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This page was updated
October 15, 2008

Workshops

Workshop Notes

Amarillo Texas TMEA Workshop Notes

Dear Greater Amarillo TMEA Teachers,

Mary Alice and I had a wonderful time yesterday with
all of you; we hope you have more opportunities to
dance with your students.

Many thanks to Christie Corder for extensive pre-workshop
communications and for taking such good care of us when
we got here. Thanks to Scott Royster for helping with
transportation and sound, and thanks to what I know are
the many other folks who pitched in to make this a successful
experience for us.

As far as we know there is not any community Anglo/American
or international folk dancing in the greater Amarillo area.
That makes us think that maybe you are the group to
give this a go. Have a special community dance that
is sponsored by TMEA. One of you, say, for example,
Christie Chase, who is an experienced dancer and has
organized and called events like this before, could be
your caller.

If you want to find a dance in some other part of
Texas or anywhere else in the U.S. go to:

http://www.thedancegypsy.com/

For a resource of contra dance websites go to:

http://www.contradancelinks.com/

Here is a list of the dances we did, with further notes on each dance:

BLAYDON RACES
p. 1 in the handout.
in NEDM's Chimes of Dunirk collection
We used 'Irish Jig Medley' from NEDM's
'Sashay the Donut' CD for this.
We did this is a mixer, but you can also do it with
younger children without changing partners.
We often call this at weddings. /We always start
teaching this, as we do with any circle mixer, by
having the dancers promenade and defining the
gents/moons/peanut butter/inside partners and the
ladies/stars/jelly/outside partners.

PEPPERELL STOMP not in the handout.
An original dance composed by Mary Alice Amidon
while doing an elementary school dance residency in Pepperell, MA.
It is great for a wide range of ages and for a community dance.

TREE SONG p. 6 in the handout.
in NEDM's Down in the Valley collection. We used the
music from the 'Down in the Valley' CD.
Lorraine Hammond, who composed this wonderful singing
game, is a songwriter and musician, and the best known
Appalachian dulcimer player in the country. She is in the
greater Boston area. The piano arrangement on the CD
is Peter's. We find this to be a calming, centering dance,
both for the children and for ourselves.

OLD BRASS WAGON p. 6 in the handout.
In NEDM's Down in the Valley collection. We used the
music from the Down in the Valley CD.
This can be an a cappella singing game, or, with the
CD (or live music) a great early dance to instrumental
music. When Peter teaches it he walks through the
figures first, and then says "Now just do whatever
Mary Alice says," and puts on the CD.

KINDERGARTEN REEL p. 2 in the handout.
In NEDM's Listen to the Mockingbird collection
but just in the book, not on the CD, because the
idea is that you lead this with whatever instrument
you play: piano, French horn, recorder, electric
guitar, whatever! Most significantly, the children
learn to move up one place at the end of each figure.
After doing this dance for a while, add a couple of
figures (dosido, right and/or left and turn), put
on any jig or reel medley and, viola! your Kindergarten
students are dancing a very simple version of the
Virginia Reel.

GALOPEDE p. 3 in the handout.
In NEDM's Chimes of Dunkirk collection.
We always do this to the specific tune 'Galopede'
which is on the Chimes of Dunkirk companion CD.
We often end a community dance with this dance.
If you have a live band, have them play an extra
C section the last time through at the end of the
dance and have each of the successive top couples
keep going down the middle while the rest of the
dancers move up the outside. Sometimes we practice
this final figure ahead of time, sometimes we don't.

SOME DANCE TEACHING TIPS

Gent/Lady dancing

Have the girls all hold hands in a circle.
Boys hold hands around the outside of the girls
("surrounding" them). Boys drop hands and
step back. Girls drop hands and turn around
and walk into a space between two boys.

See handout p. 11 for taking hands tips.
Mittens; front of your mitten on the front of your neighbor's
mitten, thumb lightly on back; take hands drop hands take
hands drop hands; posture; teach the forward separately
from the back in the forward and back. Use a lot of
different imagery to help them keep the circle big in
the circle left and right (keep your posture, keep the
balloon filled, don't get sucked into the gravity ball
in the middle, etc).

All turn and face to the right (facing counterclockwise).
Boys stay where you are, and girls turn and face
the other way. There's your partner. If the numbers
of boys and girls are not even you might need to create
a couple of same gender couples.

Teaching the promenade into a circle:
Shake partner's hand, hang on, take partner's left hand for
teaching promenade; while promenading: inside person is the
moon/peanut butter/gent, outside is the star/jelly/lady; four
steps of making a circle from a promenade: "Hang on to
partner stop walking, hang on to partner face the center,
drop hands, take hands.";

COMMENT CA VA? (Not in notes)
In NEDM's Sashay the Donut collection
Formation: circle of couples (not a mixer)
Music: Any reel (French Canadian is nice for this).

Exactly the same as 'La Bastringe' except for B2.
Mary Alice played for this, but you can use, say, Quebeqois Reel from our
NEDM Sashay the Donut CD.

When music starts, lead the students in clapping the first
of each 8 beats; doing the dance with your hands; "thick"
calling, then "thin" calling then no calling; saying the
call right before the 'clap' or before the first beat of
the phrase and figure.

LARRY'S MIXER p. 3 in the handout.
This is in NEDM's Listen to the Mockingbird
collection. We used Old Favorite
from NEDM's Other Side of the Tracks CD.
This is a great dance for 5th and 6th graders
who have some dance experience. Teach it
first with dancers staying with their partners.
The next time you can teach it as a
mixer, with dancers changing partners.

SASHA p. 7 in the handout.
In NEDM's Sashay the Donut collection.
A great dance for all ages! We are not sure of the origins
of this dance: one source suggested it was a novelty dance
based on a Russian pop song from the 60's. 'Ras, dva,
tri' is Russian for 'ready, set, go!'

GOING TO ALBERTA p. 9 in the handout
In NEDM's Sashay the Donut collection
and we used for the music the Going to
Alberta cut on NEDM's Sashay the
Donut CD. Marian Rose composed
this dance, which is a GREAT way to
teach the ballroom position (used for
the waltz, the polka, and for a contra
dance swing) at the same time as a simple
polka step. We have found this to be a
great dance for little kids, big kids mixed ages,
community dance, in short, for anyone. You can
do it as an a cappella singing game, or accompany
it with piano, guitar, accordion, or Orff instruments,
or do it to the music of the Sashay the Donut CD.

OLD BALD EAGLE SQUARE p. 10 in the handout
In NEDM's Sashay the Donut collection.
Andy Davis's brilliant version of 'Old Bald Eagle'
singing game (in NEDM's Down in the Valley collection).
It is the simplest square we know: a great first
square dance for young children. Try it with
the Sashay the Donut CD to Andy's calls.

LUCKY SEVEN p. 1 in handout
In NEDM's Chimes of Dunkirk collection
We used 'The Coming Dawn' from NEDM's
Other Side of the Tracks CD.a
The grand right & left exercises: First all
promenade to determine inside/outside
gent/lady or moon/star roles. Then all
face partner. Ladies crouch while men
weave around circle, starting on the inside.
Then Men crouch and assist ladies as they
weave around: right hand for outside, left
hand assist for inside. Then all stand and
face center and do a stationary grand right
and left just with the arms, counting up to
seven. Repeat that, but this time stepping
in place (two steps per arm reach). Then
face partner and 'repeat after me' some
of the rules: 'I will not turn around, I
will not go back' etc. Tell them that it
always takes seven times to get it right,
and make sure, when it doesn't go right,
that they all go back to where they started
from (rather than trying to fix it in the middle
of the grand right and left figure).

The workshop notes have level I. Level II, which
we learned from contra dance caller Lisa Greenleaf,
simply replaces the waiting (at the end of the A2
music) with a partner dosido.

This is the sequence I did with you. Of course you
don't have to all these exercises in exactly this
sequence, EXCEPT: I always start by getting
everyone partnered up and promenading, to
distinguish between the gents/moons/inside
role from the ladies/stars/outside role.

CHOOSING PARTNERS

We think it is a real gift to children to teach them
how to choose their own partners. I like to frame
this in 'Kings' and 'Queens' language to help the
children get over their self consciousness over
choosing partners.

Here is my sequence:
1) Talk about an adult contra dance where folks line up in
60 seconds, many of them dancing with folks they have
not met before, because of a special way of asking that
goes all the way back to Kings and Queens:

That was an example of a King asking a Queen,
now for an example of a Queen asking a King:
any volunteers?

KINGS AND QUEENS p. 4 in the handout.
In NEDM's Sashay the Donut collection
We used 'On the Danforth' from NEDM's 'Other Side of the
Tracks' CD for this dance. You might also use our other
version of 'On the Danforth' which is on our 'Sashay
the Donut' CD.

Before we teach this dance we will dub each child a King or a
Queen, and talk to them (sometimes while the music is playing
to help sustain the mood) about what it means to be a King and
Queen: They have royal posture, they never rush, they make
good decisions, they are very attractive; basically describing
the ideal King/Queen or, which, in my mind is being the
very best person they can be. This is in the style of an
historic English country dance.

I made this dance up on the spot with a 2nd grade class.
Since then we have discovered that it is a great dance for
older elementary school children as well.

(LUNCH)

LOVE CALL ME HOME a separate handout
song by Peggy Seeger, SATB arrangement by Peter.
Why did we do this?

  1. There we are: 50 folks in a room for the day,
    all of whom read music; how could we not?
  2. As a reminder of how important it is for
    us as music teachers to be fed musically and
    artistically, for us to be getting adult music
    and art experiences as part of our sustenance.

SOME DANCE CLASSICS:

HIGHLAND GATES p. 5 in handout.
in NEDM's Down in the Valley collection.
This is a great dance for opening a community dance.
Folks can join in the dancing as they straggle in.

THORN ROSA p. 7 in handout
In NEDM's Jump Jim Joe singing games collection.
We did this starting with Thorn Rosa in the middle
of two concentric circles. The inside circle is the castle
and the outside circle becomes the thorny hedge.
You can also do it, especially with younger children,
with just one circle around Thorn Rosa. Thorn Rosa
is a translation of a traditional German children's song;
we learned this singing game version from a Berea
(Kentucky) College publication.

CHIMES OF DUNKIRK p. 4 in the handout.
In NEDM's 'Chimes of Dunkirk' collection.
New Hampshire's Dudley Laufman transformed
a Belgian couple dance of the same name into
this classic that we do at almost every
community dance.

HEEL AND TOE POLKA p. 3 in the handout.
In NEDM's 'Chimes of Dunkirk' collection.
With younger children and at community dances
we usually skip the right hand or right elbow turn
that follows the clapping, and we go directly to
'everyone pass right shoulders with partner, walk
straight ahead, and take two hands with new partner.'
We have done this dance with children as young as
Kindergarten. Like other circle mixers, you can start
out teaching it with the children staying with the same
partner, and later one teach the changing partners version.

BLACK JOKE p. 2 in the handout.
In NEDM's Chimes of Dunkirk collection.
The source of the title of this dance is, we believe, innocent: a
variation on the English dance tune name: "blackjack", but to
avoid any misunderstanding we call it "Hey ho diddley dum"
when calling it at a community dance. It is a great dance for
a community dance. We always have every young child, say
2nd grade and under, dance with an older child or an adult
when doing this at a community dance.

SASHAY THE DONUT p. 4 in the handout.
In NEDM's Sashay the Donut collection
Use any reels for this. I like doing it to 'Flying Tent' in
NEDM's 'Other Side of the Tracks' CD. If you use
this music for the dance note that you have to call pretty
strongly and rhythmically in the beginning to help the
dancers define the phrase, but later on the musical
phrasing gets much more clear and the dance goes great
with the music.
A great! dance for 4th grade and up.

FIRST NIGHT QUADRILLE p. 1 in the notes.
In NEDM's Listen to the Mockingbird collection.
A great dance for, say, 4th grade and up who have
a fair amount of dance experience. We love
doing this to Old Time Reels on NEDM's
Sashay the Donut CD.

Teach your students Lucky Seven first so that
they already know the grand-right-and-left
figure going into this wonderful flowing
square dance.

DURHAM REEL p. 2 in the notes
In NEDM's Chimes of Dunkirk collection.
We used 'Slow G' from NEDM's 'Sashay the Donut' CD;
Assembly (the same band that recorded Other Side of the Tracks)
at their dreamy best. This dance was first published in John
Playford's 'Dancing Master' in 1651.

DOWN IN THE VALLEY p. 8 in handout.
In NEDM's Down in the Valley collection.
We did this as a scatter mixer. Mary Alice
played the accordion, but it also works fine
as an a cappella singing game.

HASTE TO THE WEDDING p. 4 in the handout
In NEDM's Chimes of Dunkirk collection.
Use the 'Haste to the Wedding' cut on the
'Chimes of Dunkirk' CD. This is the simplest
contra dance we know; a great first contra dance
for, say 4th grade and up. Note that there is
also a Sicilian Circle version of the dance in
the same 'Chimes' collection.

AMARILLO STOMP
by TMEA Amarillo workshop participants
Formation: Circle mixer
Music: Any jig or reel
A1: All forward, stomp on 4th beat, back, clap on 8th beat. (8)
Repeat (8)
A2: Right elbow turn partner (8)
Left elbow turn partner (8)
B1: Dosido neighbor (on the other side of
you from your partner. (8)
Dosido partner.
B2: Starting with partner, grand right and left
four changes. (8)
Promenade new partner. (8)
Great dance! Congratulations!

INTERSECTION REEL p. 1 in the handout.
In NEDM's Sashay the Donut collection
We used Assembly's hot 'Brotherly Love'
track on NEDM's 'Sashay the
Donut' CD. This is a GREAT dance
for high school students. Ideally you should
have 5-8 couples in each set (40 - 64 dancers total),
but it can also work for from 4-10 couples
in each set (32 - 80 dancers total). I call it
with a wireless microphone, and stand in the
middle to keep the dancers from sashaying
back across 'no man's land' at the beginning
of B2 when they sashay to the bottom of their
new sets.. Of course I get out of the way for
the great quadruple sashay crossing in B1.

Note that that, because dancers on, say, the
traditional 'gents' side of the set, end up on the
traditional 'ladys' side of their new sets after the
grand quadruple sashay crossing, this is, by
definition, a gender free dance: it makes no
difference which side you are on.

Although the 'X' formation utilizes the space of
a room best, note that it is much easier for, say,
younger children (I have done this with 4th graders)
and folks at a community dance to keep the four
sets oriented correctly if you make it a "+"
instead of an "X" so that each of the four sets are
perpendicular to one of the walls instead of
pointing towards the corners of the room.
It is described as an "X" in the notes; we
did it the easier way, as a "+" because there
was enough room.

SICILIAN VOWEL DANCE p. 4 in the handout.
In NEDM's Sashay the Donut collection
We used 'Golden Keyboard' (actually, the piano only comes in
at the end of the cut) from NEDM's 'Any Jig or Reel' for this.
Do this with 5th or 6th graders who have a fair amount of dance
experience, and who have already learned the grand right and
left ('Lucky Seven' from our Chimes of Dunkirk collection
is a good teaching dance for the Grand Right and Left figure).
It can work at a community dance if you have all the younger
children dance with an adult or older experienced child partner.
The main teaching point is, once folks are in the formation
of couple facing couple (Sicilian circle formation), having
everyone point to the left. Those pointing to the inside of
the circle say "I start on the inside." Those pointing to the outside
say, "I start on the outside." That is the direction they start going
when they do the big, no hands, stay-with-partner grand
right and left.

CIRCLE WALTZ MIXER Not in the handout
CircleWaltzMixer.pdf
In NEDM's Sashay the Donut collection.
We used 'In Continental' Waltz from the 'Sashay' CD for the music.
This is a wonderful dance for a wedding. Sometimes we do it at a
community dance. The partner two hand turn at the end of the
sequence is the best solution for most school and community
dance situations. If you are leading this at an adult dance or
a wedding it is best to replace that final two hand turn with
a short waltz in place.

Keep on dancing!

Best,

Peter and Mary Alice Amidon

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