1 Aug
2021
1 Aug
'21
6:45 p.m.
Yes! Calling squares, especially straight-ahead old-timey squares, is definitely a
right-brain experience. Beth says that when she really got the hang of calling that kind
of square, it carried over into her contra calling.
I grew up with both squares and contras and learned to appreciate the merits of both. For
me, calling a contra is something like following a recipe and measuring every ingredient,
whereas calling a square is like tossing in the things I have on hand and tasting as I go.
I often get into what feels like an altered state of consciousness while calling a square,
whether during a memorized figure or an improvised break.
Tony Parkes
Billerica, Mass.
www.hands4.com
New book! Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century
(available soon)
Sent from my phone.
________________________________
From: Susan English via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 1, 2021 9:00:51 AM
To: Woody Lane <woody(a)woodylane.com>
Cc: contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: [Callers] Re: Paperless Calling
Woody's mention of jazz brought up a deep memory for me. I was patter-calling a
square in Ann Arbor, and the fiddle player walked over to stand very close to me. He
started playing a shuffle in harmony to my patter. I got into the dance such that all my
thought processes disappeared. It was just me, the music, and the dancers. It was a
life-changing experience for me. I say my calling shifted from left brain to right brain
that evening. I wonder if this is what other callers experience when they call without
cards. I still refer to my cards for contras, especially at the beginning and end of a
dance, but the calling comes from deep inside me. Susan
On Sat, Jul 31, 2021 at 9:36 PM Woody Lane via Contra Callers
<contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
wrote:
This has been a fascinating thread, with a huge amount of valuable information,
perspectives, and technical options.
I am impressed by those callers who can call from memory. Since for contras I don't
have a good one. (Squares seem to come naturally to my memory; contras not so much). I
still use cards. And my backup is a potpourri of photocopies of the cards and a pile of
pdf versions of them. Although with all the ideas expressed in this thread for digital
notes and backups, I am considering expanding and trying some.
But I was thinking that, memorizing or not, using virtual or not, using cards or not --
this is a bit like playing jazz. There's no single best way to play jazz. Likewise, I
think there are lots of ways of creating a good evening with calling. Some rules -- like
watching the dancers and reacting to the them and the musicians -- are universal, but
every caller plays the way that works for them. All these techniques should not make a
caller feel bad or inadequate. On the contrary, they illuminate the wide array of tools
that we have access to, each in our own way to make the best of all that jazz.
Woody
--
Woody Lane
Caller, Percussive Dancer
Roseburg, Oregon
________________________________
On 7/28/2021 9:45 AM, Susan English via Contra Callers wrote:
As I begin to travel again, I want to leave my dance cards home and access all my material
virtually. I have 2 questions:
1. Which virtual method (or app) do you prefer for accessing your dance instructions and
notes?
2. What is your back-up plan at a dance if you can't get on the internet?
Susan [🎶] [☺]
330-347-8155
woosterdance.com<http://woosterdance.com>
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Susan [🎶] [☺]
330-347-8155
woosterdance.com<http://woosterdance.com>