played in a Contra band last night!

[jim_n_virginia]

I was invited by a fiddler friend and while I have been going to Celtic Sessiuns' for years this was the first Contra band I have played with in fact it was the first Contra dance I had ever witnessed and I gotta say boy was it fun.

There were about 15 of us with 3 mandolins including myself. It was very enjoyable watching the folks twirl and dance in time with our music.

What I founde very intersting was how the dance caller put the songs together. I was given a song list of about 30 or 40 songs and had to be prepared to play any of them at any time and in any combination.

Fortunately I knew about half the songs and the rest was easy to figure out the chord progression and just back up with rhythm. I tell ya I am hooked and I can't wait to play with them again or other Contra bands.

Heck I wish I could start my own!

What I want to know is was the dance caller asking for types of songs? Like requesting 2 jigs and a Reel?

Or was he requesting particular songs and is this customary for all Contra dances?

In other words is there a specific formula used at all Contra dances?

And no I didn't do any dancing but several members of the band would take breaks and dance a few rounds and then come back.

I have never danced those dances before but they looked easy enough and the caller actually explained what to do BEFORE each dance, is this typical too?

I didn't ask too many questions there because I didn't want to look like a COMPLETE "noob"

But this one pretty lass told me that it wasn't hard to do and she said that "if you can walk, you can Contra dance!"

I can't wait to go again and next time I'm dancing?

Anybody want to share their Contra dancing experiences whether it's playing or dancing?
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[PhilGE]

Jim, you're hooked! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif #Hooray! Welcome to the wonderful world of contra dance. I've been contra dancing for about 25 years and still love it.

You obviously have a sense of rhthm. Now, just find yourself a dance, get there early, and dance as much as you can. It's usually pretty easy to pick up. Good contra dance musicians often also dance so they can "feel the dance" and really make the music move.

There's no particular #formula for the tunes. Dances can fit to reels, jigs, or hornpipes, but a good contra band will have a sense of what to play. That comes from learning to dance and listening to the music. If you're in VA, there's plenty of dances around.

Check out our web page, GoDancing.org (http://www.godancing.org/) for an idea of contra dancing in the midwest. Here's some low-res video (http://www.godancing.org/Resources/KarenCalling2.avi) from one of our dances a few years ago.

You can find out more about contra dancing in general at THIS SITE. (http://www.sbcds.org/contradance/whatis/)

Here's a set of great photos (http://www.dougplummer.com/contra.html) from contra dances.

Check out Popcorn Behavior (http://www.contracopia.net/cgi-local/cdpage/cdpage.cgi?cdreq=pb2) available at Contracopia (http://www.contracopia.net) and listen to Hughie Traver's. Fun stuff!

Enjoy! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[John Flynn]

Jim:

I love playing contras! I think that is about the most fun I have had playing mando. The Folk School of St. Louis has its students and staff play a contra for the local dance society once a year and this past year, we had 35 musicians playing together for over 200 dancers. It was like being in an orchestra.

I shared this experience with you on the phone, but I will also share it with the group. Last summer my band, which at the time was a bass, a fiddle, a guitar and me on mando, played a contra for about 50 dancers in an assembly building on a nature reserve. It was a warm evening and so they opened all the windows and doors in the building. While we were playing a reel, a swarm of big, black, biting horse flies got into the building. We kept playing and the dancers kept dancing while all these flies were trying to bite us. The dnacers had thier hands free and were moving, so they did OK and actually managed to whack a bunch of the pests. I got bit four times. One bite on my right bicep left a fairly sizable trail of blood running down my arm, but I nailed the bugger in time with the music! Our band did not miss a beat through the whole thing. Fortunately, once the reel was done, we got the caller to declare an intermission and we got ahold of some "Off," sprayed ourselves down and continued with no problems.

[mancmando]

I don't want to sound stupid but what is contra dance?? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[steve V. johnson]

There's a contra dance in Bloomington, Indiana, every Wednesday night, and they have a revolving schedule of local players (old time, bluegrass, Irish, roots, etc...) and touring bands, some of whom are contra specialists. I've played a few of those and a few with the Culchies in other places.

The callers I've heard generally only say 'I need some reels, here's the tempo...' and they'll tap, clap or stomp it out so we can get it. A lot of times callers wear headset mics to the PA, so we can play softly (or just one fiddler will...) to pick tunes and keep the tempo while the caller tells the dancers the upcoming sets. I like that.

Often the dances go much longer than a usual set of Irish tunes, so we'll play each of three tunes a lot longer than usual. Switching tunes, parts, arrangements and so on in a long dance set is a real art! The best I've ever heard was a great Canadian band called The Flap Jacks, who would trade parts, change tunes, play with really interesting dynamics and move stuff all around, and still keep the tempo for the dancers, who LOVED them.

Jim-n-V, with a lot of players it can be real fun, cuz you can play in shifts and stuff, make arrangements on the fly. With a trio or a quartet, it can be kinda like work... <GGG>

In Ireland, the ceili bands have a language of Sets. Each set has a name and the name means three dances, i.e. jig, jig, reel, or reel, polka, reel. I don't know the names at all... But the dancers do! The band posts the set names for two periods of dancing, and the dancers don't need a caller because they just dance figures that match the set names. This blew us away the first time we saw it! We were thinking they were Stepford Step Dancers (all 80 of 'em!!!) and we had no idea how all of them knew what was coming. It's also cool because it doesn't matter what tunes the bands play, as long as the tempo is steady and they keep the tunes to the set orders. Wild stuff. Ceili bands have a reputation (with some folks I've heard) as being kinda stodgy and ... monochromatic, I guess, but when we've heard, say, the Abbey Ceili Band at a village-hall dance way out in the country in the southwest of Ireland, the plain ol' SMOKED!

Congrats, Jim! Have some FUN, bwah!

stv

[John Flynn]

I don't want to sound stupid but what is contra dance??

This link will tell you.

http://www.sbcds.org/contradance/whatis/

[yoods]

Hi Jim,
Welcome to the fun.

To answer some of your questions, for the most part reels will work for most dances, and tune selection is as much as an art and from experience as well as science.

For example when talking to the caller you find out what kind of movements the next dance will have and you find tunes that you think will fit them well. From my experience, most callers do not know tunes in general, but sometimes he/she might know the name of a tune that has gone well with a dance before. That last bit of info is great. Not so much that you have to play the tunes he/she asked for (unless it is a tune that was written for that particular dance like Hull’s Victory, Rory O'More, Petronella, La Bastringe, etc...), but if you know the suggested tune as far as how bouncy, smooth or notely it is, you can pick similar ones to fit the dance. It is a great experience for all of the three legs of the stool that is contra (caller musicians, dancers) when the tunes fit the dance. Other types of tunes that are commonly used are jigs (for waves and balances) and marches (for down the center and back), but most importanly, nothing is really set in stone, just use what works well with a particular dance.


"I have never danced those dances before but they looked easy enough and the caller actually explained what to do BEFORE each dance, is this typical too?"

Yes, which is one of the reasons it is fun and welcoming to anyone who whats to dance to Celtic, Northern and Southern fiddle tunes.

It is really fun to play, but you should dance, or at least try it out as it will make you a better dance musician, to learn better what works well and what does not (for music). After all we (caller and band) are there to serve the dancers.

Some suggested contra dance links for the Virginia area:

http://www.contracorners.com/

http://home.comcast.net/~richmondva/TADAMS/home.htm

http://www.norfolk.folkdancer.com/[I][QUOTE]

[fatt-dad]

make arrangements on the fly.
So, with Mando Johnny's post there seems to be something about flys and contra dancing - ha. This whole thread has me intreagued, having never been to a contra dance.

f-d

[jim_n_virginia]

It is a great experience for all of the three legs of the stool that is contra (caller musicians, dancers) when the tunes fit the dance. Other types of tunes that are commonly used are jigs (for waves and balances) and marches (for down the center and back), but most importanly, nothing is really set in stone, just use what works well with a particular dance.

[QUOTE]
David thanks for the links.

I will definitely be back at the next OBeX!
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[mancmando]

I don't want to sound stupid but what is contra dance??

This link will tell you.

http://www.sbcds.org/contradance/whatis/
Thanks mando Johnny - turns out a contra dance is what I'd call a ceileih...

A point that a lot of celtic musicians miss is that jigs, reels etc exist because of these dances, and plaiying for a dance can be quite an education for the musician - the tunes seem to make more sense (if the dancers can dance!!)

[jim_n_virginia]

While we were playing a reel, a swarm of big, black, biting horse flies got into the building. We kept playing and the dancers kept dancing while all these flies were trying to bite us.

One bite on my right bicep left a fairly sizable trail of blood running down my arm, but I nailed the bugger in time with the music!
Thanks John for the story because I think I am going to buy a can of Deep Woods Off and put it in my truck for "JUST in case", one of these days! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[yoods]

"David thanks for the links.

I will definitely be back at the next OBeX!"
Jim-in-Virginia


You are welcome Jim, see you there.

All:
FYI, a great contra music CD site is Great Meadow Music (http://www.greatmeadowmusic.com/) (there are others). If you don't know where to start, check out the very dynamic group Airdance (has two releases), which features Rod Miller on fiddle and David Surette on mando and guitar, with excellent backing on piano, bass and precussion. David also has a new solo CD called Northern Roots which features a lot of his mando playing. #The address for it can be found on the Mando Cafe website....

Ahh, here it is; David Surette (http://www.mandolincafe.com/news/publish/mandolins_00178.shtml)

Cheers

[pickerfromhell]

I love doing the contra dance stuff. My wife and I belong to the Arkansas Country Dance Society. We don't play for them much these days --too busy...but we do play the annual "Dance Off" at Mt. Nebo, Arkansas every year. Nice venue in the Grand Lodge, built by the WPA in the 1930's. We spend the weekend (november) in one of the cabins on the mountain. This has become a yearly ritual for us. The event is attended by hard core dancers from around the country. Here's the link Arkansas Country Dance Society (http://www.arkansascountrydance.org/)