[Callers] slow down...

Had an interesting gig this weekend (a good one, just interesting). Things were going along smoothly, I thought. The fiddler had made a comment earlier that I had a high ratio of playing time to down time, but I didn't think much of it. Before we started the 2nd to last dance of the first half, and I was waiting for the band to be ready to start the music, the fiddler snaps at me that I'm teaching too fast and it's much to stressful for choosing tunes! I looked him straight in the eye, apologized, and then promised to slow down. I spent the next bit of time trying to figure out how to slow down. Couldn't think of too many ways. I slowed my pace of teaching down. I made sure to take a minute and talk to the band before even requesting that people line up. I introduced the band before the next dance (although this probably didn't add any time for the fiddler to think about tune selection). We made nice at the break and he explained that he was under stress in other areas of his life. I had done my homework (so I thought) and done my pre-dance interview - turns out with the wrong musician! The fiddler was the real leader and he had shown up at the last minute and was too busy setting up to talk. Some other fun points: I announced in the 2nd half that we were going to dance Chorus Jig and the crowd ohhhed and ahhhed and scrambled to line up!! For the 2nd dance of the evening, we had about 15-20 kids show up. Some had danced before and they did fine! I had to adjust my language because I would call a ladies chain and a bunch of the dancers would go over and back. 8^) All in all a fun dance! I'd love to hear your thoughts about slowing down the teaching for musicians who need more time for tune selection. Any techniques? Since I really try to match my dances to the level of the dancers, I rarely need a 2nd walkthrough. And since I time my teaching off of the dancer's speed of doing the moves (calling the next while they're finishing the previous move), not much time to add there. Happy Dancing! Chris Weiler Goffstown, NH www.chrisweiler.ws