Contra Callers

contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net

34 participants
4243 discussions

by Jeffrey M.Petrovitch

Hey Ever= yone! Just thought I would chime in with some = of my calling experiences... Well, I would say that I am a fairly i= nexperienced caller, since I have only been calling since the beginning o= f the year. I really believe that there may be no better place to l= earn to call, then Nelson, New Hampshire, and of course for a couple diff erent reasons: 1: The Nelson Contra Dance happens every= Monday night (all 56 Mondays of the year), and that simply means more ti= me to call. I usually call about 2 or 3 dances every week, sometime= s more, sometimes less, but calling every week has really allowed me to l= earn a lot. 2. Nelson Contra Dancers are great= !!! When you have experienced dancers, it really helps a new caller= . The dancers really make the caller look good, so that is always= a confidence boost when you are calling. 3. And of course Don Primrose and = Lisa Sieverts, two great callers, that I have learned a lot from and cont= inue to learn a lot from. When you have good calling mentors, it re= ally helps your growth as a caller. Everytime I call, usually at th= e end of the dance I talk with Lisa about how my calling was. Feedb= ack is such a great tool, and I would encourage new callers to seek out f= eedback. There is always something that can be better about your ca= lling... I really love calling, there is just som= ething about being up on stage, that is just really amazing, but you have= to pratice, pratice, pratice... If there is one thing that Lisa ha= s really instilled into me, it is the the two T's. Teaching and tim= ing. Teaching is so important and of the things that I do along wit= h praticing calling a dance, I also pratice the walk-through. In my= opinion, a walk-through has to be detailed, yet quick, concise, with no = wasted words. Three minutes tops and very rarely there should ever = be a need for a second walk-through. There are of course some dance= s with strange end effects that may require a second walk-through, but 9 = out of 10 times, 1 time is good enough... And of course there is timing. Fla= re and style will come after timing, as it should. Don't be late, d= on't be early. Know where the phrase ends, know when you need to st= art caling a call, and know when you need to stop calling a call. B= e right on the beat... So all and all, I really feel that I come al= ong way in a short five months of my calling career. The last coupl= es weeks, have been right on for me, so hopefully it is only up for here.= One thing that has really helped me call better is my comfort leve= l on stage. You have to have fun, when you are calling or it just i= s not worth it. Do whatever you need to, to be relaxed, comfortable= , and having fun on stage, to call a good dance. I usually will dan= ce around, jump down on the dance floor and dance with the dancers as it = is going on... Just have fun!!! See you on the dance floor or maybe the = stage... Sincerely, Jeff Petrovitch Jeffrey M. Petrovitch jeffrey.m.petrovitch(a)usa.net "Five nights of contra dancing... through 'top-notch' style and technique, with the love and passion for the dance, the title above all others was awarded. I am an 'Iron Dancer'." - J.M. Petrovitch

18 years, 12 months

Update

by Chris Weiler

Hi all, It's been a while since I posted an update on what I have been doing about learning to be a better caller, so here it is. It's not that I've been really busy with work and not doing anything about calling lately, but it's close. Back in late March, I made it up to Nelson to attend the open mic. again. One of the challenging things that I find about calling in Nelson is the need for spontaneity in picking dances. This particular night, I didn't do myself any favors by one, being very tired and two, not practicing or preparing beforehand. So I got up to call 2 dances and the first one went ok, but on the second one (one that I had never called or practiced until 5 minutes before I got on stage) I made a mistake and broke down the set. Don and Lisa were able to get everyone moving again and I picked it up from there, but we ended up off from the music (you'll see in a moment that this could be considered a theme...). Overall another valuable experience and lesson in preparing carefully. This week on Tuesday, I participated in a multi-caller night at the MIT contra dance. Again it's challenging because you never know who you're going to have, especially earlier in the evening. Seth and had the 1st and 2nd slots and we had talked about having a triplet first. I had one (Ted's #38) that I (again) had not practiced, but chosen for another gig that I have coming up, so we decided that I would go first. I quickly ran through it with some music provided by my iPod mini and jumped up on stage with maybe 3 couples in the hall. While people were lining up, three more couples materialized out of nowhere. As I started to teach the dance, however, one of the couples interrupted me and informed me that they had never done this before and needed help. Immediately, another couple in the other set identified themselves as new people. Seth and his wife Bethany kindly split up the 1st couple to give both of them experienced partners and Clark Baker and his partner split up the other 2. Since the dance started with a balance and swing, there was a brief pause while 4 independent mini workshops in "balance and swing" took place. That done, we got started with the walk through, going slow to allow the experienced dancers to guide the beginners. I decided that we definitely needed a 2nd walk through (by this time a 3rd set had appeared). After the 2nd walk through, people were complaining that they did not have their partners (I realized afterwards that I left out the Gents Al L 1 1/2). We got everyone their partners back and walked it through a third time with better success. We were ready to start (and more than half of my time slot was gone), and so we woke up the band and got going. I was a little flustered by working with the beginners and the problems during the walk through, so I forgot the thinly prepared patter that I had come up with. After some stumbling, I finally remembered and got into the patter I had prepared, but we were 16 beats off from the music. I could tell that we were off, but I didn't have any attention to spare on fixing it. In the back of my mind, I was trying to figure out how I was going to signal the band that I wanted the dance to end and just went ahead and gave them the "2" sign during the A1. This was the only time that I wasn't calling since the beginners didn't seem able to carry on when I tried to drop out. We came to a rather ragged halt when Emily Troll and I miscommunicated and she finally asked me "out?" and I nodded my head. After many apologies to the band and introducing Seth, I got off the stage to catch my breath. I take some pride in getting everyone (including the beginners) up and dancing, but think I have a ways to go towards making it smoother. It was instructional to me to realize how heavily you rely on the experienced dancers to integrate the beginners into the dance. I had another slot later in the evening, but gave it up to a young man (Ron was his name) who asked for a slot. I was pretty wiped out by that first dance and then dancing with beginners later, so was just as happy to give it up. Coming up in about a week, I am going to be substituting for Chrissy Fowler at the North Whitefield, ME dance. I went up there last month to scout it out and it's a great dance. I am doing some revising of my program at the moment, but will post it soon here for comments. I'm looking forward to tackling an entire evening and getting a rhythm going and having somewhat of a plan going in. I'm also going back to MIT next month and doing a half evening with Mark Schneider which should go a little smoother than the 6 caller evening did. See you dancing! Chris http://www.fortytwo.ws/~weiler/caller/

19 years

So what have you been up to?

by Chris Weiler

Hi everyone, I'm sure that people would be interested in hearing about experiences that you've had lately in calling. People that are new to calling, please tell us about what you're doing to gain experience and learn. Experienced callers, let us know about any unusual things that you have encountered lately (or learned lately). 8^) All the best, Chris Weiler

19 years

Fwd: Wanted! New callers!

by Lisa Sieverts

Contact David directly if you are interested. Begin forwarded message: > From: David.Millstone(a)valley.net (David Millstone) > Date: April 28, 2005 7:19:30 PM EDT > To: (Recipient list suppressed) > Subject: Wanted! New callers! > Reply-To: millstone(a)valley.net > > Calling all potential callers! > > I'm looking at the possibility of starting up a class in the fall for > people who > would like to learn to call traditional American dance-- contras, > squares, and > other related dances. Your interest might be in calling at a regular > dance > series with experienced dancers, or you might be inclined toward the > repertoire > of dances that are useful for working with children, family groups, > and other > less-experienced dancers. > > I have a calling apprentice at the moment, with funding provided > through the > Vermont Folklife Center, and that's been a good one-on-one > arrangement. One > difficulty, though, has been that it's hard to practice in the absence > of > dancers; this is especially true when trying to teach a dance, which > in many > cases is harder than the actual calling. This next time around, I'm > thinking > that having a small group (eight people would be ideal) might work > well. > > I'm open to working with all ages, and I'm especially hopeful that > some of our > younger dancers might take a step toward becoming callers. We do have > some good > younger musicians in the area and it's fun to contemplate a new > generation > inheriting our thriving dance scene. > > So, would you like to learn how to be the person on the other side of > the > microphone? > > I'm imagining a regular series of meetings, once or twice a month, > starting in > the fall of 2005 and running through spring of 2006. We'd meet as a > group and > participants would have opportunities to practice on each other and to > offer > support and encouragement. I'll share my thoughts as well, will direct > you to > helpful resources, and will offer specific suggestions as well. I'd > hope that > the members of the group could call at area dances. I know I'd be > happy to have > a "new caller" slot at our monthly Northern Spy dances. > > Before putting more effort into planning this project, however, it'll > be helpful > to know if there are enough possible participants. Please let me know > sometime > in the next week or two if this is something you might enjoy doing. > Once I have > a list of interested folks, we can talk more and figure out the details > together. You can phone me at 603-448-29050 or simply reply to this > e-mail. > > Looking forward to working with some of you! > > David Millstone >

19 years

Fwd: [pvcd] Montague dance Sunday, May 1

by Lisa Sieverts

Come out and call! Begin forwarded message: > From: Rebecca Hollingsworth <rebeccarebecca(a)verizon.net> > Date: April 29, 2005 2:45:09 PM EDT > To: pvcd(a)yahoogroups.com > Subject: [pvcd] Montague dance Sunday, May 1 > Reply-To: pvcd(a)yahoogroups.com > > For all who haven't seen flyers or been otherwise reminded: The next > Montague dance is this Sunday, May 1, at the grange hall by the common > in Montague Center. > > Co-host callers are Lisa Sieverts and David Kaynor, both of whom > encourage other callers and proto-callers to take a turn; music is by > the All-Comers Band, which can be joined on the spot by anyone who has > an acoustic instrument that will fit in or near the stage. Most > members of this totally ad-hoc group play some and dance some; at > this > dance, the line between the stage and the dance floor is the merest > shadow of a concept. > > Dancers are also welcome. Admission is by self-determined donation > (i.e., you decide how much to toss in the fiddle case). All proceeds > from this particular dance will go to a local family that has incurred > some heart-breaking medical expenses. > > Potluck at 6:00; dance starts at 7:30 with a Grand March. See David > Kaynor's recent e-mail for details on events earlier in the day. We > expect that there will be a number of long-time grange members present > for at least the beginning of the evening. This could be a great, and > fun, chance for the spheres to intersect. > > Becky > rebecca(a)fastermac.net > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > • To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pvcd/ > > • To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > pvcd-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com > > • Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of > Service. >

19 years

[Callers] Sit-in musicians welcome at 4/30 Cape Cod, MA contra dance

by Robert Golder

In addition to developing calling skills, some of you may also be developing your dance band instrumental skills. If so, you're invited to bring your instrument and join the band at a fifth Saturday contra dance sponsored by the Falmouth Fiddlers Association. Saturday, April 30, 2005, 8:00 - 11:00 pm, North Falmouth Congregational Church Hall, 155 Old Main Street, North Falmouth, Massachusetts. $6 admission. More info about this event, and travel directions, at http://www.schoonerflagpoles.com/DanceFF.html More info about Falmouth Fiddlers Association at http://www.schoonerflagpoles.com/falmouthfiddlers.htm Falmouth Fiddlers Association, 508-563-9494, falmouthfiddlers(a)yahoo.com ---------------------------------------------------- Robert Jon Golder 164 Maxfield Street robertgolder(a)comcast.net New Bedford, MA 02740 (508) 999-2486 voice

19 years, 1 month

Fwd: Open caller night, Gorham NH

by Marlena Schilke

Please post We are starting up our 2005 contra dance series in Gorham, New Hampshire this Saturday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m, The callers we were hoping to get are going to NEFFA or elsewhere that evening, so we are having open caller night. If you would like to come, great. If you know of any callers just staring out, and want to practice, let them know. It will be an informal event. Local musicians, "Shelburne Addition" will be playing. Let me know if you can make it. Marlena BabZ Schilke Director, Chapel Arts New England www.chapelartsne.com Chapel Arts is located on Route 16, facing Gorham Town Common, at the intersection with Route 2, 10 miles north of Mt. Washington. Overnight accomodation available.

19 years, 1 month

RE: Head Of The Bed - Nils Fredland

by Jeffrey M. Petrovitch

Dear Chris: Head Of The Bed by Nils Fredland is my favorite becket dance of all time. There are few dance with three swings in them that feel so good and so natural in the dance, and of course the finally roll away into your partner arms is perhaps one of the most brilliant transitions into a swing that has ever been written. I first heard the dance called be Nils Fredland himself at the Guilding Star Grange in Greenfield Ma, Labor Day Weekend 2004. So after this, I brought this dance to the Nelson dance, where it is called from time to time. If I remember correctly, I believe in A2, it is actually a promenade not a right and left through. I really think that the promenade is perhaps one of the gems in the dance, which goes to enhance the connection between the dancers. I would check with your sources about the dances, but I am 99.9% sure that is a promenade. Well, as always good luck with your calling. Thanks, Jeff Petrovitch -----Original Message----- From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net]On Behalf Of callers-request(a)sharedweight.net Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2005 10:05 AM To: callers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: Callers Digest, Vol 6, Issue 8 Send Callers mailing list submissions to callers(a)sharedweight.net To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to callers-request(a)sharedweight.net You can reach the person managing the list at callers-owner(a)sharedweight.net When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..." Today's Topics: 1. New Voices, Flurry and VFW (Chris Weiler) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 13:02:44 -0500 From: Chris Weiler <chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org> Subject: [Callers] New Voices, Flurry and VFW To: callers(a)sharedweight.net Message-ID: <42220B44.5020007(a)weirdtable.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks, and boy is my body letting me know it. I've been laid up with a cold the last couple of days. So here is what's been happening with the calling side of my life (I guess I don't need to warn you by now that this is going to be a long e-mail): New Voices The New Voices dance was quite a success. All of us (Seth Seeger, Jenna Watson, Cortni Frecha, Nathaniel Jack, Mark Jones and myself) did very well. We had a good crowd (I estimated 60-70 people, Mark probably has a better count) of experienced dancers. We also had great music by Mike Ames, Lissa Schneckenberger (sp!) and Bruce Rosen, who were a delight to work with on stage. My own personal breakthrough that night was that it was the first time that I felt comfortable on-stage. Instead of my nervous energy making me hesitant, I directed it into my calling. It was a great feeling. I called two of my favorite dances that I hadn't called before: Mary Cay's Reel and 333-33. I knew that 333-33 was going to be a challenge, and it was. I worked hard with a form to work out the words (which I created first). The form I used is attached if people are interested. Then I practiced (mostly in the car) calling into a tape recorder. The prep work really paid off at the dance. Dance Flurry The next weekend was the Dance Flurry in Saratoga Springs, NY. This is one of my favorite dance festivals with lots of great dancing, workshops and great people. There were 4 callers workshops during the festival and each had their own focus. The first was Joseph Pinmentel's workshop. He talked about the 3 stages of being a caller: the first is where you're learning the basics (call timing, word choice, parts/structure of the music, etc.), the second he called "flight time" or practice time, and the third I think he called the "process". The third stage was the focus of the workshop. The "process" he was referring to was the cycle of feedback and learning that happens when you're calling regularly. Specifically he put it in terms of the observation cycle: take an action, observe the results, decide what you think about the results, and back to the beginning with taking another action. The part that he observed that most callers had with this cycle was that the feedback was hard to filter away from the junk around it. For example when someone comes up to you after a dance and says: "you called a dance without a neighbor swing. Your calling stinks." His suggestion was that you look for the kernel of good information in any feedback you get. In the example, you take away the information that calling a dance without a neighbor swing made a dancer unhappy. Then you can decide if you're going to call a dance without a neighbor swing the next time without the defensive reaction to the statement. It also means that you can handle the situation better because you can honestly thank the person for their useful feedback and ignore the rest. Of course this is harder than it seems. The rest of the workshop we got up and danced and had different people calling the dances. Then we sat down and made observations and Joseph helped us pick out the kernels of good information in the statements. The funniest moment in the class was when one of the people in the workshop made an observation about a session earlier in the day where the caller didn't run the dances long enough. The observer didn't realize that the caller at that session was Joseph. 8^) You'll see by the lengths of my descriptions that this was my favorite workshop. The next workshop was Rick Mohr's. He focused on the basics of timing and word selection. He talked about timing the words to music in order to end the call at the correct moment. He had some great handouts for this and we all practiced with a fiddler. On Sunday, the first workshop was Ralph Sweet teaching singing squares. He talked about the differences in patter calling and singing and the kind of prep work necessary for singers. Coordinating with the band seems to be the most important one. If you don't practice it, then most likely you won't be able to be flexible with the calling to make sure that the dancers are promenading at the chorus. He has published a nice book full of squares and music that has some great material in it. The last workshop I was late for, since I was having great fun at Rick's Squantras and Contrares session. Peter Amidon was running a workshop where he reviewed a handout with a few basics about calling, dance selection and responsibilities. He then opened the floor to questions and discussion. Most of the questions had to to with resources like where to find dances to call and e-mail discussion groups like ours. I have included a scan of Peter's two sided sheet. VFW After the New Voices dance I was very surprised to receive an e-mail from Sue Rosen inviting me to call at the VFW as part of NEFFA night (a multi-caller evening that happens 3-4 times a year). I was floored. I was nervous. I said yes (how could I say no?). Being a regular dancer at the VFW, I know what a demanding venue it is. I requested that Sue put me in the first slot (1st dance of the evening with the first and second after the break). Then I had to find dances that would go over well there. I knew that one of my dances after the break would be either Mary Cay's or 333-33 since they're fun dances and I already had the calling and teaching worked out for them. I remembered a recent discussion on trad-dance-callers about "Easy yet interesting" dances that I could use for the first dance of the evening, but I was at a loss for the last one. The digital voice recorder that I had been using to collect dances had gone through the washing machine in my shorts the weekend before, erasing about a dozen dances that might have done the job. I spent the whole flurry collecting dances, but they were either too hard or too easy for the VFW. It wasn't until the last session that I danced on Sunday afternoon that I found just the right dance for after the break: Nils Fredland's Head of the Bed. For those who are interested, I have put it at the end of the e-mail. So I had 3 days to prepare after I had my dance selection for the evening. I had a few other things going on in my life, so I didn't prepare as much as I would have liked. On top of things, I was running flat out all week and got hit hard with a cold on Thursday. So I was pretty miserable when I showed up at the VFW that night. At this point I would like to praise the nasal decongestant spray that I bought at the last minute. It kept my nose and throat clear through the evening and allowed me to call. The evening is a haze to me, though. Because of the snow, Linda Leslie wasn't able to make it that night. For a while, it looked like it was going to be Bob Golder and myself. Erica Weiss showed up a dance or two before she was scheduled to go on. Sue called Rick Mohr and he was able to come and call a couple of dances during the second half. This pretty much blew the schedule out of the water, so I ended up calling the first two dances of the evening and the first after the break. I called The Casbah Queens by David McMullen (which I got off the trad-dance-callers list) and Forgotten Treasure as my first two dances. Then I called Head of the Bed as the first one after the break. All of which went over well. My teaching on Head of the Bed didn't go as well as I wanted it to (I was reaching the limits of energy and medicine), but the experience of the dancers made up for it and the dance was a success. Great music by Lise Brown, Dave Langford and Bruce Rosen combined with good material and lots of experienced dancers made up for any mistakes I might of made that night. Thankfully, my fuzzy head that night made it impossible to be nervous about calling at the VFW. A few people came up to me afterwards and mentioned that they didn't even know that I was sick until I told them. One of the unfortunate things about getting sick was that I had to turn down all of my favorite dance partners as they came up to ask me to dance while I was sitting out. Epilog I have also attached a handout from Tony Parkes' workshop at the Ralph Page weekend for your enjoyment. Once again, I'm hoping that you are enjoying these e-mails and that those of you who are thinking about taking the leap into calling are inspired to take another step. All the best, Chris Weiler Head of the Bed Nils Fredland Becket A1 Slide Left, Cir. L 3/4 w/new neighbors Neighbor Swing A2 R&L thru Ladies Chain B1 1/2 hey Shadow Swing B2 LL fwd & bk Gents roll Shadow away Partner Swing

19 years, 1 month

Gorham, New Hampshire new venue

by Marlena Schilke

Callers wanted. I'm starting up a new series of traditional New England dances here at Chapel Arts New England in Gorham, New Hampshire, about 8 miles north of Mount Washington. We hope to have a dance the second Saturday of each month, April through October. We have a group of local instrumentalists getting ready to play, and need callers. We are open to visiting groups also. I realize NEFFA is a big draw, but I was wondering if anyone is available for April 9. So far May, June, July, September and October are also open. Chapel Arts New England is a former Methodist Church, and the parsonage next door is available for visiting musicians and/or callers to stay, if they like, overnight. --Marlena Schilke Director, Chapel Arts New England www.chapelartsne.com cellphone 857-472-2869 messages 603-466-2129

19 years, 1 month

Open Mike Calling Opportunity, Sat. March 5

by Robert Golder

The Medway Contra Dance series, at Christ Episcopal Church on School Street in Medway, Massachusetts, will sponsor an Open Mike evening on Saturday, March 5, 2005, 7:30 - 10:30 pm. This is the second of Medway's open mike evenings that I have MC'd. The first evening was a great success, introducing four people to their very first experiences in calling contras for dancers. I have had far less response this time around from people who would like to get behind the microphone. So now's the time to talk to me if you'd like to participate! Contact me if you're interested and we'll discuss the dances you'd like to call. Medway is a small dance venue, a true community dance where anybody and everybody may show up to dance - young and old, brand-new and experienced dancers. Your dance choices should be at an easy to moderate dancing skill level. The band will be Heathen Creek (this is a change from earlier posted information). For more information about the Medway dance, including the 2004-2005 schedule and directions to the hall, go to: http://www.contradancelinks.com/medway.html ---------------------------------------------------- Robert Jon Golder 164 Maxfield Street robertgolder(a)comcast.net New Bedford, MA 02740 (508) 999-2486 voice

19 years, 2 months

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