The Dances of 2017

See the dances of 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016

 
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The Caller

Bruce Hamilton, quite possibly our very favorite English caller, called the High Tea weekend in September of 2017.

He's been a mentor to some of our other very favorite callers, notably Joseph Pimentel and Sharon Green, and visited St Louis on several occasions to great acclaim. He was President of the CDSS Board from 2006- 2012 (CDSS is the umbrella organization for Anglo-American dancing in North America) and wrote a callers' classic book, Notes on Teaching Country Dance.

Bruce began Scottish country dancing in1967, at college, and immediately fell in love with it. He is particularly fond of its power and elegance, and also its music. He was one of the founding teachers of the San Diego Branch, and moved to Mountain View in 1976.  Bruce also loves and teaches English dance -- country, morris, and sword. He is a founding member of the Deer Creek Morris Men, a regular participant in The Christmas Revels, founded the San Jose English dance and has taught English country dancing for over 30 years, all over the US and abroad.

Lately he’s been focusing on non-choreographic elements of ECD: moving well, musicality in dancing, how to recover from mistakes, how to be a good partner, body mechanics, and the social and mental aspects. He doesn’t focus on new or complex dances (claims he can’t remember them!) but rather on skills that apply across all dances. He carries this focus into his sought-after callers workshops. Learning to call and teach well takes years, but even in a workshop Bruce is able to point people in extremely useful directions.


 
The Dances of 2017 (some are unpublished, some have multiple sources, some have multiple versions. If you are a caller seeking some of these dances, please write to Bruce. He may be able to supply you with them.)

FRIDAY NIGHT
Mile of Smiles
Blackheath
Come Let's Be Merry
Woodshed
Helena
Passages
Hoffedd Miss Hughes
Emma's Commencement
Yellow Stockings
~~ break ~~
Reunions
Sunlight Through Draperies
The Willow Tree
Volpony
Mrs. Hill's Dance
Whiskey Before Dinner

SATURDAY WORKSHOPS
Good Dancing (10:00–12:00)
Moving: Portland Fancy (just the tune)
Phrasing, connecting figures:   Benjamin's Birth Day
Triple minor progression. Set awareness, global view:   Orleans Baffled
Recoveries      <no dance>
Hand turns:     Currie Mountain (a Scottish dance)
Gates:  Six for the Six Proud Walkers
Hey for Four:   The Chocolate Equation
Fun:    Sapphire Sea

Great Dancing (2:00–4:00)
Moving slowly:  Muriel's Measure
Texture:        Roxburgh Castle
Set awareness:  Pentonville
Fun:    Young Damon's Flight*
Poussette:      Long Odds
Cruise control: Bloomsberry Market
Space:  Alice

* I simplified Young Damon's Flight. If you teach this, check with me or read Andrew Shaw's text carefully. ~Bruce


SATURDAY NIGHT BALL
The Minor Spaniard
Josephine
Our Brief Encounters
Pluck Me a Fig
The Short and the Tall
Autumn in Amherst
Hambleton's Round O
~~ break ~~
Iceni Square
Moonflower
Charlene's Celebration
Irish Lamentation
The Fandango
Wa' Is Me, What Mun I Do?