? Does it make a huge difference if a techno contra is in, say, a local tavern instead of a church basement or a park building?

For me, the outdoor venue was a lot of fun, though the concrete was an adjustment; while last night was a treat, I don't know as I (or my knees, or my feet) would want to dance on a sidewalk all of the time.

Thoughts? Let me know in the comments!