March 17, 1995, midnight (Message 1334)
[This message is converted from WPS-PLUS to ASCII] MUSICAL TREAT Those of you who plan to attend Delaware Valley's workshop and ball this weekend are in for a musical treat. Alasdair Fraser and Muriel Johnstone -- great singularly -- are incredible together. At Unicoi (Georgia, USA) last weekend, these comments were heard: * "InCREDible!" (about ten per person, usually followed or proceeded by a "whoo!") * "Eargasmic" (one person but very apt) * "Too good to dance to" (impossible) BRIEFS: PRO I haven't read the 50+ messages on Strathspey from today and yesterday yet, so forgive me if I repeat someone else's comment, but those of you who come from areas where SCD is readily available are spoiled and have NO IDEA what it's like when classes and other dancers are rare commodities. Whether a ball will be briefed is a major factor in my decision to attend. I drive to another city for class, and I can't even attend every week. For a dance, workshop, or ball, I sometimes travel hundreds of miles over a weekend. Unicoi last weekend is 6-1/2 hours by car; Washington, D.C.'s Capitol weekend in two weeks is 5 hours by car. One way. If I can get the program ahead of time, and I happen to have the references, then, yes, I can review the dances -- generally by myself, reading the directions as I walk. When you walk through a dance on your own, never having heard the music, you often miss problem spots. However, even this is not always practical. For example, for the 29 dances on the Hogmanay program at Philadelphia, I had never done 16 of them; had danced 8 once or twice, three to eight years ago; and knew very well the other 5. Most of the ones I didn't know turned out to be from the earlier books and a briefing was all that was needed. On a 29-dance program, if you're unsure of 75% of the dances, a brief is very much appreciated. I did not mind at all standing through the briefings for the 5 I knew very well.** Now, I am an experienced dancer with an interest in technique, albeit not a teacher. I can dance most of the old dances, even if I haven't done them before, on a talk through. If I start in fourth place for a three-couple dance, and the top couple dances correctly, there's no problem even on a dance with a tricky spot or two. On a complicated dance -- even Mic Mac Rotary, Bratach Bana, or other Drewry -- I don't need (but don't mind) a briefing if I've done it recently. (I often forget the simpler dances without a briefing, however; I suffer from the "which one is that?" complex.) The operative word here is BRIEF. A brief is not a complete description, with all details included. It is a quick reminder of the highlights, and it should be a terse verbal description, not read verbatim from the original. I do resent standing and waiting through a reading, especially in a monotone, and especially as I watch panic grow on the faces of those around who were counting on the brief and now find it impossible to comprehend. What dance cannot be briefed within one minute? I once heard Ian Powrie's Farewell to Auchterarder briefed -- and very well -- in forty five seconds. This gives the dancers a chance to catch their breaths and the musicians a moment to arrange their sheet music. Happy dancing, Deborah Shaw Chapel Hill, North Carolina xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx ** I probably won't go back to this dance however, for other reasons. If you're from Delaware Valley and would care to know them, please contact me by private email.