[Callers] Re: Starting to call squares at contra dances

Hi, Maia… First, welcome to the family-of-intention of traditional callers who love squares. As you’ve seen, when chosen and presented well, they can appeal to a wide cross-section of today’s dancers. Normally I’m averse to tooting my own horn, but in this case I think I have something that may address some of your needs. My recent book on squares (see my signature for link) contains: * Chapters on technique, including timing & phrasing, use of voice, teaching and walkthroughs, working with music, calling breaks, adapting and creating material, and more * A specific section on “selling” squares to contra dancers * Call charts (like expanded index cards) for 50+ of my favorite time-tested squares and breaks * Capsule reviews of most of the useful books on non-MWSD squares published since the 1920s (quite a few of them now available free online) * A list of great recording callers since the 1950s (again, many recordings with calls are available free online) Here’s my favorite YouTube clip of myself calling a fast square to mostly seasoned dancers (from the era when squares made up 30%–40% of a typical Boston evening): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odWjMBAzGWQ Also, look for several dozen squares from 6 callers at Dare To Be Square 2011 on David Millstone’s “SquareDanceHistory” YouTube channel. Here’s one of the things I’ve learned over the years: If you’re presenting squares at a contra-dance evening – let’s say you’ve called 3 contras and a mixer so far, and you want to do 1 or 2 squares next. A square that on paper looks equivalent in difficulty to the dances you’ve just used will probably be perceived by the dancers as more difficult. It’s been hard for me to understand this, as I grew up with squares and always thought they were intrinsically easier than contras because the dancers have a home position they can return to if they get confused. But anything unfamiliar to dancers is going to throw them. And, due to a vicious cycle, most contra dancers have little or no exposure to squares. The vicious cycle: Squares have fallen out of fashion in contra groups over the last 50 years. This means fewer top-tier callers are using them, and those callers are often pressured to use few if any. With fewer role models at the top, newer callers either don’t try squares at all or begin (quite normally) by not doing them nearly as well as their contras, and not well enough to please their dancers. (Often they choose squares that turn out to take too much teaching, or they play it safe and choose entry-level squares. I’ve heard hotshot contra dancers say that squares in general are too easy or too hard, depending on what they’ve been exposed to.) With dancer feedback being largely unfavorable, callers are discouraged from using squares at all, and so it goes. Happily, a number of top-tier callers have managed to “sell” squares at contra-dance events. We’re not out of the woods yet, but I think the position has improved since the 1980s, when dancers routinely groaned or booed when a square was announced. I’m hoping that between the work of callers like Lisa and an awareness of the rich resources available (see my book), we can continue to spread the good word. Tony Parkes Billerica, Mass. www.hands4.com<http://www.hands4.com/> New book! Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century (available now) From: Maia McCormick via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2023 12:21 PM To: Shared Weight Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Subject: [Callers] Starting to call squares at contra dances After dancing to some of Lisa's Greenleaf's 🔥 squares at Beantown Stomp last weekend, I'm feeling inspired to add some to my repertoire. (To be clear, I'm looking for squares-for-contra-dancers, not MWSD squares.) 1. Any resources to recommend for someone learning to call squares? 2. Any advice to share, techniques to look into, things you wish you'd known when starting out / wish contra callers knew about squares? 3. Suggestions for callers to look up on YouTube (besides Lisa ofc) / fave videos? 4. Favorite dances that I should add to my box? Thanks in advance, Maia -- Maia McCormick (she/her) 917.279.8194