[Callers] Re: Practicing dances

Hi all, I’m finding this thread quite fascinating - there is quite the variance in approaches to preparing for a dance. And some clever tips being shared! John Sweeney wrote: I wondered if I was the only board game geek out there who repurposed his Carcassonne meeples! (Meeples are mini-people: colourful wooden board game pieces.) I do this mostly when writing new dances of my own, but occasionally when puzzling through new dances. Worth noting that Carcassonne is an award winning game (and my favourite game of all time - highly recommended.) You can also pick up standard or custom meeples from MeepleSource: https://meeplesource.com/products.php?cat=13 As for preparing for dances… one would think as an improv actor I would program and call on the fly. But I actually spend a fair bit of time preparing for anything I do, calling included. Similar to any public speaking engagements, the more comfortable I am with the material, the better my performance will be. Sadly, memorizing is not one of my strengths, especially when so many dances have similar but slightly different combinations of standard figures. I admire those callers who can call dances completely from memory! I prepare my program as much as a couple weeks in advance. I like to let it marinate. But also, during the pandemic, for online calling gigs, I found that I collaborated with bands much more on the overall program. I loved that level of collaboration with our musicians. So I’ve carried this back into the hall here in Toronto, and now send my draft program to the band so they can better craft their evening. Most bands have responded very positively - with delight and appreciation, even. One admitted that they didn’t read it, but that’s okay, we all knew what to do. Similar to what Claire suggested to Robert and Amanda, I use the absolutely wonderful Voice Record Pro app on my phone to record my full program to music I have on hand. I don’t record the walkthrough typically, just 2-3x through each dance, and then I dance the program (in each role if I have time.) Often my body will find things that I didn’t spot visually, and this helps me tweak the program to ensure it is vibrant and varied. I use this app and technique a lot when I’m choreographing new dances, especially. One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is backup dances; while I have a good selection with me, I actually select simpler but similar feel dances for any more complex dances from which I may need to “step down.” This has been invaluable at recent dances where I needed to move to a simpler program. So, there we have it, yet another variation on preparation. Looking forward to hearing any others shared! Warmly, Drew