[Callers] Report Back: Hello and a few questions...

Hi, I realize I owed a report back on my first gig experience. In the simplest summary, it went great. I had planned a program of more basic, very connected dances based upon the crowd I was expecting. It turned out that we had zero newbies and kept most of the crowd from the start right through to the end, which made me want to stretch the material in the second half. I ended up pulling up a few cards I'd prepped for another venue, and modified a bit for better connection/orientation (eg: in *A Rare Bird* making the pass bys into pull bys, gypsy to allemande, etc.) and all went well. To the best of my recollection, my program was: Alamo Intro - Circle - Al Green Get Me Going - DI - Lisa Greenleaf Broken Transcription - DI - Don Veino (yet another variant on Broken Sixpence) Polymorphous' Reel - DI - Christine Hale (dance written in honor of the prior incarnation of the band, request by organizer) You're Among Friends - DI - Bob Isaacs Butter - Becket - Gene Hubert (my video of this night's walk-through and dance at http://youtu.be/pqSoOvu2wI0 ) --- Nail That Catfish To The Tree - DI - Walter Davies [+Bob Dalsemer] (unfortunately, tune was not in the band's portfolio) Special Delivery - Becket - Nell Wright Redbeard Reel - Becket - Bob Isaacs (written for dancers that were present) A Rare Bird - DI - Bob Isaacs, var: Lisa Greenleaf, plus mods on the fly by me The Big Easy - DI - Becky Hill I had two points of trickiness in my teaching. In Special Delivery, my prep notes were unclear about whether the B2 L Chain was across or on diagonal so I taught it straight across then figured it out in the walkthrough it was diagonal. In Rare Bird, I had not refined my language enough in prep to clearly describe the current N pull by coming out of the LH Star at the bottom of the B2, resulting in me having to talk more than I planned and run through a second time to get it across. I now have better card notes for both. Thanks for the tips and info from this list! I put a bunch of it to good use and hope to apply more soon. I got good feedback from several dancers, had fun with the band, and the organizer was very happy (and has invited me back). -Don