Re: [Callers] New Caller Assistance

Hi Will, Good luck. Here is my 3¢: I use a database rather than dance cards: every record is a different dance. I use Panorama, a product of Provue Development. I have used it since I first got a Macintosh Classic in 1991. If I were going to start over, I would get Filemaker Pro which I am guessing would be easier to learn. Here are the fields I use most in this database: #temp (temporary changing field) Name (name of the dance) ForExport (temporary changing field) Called? (have I ever called the dance?) Peter's Repertoire? (is the dance memorized?) Composer date composed Learned from: Formation Music A1a A1b A2a A2b B1a B1b B2a B2b notes date entered (this is great for finding the latest dances I've entered) Difficulty (level of complexity of the dance) band suggestions (a prose description of the kind of tune I'd like the band to play, sometimes with specific tune suggestions) When I am going to do a dance use the '#temp' field to number the dances for the evening in order (say, 1 - 11) and export just those dances' number, name, composer, and band suggestions. I open that export in Word and format it into a roadmap for the band. I also print my '9 up' view which prints the instructions to those 11 dances on a couple of pages 9 up (so there are 9 one one page and the other 2 on the 2nd page). That is for reference and insurance as I always memorize the dances that I call. I print out a list of a bunch of other dances (names and composers only) so that I have some other choices if I need to go off the planned dance program, as I usually have to do to some degree or other. These are all memorized, that is, I just need the dance name to remember the figures. When I am calling at a dance weekend where I'll be calling a lot over a few days, I bring with me a stapled booklet of all my current memorized dances that I have made from the database. Those would be most of the dances for which 'Peter's Repertoire?' has a 'yes'. On the cover I have the contra dances listed in three groups: simple, intermediate, challenging, and the other dances listed by formation: squares and mixers. When I want to learn dances I select the dances I want to learn by using the 'ForExport' field, print them out with the 9-up view, and go for walks practicing teaching and calling the dances to the dance music in my iPod. Most of the dances I want to learn I can find by sorting by the 'date entered' field, that is, the dances most recently entered in the database. I hope this helps. Best, Peter