Maya Calls

Learn to call contra dances with me!

Category: EDCI 336 (Page 2 of 2)

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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.

January 20, 2023 / / 0 Comments

My name is Maya Roe. I am a beginning contra dance caller based in the traditional territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking and W̱SÁNEĆ people on Southern Vancouver Island.

I am creating this blog as a virtual home for my journey toward becoming a contra dance caller.

image showing person walking in pre-painted footprints
Photo by Flickr user jfchenier under CC license: BY-NC 2.0

Welcome and Introduction

September 9, 2020 / / 0 Comments

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