<![CDATA[Contra Syncretist - Blog]]>Tue, 21 May 2013 13:12:13 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Borrowing a Page from Overseas]]>Tue, 09 Apr 2013 03:45:52 GMThttp://www.contrasyncretist.com/1/post/2013/04/borrowing-a-page-from-overseas.htmlSo as some of you know, outside the U.S. it's not terribly unusual for a series to have a whole bunch of scheduled episodes, then go on a break of indeterminate length, and then come back. (Dr. Who comes to mind, as do a handful of British comedies.)

American contra grew from English (and possibly French) dancing, and I'm borrowing a page from them. In light of recent developing scheduling difficulties, Steve and I are announcing a suspension of the Friday Flourishes. We've put up 104, and while we've enjoyed doing them very much, scheduling for them is becoming more challenging than we can handle on a regular basis (see: Steve going to night school and my gaining full-time employment with a long commute during the day).

The blog lives on, though. Hope some of you stick around and read. And for those who don't, thank you for supporting Steve and me over the last two years and do subscribe to the YouTube channel or Like us on Facebook -- we will post any new videos there when they come about.

I'm really proud of the work we've done, and I would like to do a few more videos, at least, before we roll up the portable dance floor and retire the little point-and-shoot for good; there were some ideas I had for videos that never got fleshed out fully enough to shoot, and flourishes we never quite got camera-ready, and I would still like to do them.

Stay tuned and carry on dancing and innovating, dear readers....
]]><![CDATA[Happy 2nd Birthday, Contra Syncretist!]]>Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:26:43 GMThttp://www.contrasyncretist.com/1/post/2013/04/happy-2nd-birthday-contra-syncretist.htmlPicture
Contra Syncretist turns 2 on April 6! (Not bad for a little grad school project, eh? I wasn't even in grad school for two full years....)

So to celebrate this momentous occasion, I thought I might throw a few other numbers out there for consideration:

1

The number of flourish workshops Steve and I have led. We got this wonderful opportunity in September 2012 to teach "Flourishes are Fun" at FootFall Dance Weekend in High View, WV. It was an honor to be asked and a lot of fun to teach. Maybe we'll do another one sometime.

49

The number of U.S. States from which ContraSyncretist has enjoyed visitors (apparently there are no contra syncretists online in North Dakota...go figure).

85

The number of non-U.S. countries from which ContraSyncretist has enjoyed visitors.

104

The number of filmed  and posted Friday Flourishes, to date. Yup, we posted the first one on Friday, April 8, 2011 and have more or less consistently posted them weekly (and when we haven't, we've made up for it in subsequent weeks).

Over 180

The number of subscribers to the ContraSyncretist YouTube channel.

Over 200

The number of "Likes" we have on the Contra Syncretist Facebook page. We're super-grateful for every last one of them.

Over 10,000

The number of unique visitors to Contra Syncretist since it launched on April  6, 2011. My original publicity maneuver was to send out an email with the link bcc'd to 25 people I knew who contra danced then or had in the past, and my parents (who don't dance, but who I still think should and have been supportive of my contra habit for the last 6ish years).

Over 40,000

The number of views on the YouTube channel. Seriously. Wow.

Several

The number of lucky stars that I count that I get to interact with all of you. It's been a somewhat unexpected ride, but one I don't plan on trading in anytime soon for the world.

Onward!
]]><![CDATA[Friday Flourish: Ripcord Chain Flourish]]>Sat, 30 Mar 2013 02:34:47 GMThttp://www.contrasyncretist.com/1/post/2013/03/friday-flourish-ripcord-chain-flourish.htmlThis week's flourish is a ladies' chain flourish that incorporates elements of th the mid-twirl reverse chain flourish (December 2011) and our very first flourish video that described the mechanics of a ripcord twirl-out from a swing (April 2011). For this one, be sure that you have a familiar and capable partner who's not having shoulder issues, and that you have enough space.
Thanks for watching!

Carry on dancing,

CS
]]><![CDATA[Unexpected and Unintentional Hiatus]]>Thu, 28 Mar 2013 02:08:47 GMThttp://www.contrasyncretist.com/1/post/2013/03/unexpected-and-unintentional-hiatus.htmlSo, I'm actually going to take time out on this blog and talk about life outside of it -- specifically, mine. And Steve's, since he's my partner in crime on YouTube.

(We're fine, for anyone who hasn't seen us around and was worried.)
However, when we started this project, I was unsteadily employed (read: temping and freelancing) and going to grad school. This site actually started out as a school project for a class on building real-life communities in virtual spaces (that grew, to my surprise and delight -- thank you!). This also meant that frequently during the day I had time to pursue side projects, and get ahead on blog entries, and I was rather flexible in my availability for filming flourishes.

I have since graduated from grad school (aced that class, by the way), and managed to find some long-term employment.

Then the beginning of 2013 hit.

At the beginning of this year, Steve started going to school four nights a week and I was offered a full-time job with a longish commute (about an hour each way, driving) and benefits and other such things -- hooray! However, it has also meant that frequently Steve and I are on opposite schedules and that has made filming flourishes difficult. Add to that my work becoming increasingly challenging and the effect is the same as trying to outrun a tsunami. Eventually the wave crashed over my head and there wasn't much I could do but float along until the wave deposited me on solid ground.

I'm not quite on solid ground just yet, but it's getting better.

Contra Syncretist is not going away anytime soon. Thank you all for your patience in bearing with me during the hiatus where this wasn't my priority. I appreciate your still being here now that I'm back, and I get a lot of fulfillment out of talking to all of you, here and in real life. Updates may be a little spotty, but please do still come say hi when I do get to contra dances and please do keep reading.
]]><![CDATA[What Do the Macarena & Money Musk Have In Common?]]>Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:23:59 GMThttp://www.contrasyncretist.com/1/post/2013/03/what-do-the-macarena-money-musk-have-in-common.html(Heads up: the song titles are linked to dance craze videos. Use your judgment when clicking through at work. You have been warned. I am also hereby indemnifying myself from blame for any earworms that may result.)

What do the "Souja Boy" dance,  the Cha-cha Slide, the Electric Slide, the Macarena, "Gangnam Style," and "Money Musk" all have in common?

All of them are or were popular amongst a subset of a community, had another subset of that same community wondering why on earth anyone would actually like that dance, and  spread a bit in the cultural zeitgeist before heading off into the collective memory a short time later.

Contra actually seems to have one of those at the moment -- "Money Musk" is making the rounds, and Jack Mitchell called it at the Friday Night Contra at Glen Echo recently.

This particular fad seems to be traced to the "Money Musk" flash mob that materialized during the Ralph Page Legacy Dance Weekend in New England and the video was subsequently put up online.

We as a contra community 1) don't really get many triple minor dances, and 2) don't really get fads of the dance-craze kind in our subculture. So it's interesting to watch when it happens.

Folks who are less enamored of ECD don't tend to like the dance as much, I've observed. And there are those who want to dedicate March as "Money Musk Month." So perhaps it will continue to polarize, like many of the other dances mentioned in this post.

As an aside, it keeps looking like, if you booked it through the figures, "Money Musk" might actually track to the song "Tell 'Em/Crank Dat" (the one that tracks to "Soulja Boy")...anyone want to help me check?

Update: Corrected the name of the dance weekend to the Ralph Page Legacy Dance Weekend.]]><![CDATA[Friday Flourish: Left-Handed Twirl-Out]]>Fri, 22 Mar 2013 04:14:36 GMThttp://www.contrasyncretist.com/1/post/2013/03/friday-flourish-left-handed-twirl-out.htmlThis week's flourish is a swing flourish that was recently pulled on me by a dancer at Glen Echo one week. It doesn't take up a whole lot of room beyond a regular swing and can be led quite handily from a barrel swing with a capable partner. (It is also a fairly easy flourish to refuse from the follow's perspective -- just don't grab the lead's hand and zie can't spin you out this way.)

As usual, beware of shoulder/arm issues, dizzy issues, and space issues; sometimes there just isn't room to twirl out, with either hand.
Happy Friday!

Carry on dancing,

CS
]]><![CDATA[Merits & Minuses of Medleys]]>Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:13:59 GMThttp://www.contrasyncretist.com/1/post/2013/03/merits-minusesof-medleys.htmlOne of the neat things to come out of the techno contra movement is a renewed focus on a medley format, in some form or another -- in other words, a less broken-up format in which the music is more continuous and the dances/partners change up independently of this, to more reflect a club-like atmosphere where the music continues all night without lulls between sets. I've heard of three main categories of this style of event as practiced in the contra dances and events I've been to, each with their own pros and cons. So, in no particular order....

Type #1: Same Partner, Different Music, Different Dances

I saw this kind at NEFFA the years I went and at Contra Sonic when we experimented with them there. Essentially, for a set amount of time (e.g., 30 minutes, 60 minutes), you keep your partner, and continue the dance, and every 5 or 6 times through, the dance (and maybe the caller) changes.

Pros:
  • You get one partner to yourself for 30 to 60 minutes.
  • You get to know that one partner really well -- and what their capabilities are -- over the course of that time.
  • You only have to think about the choreography and not who your next partner is.
  • It's a fun challenge to see if you can dance for that long at a stretch.

Cons:
  • You're stuck with the same person for 30 to 60 minutes; somehow gambling 10 minutes of your life is different than 30 to 60 minutes of it on an awful partner. This means that people frequently book someone well ahead of time to be their partner for it (possibly many hours/days before).
  • This can be really isolating for new or out-of-town dancers, due to said booking.
  • If you don't get in on the beginning, it's entirely possible that there won't be anyone on the sidelines who wants dance and so if you're not in at the beginning, you're out for the duration (and as such several folks may leave since leaving half an hour to an hour early is preferable to sitting and waiting for the next dance/session, if there is to be one).

Type #2: Different Partners, Different Music, Different Dances

This kind of medley has continuous music for however long (usually several hours over the entire event) and periodically changes the dance every 5 or 6 times through like Type #1, but you switch out partners periodically at the ends of lines. an example of this type is the annual Medley Marathon event in Glenside, PA in mid-March (done with acoustic music, I'll note).

Pros:
  • Fun challenge of endurance, but with expectation that folks will drop in and out to get water/etc.
  • It is culturally expected that you won't keep the same partner all night (which means that asking a newbie to dance is a less chancy venture -- you can go up and down the line once and thank them and bid them goodnight).

Cons:
  • Since the dances aren't formally bounded with music beginning and ending, it can be hard to catch in-demand partners.
  • There is no forced break like in a normal contra dance evening, which means dancers must be exceptionally aware of their biological needs (e.g., thirst, pain) and break from dancing accordingly.

Type #3: Same Partner, Same Music, Different Dances

This type is probably best embodied in caller Dave Colestock's dance, "Seventeen." It's normal contra-dance length (approximately 8 to 10 minutes), but after every iteration of the dance (every 64 beats), the choreography changes, thus forming a chain of dances end-to-end. This has a similar effect to square dance's "patter calling." I've only ever seen this done with acoustic music but I'd imagine it could be done with techno-type music (possibly without lyrics, though?).

Pros:
  • These have the challenge of shifting choreography and the duration of a regular contra dance.
  • In some ways, this represents a happy medium of the first two.

Double-Edged Sword:
  • These get booked ahead well in advance as well (con), but in my experience the booking-ahead is  quite a bit less aggressive than with Type #1 (pro).

Cons:
  • These have to be very carefully choreographed ahead of time, and probably should only be done with one caller, whereas the other two can be done more easily with multiple callers.

Which of these do you like? Which would be more fun if they were included in regular series, techno or otherwise, and which do you see more as fun one-offs? Have I missed anything? Sound off in the comments!

Previous/Related Discussions of Medleys


]]><![CDATA[Friday Flourish: Other-Handed Chain Lead]]>Sat, 16 Mar 2013 02:07:41 GMThttp://www.contrasyncretist.com/1/post/2013/03/friday-flourish-other-handed-chain-lead.htmlThis flourish is a way to smooth out an edge in some contras -- the one where you go from a ladies' chain to a move -- like long lines forward and back, or a circle -- that requires the follow's left hand to be in the lead's right. (It's also handy for times when the lead is having shoulder issues, or just wants to do something a bit different.) Cautions are the same as for a normal ladies' chain twirl; be aware of shoulder issues/people who don't want to be twirled/etc.
You too can have your flourishes featured! Drop us a line!

Dancers are Ryan Holman and Steven Roth.

Carry on Dancing,
]]><![CDATA[More Thoughts on Outreach]]>Thu, 14 Mar 2013 01:42:49 GMThttp://www.contrasyncretist.com/1/post/2013/03/more-thoughts-on-outreach.htmlWhen I spoke with Dennis Gagaoin (a.k.a. DJ Gaga) of Spokane, WA in late 2011, he mentioned the idea that techno contra might be a decent vector for outreach from the contra community:
"I believe it can even help people who aren't comfortable dancing since it provides a structure. All you have to do is know how to follow instructions!"
Dennis himself came to the contra scene through the "Deca-dance" gig he called in 2011 which was organized by Terra Price and called by Ray Polhemus.

Terra and her fellow organizers did such an effective job of marketing the event to newcomers that, as Terra mentioned,
"I actually had to do lessons on three separate times [in addition to the planned lesson before the dance] because we had so many new dancers."
How might others replicate this success?  Marketing is mostly making sure that you've answered five questions:
  1. Who is it, exactly, that are you trying to reach? The more specific you can be, the better. "The general public" is really hard to reach and a large percentage of them will ignore you anyway. "People in X age range who hang out in clubs but don't like it/people in X age range who like to dance/people in X age range who like music but not the club scene" are more manageable.
  2. What does your target audience need to know? This can be your event information.
  3. When might they be receptive to your message? When they're checking Facebook for the billionth time, when they're waiting for a bus, when they're in line at the grocery store, when they're at the campus bar with their friends....
  4. Where do they get their info? Where do they hang out?  This is actually the second-hardest part, I find. People get information many ways, from word-of-mouth to posters to listservs.
  5. Why should they care? What can you do for them? The more concrete you can be, the better. Unfortunately, "because it's awesome" doesn't really cut it with people who aren't already in the contra scene. (And besides, you probably had them at "there's going to be a contra dance.")
  6. How can you put your message into that venue? This can be the hardest part. If you want to attract, for instance, people 18-26 who who are uncomfortable in your average 21st century dance club setting, the ideal might be to go to the club and advertise there...but that might be impolitic. ("Hey you, you're miserable here, come to this other thing instead!" tends to be, at best, tacky. However, if you have your event at the same venue, or are using the same DJ, these could very much be avenues to the targeted audience. "If you like my DJing, come to something different next week!" works just fine.) However, the folks that are turned off by the club scene might be on your local college campus, or at the local coffee shop, or at the library, or....
Other ideas or suggestions? Think I'm crazy for even suggesting that a techno contra might appeal to folks outside the established contra scene? Let me know in the comments....
]]><![CDATA[Upcoming Techno Contras!]]>Mon, 11 Mar 2013 06:51:26 GMThttp://www.contrasyncretist.com/1/post/2013/03/upcoming-techno-contras.htmlMark your calendars! (And if you have more to add, leave them in the comments and/or drop me a line!)

California

PALO ALTO:
March 23, 2013: Eric Black calls and dJ improper spins a techno contra.  More information available here.

Massachusetts

AMHERST:
April 3, 2013: Julie Vallimont & Ed Howe playing, Lisa Greenleaf calling. More information available here.

May 22, 2013: Firecloud playing, Will Mentor calling. More information available here.

CAMBRIDGE (SPARK IN THE DARK):
March 22, 2013: Julie Vallimont & Jon Cannon playing, Rachel Shapiro calling. More information available here.

May 11, 2013: Firecloud playing. More information available here.

JAMAICA PLAIN:
April 6, 2013: Chris Ricciotti calling a techno contra. More information available here.

Maryland

GLEN ECHO (CONTRA SONIC EVENT):
May 2, 2013: dJ improper + brass playing, Will Mentor calling. More information here.

Oregon

PORTLAND:
March 30, 2013: dJ improper spins and Noah Grunzweig calls. More information here.

Virginia

ROANOKE:
March 23, 2013: Brian Hamshar (a.k.a. DJ B-Ham) calls and spins a techno contra. More information available here.
Update, 3/18/2013: Deleted Louisville, KY contra on 3/29 after confirmation that my source was in error (and has since been corrected).
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