The Medway Contra Dance series, at Christ Episcopal Church on School
Street in Medway, Massachusetts, will sponsor an Open Mike evening on
Saturday, March 4, 2006, 7:30 - 10:30 pm. This is the third of Medway's
open mike evenings that I have MC'd. These events have introduced several
people to their very first experiences in calling contras for dancers. Now
it's your turn!
Please contact me, by phone or e-mail below, if you'd like to
participate. We'll discuss the dances you'd like to call, and I'll help
answer any questions you may have so that you can feel confident about
enjoying the experience.
Medway is a true community dance where anybody and everybody may show up
to dance - young and old, brand-new and experienced dancers. It is a
relatively small dance venue, although last month over sixty dancers were on
the floor. Your dance choices should be at an easy to moderate dancing skill
level. The band will be White Squall, consisting of Andrew Grover, Ned
Quist, and Alice Pace. Unlike the white squall currently howling outside my
window, they are warm and friendly and looking forward to backing you up
with great music!
The Medway dance organizers are eager to encourage new callers to get on
stage. As Rick Veneski wrote to me: "You can say, "Watch, Rick is going to
call a dance, and he has no idea what he is doing. So, if he can do it,
anyone can." :-)
For more information about the Medway dance, including the full
2005-2006 schedule and directions to the hall, go to:
http://www.contradancelinks.com/medway.html
----------------------------------------------------
Robert Jon Golder
164 Maxfield Street robertgolder(a)comcast.net
New Bedford, MA 02740 (508) 999-2486 voice
Update on Gene Hubert, from Beth Molaro.
*****************
Dear Friends,
More news about Gene Hubert that I wanted to pass on to you all. Some
of you know Gene but all of you have danced his wonderful contra and
square dances. Gene and Jenny were married 5 years ago and have a
little boy who is 4 or so... about 6 months younger than my Rebecca.
Gene and Jenny live in Durham, NC and have not been out and about in
the dance world as much since becoming parents... life is like that...
anyway, Gene has been ill and the Huberts got Gene's diagnosis this
past Tuesday morning. Gene has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. This is a
most difficult time for them and they need our prayers, thinking of you
cards, etc.
Later on, when times are even more accute, Jenny has requested some
help with just doing some of the ordinary things. Your help will be so
needed, as will your presence. Jenny expressed that what she will need
the most will be someone to work right along beside her and be present
to her.
We all wish we knew what to say...send love, send prayers, send
whatever healing energy you can muster, dance Gene's dances with joy
and good thoughts.
Gene and Jenny's address is: 1001 Goodwin Road, Durham, NC 27712
I'll keep you posted as things develop.
Beth Molaro
<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>
Karen Fontana
www.karenscontracorner.com
karen_fontana(a)yahoo.com
(H) 650-691-9663
<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>
Hi callers
I had the opportunity to call in Dover NH at the 1st Thursday night dance
with interesting results. (guest callers are welcome!)
The dance that I chose was Dan Pearls 'The Rendezvous' (see below)
The band had just changed tunes, I turned away from the crowed for the briefest
of moments to acknowledge the band,(by this time I had called the dance 6 times through
and thought it would be safe to cut the dancers loose) when I turned back the dancers were completing the F&B
and I watched as the dance began to break down. New dancers were looking bewildered as to what to do next,
meanwhile several beats of music had elapsed.
After a brief panic, I simply asked the dancers to swing their partners until the music came to the proper phrase. The experienced dancers thought I had lost it, 'cause they swang for a long time! Through ½ A2 and all B1. (but this maneuver put all of us at the same place)
At the proper moment I had them C L into the B2 ... the rest of the dance went without a hitch.
It has taking a while but now I can distinguish the different music phrases and where they relate to the dance being called thus avoiding disaster on the floor.
Thanks
Gale
A1 Swing Below
A2 LL F&B
W DSD 1.5X face Part
B1 All B&S partner
B2 Cir L 1X
Slide L to new Couple Cir L ¾ (to A1)
Thanks Dan for a fun dance!
Dover City Hall
1st Thursday every month 8:00-11:00 PM
Lamprey Rive Band
Guest musicians and callers welcome!
