Re: [Callers] Heys for new dancers

When jean francis wrote: Colin Hume replied: Truthfully, I do teach...sometimes. But I try to limit it to no more than 30 seconds in any evening. If I'm going to teach anything from the mike I try to make sure it meets one of these criteria: It's either... - ...something almost no one in the hall has heard before. or... - ...something many people know already but they wish someone would state it publicly. Just to be clear: I am not saying that teaching figures from the mike at open public contra dances is a BAD thing. I am saying that it is insane, inane, and a huge pain. One of the most frustrating and perplexing things to experience at an open public contra dance is when the caller insists on explaining, verbally, something to 15 people (in a hall of 100), all of whom--one might add--are surrounded by people (waiting patiently and silently) who would love to SHOW them how to execute the move in less time than it takes the caller to speak the *name *of the move! Note: This, of course, assumes that all first-timers are partnered with someone who has danced contras for at least one night, and that they are distributed throughout the hall. If that is not the case then the caller needs to concentrate on techniques for integrating the hall. And *that *would be another discussion thread. - Greg McKenzie