[Callers] Difficulty rankings?

[Lindsey Dono via Callers]

Alan wrote:"A caller can make any dance difficult, and a caller can put across an intrinsically more difficult dance with clarity, confidence, and precise prompting.  So some of that suitability of dance to crowd has to deal with the state of the caller.  This makes it hard to write down a rating on a card that's going to have meaning when you use it."

Alan: I completely agree. Occasionally, I've found myself bumbling through a walk-through for what seems like an especially boggling dance, only to have the caller announce the dance's familiar title (and on one occasion, the title of a dance I had called without trouble the night before). 
Another aspect to consider is the dance flavor of the local community. Depending on the main "crossover dance" (if any) of the majority, the same move can easily be taught to one group while completely flummoxing another. Communities that more frequently dance squares are much more comfortable with pull-bys, for example, while communities with many English Country dancers are less phased by mad robins, heys, etc. I've noticed this more and more as I've started calling dances further away from my home turf, and have begun asking organizers about other popular styles of dance within their community to try to get a sense of this beforehand.
The music is also a major factor in determining difficulty. Is the phrasing hard to hear? Does the phrasing match the dance? Mismatched choreography and music can subtly but profoundly increase the challenge level of a dance. Conversely, an excellent match can make a quirk of a "stretch dance" easier to remember. Matching seems to be especially helpful on dances with isolated balances on the 5th beat (Balance the Hey, for example) instead of the 1st (any dance with a balance and swing). More broadly, selecting dances that the band can't match well seems like an easy recipe for trouble. At one of my early gigs, I couldn't figure out why all of the slinky dances I tried seemed to be giving experienced dancers problems. During the break, someone pointed out that my band had two modes: "bouncy" and "barnburner." The elegant dances I tried to call didn't fit the strengths of the band, and I modified my program for the second half. 
-Lindsey DonoTacoma, WA
      From: Jerome Grisanti via Callers <callers at lists.sharedweight.net>
 To: callers <callers at lists.sharedweight.net> 
 Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2015 9:45 PM
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Difficulty rankings?
   
Erik and Alan make good points.
I also think it's worth the exercise to try to rank dances, and individual figures, by difficulty as a way of thinking about what makes a dance hard or easy.
For example:
Which is easier to teach (or to learn): chain, hey, right & left through?
That analysis is worthwhile, even if sorting your cards by such rankings is problematic.
--Jerome

Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com

“Dance like no one is watching... Because they are not... They are checking their phone.



_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers at lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net


  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sharedweight.net/pipermail/callers-sharedweight.net/attachments/20150420/3c9c13f6/attachment.htm>