As Richard said, it helps to focus on key concepts, rather than particular
calls. There's a lot of great suggestions already in response to your query.
I find it useful to organize the session around an outline, based on the
styles of a couple callers who mentored me.
1. Have the dancers find a 'partner' and form a circle. Have the band, even
just the fiddler, play a clearly-phrased tune - typically a jig. Have
dancers circle L, circle R - internalize the feel of simply walking to the
music, and feeling the eight-bar phrase.
(Sometimes i teach the swing here, while the dancers are still in a circle,
so two more experienced dancers can demo it in the center. This depends on
how many beginners versus experienced dancers i have.)
2. I have the "gents" role face out. Emphasizing the elbows-down hand and
arm position, i have them lean back, keeping the tension in their arms: this
is shared weight. Ok, straighten up. Drop left hands and allemande R. Now
allemande L.
3. Now, you've got your left hands joined. Join your right hands behind the
lady's back.... promenade position. I have them promenade around the ring,
(can have them reverse direction to teach the courtesy turn) and then
promenade up to face the band. Turn to face that 'partner'. Voila: contra
sets.
>From here, it's pretty simple to teach hands-four, 1's and 2's, actives
cross, ladies chain (remember that promenade position? here's a courtesy
turn!) etc cetera. The truly fundamental concepts, though, like weight
sharing, dance roles, feeling the music - are already established and easy
to build on, and starting with the circle formation helps bring everyone in
and allows you to interact with them more intimately and demo things with
ease.
As JD said, don't assume a move (e.g. a hey) is too 'difficult' for
beginners. Most moves can be done easily if you find the right reference
points and simple language to talk the dancers through them. I prefer to
emphasize the concept of passing one shoulder with one dance role, and the
opposite shoulder with the other; sneaking in a half-hey early in the
evening and a full hey a couple dances later.
Simple, positive.... amen.
Don't forget that as the caller, you have a unique possibility to facilitate
the learning curve, especially if the 'regulars' are cliquey. Ways to do
that? After a few dances, have the noobs all raise their hands. Praise them,
say they're doing great, and invite a round of applause. Sometimes i sneak
in the suggestion that experienced dancers ask them to dance.
Above all, though: have fun!!! If you're having fun, chances are the dancers
will be having fun too.
David "Tavi" Merrill
Dear Caller, Musician or Sound Person
A need for your talents is opening up with the re-starting of the dance in
Deerfield, NH. We are writing to see if you, or any of those you call or
play dances with, are available on a first Saturday sometime between
November 2011 and May 2012. We are attempting to restart a local dance that
the late Marianne Taylor started close to twenty years ago and that has
continued since. The dance is special to us because of her tremendous and
varied contribution to the dance community, and because of its special local
character. For the love of the dance and in honor of the memory of Marianne
Taylor.
Contact Rickey Holt: holt.e(a)comcast.net ASAP
Cheers, Rickey Holt, Peter Thompson and Sarah Mason, New Hampshire.
So Amy, in the first photo, which shows the whole camp, the word "Tribe" is visible
in the desert. Why is the "e" backwards? Dyslexic burners, or Something Of Significance?
David (former elementary school teacher) Millstone
It would not bother me to have my name left of, but some long-time dancers use that information in deciding which dances they can attend. Maybe you don't have to leave the name off. Just change the role to MC or some other title that does not have the square dance connection.
Sent from my iPad
On Oct 1, 2011, at 12:00 PM, callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Recruiting new dancers (Greg McKenzie)
> 2. Re: Recruiting new dancers (Richard Mckeever)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:09:14 -0700
> From: Greg McKenzie <grekenzie(a)gmail.com>
> To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Recruiting new dancers
> Message-ID:
> <CAFqkWLtB9Lpvn3_xm7nc6vLTMYx23tgmOgKtJJBTc1ZR-2S-ow(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Thank you all for these great ideas.
>
> I agree that the square dance connection is a turn-off to lots of new
> dancers considering contras. I just completed a flyer for an upcoming dance
> here and this discussion has influenced my design. I love putting the
> musician and band names on the flyer because it emphasizes the live music
> and the kind of instruments used. After reading these comments, however, I
> asked myself: Why list the caller's name? The presence of a "caller"
> definitely links the dancing to the square dance tradition. So I removed my
> own name as caller from the flyer.
>
> I'm not sure how other callers will take this but it makes sense to me.
> Only the regular dancers will note who the caller is, and *the flyer is not
> meant to target the regulars*. The name of the caller only raises questions
> in the minds of people who know nothing about a contra dance. It seems to
> me that the phrase: "All dances taught," should be sufficient information
> for new folks.
>
> What do *you *think? How would you, as the caller, feel about having your
> name left off of a flyer for a dance you are calling?
>
> - Greg McKenzie
>
> **************
>
> On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 1:46 PM, Martha Edwards <meedwards(a)westendweb.com>wrote:
>
>> Just to set a record straight, I believe it was Spider Vetter who came up
>> with the "Ants-Pants-Contradance" idea. My kid went to UChicago about the
>> time she started the UChicago dance, and I heard the story back then. It
>> was
>> such a great idea I've been bragging on her ever since, and feel she should
>> be given a whole bunch of credit from us!
>>
>> Here's what she said when I checked with her about it:
>>
>> That's absolutely true. I came up with the Ants-Pants-Contra dance
>> promotion
>> idea in November of 2001, and put it into circulation for the Hyde Park
>> contra dance in the first week of January 2002. We accompanied the flyer
>> with a huge campaign of sidewalk chalk, all around the University of
>> Chicago
>> campus, which Jena Barchas Lichtenstein and I spent several hours doing one
>> cold January night in the snow. The flyers went up the same night. The
>> guerilla approach to advertising was a huge success--the next day, people
>> were talking about it nonstop, and I believe we had almost 80 attendees at
>> the dance, most of them just interested parties who didn't have any idea
>> what the event was.
>>
>> This was, incidentally, right around the time that we started holding the
>> Hyde Park dances consistently every month, so the Hyde Park dance is now
>> almost 10 years old.
>>
>> I met Julia Nickles only once, at a New Year's Eve party at the end of
>> 2004.
>> At that time, she was interested in new ideas to promote the dance at
>> Brown,
>> which she had just become involved with. I told her about my experience
>> with
>> the Hyde Park dance, and about some of my ideas, and I suggested that she
>> try something like that. Julia asked if she could use some of my ideas and
>> I
>> said "sure, they seem to have worked in Chicago."
>>
>> Not a Big Deal, and Julia deserves a lot of credit, too, for getting the
>> idea well-promoted.
>>
>> Spider also taught me NOT to tell people that "contra dancing is sort of
>> like square dancing." Sometimes, she won't even tell people what it is.
>> "You
>> have to show up to find out," she'll say, or "it's fun dancing to live
>> music."
>>
>> M
>> E
>> _______________________________________________
>> Callers mailing list
>> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
>> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:38:47 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Richard Mckeever <macmck(a)ymail.com>
> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Recruiting new dancers
> Message-ID:
> <1317425927.20654.YahooMailNeo(a)web120401.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> Greg,
>
> I hadn't thought about that before - but it makes sense.? The caller's name is meaningless to new dancers and could even be a distraction.? The bands often have colorful names that could attract attention.? You do have to try to look at it from a potential dancer's perspective.? I want to know about the event.? The caller's name is kind of an inside thing - I am sure no one sees the flyer and says - wow - look who's calling - I need to do this.
>
> Mac McKeever
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Greg McKenzie <grekenzie(a)gmail.com>
> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 4:09 PM
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Recruiting new dancers
>
> Thank you all for these great ideas.
>
> I agree that the square dance connection is a turn-off to lots of new
> dancers considering contras.? I just completed a flyer for an upcoming dance
> here and this discussion has influenced my design.? I love putting the
> musician and band names on the flyer because it emphasizes the live music
> and the kind of instruments used.? After reading these comments, however, I
> asked myself: Why list the caller's name?? The presence of a "caller"
> definitely links the dancing to the square dance tradition.? So I removed my
> own name as caller from the flyer.
>
> I'm not sure how other callers will take this but it makes sense to me.
> Only the regular dancers will note who the caller is, and *the flyer is not
> meant to target the regulars*.? The name of the caller only raises questions
> in the minds of people who know nothing about a contra dance.? It seems to
> me that the phrase: "All dances taught," should be sufficient information
> for new folks.
>
> What do *you *think?? How would you, as the caller, feel about having your
> name left off of a flyer for a dance you are calling?
>
> - Greg McKenzie
>
> **************
>
> On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 1:46 PM, Martha Edwards <meedwards(a)westendweb.com>wrote:
>
>> Just to set a record straight, I believe it was Spider Vetter who came up
>> with the "Ants-Pants-Contradance" idea. My kid went to UChicago about the
>> time she started the UChicago dance, and I heard the story back then. It
>> was
>> such a great idea I've been bragging on her ever since, and feel she should
>> be given a whole bunch of credit from us!
>>
>> Here's what she said when I checked with her about it:
>>
>> That's absolutely true. I came up with the Ants-Pants-Contra dance
>> promotion
>> idea in November of 2001, and put it into circulation for the Hyde Park
>> contra dance in the first week of January 2002. We accompanied the flyer
>> with a huge campaign of sidewalk chalk, all around the University of
>> Chicago
>> campus, which Jena Barchas Lichtenstein and I spent several hours doing one
>> cold January night in the snow. The flyers went up the same night. The
>> guerilla approach to advertising was a huge success--the next day, people
>> were talking about it nonstop, and I believe we had almost 80 attendees at
>> the dance, most of them just interested parties who didn't have any idea
>> what the event was.
>>
>> This was, incidentally, right around the time that we started holding the
>> Hyde Park dances consistently every month, so the Hyde Park dance is now
>> almost 10 years old.
>>
>> I met Julia Nickles only once, at a New Year's Eve party at the end of
>> 2004.
>> At that time, she was interested in new ideas to promote the dance at
>> Brown,
>> which she had just become involved with. I told her about my experience
>> with
>> the Hyde Park dance, and about some of my ideas, and I suggested that she
>> try something like that. Julia asked if she could use some of my ideas and
>> I
>> said "sure, they seem to have worked in Chicago."
>>
>> Not a Big Deal, and Julia deserves a lot of credit, too, for getting the
>> idea well-promoted.
>>
>> Spider also taught me NOT to tell people that "contra dancing is sort of
>> like square dancing." Sometimes, she won't even tell people what it is.
>> "You
>> have to show up to find out," she'll say, or "it's fun dancing to live
>> music."
>>
>> M
>> E
>> _______________________________________________
>> Callers mailing list
>> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
>> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 86, Issue 1
> **************************************
>
>
>
> Hi All,
>
> I was wondering if you could tell me if this is a new sequence or not. I'm two states away from my cards and I don't know if this is too close to Melanie Axel-Lute's Almost Never Too Late.
>
> LL
> Gent 's al R 1 1/2
>
> P bal & sw
>
> Down the hall, turn as a couple, come back, bend the line
>
> R&L thru
> Ladies Chain
>
> Let me know as soon as you can.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Chris
>
We have two types of flyer:
1) Informational flyers for people who have attended a dance:
Small print, lots of dates, details of bands and callers
2) Marketing flyers/posters for people who haven't yet attended a dance:
Large type, pictures, marketing hype - no details of callers,
but usually mention the band to let them know it is live music.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 &
07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
