Above: Right and left over ... It was great to have Tod Whittemore at the Weekend in 2006. He had a great time too, and he even got to dance!

Below: Of course Bob McQuillen is always there — and we’re glad he is! Photos by Patrick Stevens.

Important RPDLW Links:

 

 

What Makes the Weekend so Great?

Those are the sorts of comments we see all the time!

Look directly below for a more substantial excerpt from Jeremy’s great letter. Below that is an excerpt from a great article Chrissy wrote for the CDSS News.

All are reprinted with all appropriate permissions of course. If you’re not convinced yet, it’s hard to imagine you could read them and remain unconvinced!

Here's some of what made it special: watching the connection and the slight but deliberate tension between arms as the dancers circled in their minor sets; the smiles and grins on the dancers' faces; the almost imperceptible glance between partners as they crossed each other during a half figure eight; Mary Cay's eyes closed and her body fully immersed in making her music; Rodney's foot tap-tap-tapping along with the rhythm. I felt a kind of pleasure I don't even know how to describe—and a feeling of gratefulness for the privilege of being able to be there and call. Linda's extensive and constructive critique after my slot was very helpful, and I learned immediately from both the positive and negative feedback she shared.

For much of the weekend, I was a dancer just as much as an aspiring caller, and I appreciated the weekend in that role too. The RPDLW has a special feel to it that hasn't been at any other dance weekend or festival I've attended, not even NEFFA. I spent much of the flight home trying to identify why it felt so unique. Some factors I recognized are that the participants at the Ralph Page weekend share a strong and conscious respect for tradition and its preservation; strong sense of connection during dances (in the spirit of Ted Sannella); respect of dancers for each other more so than elsewhere; respect of dancers for the dances themselves more than elsewhere; very little booking ahead; few complaints by women and by smaller dancers about being "manhandled" and otherwise treated rudely by other dancers (though of course I may have missed this happening); and the direct connection to an earlier era in the special collection in the library.

But my favorite moment to sum it all up came while dancing "Money Musk." Everything else aside, I can't think of a more appropriate venue, group of musicians, or group of dancers with whom to dance "Money Musk." But it went beyond that. As I progressed down the line, enjoying the elegance so many dancers were displaying, I paid more and more attention to the full rights and lefts at the end of each time through the dance. Repeatedly—not every time, but enough—the other gent and I spontaneously did a "no-hands" courtesy turn with only eye contact and a tiny nod. Tony Saletan had not explicitly shared this very traditional option during his walkthrough, but with this group of dancers it happened anyway, and was it ever satisfying—the most powerful courtesy turns I had ever experienced.

[Note: although the rest of Jeremy’s letter is interesting and well written, much of it was directed toward the RPDLW Committee, so I’m not reprinting the full text here. I think this portion communicates the aspects of greatest interest to most dancers very effectively.]

RPDL What?!?

Reprinted with permission from the NEFFA News, Winter 2003

Why would folks rave about it in evaluation forms, calling it “The best contra dancing in the world!”, gushing about the “Stupendous weekend!”, or boldly asserting, “The entire weekend was wonderful. Nothing can improve it!”

There must be some secret… some delicious tidbit of distinction… And there is.

... Also, Jeremy adds, there is “very little booking ahead.” (Really! It’s true!)

This last attribute is probably connected to the weekend’s particular emphasis on community as well as dancing. There are comfortable places to sit and visit between dancing, with tasty treats to enjoy while chatting, and informal jam sessions to share tunes. Bob McQuillen’s commanding presence contributes to the stories and anecdotes that are sprinkled among the dances, reminding us in a tangible way that our social activity has a vibrant history.

Indeed, while the RPDLW features some of the best new choreography and newly-composed tunes, a significant portion of the program also celebrates our roots. Each year, the event regularly includes traditional contras and quadrilles, triple minor dances, singing squares, and couple dances as part of the program. Where else would dancers CHEER when Money Musk was announced as the next dance?

The "Retrospective" session is another feature of the weekend that makes an explicit point of looking back. Some years the focus is on a particular caller or musician who contributes a lot to our tradition; in 2004 it will be a look at "chestnuts," those classic contras that formed the mainstay of New England dancing over the past hundred years.

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I guess that’s what the big deal is. The people. The ones who have played the music, called the figures, and danced the dances in crowded, joyful halls for decades.  Connecting our past with our future.  As a dancer wrote after the 2003 RPDLW, “I like feeling that I am part of an enduring tradition.”  The secret is out.

 

DEFFA Editorial, February, 2001

 This is fair warning; I’m making a departure here from my usual musings outside of the folk music scene to share my thoughts and reflections on the New England Dance Legacy Weekend [as the RPDLW was named for that one year - PY]. To put it succinctly, I had a ball at the weekend! It was more than just the great music, the concise calling, and the renewal of friendships and meeting new people. Those factors alone would have made the weekend worth attending. There is something else present at this particular weekend. I’ll try to express to you what I felt.

   Contra dancing was formed in New England. A curious but logical mix of English, Scottish, Irish, and French traditions meeting with the unlimited opportunities of a new world, contra dancing has continued to evolve as a living folk tradition. The constant in all of this is the way that all the individuals involved are connected. For me, dancing in time to the music, passing smoothly and regularly from one person to the next, and acknowledging the presence of the other dancers are the actions and attitudes that I experience at the NEDLW. That is what makes it so much fun for me. The coming together of a group of individuals to enjoy performing a group activity is what dancing is all about and for me, contra dancing is the epitome of this.

    I get to experience this periodically at our local dances. Maine dancers exhibit an exuberance about contra dancing that is probably more in line with its roots than the more reserved style often experienced in the urban areas. I love that willingness to demonstrate the joy of the dance. But I like it even better when exuberance and the music all come together. I’d love to see that more often. I can’t help but equate contra dancing with raising a barn or a timber frame. It all has to happen together, on cue, in order for the event to have a satisfying conclusion for all.

Dancing Nirvana - The Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend

Imagine, if you will, a room full of foot-stomping, hooting and hollering dancers, from white-haired octogenarians to nose-pierced college students, a gorgeous-voiced caller chanting the figures, a band playing ecstatically more than forty times through the same tune and a state of joyous intensity that was simultaneously meditative and energetic. Dancing nirvana? It sure seemed like it.

This is just the sort of thing that happens each January at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend.

(Oh, for those who are curious, the caller was Mary DesRosiers, the musicians were Frank Ferrel, David Surette and Peter Barnes, and the dance was that triple minor classic, Money Musk. Seventeen minutes, forty-three times through the dance, and it still ended too soon! Money Musk is always memorable, whether at Pinewoods, the Montague Grange, the Scout House Christmas Cotillion or a wedding reception, but the only time one can reliably expect to dance it is in Durham, New Hampshire at that hotbed of chestnut mania, the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend.)

As Maine caller Cynthia Phinney tells it, “Besides being a lot of fun, the weekend is a real resource for callers who are learning the art. Since I’ve started calling I don’t get to dance as much. At RPDLW I get to dance with people who know and love dancing. I always enjoy the variety of dances, not to mention the variety of forms (duples, triples, squares, circles and almost always a few for odd numbers of couples.)” She mentions the syllabus (a resource that captures all of the dances as called, along with the tunes played) explaining that it’s a real treat since “I don’t have to miss out on getting a partner for the next dance because I’m busy scribbling down what we just finished dancing.” According to apprentice caller Delia Clark of Vermont, “The opportunity to dance with such master callers on a floor filled with experienced dancers with such an obvious love for these traditions was rich, informative and tremendously motivational.”

Indeed.

And maybe next year we’ll do Money Musk fifty times. Come join us and see!

[In fact, the next year we did a great Money Musk, and I’m sure we’ll do it again this year! - PY]

George Hodgson calling at the 2005 Weekend. He was there almost every year, generally called a couple sets of squares, and always had a great time. George was one of our strongest links to old-time contra and square dancing and was a great guy! Sadly he died in February 2007. He’d called a great square dance only a couple weeks before.

Photo from Patrick Stevens.