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
Callers,
What is your experience working with bands to establish an appropriate
tempo? Do bands ever ask you what tempo you want? Do you ever request a
particular tempo to fit a dance? Do you communicate tempo requirements
numerically (beats per minute) or maybe by tapping your feet? When are
slower tempos appropriate and when are faster ones appropriate? What do
you consider to be the range in beats per minute that is appropriate for
contra? Some preliminary research told me that a range of 112-120 beats
per minute is appropriate. Do you agree?
I've called with maybe 20-25 bands in my young calling career and only 2
have asked me for guidance or confirmation concerning the tempo of their
music (both bands play primarily for non-contra audiences, I believe). I
told both bands to use their judgment, which produced satisfactory results
in all cases except one dance in which the band misunderstood my request
for a sultry/flirty tune to mean that they should play at about half the
tempo one would normally expect for contra, which proved terribly confusing
for the dancers. The lesson I learned is that I ought to know more about
the range of tempo that is expected for contra and what tempos are
appropriate when so that I can provide that information to bands when asked.
--
Dugan Murphy
Cincinnati, Ohio
http://caller.duganmurphy.com
<http://www.linkedin.com/in/duganmurphy>
Ron wrote, "One of the biggest challenges is learning dances. A library of shared
dances would be invaluable."
I'll call folks' attention to a resource that's been mentioned here before, the
detailed syllabi from the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend:
http://www.library.unh.edu/special/index.php/ralph-page-dance-legacy-weekend
The whole collection contains hundreds of dances-- mostly contras, as well as
squares, triplets, dances in odd formations, chestnuts, new compositions. Each
dance is carefully notated, and there is frequently backgroun information to round
out the interested caller's knowledge. Some dances are easier, suitable for mixed
crowds, and some are more complex. (Occasionally, the syllabus editor, David Smukler,
will add a cautionary note that clues in the reader that this particular dance
may be more complicated than it appears.)
All in all, this is a superb resource for callers both experienced and those newer
to the mic. I think it's the best collection available on the web.
> - I'd love a list of every dance everywhere, divided by region, with listings
>of address, organizers, contact info, links to websites, and their policies toward
>callers. (does this resource exist?)
Don't think you'll find the "policies toward callers" but there are several excellent
resources that do the rest:
* http://www.contradancelinks.com/
* http://www.neffa.org/Top/Folk_Dancing/Contras/Dances/index.shtml
* http://tedcrane.com/dancedb/
* http://www.thedancegypsy.com/
* http://www.contracorners.net/contra/links/dancemap.html
Hope this helps.
David Millstone
On knowing what's been called on previous nights: in my previous post
I mentioned not calling a dance too frequently, but I also believe
there's value in repetition, as well as variety.
Dancers should have the opportunity to have the thrill (or comfort, at
least!) of recognizing a dance, and to develop favorites. The caller's
preparation job is to make sure it doesn't get to the point of "oh no,
not THAT one again!" :-)
~ Becky
in Tucson, Ariz. & Long Beach, Calif.
Becky's comments about keeping records of what dances are called are interesting. My experiences that this is often done at longer events with multiple callers in the same day, but I've never heard of it done at a community dance series. I do agree that it would be easy to do and potentially beneficial to many.
Brian Hamshar
Virginia
Becky Nankivell <becky4dance(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>Andy Shore (Tue, 29 May 2012 14:05:31) wrote:
>
>"How did the previous caller fair and were there any pitfalls or
>problems in that session that I can learn from or avoid? What dances
>have been called thus-far and should I avoid ones that are too similar
>(e.g., there were LOTS of dances with "balance the ring, california
>twirl" progressions called this weekend.)"
>
>Once upon a time when I was starting calling and also involved with
>organizing the multiple-caller contra dance in Tucson, Arizona, we
>maintained a notebook where each caller (or an organizer) recorded the
>dances that had been called in an evening, and a few other notes on
>the evening. The idea was that this would be a resource that a caller
>could use in planning the next dance.
>
>I don't know that any of the callers except for me actually ever used
>this (and I know I didn't use it frequently), and after a few years
>the practice was dropped.
>
>This still seems like a good idea to me for venues where there are
>multiple callers. I know that I keep a record myself so that I don't
>call the same dances too frequently at one venue, (and in planning an
>evening I check for the distribution of figures). If you're not a
>regular dancer at a venue (whether you're visiting, or just dancing
>less frequently), without some record it's hard to know what's been
>called.
>
>Nowadays, an electronic record would be easy to share, via web posting
>or a file. Our not using the TFTM notebook was probably because the
>dance planning happened at each caller's home, and the notebook wasn't
>handy.
>
>Are there communities that are keeping such records and making them
>available? Comments on that from organizers and/or callers?
>
>The trick is, as with any record keeping, it requires someone or some
>people to make sure it happens and to keep track of the file(s)...
>
>As an additional note, I believe the dance records are still in the
>TFTM archives, and undoubtedly show some interesting changes in the
>style of dances called. As someone with an interest in dance history,
>I think it would be great if there were more records like this out
>there.
>
>~ Becky
>_______________________________________________
>Callers mailing list
>Callers(a)sharedweight.net
>http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
> aware of it being done for contra dances at all.
>
> For English, several of the dances have email lists for people
> interested in that series and programs are posted after the fact. One
> person - Mary Luckhardt - maintains cumulative spreadsheets of dances
> called for all the series. I also collect that information from the
> posted programs and keep my own lists. This is important in English for
> a couple of reasons: There's a core set of dances that we agreed some
> years back we'd like to have done at least annually at our regular
> dances, so that we can maintain some kind of common repertoire in the
> face of the explosion of new and newly-reconstructed dances. We like to
> visit the dances that are on the Playford Ball program (different each
> year) so that people don't come to them cold, so it helps to know which
> ones have been done. And we don't like to repeat dances from week to
> week unintentionally. In English, a repeat is really a repeat - same
> figures, same tune, only one tune per dance. (And in venues like Palo
> Alto English, with a house band that's mostly the same from session to
> session, that tune is likely to sound very much the same each night it's
> played.)
For our Jamaica Plain Gender Free English dance we've kept a book to record dances for a long time. SInce 2010 I have been keeping a database up-to-date and exporting PDF files to our web page - one sorted by dance name and one sorted by evening.
http:www.lcfd.org/bgfe - links near the bottom of the page
Thank you David for these incredible resources - I just have to be careful
and allot myself certain amounts of time or I get so caught up in them that
I get nothing else done.
BTW, Someone just gave me 4 old cds of a bunch of square dances - they look
to be privately made cds with no real labels on them and just a list of the
dances on each (no authors/callers/etc). Bob Livingston is checking them
out. I found one that's to the song "The Battle of New Orleans" which I
looked/searched and found out it was recorded by Bill Castner.
Patricia Campbell
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: David.Millstone(a)valley.net (David Millstone)
> To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com, callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Cc:
> Date: 30 May 2012 19:46:20 -0400
> Subject: [Callers] Square Dance resources
> Dear dance colleagues,
>
> Here is information for those who are interested in square dances.
>
> 1) NEW SQUARE DANCE VIDEOS
> You probably already know about the Dare To Be Square weekend held last
> November at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. An earlier
> e-mail provided links to 100 videos from that event. I'm happy to announce
> that an additional 25 video clips are now available of edited interviews
> with the six callers who were on staff: Phil Jamison, Larry Edelman, Bob
> Dalsemer, Jim Mayo, Larry Edelman, and Bill Litchman.
>
> http://squaredancehistory.org/**omeka/exhibits/show/brasstown-**interviews<http://squaredancehistory.org/omeka/exhibits/show/brasstown-interviews>
>
> This link will take you to one part of the prototype of our new Square
> Dance History Project. The home page for the exhibit provides links to
> each caller, and that subsequent page will offer two tabs, one for the
> caller's bio and one that takes you to a page listing those interviews,
> with a summary of the contents. Click on the photograph or underlined link
> to the right of each summary to bring up the video clip itself. In all,
> there are about two hours of interview footage available for your viewing.
>
> Our web designer and others continue to fine-tune the user interface and
> the underlying database, so we're not ready for the official launch of the
> full site yet... but there seemed no reason not to share this particular
> digital exhibit now.
>
> 2) THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS!
> Funding for the videotaping was provided by a grant from Country Dance and
> Song Society. We also want to thank the other organizations that are
> providing financial support for the Square Dance History Project: the Lloyd
> Shaw Foundation, CALLERLAB, and The ARTS.
>
> 3) LINKS TO DANCE VIDEOS
> In case you've misplaced the information, you can view the original 100
> dance videos at two locations:
>
> YouTube channel
> http://www.youtube.com/user/**SquareDanceHistory/videos<http://www.youtube.com/user/SquareDanceHistory/videos>
>
> VidCaster
> http://squaredancehistory.**vidcaster.com/<http://squaredancehistory.vidcaster.com/>
>
> To date, the dance clips on these two channels have been viewed nearly
> 25,000 times in the five months since they were uploaded. Feel free to pass
> along any of these links to others who might be interested.
>
> 4) NEW SQUARE DANCE CHANNEL
> In addition to the YouTube channel listed above, we've started a new
> channel that will include some of the additional material that is being
> uploaded:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/user/**SquareDanceHistory2<http://www.youtube.com/user/SquareDanceHistory2>
>
> Among the clips are a dozen examples of French-Canadian squares, footage
> of CT caller Bob Livingston, some Super 8 footage taken 30+ years ago by
> Bob Dalsemer in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, several
> demonstration numbers by groups showcasing the Lloyd Shaw style of dancing
> and choreography, squares from the Missouri Ozarks with lots of jigging,
> dances called by Dick Leger, Earl Johnston, Red Warrick and many more,
> examples and instruction in Kentucky set running, some precise modern
> square dancing from a Tech Squares weekend, and a talk by Herb Egender, who
> was a member of Pappy Shaw's Cheyenne Mountain Dancers on their first trip
> to Washington, DC in 1939. In all, there are nearly 60 square dance videos
> on that channel with more being added each week.
>
> 5) RINER, VA, DARE TO BE SQUARE
> Another DTBS event was held in early May in Riner, Virginia, with Phil
> Jamison, Michael Ismerio, and Bill Ohse as callers. Bill Ohse (b.1938) is a
> highly-regarded West Virginia caller of traditional squares; we now have
> video footage of his sessions and several interviews with him. Edited
> footage of these Appalachian squares will be uploaded shortly.
>
> 6) UPDATE ON THE DTBS SYLLABUS
> Finally, I've been told that the final draft of the Brasstown syllabus and
> the master CD with more than 150 mp3 audio files (including instruction as
> well as dance calls) are ready for final layout and production. CDSS is
> aiming to have the combination booklet/CD available by this summer's dance
> camp season. Stay tuned... we'll certainly let you know when this treasure
> trove is ready.
>
> In the meantime, enjoy the comments by our six well-informed callers, and
> thanks for your continued interest in our rich square dance heritage.
>
> David Millstone
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
>
Dear dance colleagues,
Here is information for those who are interested in square dances.
1) NEW SQUARE DANCE VIDEOS
You probably already know about the Dare To Be Square weekend held last November
at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. An earlier e-mail provided
links to 100 videos from that event. I'm happy to announce that an additional
25 video clips are now available of edited interviews with the six callers who
were on staff: Phil Jamison, Larry Edelman, Bob Dalsemer, Jim Mayo, Larry Edelman,
and Bill Litchman.
http://squaredancehistory.org/omeka/exhibits/show/brasstown-interviews
This link will take you to one part of the prototype of our new Square Dance History
Project. The home page for the exhibit provides links to each caller, and that
subsequent page will offer two tabs, one for the caller's bio and one that takes
you to a page listing those interviews, with a summary of the contents. Click
on the photograph or underlined link to the right of each summary to bring up
the video clip itself. In all, there are about two hours of interview footage
available for your viewing.
Our web designer and others continue to fine-tune the user interface and the underlying
database, so we're not ready for the official launch of the full site yet... but
there seemed no reason not to share this particular digital exhibit now.
2) THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS!
Funding for the videotaping was provided by a grant from Country Dance and Song
Society. We also want to thank the other organizations that are providing financial
support for the Square Dance History Project: the Lloyd Shaw Foundation, CALLERLAB,
and The ARTS.
3) LINKS TO DANCE VIDEOS
In case you've misplaced the information, you can view the original 100 dance
videos at two locations:
YouTube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/SquareDanceHistory/videos
VidCaster
http://squaredancehistory.vidcaster.com/
To date, the dance clips on these two channels have been viewed nearly 25,000
times in the five months since they were uploaded. Feel free to pass along any
of these links to others who might be interested.
4) NEW SQUARE DANCE CHANNEL
In addition to the YouTube channel listed above, we've started a new channel that
will include some of the additional material that is being uploaded:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SquareDanceHistory2
Among the clips are a dozen examples of French-Canadian squares, footage of CT
caller Bob Livingston, some Super 8 footage taken 30+ years ago by Bob Dalsemer
in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, several demonstration numbers by groups
showcasing the Lloyd Shaw style of dancing and choreography, squares from the
Missouri Ozarks with lots of jigging, dances called by Dick Leger, Earl Johnston,
Red Warrick and many more, examples and instruction in Kentucky set running, some
precise modern square dancing from a Tech Squares weekend, and a talk by Herb
Egender, who was a member of Pappy Shaw's Cheyenne Mountain Dancers on their first
trip to Washington, DC in 1939. In all, there are nearly 60 square dance videos
on that channel with more being added each week.
5) RINER, VA, DARE TO BE SQUARE
Another DTBS event was held in early May in Riner, Virginia, with Phil Jamison,
Michael Ismerio, and Bill Ohse as callers. Bill Ohse (b.1938) is a highly-regarded
West Virginia caller of traditional squares; we now have video footage of his
sessions and several interviews with him. Edited footage of these Appalachian
squares will be uploaded shortly.
6) UPDATE ON THE DTBS SYLLABUS
Finally, I've been told that the final draft of the Brasstown syllabus and the
master CD with more than 150 mp3 audio files (including instruction as well as
dance calls) are ready for final layout and production. CDSS is aiming to have
the combination booklet/CD available by this summer's dance camp season. Stay
tuned... we'll certainly let you know when this treasure trove is ready.
In the meantime, enjoy the comments by our six well-informed callers, and thanks
for your continued interest in our rich square dance heritage.
David Millstone
Andy Shore (Tue, 29 May 2012 14:05:31) wrote:
"How did the previous caller fair and were there any pitfalls or
problems in that session that I can learn from or avoid? What dances
have been called thus-far and should I avoid ones that are too similar
(e.g., there were LOTS of dances with "balance the ring, california
twirl" progressions called this weekend.)"
Once upon a time when I was starting calling and also involved with
organizing the multiple-caller contra dance in Tucson, Arizona, we
maintained a notebook where each caller (or an organizer) recorded the
dances that had been called in an evening, and a few other notes on
the evening. The idea was that this would be a resource that a caller
could use in planning the next dance.
I don't know that any of the callers except for me actually ever used
this (and I know I didn't use it frequently), and after a few years
the practice was dropped.
This still seems like a good idea to me for venues where there are
multiple callers. I know that I keep a record myself so that I don't
call the same dances too frequently at one venue, (and in planning an
evening I check for the distribution of figures). If you're not a
regular dancer at a venue (whether you're visiting, or just dancing
less frequently), without some record it's hard to know what's been
called.
Nowadays, an electronic record would be easy to share, via web posting
or a file. Our not using the TFTM notebook was probably because the
dance planning happened at each caller's home, and the notebook wasn't
handy.
Are there communities that are keeping such records and making them
available? Comments on that from organizers and/or callers?
The trick is, as with any record keeping, it requires someone or some
people to make sure it happens and to keep track of the file(s)...
As an additional note, I believe the dance records are still in the
TFTM archives, and undoubtedly show some interesting changes in the
style of dances called. As someone with an interest in dance history,
I think it would be great if there were more records like this out
there.
~ Becky
