I'm stepping ever so cautiously onto a soapbox. Though I'll strive to maintain a
civil tone, my biases will certainly become clear in what follows...

Mac's original question was "I would be interesting to hear how other callers
incorporate other formations in their programs and how they and the dancer feel
about it..."

Most of the responses, mine included, spoke to what we as callers do in our
programs and why. Embedded in our answers is the reality of being hired
professionals at the mercy of the dance organizers and subject to local customs.
For example, Joy wrote: "My region is not very square-friendly, at least not at
a contra dance. ... So given the local atmosphere, I stick to mostly improper
and Becket contra dances."

The Big Question hidden behind all of our responses so far is, "To what extent
should callers select a program based on the wishes of the dancers?" Granted,
unless one meets those expectations at least in part, one will have a hard time
getting hired again. I'm well aware of that reality.

Remember the words of Polonius in Hamlet? "To thine own self be true." What does
that mean for us as callers?

Phrased differently, is the caller's role to follow the dancers or is it to
provide leadership? This might take the form of presenting a program that is
slightly different from the norm. It might mean taking a little more time to
bring out style points, or to discuss safety on the dance floor, or to
illustrate through example a particularly interesting / challenging transition,
or even in the middle of a walkthrough to remind dancers of some basics that may
never have been learned or that need refreshing-- "A ladies chain across takes
eight counts, four for the two women to cross the set and four for the courtesy
turn. The same timing applies to right and left, four to cross and four to
turn." It might mean calling more often than is the norm; several times I've
been quietly thanked by dancers who note that most callers only call a few times
and how stressful this has been for them trying to learn a dance.

I highly recommend Bruce Hamilton's little booklet, "Notes on Teaching Country
Dance," published by CDSS. Although Bruce's background is Scottish and English
country dance, much of what he says also applies in the realm of contras and
squares. In his section on "Leadership and Social Aspects," Bruce writes:

---quoted material follows:
It is crucial to understand this: people accede to your authority because that's
the shortest way for them to get to dance. Generally speaking, they do what you
say, not out of respect for your experience, because they think you know more
than they do, because you have a big voice, because it's a habit they picked up
in school, or anything like that. They do what you say out of enlightened
self-interest.
---end quoted material

He goes on to say that because the caller has been given this authority, it is
important to exercise it.

The most common example today in "our" dance community is the contras vs.
squares divide. It's important to remember that we are part of a long and
braided chain, that these two country dance forms have been in and out of favor
at different points of time. The longways dances of the late 1700s and into the
1800s were pushed aside by the quadrilles, and then both forms were abandoned on
ballroom floors and replaced by couple dances such as the polka and waltz.
Contras were, for much of the last century, appreciated in only a handful of
communities while squares were enjoyed by (literally) millions of dancers. We
get excited because 700 people are dancing contras in the main hall at NEFFA?
Modern western square dance callers remember occasions when they called to 700
squares. Callers such as Ralph Sweet who tried to interest their square dancers
in contras found a closed audience: "Contras? Boring! You do the same thing over
and over again. What's the fun of that?" And today, in this mostly
contra-centric universe, the wheel turns again as we see the rise of communities
of young dancers who are enthusiastic about southern Appalachian old-time music
and squares and want nothing to do with contras.

People like what they know. If callers only give dancers what they already know,
how will they discover the delight to be found in other dance styles? Does this
mean that an event advertised as a contra dance, one should only present a
program of polkas and tango? Scarcely. But keep in mind that an evening billed
as a "contra dance" is a new phenomenon; the first such events date back only
about 35 years, to the Boston area in the mid-1970s.

My home dance bills itself as a contra dance, but I think of it as a country
dance, and that term in my mind encompasses more than long lines. Even within
the strict contra designation, there are proper and improper dances, duple and
triple minors, and I believe that each has a valid place in a program. I
remember a dancer who started at our local dances and then, after several years,
went cautiously out into the broader world, to one of the more distant hot (or
cool) venues. She reported that she had had a great time and then added, "There
one thing I don't understand. All they did, the whole evening, was hands four
improper or Becket dances. The whole night!" 

David Millstone
Lebanon, NH