[Callers] Calling techno?

[Yoyo Zhou]

Hi Maia,

Mostly I agree with Bob. I find that dance length isn't much different in
practice. No-walkthroughs should be fine under the same circumstances as
regular contras.

There are many reasons to choose easier dances for techno contras. The
music and lighting tend to push the balance of how dancers are feeling more
towards groovin' to the beat and away from mental gymnastics.

Music:
- Will you have good phrasing? Some techno DJs understand the importance of
16 and 64-count phrases. If you don't have that, you'll have to pay more
attention as the dance is going to keep the dancers on track, and sometimes
the phrasing will "feel off" by 8 beats, in which case you can adjust the
dance to match (if you don't, the dancers will adjust, but they'll find the
dance somewhat unsatisfying). Sometimes the dance will end in a weird place
(oh well).
- Make sure you know where the music starts the first time through - often
it's not the standard 4 potatoes. A good techno DJ will be able to tell you
for each set.

Lighting:
- Will it be dark? This makes it harder to see (both as a caller and a
dancer).
- I would probably not call anything that required a demo if it's dark.
(Some callers like to use demos to teach regular figures, e.g. hey for 4,
but I'd recommend teaching them a different way.)

Yoyo Zhou


On Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 3:15 PM Bob via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Choose easy dances. The music is usually hard enough, and fun enough. Easy
> can allow for extra flourishes to add even more spice.
>
> Live or mixed recordings? If live then it should be perfectly square AABB.
> If mixed, the only thing you can count on is 8-beat phrases. Also if mixed
> you need to listen in advance to know how long the intro is for the first
> phrase, and keep focus on which phrase you’re in somehow.
>
> The specific questions about demos and walk through, yes, sure, depends on
> the crowd.
>
> \Bob
> Techno DJ/caller
>
> On Mar 28, 2019, at 17:17, Maia McCormick via Callers <
> callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Ah, more specific questions!
>
> - have you found on-the-floor demos doable at techno, or should I not even
> try?
> - techno no-walk-through's: do they work?
>
> On Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 5:13 PM Maia McCormick <maiamcc at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hey folks,
>>
>> I haven't called all that many techno contras, and I'm slated to do so
>> this weekend. Any tips or things to keep in mind about how techno differs
>> from your standard contra evening? (Particularly curious about anything
>> relating to dance choice and dance length.)
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Maia
>>
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