Contra Callers

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4369 discussions

by TF

I'm new to calling, but have been singing for many years, some of that in musical theater, which can easily strain one's voice. When I've overdone it, I've found that slippery elm bark can help quite a bit - and it's healthy to boot. Thayer's makes a good slippery elm bark lozenge. It's inexpensive, easily portable, and even comes in two flavors. Honey with lemon is another old standard for soothing the throat (and after the gig, you can add a slug of whiskey). Drinking a lot of water is a very good idea, especially if you're getting that thick mucusy quality to your voice. You can also use expectorants like guaifenesin if necessary (a rainforest plant product); this isn't an emergency fix though, so start early. For general toning, there are many herbs that support the respiratory system in general - such as mullein, nettles, fritillaria. These should be fixed up in tincture or tea formulation and taken fairly often. If you're interested in playing with these, I suggest you consult an herbalist or good book by someone like David Hoffmann, Rosemary Gladstar, Susun Weed, or Michael Tierra for more info before making them; that way you can make something perfect for your situation. There's also an over-the-counter homeopathic concoction out called "Sore Throat Relief" by Natra-Bio. I've been trying that recently and had some luck. Whatever you do, do *not* use that anesthetic throat spray. All it does is make you unconscious of the damage being done. Yes, it can get you through a gig but I've seen people permanently ruin their voices through its use. If you're not already doing this, I'd also suggest several tips that singers use regularly: *practice calling from your chest voice instead of your throat voice (causes less strain overall) *practice breathing from deep in the chest (imagine your lungs as a vase being filled from the bottom up) - this also gives you more staying power and groundedness *loosen your jaw muscles overall through goofy-looking yoga type exercises (like the lion pose where the mouth is wide open w/ tongue stuck far out, & eyes rolled upward); neck & shoulder rolls *whenever you think of it, relax your jaw by opening your mouth a bit & letting your jaw hang slack, and breathing deep. These might not work in the middle of a call <g>, but if practiced regularly, will make calling easier on your body, therefore less likely to get strained. Best of luck to you and your throat's health! Tina Fields > I have been suffering some with what may be mild > laryngitis. I had been > practicing pretty regularly for an upcoming gig, but > I did not feel that I > was straining my voice. I have been drinking a lot > of water. What else do > you do - if anything - to help once you have throat > or voice problems? I > still have about 2 weeks before the gig. > > Thanks as always, > > Rickey Hindsight Now! ____________________________________________________________________________________Got a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids. http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+kids&…

18 years

Re: [Callers] Caller's Throat

by TF

I'm new to calling, but have been singing for many years, some of that in musical theater, which can easily strain one's voice. When I've overdone it, I've found that slippery elm bark can help quite a bit - and it's healthy to boot. Thayer's makes a good slippery elm bark lozenge. It's inexpensive, easily portable, and even comes in two flavors. Honey with lemon is another old standard for soothing the throat (and after the gig, you can add a slug of whiskey). Drinking a lot of water is a very good idea, especially if you're getting that thick mucusy quality to your voice. You can also use expectorants like guaifenesin if necessary (a rainforest plant product); this isn't an emergency fix though, so start early. For general toning, there are many herbs that support the respiratory system in general - such as mullein, nettles, fritillaria. These should be fixed up in tincture or tea formulation and taken fairly often. If you're interested in playing with these, I suggest you consult an herbalist or good book by someone like David Hoffmann, Rosemary Gladstar, Susun Weed, or Michael Tierra for more info before making them; that way you can make something perfect for your situation. There's also an over-the-counter homeopathic concoction out called "Sore Throat Relief" by Natra-Bio. I've been trying that recently and had some luck. Whatever you do, do *not* use that anesthetic throat spray. All it does is make you unconscious of the damage being done. Yes, it can get you through a gig but I've seen people permanently ruin their voices through its use. If you're not already doing this, I'd also suggest several tips that singers use regularly: *practice calling from your chest voice instead of your throat voice (causes less strain overall) *practice breathing from deep in the chest (imagine your lungs as a vase being filled from the bottom up) - this also gives you more staying power and groundedness *loosen your jaw muscles overall through goofy-looking yoga type exercises (like the lion pose where the mouth is wide open w/ tongue stuck far out, & eyes rolled upward); neck & shoulder rolls *whenever you think of it, relax your jaw by opening your mouth a bit & letting your jaw hang slack, and breathing deep. These might not work in the middle of a call <g>, but if practiced regularly, will make calling easier on your body, therefore less likely to get strained. Best of luck to you and your throat's health! Tina Fields > I have been suffering some with what may be mild > laryngitis. I had been > practicing pretty regularly for an upcoming gig, but > I did not feel that I > was straining my voice. I have been drinking a lot > of water. What else do > you do - if anything - to help once you have throat > or voice problems? I > still have about 2 weeks before the gig. > > Thanks as always, > > Rickey Hindsight Now! ____________________________________________________________________________________Get the Yahoo! toolbar and be alerted to new email wherever you're surfing. http://new.toolbar.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/index.php

18 years

Re: [Callers] Wax, Dancer Safety and a Caller's Throat

by Jerome Grisanti

For a caller's throat, Kentucky caller Chris Bischoff recommends Singer's Saving Grace (Google it to find a distributor or retail store). I've not tried it myself, but Chris raves about it. Regarding insurance, often dance organizing groups will carry insurance but I would still recommend callers carry their own liability insurance for gigs such as parties and weddings. Jerome -- Jerome Grisanti 660-528-0858 660-528-0714 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com

18 years

Re: [Callers] insurance [was "Wax, Dancer Safety and a Caller's Throat"]

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

I'm sorry to hear of this accident, Rickey, and hope that the injured dancer is going to be okay. I cannot speak to the other questions you raise, but I will use your unfortunate incident as an opportunity to encourage callers to carry liability insurance. Caller's liability insurance offers some protection in case you get sued as the result of an accident. (It is also increasinly necessary to show such coverage as a condition of renting many halls.) It is available at minimal cost through Callerlab, the national association of square dance callers, and members of the Lloyd Shaw Foundation and/or Country Dance and Song Society are eligible to purchase it. You can find an overview of the CDSS arrangements here; http://www.cdss.org/membership.html#membcallerlab For CDSS, contact Caroline Batson (office(a)cdss.org) for more information. David Millstone

18 years

Wax, Dancer Safety and a Caller's Throat

by Rickey

Hi, We had a dancer injured at our last dance. A man fell and broke his hip. In perhaps 30 years of dancing I have never seen this before. Our hall is small. We had two sets in longways formation. To me it looked as if maybe a foot from one dancer in another line might have just touched his heel. I am not sure. He lost his balance. His feet may have slipped out from under him and he landed on the hip. I am wondering what to do to help prevent this in the future. I am especially interested in assessing the floor. How do you decide if it is too slippery? I know that there is a dance wax. Is it for making the floor more slippery or less? How do you know when to use it? Where do you get it? There was some confusion among some of the dancers at that part of the evening, which I was trying to fix, but it did not look as if this contributed to the accident. Have you had experience with dancer accidents while you were calling? What else besides possibly the wax, might help reduce what I always thought was a very small risk. I have been suffering some with what may be mild laryngitis. I had been practicing pretty regularly for an upcoming gig, but I did not feel that I was straining my voice. I have been drinking a lot of water. What else do you do - if anything - to help once you have throat or voice problems? I still have about 2 weeks before the gig. Thanks as always, Rickey

18 years

Re: [Callers] Programming an Evening - Variety

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

I'll second Cynthia's comments. If you're calling for one night stands or for newcomers, having familiar figures reappear is an asset, rather than a problem. If your crowd is made of hard-core dancers, then you'll want to look for dances that have something different. You won't want to include three dances in an evening with Petronella twirls, for example. (Heck, look at the number of dancers who want to have every dance include a partner swing and a neighbor swing-- talk about repetition!) And if your crowd is a mixture of the two-- newcomers and hard-core dancers alike-- then congratulations! That sort of dance is really important to keep going, and, by the way, it's also the hardest to program. Not long ago, when I was calling for a group of enthusiastic dancers-- they only wanted contras, no other formations, obligatory partner swing in every dance, that sort of event-- I designed a program where each dance of the evening had a special figure that appeared in that dance and only that dance. Thus, there was a dance where couples acted as a unit, there was another dance that moved dancers from a wave on one side of the hall to a long wave on the other side, and so on. The rest of each dance could recycle the same basics and no one minded or even noticed. There was, though, something unique about each dance and that made a memorable program. David Millstone

18 years, 1 month

Programming an Evening - Variety

by Rickey

Hi all, I am programming an evening. Probably most of the dancers will have at least enough experience to know most of the figures. I have a question about variety for this program. There are some figures that you expect to see in most dances in an evening. Swings for instance today, and Right and Left Through in older dances could be in every dance without seeming too repetitious. More unusual figures, perhaps bucksaws in beckets (Right and Left Through on the diagonal, and then across), or California Twirls might not bear as much repetition during an evening before it might start to go stale. First question about variety: Where would you place Ladies Chains, and Do-si-dos in this spectrum. The evening I have just programmed has a Ladies Chain in between one half and two thirds of the dances (all but one over but not back), and a Do-si-do in from one third to one half of the dances, depending on my final selections. Does this seem like too many? Second question about variety: Does it seem as repetitious to do dances that use the same figures if the rest of the dance has a very different feel; if perhaps the "hook" (the unique figure) is very unique and different. For instance two dances that I am considering have a ladies chain into a hey - a wonderful transition. They are "Young at Heart" by Steve Zaikon-Anderson, which adds an allemande left twice into the Ladies Chain to start the sequence, and Don Flaherty's "Slapping the Wood" which does not use the allemandes to a ladies chain, but ends and starts with a Balance-the Ring to a California Twirl to a Do-si-do Neighbors As-a-Couple that gives the dance its flavor. So two questions about variety. What has been your experience? Rickey Holt

18 years, 1 month

Re: [Callers] What is a Clover Leaf Turn Single?

by crunchymama＠juno.com

Jerome, AHA! I spent a lot of time after the dance was over for the night visualizing different dances and trying to get all the steps in order so I could write them down- and by that time all the dances had started to run together in my head, so I only got one dance out complete and it wasn't this one. But I have definite snapshots who I danced with, of turning away to swing below, long lines and then waiting through the 1's swing. Maybe this is the source of my confusion. Now that you've mentioned it, I remember that the name of the move was given as a flirt and twirl. And I'm positive that as a 2 I rotated away from my partner (which would be over my right shoulder) to balance and swing the NEW NEIGHBOR below. So David, The "true" variation is with a cloverleaf turn single. Are you swinging the same neighbor in that case? Either way the progression is the same. Alison in Memphis -- "Jerome Grisanti" <jerome.grisanti(a)gmail.com> wrote: I learned "Handsome Young Maids" from Lisa Ornstein, who called the move "flirt and twirl." The descriptions by other callers addressed the steps, but I believe this name addresses the attitude. Not that I'm a flirt. -- Jerome Grisanti

18 years, 1 month

Re: [Callers] What is a Clover Leaf Turn Single?

by crunchymama＠juno.com

David, Thank you for the description- I think I understand why I was confused now. I would like to try ECD again sometime. I originally was introduced to ECD in Dallas I think? Then to contra. But I wasn't in Dallas long and of the two I've only done contra since. With my current workload at home (5 kids ages 10 yr - 4 months, we homeschool, my 5 year old is disabled) I don't get to travel to workshops right now. I look forward to 20 years from now and enjoying my retirement! Alison in Memphis -- David.Millstone(a)valley.net (David Millstone) wrote: --- Alison wrote: Is a cloverleaf turn single always ladies over left and gents over right --- end of quote --- Not necessarily. In English country dancing, unless otherwise specified, a "set and turn single" call will have dancers turning to the right. But the cloverlead turn single depends on where you are when you start the move. Some background, first.... <snip> In Handsome Young Maids, at the end of A2, everyone is back in their starting position, with hands joined in a ring. Instead of setting, we have a balance the circle for the same number of beats, followed by the turn single. In this case, the men loop over their right shoulder and women over their left shoulder. The Ones are facing down and as they draw back with their inside shoulder toward the outside to start the turn single, they're rotating to face each other before moving to the outside. The Twos, who are facing up at the start, are doing something similar as they turn down and away from each other. So, for both couples, there's a nice moment of partner interaction before meeting your neighbor at the end of the turns. (There are also great opportunities for eye contact with dancers in adjacent sets who are turnout out of their set at the same time as you are. Note-- the turn in this dance is slight less than a full turn, which means dancers need to take even smaller steps or, if there's room in the hall, even wider loops. I like the dance, but for that reason rarely call it if it's a crowded hall. David P.S. Alison, maybe you can locate some English country dancing in the Memphis area, or make arrangements to get to a weekend or weeklong camp at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, or to Berea, KY, for Christmas Country Dance School. You'll have a great opportunity at either place to learn ECD, and then a whole wonderful world awaits. I often say that our best dancing comes when we're doing contras and squares with skilled English country dancers, or English with strong contra dancers! redweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

18 years, 1 month

Re: [Callers] What is a Clover Leaf Turn Single?

by David.Millstone＠valley.net

--- Alison wrote: Is a cloverleaf turn single always ladies over left and gents over right --- end of quote --- Not necessarily. In English country dancing, unless otherwise specified, a "set and turn single" call will have dancers turning to the right. But the cloverlead turn single depends on where you are when you start the move. Some background, first.... In Handsome Young Maids, as has been mentioned earlier in this thread by others, Sue Rosen incorporated several moves from English country dancing. The opening figure is similar to movements found the English dance Dublin Bay, and the "turn single" is a common figure that appears in numerous English dances, with the "cloverleaf turn single" appearing more commonly in recent choreography. "Set and turn single" is perhaps one of the most common basic figures in the English country dance (ECD) repertoire, but there are many classic English dances with the turn single by itself. Thus, at the end of the A2 part of Jack's Health, as pairs of dancers come toward each other, there's a cloverleaf turn single with men turning left and women turning right. In Handsome Young Maids, at the end of A2, everyone is back in their starting position, with hands joined in a ring. Instead of setting, we have a balance the circle for the same number of beats, followed by the turn single. In this case, the men loop over their right shoulder and women over their left shoulder. The Ones are facing down and as they draw back with their inside shoulder toward the outside to start the turn single, they're rotating to face each other before moving to the outside. The Twos, who are facing up at the start, are doing something similar as they turn down and away from each other. So, for both couples, there's a nice moment of partner interaction before meeting your neighbor at the end of the turns. (There are also great opportunities for eye contact with dancers in adjacent sets who are turnout out of their set at the same time as you are. Note-- the turn in this dance is slight less than a full turn, which means dancers need to take even smaller steps or, if there's room in the hall, even wider loops. I like the dance, but for that reason rarely call it if it's a crowded hall. David P.S. Alison, maybe you can locate some English country dancing in the Memphis area, or make arrangements to get to a weekend or weeklong camp at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, or to Berea, KY, for Christmas Country Dance School. You'll have a great opportunity at either place to learn ECD, and then a whole wonderful world awaits. I often say that our best dancing comes when we're doing contras and squares with skilled English country dancers, or English with strong contra dancers!

18 years, 1 month

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