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
Yup - I apologize for the continued archives goofs. I promise I am
working on it. I know how important the archives are to this group.
Seth
On 02/24/2015 09:54 PM, James Saxe via Callers wrote:
> Amy Carroll wrote:
>
>> If this whole discussion had already been gone over endlessly in the archives, I offer an apology for starting it again. I was not able to successfully pull any of it up when I searched. I'll try again later.
>
> For any who don't remember, there was an upheaval late last May
> that led the list administrators to seek a new hosting site.
> (You can read about in in the archives
>
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/pipermail/callers-sharedweight.net/2014-May/d…
>
> under the subjects "Mailing list issues" and "More details on the
> list changes". )
>
> After the move, Seth managed to get the archives (mostly) restored,
> but not the search function.
>
> However, Chris Page has compiled a collection of links to various
> postings on the list
>
> http://chrispagecontra.awardspace.us/links/sharedweight.htm
>
> and many of those links work with the restored archive. Specifically,
> some of the articles linked under various subtopics of "gender" deal
> with role terminology. Note also that once you're viewing a message,
> you can use the links near the top to bring up a list of archived
> messages for that entire month (sorted by date, thread, subject, or
> author) and look for relevant messages that Chris din't link to
> directly.
>
> --Jim
>
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