 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: contragirl
Date: 2006-01-28 07:55
This is a little off topic, but it still includes music in a way!
Tonight was the first time I have ever contra danced! I have started going swing dancing with friends lately, and a couple friends introduced me to contra dancing tonight. It was nothing I ever expected. (I expected more of a square dancing thing) But there was so much spinning and organized dance. The first thing I thought of was like a grand ball from the Baroque era (with the organized dancing stuff and live music).
Funny how I feel better playing the music rather than dance to it sometimes. hehe
I just thought it would be interesting to share since a couple years ago, I was asked if the "contra" in my name meant that I contra danced. I obviously corrected them with "no, it stands for contra like contralto/contrabass." lol. Then other ppl of my generation ask if it's the Contra from the Nintendo game, and I guess that can fit as well. :P
Happy 250 Mozart!
--Contragirl the dancer
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2006-01-28 19:27
Since you apparently are near DC you should take your Bb and your A (or a C if you've got one) to the Glen Echo open band and start playing the toons ![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif)
Steve Epstein
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Author: Neil
Date: 2006-01-28 19:57
And all this time I thought you were a Nicaraguan anti-communist guerrilla.
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2006-01-29 04:40
Ahhh...she's started dancing...next you know she'll be playing Balkan music...
<wicked evil laughter heard here in Minnesota>
xoox,
Katrina the Balkan clarinetist...well, no, _I'm_ not Balkan but I play Balkan music on tv...wait that came out wrong...LOL!
p.s. Congrats Contragirl!
Post Edited (2006-01-29 04:41)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2006-01-29 15:42
Contradance is a mispronunciation of "Country Dance." Look it up in Grove.
Now if you were a farmer's daughter, you'd fit right in.
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Author: contragirl
Date: 2006-01-30 03:23
You know, I was wondering if I could get into the band. (And yes, it was at Glen Echo) I think it would be cool to pick up some folk music. hehe.
I don't think I am a great dancer, I just started swing dancing this year. And I think I do it pretty poorly. Lucky for the contra dancing, you just spin a bunch and move when you're supposed to, and it isn't so bad. lol.
And I am an anti-communist gorilla. :P
I live out in the middle of farmland, but my daddy isn't a farmer. I remember doing square dancing in elementary school too.
--CG
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Author: sylvangale
Date: 2006-01-30 05:53
The contredanse/contradance is an 18th century French reinvention of a 16th century English upper class baroque "country dance".
If it looks like the great ball dancing of the baroque era... that's because that's where it comes from.
Contredanse on Britannica:
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9026078?query=contredanse&ct=eb
Regards,
Stephen
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2006-01-30 06:00
Contradance may or may not be a mispronunciation of country dance, but it is essentially the evolved tradition of English country dancing in America, with liberal doses of other folk dance forms and music. Country dance, BTW, refers not to hick hayseeds but to the dances performed at country estates by the upper class (see the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice).
As far as getting into the band, just show up at a rehearsal. That's all, I imagine, if it works like the one in Philadelphia, and I think it does. No audition.
Steve Epstein
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Author: Kalakos
Date: 2006-01-30 06:11
Good for you "Contragirl".
I always thought your nom de plume referred to New England Contra dancing, but, see, it was fated to be that anyway, and now your name is connected to contra dances.
Ralph Page, late noted expert contra caller and musician, said the two theories on the name were that it came from "country" (as mentioned earlier), or from the position of the couple where the man and woman are opposite from and facing each other (contra). I think he favored the first etymology of the word.
And it's really good music too. Wait until you hear "Money Musk!"
Kalakos
Kalakos Music
http://www.TAdelphia.com
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Author: contragirl
Date: 2006-01-31 06:04
HAHA!
Speaking of Grove, as a music librarian, we had stuff from the MLA conference (that's the MUSIC LIbrary Association), like t-shirts, mugs, etc. Well, one was a fridge magnet that said "Music Librarians do it in Groves" and it had a little tree. OMG< I about died! For some reason, I Loved it! I still do! I got a huge kick out of it... then again, I AM a nerd.
I will hope to continue my dancing this week. It should be fun!
--Contragirl
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