Contra Callers June 2011

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

37 participants
23 discussions

by Mark Widmer

Does anyone know what became of the website American Country Dances Online? It used to be at http://arcserve.astro.washington.edu/dances/ It was a useful way to find dances when I was a newer caller, and I would like to pass it on somebody. But it is either defunct or has moved elsewhere. Mark Widmer

13 years, 5 months

jokes

by Chrissy Fowler

Lisa Sieverts and I used to laugh about our calling gigs boiling down to driving hundreds of miles for dozens of dollars, and that was back when gas was 90c/gal! Chrissy --- You wrote: Since no one's getting rich on the fees we pay musicians, I doubt that there are many musicians who show up just for the money. --- end of quote --- Well, we didn't get paid very much but at least we got to drive a long distance. ;-) David Millstone

13 years, 5 months

Puttin' On the Dance updates to cease here

by Chrissy Fowler

Hi Shared Weight callers! I just sent the latest news on the upcoming conference for Northeast dance organizers. Wanted to let everyone know that from this point forward, I'm only going to send those updates to the Shared Weight organizers list. If you want to get direct updates from us, send an email to NEDanceOrgs(a)gmail.com Also, I've been noticing with interest the recent exchanges regarding performer/sound compensation, most of which seem more relevant to the organizers list than the callers list. Any thought of cross-posting for the benefit of the folks who are only on the organizers list? Cheers! Chrissy Fowler Belfast, ME

13 years, 6 months

Puttin' On the Dance - June Update

by Chrissy Fowler

Dear Northeast Dance Organizers, The Longest Day has just passed for all of us in the Northeast, and the four of us are very busy with tasks related to the Puttin' On the Dance conference planned for November 11-13. Here's our news: * Mary Wesley of Ferrisburgh,VT has joined our conference organizing team! We're thrilled to add her energy and experience to our planning crew, and we eagerly anticipate an inspiring weekend conference in November. * Our conference website is ready! http://www.puttinonthedance.org/ You'll find all sorts of interesting info there, including specifics on conference fees, various deadlines, travel info, forms, and more. Many thanks to two multi-talented Northeast dance organizers - Toki Oshima of Whitefield ME for her artwork and Ethan Hazzard-Watkins of Brattleboro VT for his website design. * Find us on Facebook! Here's a handy link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Puttin-On-the-Dance/168215219908921 * Registration is now open, with the Earlybird Fees in effect until September 1. (See Register tab on the website for full details.) * We have some scholarship funding in hand, and we are actively seeking additional contributions to the scholarship fund. (For info and application, see Scholarships, under Register tab on the website) We hope you will also use creative ways to pay your conference fees. (For a few useful suggestions, see Fund Your Attendance, under Register tab on the website.) * Next steps include finalizing the Program content, session Topics, and Session Leadership, as you can see from those pages on the website. Keep in touch with your suggestions and input! Happy Solstice and happy organizing! Chrissy, Delia, Linda & Mary -- Puttin' On the Dance: A Conference for Northeast Dance Organizers November 11-13, 2011 www.puttinonthedance.org Chrissy Fowler (ME) Delia Clark (VT) Linda Henry (MA) Mary Wesley (VT)

13 years, 6 months

Band, Sound and Caller Fees was: Caller Fees

by Martha Edwards

The relative merits of pay for callers, musicians and sound people would be a good topic for discussion. I'm both a musician and a caller, too, and while calling is harder for me, it's possibly because I've not been doing it for 60 years, which is about how long I've been a musician. So you might say I put in the hard work years ago on playing music and am putting in the hard work now to call. If I became a sound person, I'd have to work pretty hard, too. But just about the time that I got to be worth paying a lot of money for, it would probably be easy. But I am curious - in your groups, are callers paid more, or less, than musicians (on average)? How about the sound guys? And on what do you base the amounts? I remember a discussion on approximately this topic a couple of years ago, where someone had moved from a large dance community, where she was paid rather handsomely, to a small community where everyone was a volunteer. If I remember right, she enjoyed being a part of both communities, but noted that the one difference was that the volunteers were more likely *not *to show up if there was a difficulty, whereas the paid talent would show up even in a snowstorm. You were paying, in other words, for professionalism. Then there is a curious situation that has developed here. Our musicians, years ago, were part of the dance community. They'd come to our dances, and at our dance weekend, they'd dance, and jam on the lawn, and we'd all dine together. Then we started rewarding them with higher pay because we liked their contribution so much. The result over time was that they started treating it as a gig rather than as a social event. Now they show up about ten minutes before dance time, they play, and then they either go home or, at our dance weekend, they find some out-of-the-way place to jam, away from the dancers. I just looked at our list of bands, and there's only one person - okay, two - listed in our local contra dance bands that regularly dance with us any more. Is that normal in your communities? M E On Sun, Jun 19, 2011 at 6:52 PM, Cynthia Phinney <online(a)starleft.org>wrote: > At our series (a small local dance in rural Maine), we divide the door up > into one share each for band members, caller, and sound (sound gets one > share) for bands of five people or less. Once the bands get over five > people, the caller gets a larger share. > > My experience of being both a caller AND a musician, is that calling is > significantly more work than playing. I also find that it is more work, > usually, to call for a large band than a small one. Communication is more > challenging, and there is usually more doodling and chatting in the > background from the band. Plus - for us - some of our larger bands are > students and so the music isn't perfectly honed for dancers, which means > that the caller is needed even more to help keep the dancers on the phrase > since it isn't so crisply defined by the musicians (our dance also has a > significant percentage of inexperienced dancers). > > -cynthia > > > -----Original Message----- > From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net > [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Dan Pearl > Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2011 12:50 PM > To: callers(a)sharedweight.net > Subject: Re: [Callers] Caller Fees > > Interesting! > > I chair the Thursday Night Dance Committee of NEFFA, which runs a weekly > dance > at the Concord Scout House, in Massachusetts. I would characterize our pay > as > good. Here are the basics: > > 1. We expect equal shares for all performers (musicians/callers). In only > very > unusual circumstances will we pay different amounts. > 2. Guarantee (per performer) is dependent on # of performers. 3 => $155; 4 > => > $145; 5 => $125; 6 => $104; 7 => $89. > 3. Performers who travel a distance (say over 1 hour) to get to the dance > get > $15 extra. > 4. Bonus *is* dependent on attendance. We assume that if people came out in > droves to dance, the performers probably had something to do with it, and > they > should be rewarded. For a well-attended night, it is not unusual for > performers > to make around $200 each. For an exceptionally well-attended night, they > might > make $300 each. > _______________________________________________ > 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 > -- For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats

13 years, 6 months

Re: [Callers] Band, Sound and Caller Fees was: Caller Fees

by Camilla Streeter

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone Martha Edwards <meedwards(a)westendweb.com> wrote: >The relative merits of pay for callers, musicians and sound people would be >a good topic for discussion. > >I'm both a musician and a caller, too, and while calling is harder for me, >it's possibly because I've not been doing it for 60 years, which is about >how long I've been a musician. So you might say I put in the hard work years >ago on playing music and am putting in the hard work now to call. If I >became a sound person, I'd have to work pretty hard, too. But just about the >time that I got to be worth paying a lot of money for, it would probably be >easy. > >But I am curious - in your groups, are callers paid more, or less, than >musicians (on average)? How about the sound guys? And on what do you base >the amounts? > >I remember a discussion on approximately this topic a couple of years ago, >where someone had moved from a large dance community, where she was paid >rather handsomely, to a small community where everyone was a volunteer. If I >remember right, she enjoyed being a part of both communities, but noted that >the one difference was that the volunteers were more likely *not *to show up >if there was a difficulty, whereas the paid talent would show up even in a >snowstorm. You were paying, in other words, for professionalism. > >Then there is a curious situation that has developed here. Our musicians, >years ago, were part of the dance community. They'd come to our dances, and >at our dance weekend, they'd dance, and jam on the lawn, and we'd all dine >together. Then we started rewarding them with higher pay because we liked >their contribution so much. The result over time was that they started >treating it as a gig rather than as a social event. Now they show up about >ten minutes before dance time, they play, and then they either go home or, >at our dance weekend, they find some out-of-the-way place to jam, away from >the dancers. I just looked at our list of bands, and there's only one >person - okay, two - listed in our local contra dance bands that regularly >dance with us any more. Is that normal in your communities? > >M >E > >On Sun, Jun 19, 2011 at 6:52 PM, Cynthia Phinney <online(a)starleft.org>wrote: > >> At our series (a small local dance in rural Maine), we divide the door up >> into one share each for band members, caller, and sound (sound gets one >> share) for bands of five people or less. Once the bands get over five >> people, the caller gets a larger share. >> >> My experience of being both a caller AND a musician, is that calling is >> significantly more work than playing. I also find that it is more work, >> usually, to call for a large band than a small one. Communication is more >> challenging, and there is usually more doodling and chatting in the >> background from the band. Plus - for us - some of our larger bands are >> students and so the music isn't perfectly honed for dancers, which means >> that the caller is needed even more to help keep the dancers on the phrase >> since it isn't so crisply defined by the musicians (our dance also has a >> significant percentage of inexperienced dancers). >> >> -cynthia >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net >> [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Dan Pearl >> Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2011 12:50 PM >> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net >> Subject: Re: [Callers] Caller Fees >> >> Interesting! >> >> I chair the Thursday Night Dance Committee of NEFFA, which runs a weekly >> dance >> at the Concord Scout House, in Massachusetts. I would characterize our pay >> as >> good. Here are the basics: >> >> 1. We expect equal shares for all performers (musicians/callers). In only >> very >> unusual circumstances will we pay different amounts. >> 2. Guarantee (per performer) is dependent on # of performers. 3 => $155; 4 >> => >> $145; 5 => $125; 6 => $104; 7 => $89. >> 3. Performers who travel a distance (say over 1 hour) to get to the dance >> get >> $15 extra. >> 4. Bonus *is* dependent on attendance. We assume that if people came out in >> droves to dance, the performers probably had something to do with it, and >> they >> should be rewarded. For a well-attended night, it is not unusual for >> performers >> to make around $200 each. For an exceptionally well-attended night, they >> might >> make $300 each. >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> > > > >-- >For the good are always the merry, >Save by an evil chance, >And the merry love the fiddle >And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats >_______________________________________________ >Callers mailing list >Callers(a)sharedweight.net >http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

13 years, 6 months

Re: [Callers] Band, Sound and Caller Fees was: Caller Fees

by David.Millstone＠VALLEY.NET

--- You wrote: Since no one's getting rich on the fees we pay musicians, I doubt that there are many musicians who show up just for the money. --- end of quote --- Well, we didn't get paid very much but at least we got to drive a long distance. ;-) David Millstone Lebanon, NH

13 years, 6 months

Square Dance resources

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

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

13 years, 6 months

fees

by Tom Hinds

My experience is that fees range greatly depending on how wealthy the hiring party is. Here's some example that come to mind. Weddings: some folks expect to pay big bucks for big events. It's not uncommon in the DC area for example, for bands and callers to receive $200-300 or more a person (caller plus 4 musicians). Of course not all families are loaded and will pay much less. Sometimes they'll ask for a caller and recorded music or a smaller band. The size of a church can vary. Large churches can pay more than the smaller ones. This also goes for private schools as well. Some private schools can afford a great deal and other can't. My experience is that it's typical for these kinds of gigs to pay around $100 per person for a caller and 2-4 musicians depending..... At some regular dance series it's usual for organizers to pay the caller and band members the same fee up to a point. The money collected wouldn't be divided equally between the caller and 10 musicians. That would be unfair to the caller. At the dances outside of the big cities where I call. it's typical to get paid $50- $75 per person depending on attendance. T

13 years, 6 months

Re: [Callers] Advice teaching teens

by David.Millstone＠VALLEY.NET

Congratulations, Bill! What a boost for your series! I'll let others suggest their favorite vieos with teen dancers. They might enjoy watching the series of instructional videos produced by dancers in Atlanta. This one, for example, covers two-person moves, and the section on swinging begins at about 3:00. Granted, they're not teen dancers, but the step-by-step review of basics might be helpful. You can find an index of all the dances in the series, as well as videos of a live session for beginners: http://www.contradance.org/html/new_dancer_info.php#video in this one, the swing is taught starting at about 3:40. In both videos, the instructors stress how to end a swing, with the lady on the right. And given the high energy level and the lack of experience, don't feel you need to call a contras only program. Your regular dancers might also enjoy a barn dance, high energy and lots of fun, perhaps one that you haven't used often, or a lively and simple square that's suitable for everyone. The key, I think, to keeping the younger dancers coming back is not a lot of instruction but keeping a light tone and making the dance a fun place for them to be with their friends. If they're having fun, they'll keep coming back, and in time most of them will pick up somewhat smoother style than the grasshopper up and down bouncing that probably characterizes their movement at the moment. Dances with a sashay are fun for high-energy dancers, and your older folks who don't want to sashay could just walk down and back. Similarly, newcomers like to clap, so give them a dance where there's clapping at a specified part of the dance. (In a barn dance type of longways dance, this can happen spontaneously as the top coupls gallops down to the bottom of the set at the end of a time through the dance.) But in a contra or Sicilian circle, this encourages them to listen to the tune to find those places, and the clapping at that right spot is positive reinforcement. So, with the numbers you're talking about, a simple dance such as Haste to the Wedding can be done as a Sicilian circle, can give them practice in ending a swing properly and in the progression AND it has clapping at a specified place. Furthermore, if you end up with 32 teens, your sicilian circle will have eight sets of four couples, enough to run the dance for everyone to go all the way around the circle and to meet up once again with their original neighbors, which inevitably produces a whoop of astonishment and satisfaction. David Millstone Lebanon, NH

13 years, 6 months

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Contra Callers June 2011