NEFFA Friday
Apr. 25th, 2026 12:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sorcyressIiiiit's NEFFA!
I've spent most of the week fucking around in Providence and doing nothing, which has been quite lovely and probably necessary (it's always many bad sign when I don't do anything for a week off) but now I am pleased and excited to be at NEFFA! I am here on my usual performer badge, but that's not really relevant until Sunday morning, so tonight was just lots of wandering around and stopping every fifty feet to say enthusiastic hellos to another person I know and adore.
In terms of official scheduled things that weren't just hanging out and chatting with people or working on my knitting1 or eating extremely delicious SioPao2 here is what I managed tonight:
*Charis and I did the contra medley together! The sound balance was a little off, which is mostly a shame because the band was _phenom_. Whirlwind is Alex Cumming and Jeff Kaufman and my beloved SCD brother Stephen Thomforde. Fuck yes contra dancing to bagpipes! The last dance in the medley was Michael Karcher calling a dance called The Carousel --a rare instance of me liking something enough to actually ask what it was! I should do this more often with contra dances, really3. The progression was a left hand allemande for the Robins that changed the focus between hands-four _really_ marvelously!
*I loitered outside long enough to hear the tent pub-sing going through Rattlin Bog, and decided it was just chilly enough that I would prefer the indoors, so instead I went up the hill and attended...
*Flat Footing Percussive Waltz! What a great concept for a workshop! I like waltzing and I like percussion! I was sadly disappointed by the ratio of saying things to doing things, which is especially frustrating because I did enjoy and appreciate the things that were being said! But it was much less physical lessony than I would've liked and we only got through like 2.5 fairly simple variations.
We did end with time for one freestyle "practice what we've shown you" and I made enough eyes at Susan dG to get to dance with her, which is always fairly delightful. She's got a cross-step workshop on Sunday that I am hoping to go to, it's been ages since I've done either one of her basics classes or cross-step.
I think that was it! I rounded out the evening adjacent to the hotel-bar-pub-sing and talking with new-friend Manya and newer-friend Leee! I mostly didn't sing, but it was very nice to listen to!
I am looking forward to the many things I have circled for tomorrow (including what sounds to be an excellent late-night contra sesh called by Michael and played by Torrent! And lots of Scottish Country Dancing! And getting to observe the Morris Dancers! And other good things!)
I hope you are well, whether you are dancing, or singing, or just resting at home this weekend. <3
~Sor
MOOP!
1: Several weeks ago, at demo team, I was working on something in between dances. I happened to have hit a frustrating point just as Cathy brightly asked "oh, what are you making?"
"Mistakes."
Anyways, I think about that response a lot. I'm very proud of it, even though it's not necessarily a good conversation continuer.
(this footnote is relevant because among other problems, I found that my scarf had slid mostly off one needle earlier today so I had to get it back on and then I did a row and then I realized I had knit when I should've purled so I had to tink it and recount the stitches about thirty times and augghhhhh. But I prevailed! It is good! And soon I will run out of this _awful_ particular yarn and be able to do something soothing and nice like the ten inches I did of lovely blue seed stitch.
2: I asked the Filipino food booth "do you still have your, uh, steamed buns" and they said yes and a very enthusiastic Big Mom Energy woman explained how it was pronounced and confided that her daughters (helping work for the first time apparently) had been calling it a _dumpling_) and I thanked her for the correction and also it was _so good_ damn.
3: On the one hand, I really don't have the time to become a contra caller as well. On the other hand, the barrier to entry is _much_ lower (you just need a kitchen and some suckers) and I would probably be good at it, and it would be _unbelievably funny_ to get good enough that I could eventually get hired at ESCape as their contra caller. I mean, hell, if I'm gonna invest in The Bit I should do this with ECD as well.
This entire paragraph is a joke, but it would be nice to collect the names of good contras and ECDs I like to go with my collection of SCDs.
I've spent most of the week fucking around in Providence and doing nothing, which has been quite lovely and probably necessary (it's always many bad sign when I don't do anything for a week off) but now I am pleased and excited to be at NEFFA! I am here on my usual performer badge, but that's not really relevant until Sunday morning, so tonight was just lots of wandering around and stopping every fifty feet to say enthusiastic hellos to another person I know and adore.
In terms of official scheduled things that weren't just hanging out and chatting with people or working on my knitting1 or eating extremely delicious SioPao2 here is what I managed tonight:
*Charis and I did the contra medley together! The sound balance was a little off, which is mostly a shame because the band was _phenom_. Whirlwind is Alex Cumming and Jeff Kaufman and my beloved SCD brother Stephen Thomforde. Fuck yes contra dancing to bagpipes! The last dance in the medley was Michael Karcher calling a dance called The Carousel --a rare instance of me liking something enough to actually ask what it was! I should do this more often with contra dances, really3. The progression was a left hand allemande for the Robins that changed the focus between hands-four _really_ marvelously!
*I loitered outside long enough to hear the tent pub-sing going through Rattlin Bog, and decided it was just chilly enough that I would prefer the indoors, so instead I went up the hill and attended...
*Flat Footing Percussive Waltz! What a great concept for a workshop! I like waltzing and I like percussion! I was sadly disappointed by the ratio of saying things to doing things, which is especially frustrating because I did enjoy and appreciate the things that were being said! But it was much less physical lessony than I would've liked and we only got through like 2.5 fairly simple variations.
We did end with time for one freestyle "practice what we've shown you" and I made enough eyes at Susan dG to get to dance with her, which is always fairly delightful. She's got a cross-step workshop on Sunday that I am hoping to go to, it's been ages since I've done either one of her basics classes or cross-step.
I think that was it! I rounded out the evening adjacent to the hotel-bar-pub-sing and talking with new-friend Manya and newer-friend Leee! I mostly didn't sing, but it was very nice to listen to!
I am looking forward to the many things I have circled for tomorrow (including what sounds to be an excellent late-night contra sesh called by Michael and played by Torrent! And lots of Scottish Country Dancing! And getting to observe the Morris Dancers! And other good things!)
I hope you are well, whether you are dancing, or singing, or just resting at home this weekend. <3
~Sor
MOOP!
1: Several weeks ago, at demo team, I was working on something in between dances. I happened to have hit a frustrating point just as Cathy brightly asked "oh, what are you making?"
"Mistakes."
Anyways, I think about that response a lot. I'm very proud of it, even though it's not necessarily a good conversation continuer.
(this footnote is relevant because among other problems, I found that my scarf had slid mostly off one needle earlier today so I had to get it back on and then I did a row and then I realized I had knit when I should've purled so I had to tink it and recount the stitches about thirty times and augghhhhh. But I prevailed! It is good! And soon I will run out of this _awful_ particular yarn and be able to do something soothing and nice like the ten inches I did of lovely blue seed stitch.
2: I asked the Filipino food booth "do you still have your, uh, steamed buns" and they said yes and a very enthusiastic Big Mom Energy woman explained how it was pronounced and confided that her daughters (helping work for the first time apparently) had been calling it a _dumpling_) and I thanked her for the correction and also it was _so good_ damn.
3: On the one hand, I really don't have the time to become a contra caller as well. On the other hand, the barrier to entry is _much_ lower (you just need a kitchen and some suckers) and I would probably be good at it, and it would be _unbelievably funny_ to get good enough that I could eventually get hired at ESCape as their contra caller. I mean, hell, if I'm gonna invest in The Bit I should do this with ECD as well.
This entire paragraph is a joke, but it would be nice to collect the names of good contras and ECDs I like to go with my collection of SCDs.
no subject
on 2026-04-25 10:52 am (UTC)Sam and Austin introduced me to a dance that is often (which is to say, monthly or rarer) held at the Greek Orthodox church near central square. The purpose is to have wannabe callers and musucians get a chance to practice. Might be an opportunity.
I do dance around my kitchen but I don't think I could fit a contra line there. The ON ringing room (or the Greenway) might be possibilities.
no subject
on 2026-04-25 11:32 am (UTC)