Maya Calls

Learn to call contra dances with me!

Category: Contra Dance Calling Inquiry

This is where I am documenting my process of learning to call contra dances.

My First Half Evening

March 28, 2023 / / 0 Comments

8 months ago, I called my first set at Saint Matthias Hall. It did not go well. Anne, my mentor had to come onstage with me and help me start the dance, and after the dance I cried on the drive home, thinking I had messed up my only chance.

Last weekend, I called a half evening at Saint Matthias Hall. It wasn’t perfect, but it was entirely functional.

Calling with the Odd Hack Band at Saint Matthias Hall

My Dances

I started by calling the beginner lesson, teaching basic contra moves using Larks and Robins terminology. As part of the lesson, I called Essex Reel by Tony Parkes. That was an easy and familiar (if not very interesting) dance.

Our first full dance of the evening was Orono Special by Tony Parkes. It was a little too similar to Essex for my taste. Next time, I will try something a little more dynamic as a first dance.

Then, we moved on to Simplicity Swing by Becky Hill, Hello Nurse by Maia McCormic, and Butter by Gene Hubert. These dances all emphasized chains, and I used them to introduce my dancers to swings, chains, and heys. Butter was a new dance for me, and it fell apart a bit because the band played a 3 part tune rather than a 2 part tune.

We ended the half of the dance with With Thanks to the Dean by Steve Zakon-Anderson. This is a dance that I particularly like because it is an easy double progression by a caller I really admire.

I also planned to call an adapted version of Petronella, but I didn’t end up having time for 6 dances.

Feedback

I was approached by quite a few dancers afterward, who told me that they appreciated my dance choice. I specifically got good feedback on my last few dances.

Talking to the Odd Hack Band, I learned that my cues were often late for ending tunes, something I am hoping to work on in the future.

Reflections on My Calling Journey

I have grown so much throughout my inquiry process, but I am still right at the beginning of my calling career.

When I started this inquiry, I wasn’t sure whether calling was something that would “stick” for me. I wondered if it might just be a phase. Now, I see how much I can give back to the contra community by being someone who knows how to call and who can step in and call a dance.

I have also seen how much power callers have to make positive change in contra communities. Callers can create dances wherever they are, a fact that gives me so much joy. I wish I had learned to call earlier, so I could have brought contra to all the places I have been.

Moving Forward

This summer, I’m working to organize a contra dance at the First Unitarian Church of Victoria so that the Victoria contra community has contra in the summer.

I am also traveling to New England in June and calling three dances with my best friend, ex-roommate, and the woman who taught me to dance.

Find a partner for another dance and take hands four from the top.

A photo of the two dances that I called at the March 11th Victoria Contra. Heart of Glass and Awesome Double Progression

Victoria Contra Redemption

March 14, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Last fall, I tried to call my first guest set at the Victoria Contra. There were many issues with the set, but suffice to say, it did not go well. I ended up having to bring the experienced caller back onstage to support me.

This was why I was a little nervous when I was invited to call a guest set at the Victoria Contra Dance. However, I think that I have fully redeemed myself in the Victoria Contra community now, and I am feeling excited to call half of a dance on March 25th.

My Dances

A photo of the two dances that I called at the March 11th Victoria Contra. Heart of Glass and Awesome Double Progression

Awesome Double Progression – Donna Calhoun

This was the first dance I called. It is a very simple glossary dance except for the fact that it is a double progression (meaning that couples progress twice down the set in one round of the dance). I chose this dance because it is an easy way to introduce double progressions, something that I am trying to include more and more in my repertoire.

A video of Awesome Double Progression

Heart of Glass – Carey Ravitz

I chose this dance because it has different directions for the different roles, meaning that it was a good chance to teach Larks and Robins as roles, something that I am pushing for more and more.

Both of these dances have some tricky elements while still being relatively forgiving. It was my first time teaching a hey, which I think went relatively well all things considered, although there were some inexperienced dancers who seemed to have a little bit of a hard time with the figure.

A video of Heart of Glass

Larks and Robins

This was the first Victoria Contra where I tried calling “Larks and Robins” for the roles rather than “Ladies and Gents.”

I reminded my dancers before both dances who would be dancing the “Lark” role and who would be dancing the “Robin” role.

I heard a little bit of grumbling about the change, but most people caught on quite quickly, and I feel confident that Victoria Contra Dance is ready for the shift from Gents and Ladies to Larks and Robbins.

I had one dancer come to me at the end of the dance and ask me very earnestly about the switch from Gents and Ladies to Larks and Robins, and we had a good productive conversation about inclusive dancing and practicing new roles.

I always appreciate when dancers come to me after dances with genuine questions, compliments, or thoughts about how specific dances work.

Lessons

  • Hold the mic at a consistent distance from my mouth. Handheld mics can help with this when you want to call and signal the band at once.
  • Remind dancers of their role at the beginning of every dance.
  • Having a teaching script is really helpful. Print it up.

Corvallis Contra Weekend!

February 24, 2023 / / 0 Comments

On February 17th to 19th, a group of contra dancers from across North America gathered in Corvallis, Oregon to dance to Elixer and Countercurrent. I was one of them.

The magic of dance weekends.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, dance weekends were one of the most important parts of my social fabric.

Why? In isolated areas of North America, contra dance can sometimes feel like a very small (and sometimes a bit inbred) community. You dance with the same people week after week, and it can be easy to forget that contra dance is a giant community that spans from coast to coast of North America, full of dancers of many ages, races, and genders.

Dance weekends are the perfect antidote to this feeling. To attend a dance weekend, dancers will squeeze into small cars with near strangers and drive unreasonable distances. When they get to the weekend, they might have many friends or they might be a stranger. In either case, by the end of the weekend, they will have a whole group of new friends.

Corvallis Contra Weekend

During reading break, I drove with two of my best friends down to Corvallis, Oregon to dance at the Corvallis Contra Weekend. This was my first contra weekend since the pandemic and I was so excited. Two of my favorite bands, Elixir and Countercurrent, were playing the dance, and I was excited to meet and dance with some of the best dancers on the West Coast.

Although I hardly knew any other dancers at the weekend, I quickly got to know a few of the local callers and younger dancers.

Dancing to Elixir at Corvallis Contra Dance Weekend. I meant to take more videos, but I found that I didn’t want to miss a single dance!

Lessons From Corvallis

At Corvallis, I had the chance to connect with lots of contra dancers and callers from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. From all of my conversations with them, I came away with a few lessons about the PNW contra community.

  • There are more dance weekends, dances, bands, and dancers on the West Coast than I thought!
  • It is so helpful to dance with dancers who are much better than me. I need to seek out opportunities to go to challenging dances whenever I can.
  • It is quite easy to tell whether experienced callers are interested in mentoring/ supporting beginning callers or not. Many are!
  • If you want to practice anti-racist and gender-free calling, you need to take that int account as you choose mentors.
  • Being on an island makes learning to call more tough because there are not many gigs on an island.
  • People at contra weekends are unbelievably generous. They will help you find somewhere to stay if you need it.

Gotta keep your strength up when you are dancing for a whole weekend!

An image of an English Country Dance from the movie Emma
From the Chattanooga Traditional Dance Society

English Country Dancing – Contra’s Dorky Mom

February 14, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Contra dancing, as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, is born out of English Country Dancing. Many of the figures in contra are directly copied from English Country Dancing. However, they have been adapted over the years.

I decided that I need to try English Country Dancing to develop a better theoretical understanding of the origins of Contra. This is why I was excited when I had the opportunity to join a group of English Country Dancers three weeks ago. I have been to three English Country Dances in Victoria and here are my thoughts.

English Country Dancing is Visual

In contra dancing, the cultural norm is not to worry too much about how the dances look to an observer. Of course, people employ lots of flourishes and many people dance beautifully, but this dancing is more to impress the other dancers in your minor set rather than to impress an outside audience.

In English Country dancing, dancers are sometimes performing in small groups for a large audience, which means that callers spend more time emphasizing hand placement, footwork, and figure symmetry. This cultural difference comes from the culture of “balls” in English Country Dancing, where dancers come together in period dress and dance. If you’ve ever seen Pride and Prejudice, congratulations, you’ve seen an English Country Dance ball.

An image of people in period dress English Country Dancing.
Photo from The Epoch Times

English Country Dance Is Complex

Trying English Country Dance is making me into a better dancer. Many of the figures in English Country Dance are essentially more complex variations on Contra figures.

For example, in contra dancing, the only hey figure you will see in most dances is a hey for four. In English Country Dancing, I have encountered heys for three, dolphin heys, and circular heys.

This is also true when it comes to formation and musical time signature for dances. This diversity is exciting and challenging for me.

Overall, I liked my experience English Country Dancing, and I think I will keep doing it.

Calling with Friends

February 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments
Photo by Maya Roe

On February 5th, Anne Glover, a local caller, organized a caller practice session in a local hall. The practice session had about 15 dancers and 5 callers who are working on honing their craft. For two of the callers, it was their first time calling. It felt nice to work with some people who are just starting out because I could see how far I have already come in my calling journey in less than a year!

I called two dances that I have learned recently: Orono Special and Petronella. Here are my reflections on how those dances went.

Orono Special

Orono Special is a simple Tony Parkes dance. I learned it because I had a hunch that Anne might ask me to call the first dance of the program. And I was right. It is a very easy dance to call and all of the dancers (including our one beginner) picked up on it early. My one criticism is that it is a little boring. Hopefully, in the next caller practice session, I can choose a slightly more stimulating first dance to try.

Petronella

Petronella is a traditional dance. It was the first dance that used a figure where minor sets (groups of four dancers) balance their ring and move one place to the right every eight counts. In contemporary dances, this figure is actually called a “Petronella turn.” I enjoyed learning an adaptation of a dance that is considered a classic. There was a moment during the walk-through when the dancers got confused, and I was proud that I was able to work with them through that moment of confusion and resolve the issues.

Essex Reel

On top of the dances that I called independently, I also helped one of my friends start calling a dance using some of my dance cards. I brought the dancers through the walk through and called the beginning of the dance before passing it off to a friend. It was nice to do that because it was a good exercise in being adaptable.

Over all, I am looking forward to call for another caller practice with the same people next week. We are hoping that next week we will have a live band, which will be great because I need to work on communicating with musicians.

Resources for New Contra Dance Callers

January 27, 2023 / / 0 Comments

As a new contra dance caller, I have been working hard to find dances and resources on calling. At this point, I have found a few, so I created an interactive video with some of my online resources.

My New Dances

As I promised last week, I am back with new dances. I pulled together five new dances that I hope to learn before my next calling opportunity (on February 4th). My newest dances are:

With Thanks to The Dean – Steve Zakon- Anderson

I found this dance this fall when I was dancing at the Victoria Contra Dance this fall. I fell in love with this dance because it is a double progression (meaning that dancers move through two minor sets each time the band plays the tune). Double progression dances are often quite difficult, so I was pleased that this one was accessible. I asked the caller for the name after the dance.

Heart of Glass – Carey Ravitz

I found this dance when Eric Curl was calling Victoria Contra Dance on January 28th. Eric called a variation of this dance called Fly Away by Roberta Kogut. Both dances feature a star promenade and a butterfly whirl which are figures that I would like to learn to call. After the dance, Eric let me take a photo of his dance card. I chose to learn Heart of Glass rather than Fly Away because Heart of Glass is a very popular dance that I have danced many times.

Hands holding a dance card with the calls for the dance Fly Away by Roberta Kogut
Fly Away by Roberta Kogut

Orono Special – Tony Parkes

This is an easy dance that I already had in my caller box because it was a dance that Rosemary had called many times. I knew that she loved this dance because the dance card was bent.

Awesome Double Progression Dance – Donna Calhoun

This dance was already in Rosemary’s calling box and it has a double progression. I learned about it from Rosemary and the Rising Contra Dance Callers Collective facebook page.

Petronella- Traditional

Petronella is a traditional contra dance that people still love to dance today. The version of Petronella that I am learning to call is a variation to the traditional (some people call the variation “Citronella”). I am learning the adapted version because it is a bit easier to call, but it still contains the balance the ring and twirl figure that made the dance a classic.

Finding My Dances

January 23, 2023 / / 2 Comments

My first step when I decided in the spring of 2022 that I wanted to become a contra dance caller was to learn the basics of calling. I did this in two ways. First, I met with two local contra callers in Victoria for advice. Rosemary Lach and Anne Glover both gave me valuable feedback and resources for learning to call contra dances.

I was absolutely shocked when Rosemary offered to give me her collection of contra dances that she had been collecting over the years. Contra callers must be intimately familiar with all of their dances, and the box of dances that Rosemary gave me represented a lifetime of collecting dances. Each of the cards in the box pictured below is a dance, and learning them all is quite a daunting task!

With Rosemary’s dance cards in hand, I was ready to learn a few dances! To learn a dance, a caller must rehearse their instructions while listening to the phrasing of music, until they can fit the dances to the phrase. So far, I have been able to learn four dances. Two of the dances were from Rosemary’s dance box, one was a dance that I tried at a Victoria contra dance and loved, and the last was a dance from a book that I heard was very easy (it was).

So far, I can call

Essex Reel (Tony Parks)

Jefferson Reel (Dudley Briggs)

Simplicity Swing (Becky Hill)

In the coming week, I hope to learn a few new dances that I tried dancing recently and liked.

Photo by Ardian Lumi

What Is Contra Dancing?

January 23, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Contra dancing is a style of partner dancing with roots in English country dancing. It evolved in New England during the early colonization of North America, and has survived through the generations because it is a great way to maintain community, make friends, and keep traditional fiddle tunes relevant . Contra dancing is a “called dance” like line dancing or square dancing, meaning that there is one person giving directions to a group of dancers during the dance. Contra dancing is composed of a series of nested figures. There are figures that one person alone will perform, figures that partners will perform, figures that groups of four will perform, and figures that the entire line of dancers will perform. These nested interactions make contra dance a rich opportunity for dancers to interact with everyone in the hall in a structured way. Although Contra dance has many aspects that have remained the same for more than a century, it is also constantly adapting to suit the needs and desires of new dancers. Contra dancing has grown over the years in ways that represent North America’s changing understandings of gender roles, gender, relationships, consent, and community.

I started contra dancing when my college roommate (who is now a professional contra dance musician) took me to a dance. I immediately fell in love. Five years of dancing later, that same roommate suggested to me that I should learn to call contra dances, after I complained to her about the lack of contra callers in the Victoria area.

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