Hi All,
I've been thinking a lot about calling for beginner dancers. I've seen big
changes in the last few years where our dances now often have more than 50%
newcomers.
As a relatively new caller. I have some observations and ideas, and I'd
love perspective from people who are more experienced.
Walkthroughs:
With experienced dancers, you can do an efficient walkthrough and teach a
figure in the context of the dance. With beginners, I've seen walkthroughs
fall apart because by the time you've explained a move and dealt with the
group that has gotten all scrambled, the dancers have completely forgotten
where they are in the walkthrough and where they started the dance. This is
leading me towards the idea of isolating new figures *before* the
walkthrough: If it's the first time doing a move, teach the move first, and
then do the walkthrough that includes this move. "This dance has a new
figure called a Robin's Chain. It works like this.... <chain stuff>. That
looks great. Now let's learn the dance...."
Also, with experienced dancers, people "get it" during the dance, so you
can do two walkthroughs and even if some people are confused ii will
straighten itself out. With new dancers it feels much more important that
everyone succeed in the walkthroughs because confusion can get worse
instead of better. But at some point you can't keep doing walkthroughs. My
gut instinct is that if I teach the figures before and can't explain the
dance in two walkthroughs then I need to get better at walkthroughs or
teach easier dances.
Thoughts?
Caller Style:
I really like making each call four counts as it provides
predictable rhythm to the calling:
1,2,3,4, WITH your | PARTner | BALance and | SWING
For some calls I can give the destination location, or the destination
person:
"Robins, Chain, Across the, Set"
"Neighbor, Dosido, to NEW, Neighbor"
vs
"Robins, Chain, To your, Partner"
"Neighbor, DoSido, Once and a, half"
To your partner seems more clear, but I can also see that having two
different people in the call could create confusion. Does one format work
better in your experience?
Related, I find the most annoying figures to call are 1.5 figures. There's
just no way to say
"New Neighbor Allemande Left Once and a Half" in four beats. Also,
beginners struggle parsing 1.5x as trading places, especially across the
set.
It seems like a lot of callers drop the Allemande and just shorten it to
"Left" or "Right". Which probably is fine after two clear walkthroughs.
So, which do you prefer? Do you have other ideas?
Robins, Allemande, Left, Across
Robins, Left, to Trade, places
Robins, Left, Once, and a Half
Robins, Left, to Your, Partner
Robins, Do si, do, across
Anyway, just thinking aloud and curious what other peoples thoughts are.
Taco
A couple of suggestions. Caveat: when I used to call regularly, I didn't
have 50% newcomers.
If the first or second dance was written with a right-and-left, I would
often substitute a promenade-across instead. In a right-and-left, the
couple seconds of separation tends to throw off first-timers when they
try to "reconnect" on the opposite side of the set for the courtesy turn.
With a promenade, they are already in position for the turn. When giving
credit at the end of the walkthrough, I'd then say "This is a variation of
[name of dance] by [author of dance].
Second, for those times where one or two isolated foursomes were having
real trouble "getting it" in the walkthrough, I would do the usual two
walkthroughs and NOT bring them back to place. The idea here is to get
those dancers dancing with people who got it right off the bat. I'm not
sure how well this would translate to sets with widespread newbie
confusion, but it may be something to consider.
Mark Widmer, retired caller :-)
Paris, TN (formerly of Princeton, NJ)
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Taco van Ieperen <tacovan(a)gmail.com>
> To: contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2025 11:01:21 -0600
> Subject: [Callers] Calling Clearly for Beginner Heavy Groups
> Hi All,
>
> I've been thinking a lot about calling for beginner dancers. I've seen big
> changes in the last few years where our dances now often have more than 50%
> newcomers.
>
> As a relatively new caller. I have some observations and ideas, and I'd
> love perspective from people who are more experienced.
>
> Walkthroughs:
>
> With experienced dancers, you can do an efficient walkthrough and teach a
> figure in the context of the dance. With beginners, I've seen walkthroughs
> fall apart because by the time you've explained a move and dealt with the
> group that has gotten all scrambled, the dancers have completely forgotten
> where they are in the walkthrough and where they started the dance. This is
> leading me towards the idea of isolating new figures *before* the
> walkthrough: If it's the first time doing a move, teach the move first, and
> then do the walkthrough that includes this move. "This dance has a new
> figure called a Robin's Chain. It works like this.... <chain stuff>. That
> looks great. Now let's learn the dance...."
>
> Also, with experienced dancers, people "get it" during the dance, so you
> can do two walkthroughs and even if some people are confused ii will
> straighten itself out. With new dancers it feels much more important that
> everyone succeed in the walkthroughs because confusion can get worse
> instead of better. But at some point you can't keep doing walkthroughs. My
> gut instinct is that if I teach the figures before and can't explain the
> dance in two walkthroughs then I need to get better at walkthroughs or
> teach easier dances.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Caller Style:
>
> I really like making each call four counts as it provides
> predictable rhythm to the calling:
>
> 1,2,3,4, WITH your | PARTner | BALance and | SWING
>
> For some calls I can give the destination location, or the destination
> person:
> "Robins, Chain, Across the, Set"
> "Neighbor, Dosido, to NEW, Neighbor"
> vs
> "Robins, Chain, To your, Partner"
> "Neighbor, DoSido, Once and a, half"
>
> To your partner seems more clear, but I can also see that having two
> different people in the call could create confusion. Does one format work
> better in your experience?
>
> Related, I find the most annoying figures to call are 1.5 figures. There's
> just no way to say
> "New Neighbor Allemande Left Once and a Half" in four beats. Also,
> beginners struggle parsing 1.5x as trading places, especially across the
> set.
>
> It seems like a lot of callers drop the Allemande and just shorten it to
> "Left" or "Right". Which probably is fine after two clear walkthroughs.
>
> So, which do you prefer? Do you have other ideas?
> Robins, Allemande, Left, Across
> Robins, Left, to Trade, places
> Robins, Left, Once, and a Half
> Robins, Left, to Your, Partner
> Robins, Do si, do, across
>
> Anyway, just thinking aloud and curious what other peoples thoughts are.
>
> Taco
>
>
>
Thanks, Taco, for posting this question, and for all the helpful answers so far!
I’m about to try to start a dance in my new home (Bowen Island, British Columbia, off the coast of Vancouver) and these responses will be very helpful to me. Thanks, everybody!
The only thing I would add is that I think I will begin with dances that have no chains in them. I’ve watched a million beginner’s lessons and the only move (typically covered in a beginner’s lesson) that completely befuddles newbies is the robin’s chain. Recently I tried to dance a lark’s chain and I was completely befuddled myself! I’ve been dancing MANY years but being asked to do that complicated non-symmetrical move without any muscle memory undid me! It was a great window into how confusing a robin’s chain can be for dancers new to contra.
I’ve heard folks say that with all-beginners dances they’ll start with dances without swings, but I think I’ll probably keep swings (because contra without swings just seems too SAD to me!) and I’ll probably start my first dance without chains instead.
I keep saying I’ve moved to Paradise, but how can it be Paradise without contra?
Anyway, I’m soaking up the great advice. Thanks, everyone!! Love this list!!
Becky Liddle (formerly of Toronto & "All Hands In" online dancing)
Scene: Beantown Stomp, dancing with another caller, Alex D-L on stage.
Dance has a balance ring, pass thru to ocean wave.
Me, to my partner: "How stupid would it be to have a balance, Mad Robin
across the set?"
Her: "Do it!"
It's across a musical phrase. And I was skeptical that space was available,
but, if you can balance and pass through to an ocean wave, you can Mad
Robin facing up and down, it turns out.
Called last night in Philly, positive feedback after, band picked music
that worked with the cross-phrase.
Mad Robin Across
Julian Blechner
Becket (CW)
A1. Circle L 3/4 (8) (with "next as a typical Butter progression)
NS (8)
A2. LLFB (8)
Robins Chain to P (8), form ring of 4
B1. Bal Ring (4)
Mad Robin Across (8)
Larks catch LH early, Alle L 1x (4)
B2. P R. Shoulder 'Round and Swing (16)
Notes:
Larks catch left hands about 3/4 the way through the Mad Robin, so their 1x
allemande is 6 beats of music. Telling Larks they will catch LH early is
important.
I assumed dancers would arrive early to the B2, and made it a Right
Shoulder 'Round instead of a balance. However, perhaps with the timing of
the music being not super sluggish, dancers seemed to arrive with timing
that would have worked for the balance.
Will likely call something with this at NEFFA, but the dance is tested,
danced, and I'm confident in it.
In dance,
Julian Blechner
He/Him
Western Mass, USA
Hi Shared Weight Contra Callers,
Just a quick final reminder that Puttin' On The Dance 3 is less than a
month away.
Registration closes April 15th.
We still have a bit of space left and a few scholarship!
See below,
Thanks :)
Emily in Ottawa
======================================================
Dear POTD email list members 🤗
This is a quick final reminder that Puttin' On The Dance 3 is happening
soon in Belfast Maine!
*🌟Registration closes **April 15th** at 11:59pm .🌟*
We're super excited that there are so many folks who have never been to
POTD who are participating this time around. The schedule is really coming
together - we've got some fantastic sessions based upon community input and
there's lots of space for the informal conversations as well. Plus some
dancing of course! 🪅🪅🪅
*If you're available May 2-4 and would like to join us, check out the
registration information: https://www.puttinonthedance.org/
<https://www.puttinonthedance.org/>*
We even have a couple of scholarships left.)
Cheering y'all on - So grateful that we're each doing our bit to bring joy
to others and make the world a better place.
♥️♥️♥️
The POTD3 organizing team
Emily Addison, Chrissy Fowler, and Patty Giavara
--
puttinonthedance.orgfacebook.com/PuttinOnTheDance
*You're on the POTD email list because we think you're interested in
conferences for dance organizers. Let us know if you want your address
removed. *
I’ve used a Shure PGX4 for 16 years. Flawless
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
On Wednesday, April 9, 2025, 10:51 AM, Donna Hunt via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hey everyone.I need a new headset, pronto, but cannot get the Shared Weight "search" to work.Can anyone point me to the archive for wireless headsets, please? I know it was discussed not that long ago.Thanks in advance!
DonnaEmail: dhuntdancer(a)aol.com
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Hey everyone.I need a new headset, pronto, but cannot get the Shared Weight "search" to work.Can anyone point me to the archive for wireless headsets, please? I know it was discussed not that long ago.Thanks in advance!
DonnaEmail: dhuntdancer(a)aol.com
I wrote this up as a blog post <https://chromamine.com/2024/11/set-and-link-contras/>, but I also thought this list would appreciate it and have interesting thoughts to share.
It occurred to me recently that I don’t think there are any contra dances that feature a set and link figure. This is a figure from Scottish Country Dancing which follows this sequence (assuming becket formation for this write up):
1. Couples face the other couple across the set, taking convenient hands with their partner along the side
2. All balance right and left (4 beats)
3. All turn over their right shoulder as they trade places along the side of the set with the robins going through the middle and larks going round the outside (4 beats)
It could be thought of as a petronella twirl for two or, perhaps, as a mad robin halfway with twirling. If none of those descriptions work for you, there’s also a video of the figure in action <https://youtu.be/hI-ebAspZzY?si=gkIDl8WmCzFc5HO4&t=16>. (Note the video is to a leisurely Scottish strathspey, but it can be done to a jig or reel at contra tempo just fine.)
I decided to write a couple:
*Set And Link Contra*
Harris Lapiroff
Becket CCW
A1
Set and link (trading with partner)
Balance the ring
Petronella twirl
A2
Neighbor balance and swing
B1
Set and link (trading with neighbor)
Balance the ring
Petronella twirl
B2
Partner balance and swing
Note A1: Each time through after the first, the set and link should start with a big balance to the right to progress to new neighbors
And a slightly more complex, but still accessible, one:
*Broken Link*
Harris Lapiroff
Duple Improper
A1
Neighbor balance and swing
A2
Set and link (trading with neighbor)
Robins alle L 1½
B1
Partner right shoulder round
Partner swing
B2
Circle left 3
Pass through up and down
Next neighbor DSD
Note: Can also be done in becket by starting with B2, skipping the pass through, and changing to a slide left progression at the end.
I danced these through with a few dancers in a living room and they worked. I was worried the “Set And Link Contra” wasn’t appropriate for any crowd, being too simple and repetitive for an experienced dance but too tricky for beginners. Some of my test dancers agreed, but others thought that it was satisfying enough to dance to work – which I could see maybe working for a late evening brain-off-dance-trance vibe.
A few open questions I have about these dances:
- In “Set And Link Contra,” is the big balance right to progress satisfying or awkward? We didn’t have enough dancers to test the progression. A different option might be to make it Becket CW and slide left, then balance back to the right. (I suspect slide right, balance right would feel too muddy.)
- The balance right and then left sequence isn’t natural to contra dancers. Is there a way to lead into it that makes it more natural? (Notably: a couple of my test dancers had done at least a little Scottish and they both liked it, but one dancer who had only done contra found it awkward.)
- Alternatively is there a different way of doing that balances that would be more at home in a contra? I think balancing together and away wouldn’t give good momentum into turning over the right shoulder, but perhaps balancing in and out in a ring would work?
- In “Broken Link,” I’m still not sure if the set and link into a robins left hand allemande sequence feels good. When I tested it myself it felt flowy in a weaving sort of way, but some of my test dancers reported it was awkward. We didn’t take time to workshop it to see if the flow felt better once the set and link was more familiar.
Hi all,
I've got a dance in my sketchbook that I think is ready for a bit of
feedback after trying it with a small group of dancers last night, and
I'm hoping to solicit some from more experienced choreographers before I
call it again. I'm also open to name suggestions if you have any (I hate
naming things)!
Untitled, Duple becket
A1. Neighbors balance across & pull by right, partner pull by; shadows
balance and box the gnat [1]
A2. Pull by and partner swing
B1. Balance and petronella; neighbor swing
B2. Ring balance, pass partner by right [2], neighbor pull by right;
next neighbor balance and petronella left
[1]: The shadow _balance_ in A1 is outside of your minor set along the
lines.
[2]: On the _pass by_ in B2 give a little tug on your outside hands to
get momentum. This is really another "pull by", but "pull by right with
outside hands" is a mouthful and confused the experienced dancers.
A up-to-date version can be found here: https://contradb.com/dances/2682
Any thoughts, critiques, etc. that I can learn from would be
appreciated. Thank you!
—Sam
P.S. I originally had a balance before the neighbor swing too, so the
swing was effectively just switching sides. Maybe I should have called
it a roll away and just had no neighbor swing, but the experienced
dancers were not pleased and wanted a full neighbor swing so I caved
even though the petronella into a swing feels a bit "smooth" compared to
the rest of the dance; I could still go either way on that one.
P.P.S. I'm also aware that the petronella left is not common to say the
least. I've seen it once or twice and always enjoyed it, but maybe it's
best to steer clear? I originally had that as a circle right 3 and
figured that if the experienced dancers were already going to be
confused I might as well swap it for something where I can fit a balance
like the rest of the dance. I'm not sure if this logic actually makes
sense, but it felt fun to me. Last night I called it with the circle
right, so that's the only part of the dance that hasn't been tried on
real dancers.
--
Sam Whited
sam(a)samwhited.com
Hi,
Sometime in recent history I captured the following sequence under the
title "Double Trouble" and Bob Isaacs' name. This would have either been
from a called dance or a random YouTube video.
In searching, it appears this isn't the true attribution - does anyone have
the correct information? There's a couple of dances under this name in C's
Box but none by Bob.
Thanks,
Don
*Double Trouble? - DI - Bob Isaacs?*
A1 GNT/LRK ALM LT 1+1/2x; PNR SW
A2 CIR LT 3/4x, NBR SW
B1 LDY/RBN CHAIN to PNR; H-Across LH STAR
B2 GNT/LRK LH CHAIN to NBR; RH STAR
