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

A brief starter: Resources: Probably can’t go wrong with Tony Parkes text Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century from the author here <http://hands4.com/Catalog/> or at the CDSS Store here <https://cdss.force.com/commons/s/product/square-dance-calling-an-old-art-for-a-new-century/01t8Y00000ND2vRQAT>. The YouTube search “Dare to be Square 2011”  <https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dare+to+be+square+2011>can lead down a rabbit hole of a bunch of fabulous callers (e.g. Tony Parkes, Phil Jamison et al) teaching and calling a bunch of fabulous squares to a bunch of dancers, some of whom you might recognize. Originally part of a Square Dance History project which may be somewhere else now. A place to start: For contra callers, “New England” -style squares can be a good place to start. Typically, they have an AABB structure and can be prompted as you would a contra dance. Put together an AABB intro, break and ending and there you go, Bob’s your uncle, prompting nearly as you would a contra dance. Then, there’s the rest…see Tony’s text Discombobulation for a contra caller: In a contra dance, dancers up down down the contra sets are not usually more than a step or two away from the correct position; the entire floor looks nearly the same. In squares, dancers in different squares are not necessarily in sync, as dancers can be several steps away from “correct, “ and different squares may be a few to several steps off from each other. This can be a bit discombobulating for the contra caller when looking out at the whole floor. (One trick — learnt from Kathy Anderson1 — is something like “..and promenade home.. when you get home, you swing your own” to get all the squares back together and eliminate the early birds standing in place waiting for the call — or starting again without you!) Allemand Left, Steve Pike Milwaukee, WI