Re: [Callers] How much is too much? How little is too little?

I totally agree with Greg. Many times I have come across callers or "helpful" dancers on the floor trying to explain while I was teaching. One time I just stopped and although it took a few seconds a hush fell over the entire hall. I then began to teach again and thanked everyone for "helping" me with their silence. I have also played the pity card - having a sore throat or almost no voce helps sometimes as well. However, there will always be those "helpful" people who don't get the hint no matter what you do or don't do. You just take it in stride and do your best. Barbara -----Original Message----- From: Greg McKenzie <grekenzie(a)gmail.com> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Sent: Fri, Feb 11, 2011 8:53 pm Subject: Re: [Callers] How much is too much? How little is too little? artha, This reminds me of a situation that sometimes comes up when I am alling to halls with lots of first-timers. It involves what I call excessively helpful" dancers. These are folks who talk to their first-timer partners during the alk-through and will give them instructions while I am still alling. In the worst case these folks will shout instructions to ancers in a different minor set while leaving their own neighbor ithout a cue as to who they should be dancing with. This draws the onfused dancer's attention in the wrong direction and makes many ancers in the general area nervous. Think of someone shouting: NO! Star with THEM!" These folks are, of course, the very ones who come up to the stage ooking frustrated, tell me the dancers in their set were really onfused during the last dance, and insist that I need to call "more alk-throughs" or call longer. Sometimes these folks are aspiring allers themselves who feel a need to instruct newcomers. Almost all feedback to callers needs to be interpreted. Listen to he symptoms being described...and take the proposed solution with a rain of salt. My strategy is to: First, make sure that I am calling precisely, learly, and with impeccable timing. Then I focus on keeping the ntire situation light--working to establish an attitude that no one ails and having fun is more important than "getting it ight." (Using humor, for example, to lower the stress level allows eople to focus on what they are doing.) My third strategy is to alk up to the "excessively helpful" dancer during the break and tell hem how much I appreciate the fact that they do not talk to other ancers during the walk-throughs. "That really helps me when I am eaching the dance," I tell them. "Thank you!" It doesn't often have a marked effect. But over time it ight...particularly if other callers reinforce the message. Incidentally: Dancers and dancing callers on the floor can sometimes elp verbally,...but never while the caller on stage is peaking. After the caller drops out those who can may, when it eems needed, call the dance in the set. But always use well-formed, recise, and timely calls please. And shut up immediately if the aller begins calling again. Just a thought, Greg ************ At 04:00 PM 2/11/2011, Martha wrote: Thank you! This came up because someone told me I had dropped out too early in my dance - or maybe they meant that some callers recently had dropped out too early, and they felt they had to work too hard. The complaints were heartfelt, but vague. My dances, as I said, were easy dances we've done tons of times, and I called most of them 4+2 (four times with full calls and 2 times with partials), and just a hint here or there after that - mostly after swings. I tend to call pretty rhythmically, being a musician-type person and all, and the dancers, in my humble opinion, looked great! There was one time a line started to break down a bit in one dance so I came back in (called that one 14 times!), but for the most part, I saw nothing amiss -- and I was watching like a mother hawk -- so I kept my mouth shut. The PROBLEM? One dancer told me there were several people who grumbled that I dropped out. Unless they were grumbling that some other caller in recent weeks had dropped out. I could never get specifics. So I started wondering. At Pinewoods, one famous caller had a policy of not coming back in - he would just let the lines break down. I can see a small advantage in that approach - there is a benefit in training your dancers to be ready to pay attention and remember. That might work, but I have no plan currently to be the first on my block to test that theory. I hasten to add that the dancers showed absolutely no signs of distress (except during that one dance) -- yet our troupe of new callers said they had to call the dance in the line or it would have broken down...WHA???? How the heck is a caller supposed to know that there's a problem if there's no problem? I mean, if a caller were to stop calling, as one friend of mine did, on the first time in a no-walk-through contra "because it was going so well," that would be too soon. And if you keep talking long after everyone knows the dance, that would be too long. So, just to be able to say something like "Well the standard is to call four times (two? six?) for an easy dance in a mostly experienced crowd," would be useful. No one has to stick to that - there are too many variables. But I'd still like to know what the common practice is. Funny, though - the complaint that callers were dropping out was aimed at "the callers at the last 3 or 4 dances." I was at those dances, and I did not have the same complaint - far from it! There were lots of beginners (New Year's Resolution dancers?) and I had to work hard a few times, but I take that as part of the fun, or at the very least, the small price I pay for a steady stream of new and interesting people in my life. But that's not a good answer to give to someone who took the trouble to give me feedback. So maybe my question is "how long do YOU call easy dances at your regular dance?" M E On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 4:34 PM, <mhillegonds(a)comcast.net> wrote: _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers _______________________________________________ allers mailing list allers(a)sharedweight.net ttp://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers