Hi,
I am wondering if you have any dances for low numbers of dancers (perhaps 6
or less), when most or all of the dancers are beginners and adults. I am
also wondering if you have any dances (presumably different dances), that do
not require choosing a partner and are good openers for beginner adults.
Thanks as always to all,
Rickey Holt.
I can only speak with reference to calling at NEFFA, as I have never applied to DownEast. As some of you may know that Linda Leslie is NEFFA's program chair, I will note that the program chair does not select performers for contra sessions.
Regarding NEFFA 2007, the following notice is now posted at http://neffa.org/perf_app.html - The Program Committee is not prepared to take your application at this time, since it is too late to apply for this year's NEFFA Festival. Please note that the application to perform is always available during the month of September, with a deadline in October. If you'd like to get an e-mail notice of application availability, send a blank e-mail to NEFFA_Performers-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com
So you can note on your calendar that September is a good time to check the NEFFA web site, and also arrange for a notice to pop up in your e-mail.
The NEFFA application invites you to come up with a briefly-described theme for your session, with a title of 20 characters or less. IMO, use your own judgment as to how important the theme is. If you are offering a concept that's really meaningful to you, don't be afraid to describe it. If what you really want to do is just call some hot contras, then IMO I wouldn't go overboard on the theme.
Unlike Northwest Folklife, callers and bands apply SEPARATELY to the New England Folk Festival. And I believe that this is a very good thing for beginning callers who hope to have a chance at getting onstage. This mix-and-match policy gives a fresh perspective for experienced performers, and can be an eye-opening experience for newcomers who may get to work with seasoned veterans. I will never forget calling at NEFFA with Northern Spy, a band that has worked with caller David Millstone for 25 years. And where was David during this session? Out on the floor, happily dancing to the music of his own band. NEFFA's selection process made that wonderful hour possible for me.
For what it's worth, the first year I successfully applied I asked for a "Festival Orchestra" slot, which means that instead of calling a themed, hour-long session I called two dances in the Main Hall with the assembled orchestra and then got off the stage as the next Festival Orchestra caller had a turn. IMO, the key here (as well as in submitting a session proposal) is to choose dances that you know by heart, can teach well, fully believe in, and love to share with a crowd. You don't want to have second thoughts as you approach the microphone.
If you're wondering why performer applications are required so far in advance of a festival, note that NEFFA may have 1700 performers, many of whom perform in multiple sessions (perhaps performing alone, and with a participatory dance group, and also with a concert performance group!). You can't doublebook a performer (or larger groups to which she may belong), you have to give her time to move from one venue to another, plus a bunch of other scheduling etceteras that would drive me loony to contemplate further. How scheduling was done in the days before computers is beyond me.
--
Robert Jon Golder
164 Maxfield St
New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 999-2486
The post on walk-throughs for new dancers got me thinking about
recruiting new dancers. This straddles dance caller and dance
organizer, but I'd like to hear people's responses.
I'm curious about people's experiences recruiting new dancers. I've
seen several dances that do a lower cost for first time dancers to try
to lower the barrier for entry. Has any group tried doing a coupon for
a discount when they come back a second time?
I feel like the venues for dances are usually such that folks don't
randomly wander in. If folks show up for a first time, they've decided
to come (or were brought). Does knowing there is a discount for first
timers help make them come? When there is a discount, how often do the
first timers know that coming in? I'm pondering the scenario where you
charge full price for the first time, when they've committed to coming
out, and then give them a coupon to come back at a discount price
their second time.
I know a lot of people who tried contra once and were hooked, and I've
seen people who try for a little bit and then never come back. Is it
worth trying to up the likelihood of a second experience, at what
fractional cost for the first? Or should the focus be on that first
experience, and making the barriers for entry as low as possible?
If a group has the resources, then it can just say that the first two
dances are cheaper, but I feel like giving someone a reminder,
business card sized, with the website to check for more information,
is a nice way of having them think about the dance at least once more.
Do callers doing one night gigs announce local dance options if they
know them? Or do you only talk about it with the folks who come up and
ask? Presumably if a caller has been brought in, the organizer of the
party knows the folks at the party and the local dance scene. Is it on
the caller or the organizer to spread information about other chances
to dance? And do you broadcast wide, or focus on the folks who seem
really in to it. I think culturally, at a societal level, we've lost
the sense that we can dance after our 20s at things besides weddings,
which is a real shame.
--
Luke Donev
http://www.lukedonev.com
Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com
Square dance enthusiasts, those who already love calling squares and those who'd
like to know more about them, will be happy to learn of an extensive set of
Square Dance Resources that has just been made available:
www.cdss.org/squares
Compiled by Nils Fredland and hosted by CDSS, the website provides an extensive
set of links. You'll find a general look at squares, a more detailed look at
square dance styles (including different forms of traditional squares to modern
square dancing ), links to articles about square dance history, information of
particular interest to callers, lists of organizations and callers and groups,
and links to well over 100 specific square dance videos online, all of this in a
well-organized and thoughtful fashion.
While the site has more information on traditional squares, it also includes
some excellent resources on modern western square dance. Indeed, dancers and
callers from either persuasion who are interesting in learning more about the
other form may enjoy reading the two linked essays that can be found in the
"Traditional vs. Modern Western" section on the "What Is Square Dancing?" page.
Enjoy! (And thanks to Nils for organizing this vast body of material.)
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
Hi Lisa,
I'm now [1]nellwright79(a)gmail.com.
Would have loved the gig, too, but I rarely
look at this email.
Thanks,
Nell
May 15, 2011 01:07:59 PM, callers(a)sharedweight.net wrote:
I just got an emergency call from musician Eric McDonald, who has a
gig this afternoon (SUNDAY) at 4 PM, and Nils is sick.
Details:
4-8PM Hopkinton, MA
50th Birthday party
Family dance style--mix of beginners and experienced, but probably
mostly a family dance program. This is NOT a regular contra dance,
so family/community dance experience is needed.
Can you do it?
CALL ERIC: 617-319-5941
Don't reply to me-----
Lisa Greenleaf
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
References
1. mailto:nellwright79@gmail.com
I just got an emergency call from musician Eric McDonald, who has a gig this afternoon (SUNDAY) at 4 PM, and Nils is sick.
Details:
4-8PM Hopkinton, MA
50th Birthday party
Family dance style--mix of beginners and experienced, but probably mostly a family dance program. This is NOT a regular contra dance, so family/community dance experience is needed.
Can you do it?
CALL ERIC: 617-319-5941
Don't reply to me-----
Lisa Greenleaf
We have an introductory lesson before each contra and I always start
with circle left and circle right and into the middle and out,
exactly as Keith describes. I count during the movement, and call
just before the counts, then I do it again and deedle a tune and
prompt again. I use it to point out that you use a walking step
during the dancing, that the dancing is in phrases of 8, that there
is one step per beat, that I will prompt just before each move. I
encourage the dancers to be connected to the other dancers with a
bend to the arm and a bit of pull, tension, or "weight" in the hold.
Even for new dancers that get this easily (and there are a few who
don't) going through this may make those who are nervous about
dancing feel confident that they'll be able to follow the teaching
and do the dancing. I don't feel it is patronizing at all - it's an
orientation.
Martha
On Apr 29, 2011, at 9:00 AM, callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: easy ONS dances where partner is kept? - report
> (Keith Tuxhorn)
> 2. Re: easy ONS dances where partner is kept? - report (Tina
> Fields)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:25:19 -0500
> From: Keith Tuxhorn <keithlmt(a)gmail.com>
> To: millstone(a)valley.net, "Caller's discussion list"
> <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] easy ONS dances where partner is kept? - report
> Message-ID: <BANLkTinp4oHzWGeST2dO+QdD-Dg8PmNpmQ(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> I once had a caller say to me "I would never patronize a group by
> teaching
> them circle left and circle right." But he didn't really get the
> point: I'm
> not teaching circle left and circle right. The purpose of the first
> dance of
> the evening is to teach them to listen to the caller.
>
> Beth, whatever caller said this to you is probably not a very
> observant
> caller. Sounds like he's assume that hearing and hitting a beat is
> something
> inbred in us all, and just like breathing for anyone who's ever
> danced, when
> there's a huge percentage of people who either aren't raised with a
> sense of
> rhythm, or have to take time to learn it.
>
> I called a farmers' market dance two weekends ago. Because the
> experienced
> dancers arrived late, my first group dance was with 7-8 mothers and
> their
> 3-6-year-old kids who'd been hopping around to the band's warmups.
> I called
> "Circle Dance" at about 1/3 speed so the moms could lead the kids
> around--it
> was great! I did a few dances with the regular dancers, then the moms
> requested another dance for the kids. I did the same dance, this
> time with
> the regular dancers included in the half-speed version. they all
> enjoyed it.
>
> Beth, you said it (as did Tony, Dudley, and others): Make sure the
> dancers
> succeed, at whatever level they're dancing. Approaches should
> change for
> every audience you call for...
>
> David, great point about how to keep people involved. Make them
> earn their
> cake....!
>
> Keith Tuxhorn
> Austin, TX
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:56:35 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Tina Fields <tfields8(a)yahoo.com>
> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Subject: Re: [Callers] easy ONS dances where partner is kept? - report
> Message-ID: <466613.87675.qm(a)web180101.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Beth said,
>>>> "I "teach" people to listen to me during the first dance. I
>>>> start with a big
>>>> circle. I teach the group the following: Walk to the left, walk
>>>> to the right,
>>>> go into the center 3 steps, come back and do-si-do. After that
>>>> I start the
>>>> music and call hash of those. I also add promenade on the fly
>>>> during the
>>>> dancing. I once had a caller say to me "I would never patronize
>>>> a group by
>>>> teaching them circle left and circle right." But he didn't
>>>> really get the
>>>> point: I'm not teaching circle left and circle right. The
>>>> purpose of the first
>>>> dance of the evening is to teach them to listen to the
>>>> caller. Since the
>>>> dance is hashed, they never know what is coming and they must
>>>> listen. Saying
>>>> "listen" doesn't work, you teach them to listen with your
>>>> voice. Making them
>>>> listen is the key. If you get them on board at the beginning
>>>> the evening
>>>> everything else will go well."<<<<SNIP more good stuff
>>>>
>
> Yes, I agree completely - and that's what I did. By saying I began
> with a "hash
> circle dance" I meant something very similar to your method: we did
> circle L, R,
> into the middle w/ a shout, do-si-dos w/N & P, plus allemande and
> swing, with
> variations. And they were into it. But still, a few dances later,
> once the
> dancers had been walked through a dance and also done it a couple
> of times to
> the music, one line got off & it was clear that they weren't
> hearing my prompts
> (due to sound glitches), or weren't heeding them if they did hear
> them. Their
> excitement fed their cheerful chattering, so that was overall an
> okay thing -
> after all, who wants a deathly silent barn dance? (Yeah, Beth, I'm
> with you
> about the 'tude!) So I didn't know what to do besides keep calling
> and go over
> there to physically prompt some big group moves like "head gent
> leads gents
> single file around the line of ladies now" as well, which I did.
>
> Their being off, plus talking a lot, plus the sound weakness is
> what made me
> think that it would have been a good idea, when I taught the next
> one, to
> overtly mention the importance of continuing to listen to the
> caller. (I don't
> know, though, as I didn't think of that till the dance was over.)
>
> Would you do something else in this case? Writing this after
> musing over your
> commentary, I think now maybe I should have initially hash-called
> more over the
> music in real time. I did it fully w/o music and a couple of times
> through with,
> but didn't do it long up to tempo, so maybe some of the dancers got
> the idea
> that once the music started, they were on their own. Hm. Thoughts,
> ideas, more
> strategies welcome. These little things can really affect a dance!
>
> David M. then brought up the shrewd strategy of not letting ONS
> dancers sit down
> (meaning they might stay away forever). Again, I agree - I've
> experienced that
> too, and am totally on board with the plan to continually "dance
> for 45 minutes
> before they cut the cake". Yet in this case, even though I held
> that intent
> (albeit with two planned halves as the organizers wanted 1.5 hours
> of dancing),
> a couple of times the dads bolted for the cool drinks in the
> kitchen as soon as
> a dance stopped! So I just let it go with their flow, then called
> them back for
> another dance after a little while when their faces seemed less red
> again. :->
> And they came. Their daughters did need to earn their badges, after
> all.
>
> Given that behavior, would you do something different? If so, what?
>
> Beth, also thanks for the tip about Marian Rose's books.
>
> Tina
>
> ------------------------------
>
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>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 80, Issue 14
> ***************************************
