Re: [Callers] mentorship

Lynne, I have not had a formal mentor, as such, but owe a great deal of gratitude to this list, and especially to Tony Parkes & Dan Pearl for their great warmth and willingness to share. Both have taken time to answer questions and/or sit and chat on the sidelines of a dance talking w/ me about callers issues & techniques. Humility, a willingness to listen closely, and knowing how to phrase the right questions for your situation are all key. Pinewoods type caller workshops are also an excellent way to get some intense practice and mentoring (3 hrs. a day for 5-6 days). Spent a wk. taking Kathy Anderson's Square Dance Callers Workshop. Very informative and helpful in general, but unfortunately I only get to call about a dozen or so squares in a year. But there are probably lots of these sorts of workshops at camps around the country, covering a variety of genres. Gathering a list of these would be beneficial. A format I especially appreciate is the RPDLW (Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend) callers open mic, where the two staff callers for the weekend tag team for 90 min. each taking on callers 1,3,5 or 2,4,6 etc. for 90 min. taking notes and debriefing the mentoree as they finish. I found this incredibly helpful, and can still recall nearly all that was said to me on both occasions where I was lucky enough to get on the roster (thank you Lynne & Tony). Unfortunately, there are far more applicants than slots, so it would be nice to see more of this going on in other places. I've only been calling full scale for 3 yrs. but am also racking up 45-50 gigs a yr. Approx. 15 of these are community dances where new people are encouraged to practice calling. It's a monthly Jammers dance, w/ a large totally acoustic band (12-15 players) and contra/ECD/Int dances. It is how I got my start, and as programmer for the series, have done my best to encourage others to try their hand and offer whatever help they feel they need individually. This is a ftf on the ground mentoring situation, and not the long distance plan you are suggesting, but I felt it worthwhile to mention. It is a very non-threatening environment, w/ someone w/ experience standing w/ you (if that's what you want) and generally helping out as each feels the need. Debriefing is good, but sometimes hard for certain people to hear. There's still soo much to learn, but the joy is in the journey. Thanks so much to everyone on this list, and for it's creation and maintenance. warmest regards, Paul