Well, the thing I notice about searching for blogs is how different the results are for different engines, and how some of results are not exactly intuitive for me--I had a little trouble following the hits in the results list to the actual blog, and sometimes trouble finding why the blog showed up on my hit list. But once I became more familiar with how things work, it was a lot easier.
The other thing I noticed is how easy it is to disappear into WebWorld for a long time! I searched on English Country Dance -- of course!! -- and found audio clips and videos and dance descriptions and lots of information. And found that an hour had passed before I knew it!! I see now how people can just get lost in the blogosphere and forget to come back! I want to try some more of the blog search engines in the future, but for now, it's on to Thing 4!!
Keep on dancin'!!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Thing 2--Done!
Actually, I find I had already done most of Thing 2 before I even knew it. I liked the video--he sure has a lot of enthusiam for a guy with no ears!! :>)
At first I had trouble with the whole "2.0" thing; Web and Library both. I wanted it to be a concrete thing, instead of a squashy, evolving protoplasmic mass. But I see now that a concrete description of a changing entity isn't possible. By the time you describe it, it has morphed into something else. But at least I'm comfortable with the concept now.
Why am I doing 23 things? Partly so I can play on work time and not get into trouble! But mostly so I don't feel like the world is leaving me behind--or at least not quite so much. I'm 57 years old, and remember having a party-line telephone, and black-and-white TV with 2 channels, and having to go outside and physically rotate the two-story antenna mast to change channels. I had a semester of slide-rule class in college. My mother still has a dial phone on the wall, with the 50-foot tangled cord leading to the handset. I love her, but I don't want to BE her. So I'm trying to keep up, at least a little bit. I'm mostly looking forward to just knowing what people are talking about. I don't know how useful a lot of it will be to me, but I want to be open to the possibilities that are there for me.
At first I had trouble with the whole "2.0" thing; Web and Library both. I wanted it to be a concrete thing, instead of a squashy, evolving protoplasmic mass. But I see now that a concrete description of a changing entity isn't possible. By the time you describe it, it has morphed into something else. But at least I'm comfortable with the concept now.
Why am I doing 23 things? Partly so I can play on work time and not get into trouble! But mostly so I don't feel like the world is leaving me behind--or at least not quite so much. I'm 57 years old, and remember having a party-line telephone, and black-and-white TV with 2 channels, and having to go outside and physically rotate the two-story antenna mast to change channels. I had a semester of slide-rule class in college. My mother still has a dial phone on the wall, with the 50-foot tangled cord leading to the handset. I love her, but I don't want to BE her. So I'm trying to keep up, at least a little bit. I'm mostly looking forward to just knowing what people are talking about. I don't know how useful a lot of it will be to me, but I want to be open to the possibilities that are there for me.
Continuing the dance description
Hi again!
Back from the land of Evil Influenza--at least mostly--and ready to finish the explanation of the parts of the English Country Dance entitled "Juice of Barley."
The next term in the dance description is "back-to-back" with your partner. This is easy: back-to-back in English dance is the same thing as a do-si-do in a square dance. Face your partner, walk towards each other and pass by the right shoulder, then back up to pass by the left shoulder and return to your starting place. In a square dance there may be "flourishes" like spins as you pass, or holding your arms crossed , but in ECD these are frowned upon.
Then comes the two-hand turn. Reach across and take your partner's hands, man's hands below and supporting the woman's. Then just walk around each other, clockwise. Easy enough, right?
Then comes the half-figure-of-eight. Like all of these things, it takes lots longer to explain than to actually do. The two men are facing the two women. They cross through the space between the women (man #1 goes in front to prevent a collision) and loop back to their own side. The end result is just that the two men have traded places with each other.
Then the four dancers join hands in a ring and circle to the left one time around. This takes 8 steps and 8 beats of the music; on beat 1 everyone claps theirs hands together once.
Then the women do the same thing, which puts partners back across from each other. Another clap-and-circle, and one round of the dance is done!
But the dance goes on! Each couple finds that they've progressed and are now dancing with the next couple in the longways set! So you do all of the figures with them, and so on until the music stops.
BUT, what happens if you progress to the end of the line of couples and have no one to dance with?? Just wait one time through the dance, and the next couple will reach the end of the set. Dance with them, and you'll find that you and your partner move back up the longways set, progressing in the other direction!
Back from the land of Evil Influenza--at least mostly--and ready to finish the explanation of the parts of the English Country Dance entitled "Juice of Barley."
The next term in the dance description is "back-to-back" with your partner. This is easy: back-to-back in English dance is the same thing as a do-si-do in a square dance. Face your partner, walk towards each other and pass by the right shoulder, then back up to pass by the left shoulder and return to your starting place. In a square dance there may be "flourishes" like spins as you pass, or holding your arms crossed , but in ECD these are frowned upon.
Then comes the two-hand turn. Reach across and take your partner's hands, man's hands below and supporting the woman's. Then just walk around each other, clockwise. Easy enough, right?
Then comes the half-figure-of-eight. Like all of these things, it takes lots longer to explain than to actually do. The two men are facing the two women. They cross through the space between the women (man #1 goes in front to prevent a collision) and loop back to their own side. The end result is just that the two men have traded places with each other.
Then the four dancers join hands in a ring and circle to the left one time around. This takes 8 steps and 8 beats of the music; on beat 1 everyone claps theirs hands together once.
Then the women do the same thing, which puts partners back across from each other. Another clap-and-circle, and one round of the dance is done!
But the dance goes on! Each couple finds that they've progressed and are now dancing with the next couple in the longways set! So you do all of the figures with them, and so on until the music stops.
BUT, what happens if you progress to the end of the line of couples and have no one to dance with?? Just wait one time through the dance, and the next couple will reach the end of the set. Dance with them, and you'll find that you and your partner move back up the longways set, progressing in the other direction!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
What did all that stuff mean?
There's a lot of information in the "Juice of Barley" posting--stuff that tells you the dance formation, moves, etc.
Longways set: Imagine a line of men standing shoulder to shoulder. Now imagine a line of women standing shoulder to shoulder, parallel to the men and facing them. That's a longways set. Each man's partner is the woman facing him. It's also a proper set, because all the man are on one side and all the women are on the other.
Duple minor: This term just means that, within the longways set, the first two couples dance with each other, and the next two dance with each other, etc., down to the end of the line. Duple minor dances are progressive. This means that after you done the dance through one time, you find that you've moved down the longways set to the next couple. So you dance with them, then move on to the next couple, and so on.
Hands-four: This starts many many dances, although it's not actually a part of the dance. The first two couples in the longways set join hands to form a ring. The next two couples do the same, all the way to the end of the longways set. In a duple minor set, this shows you who you're dancing with first.
OK, it's time to go home. More to come later on!!
Longways set: Imagine a line of men standing shoulder to shoulder. Now imagine a line of women standing shoulder to shoulder, parallel to the men and facing them. That's a longways set. Each man's partner is the woman facing him. It's also a proper set, because all the man are on one side and all the women are on the other.
Duple minor: This term just means that, within the longways set, the first two couples dance with each other, and the next two dance with each other, etc., down to the end of the line. Duple minor dances are progressive. This means that after you done the dance through one time, you find that you've moved down the longways set to the next couple. So you dance with them, then move on to the next couple, and so on.
Hands-four: This starts many many dances, although it's not actually a part of the dance. The first two couples in the longways set join hands to form a ring. The next two couples do the same, all the way to the end of the longways set. In a duple minor set, this shows you who you're dancing with first.
OK, it's time to go home. More to come later on!!
Thing 1--Done!!
OK, this wasn't too bad, except that my first post wasn't this one. Oh, well. Maybe I can figure out how to re-order them. I haven't done a profile or pictures yet, but at least the blog is created!! And already I'm learning things that are new to me. Cool!
Juice of Barley
This is a great English Country dance, from around 1690. Great music, easy to learn, fun to dance. It goes like this:
Juice of Barley
Duple Minor Longways Set
Couples face each other. Take hands four from the top of the set. Couple closest to head of the hall is Couple1, other couple is Couple2.
A1
Back-to-back w/partner
A2
Two-hand turn w/partner
B1
Men do a half figure eight through the women (Man1 leads). All clap and circle hands-four clockwise.
B2
Women do a half figure eight through the men (Woman1 leads). All clap and circle hands-four clockwise.
Duple minor?? What is THAT?? Hands four? Half figure eight? Well, it's all so simple that even I can do it, so you know you can!! Tune in to the next post, and I'll explain.
Juice of Barley
Duple Minor Longways Set
Couples face each other. Take hands four from the top of the set. Couple closest to head of the hall is Couple1, other couple is Couple2.
A1
Back-to-back w/partner
A2
Two-hand turn w/partner
B1
Men do a half figure eight through the women (Man1 leads). All clap and circle hands-four clockwise.
B2
Women do a half figure eight through the men (Woman1 leads). All clap and circle hands-four clockwise.
Duple minor?? What is THAT?? Hands four? Half figure eight? Well, it's all so simple that even I can do it, so you know you can!! Tune in to the next post, and I'll explain.
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