Re: [Callers] mentorship

When I think of mentorship, I'm thinking of a one-to-one relationship where one experienced caller really guides a newbie, but I don't think I went through that per se. Tom Hinds taught a 4-week (maybe more?  I forget) caller's workshop back in 2002, and I jumped at the chance for the opportunity.  He was an excellent teacher, focusing on knowing your dances so well you don't need your cards to call them.   Once that was finished, we had a group of experienced and new callers in the DC/Baltimore area called the Caller's Collective.  Occasionally we would get together for a potluck and some calling practice, generally to recorded music.  Lots of experienced dancers helped guide us in gently giving us constructive criticism and lots of positive feedback.   In time I went through the route that Ron is doing now - finding callers who would give me a guest caller slot. There were several who were happy to do so - Susan Taylor, Greg Frock, Ann Fallon, etc.  (Though unlike Ron I didn't travel hither and yon to get these guest spots - but in DC/Maryland there are plenty of dances to get opportunities.)  I am supremely grateful to these folks who gave me a slot - especially Peggy Hesley who gave me my very first calling opportunity at my home dance of Annapolis December 2002.  Hard to believe that's nearly 10 years ago! There have been occassional other workshops - mainly focusing on one-night stands and such, and we had another new caller's workshop I think 2007 where I focused on square calling.  Nowadays though I find myself on the other end of giving callers guest spots whenever they ask.   Perry --- On Tue, 5/8/12, Ron T Blechner <contraron(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: Ron T Blechner <contraron(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Callers] mentorship To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Date: Tuesday, May 8, 2012, 8:35 PM Hi Lynn & SW: When I first was dabbling in the idea of calling, last summer, Marty Fager from CDNY was a person I bounced ideas off, and he was happy to share experiences. He's continued to assist me, but since I live near Princeton, and Bob Isaacs seems to always be sniffing around for new callers, he took me under his wing. (And a large wing, as then Bob would create a caller's workshop for a dozen of us!) There is an *incredibly* large amount of things a new caller needs to learn. A lot of it can be written down and then reviewed by a mentor, and then the calling is all about getting opportunity behind the mic with real dancers. If CDSS is interested in fostering more shared resources / creating a framework for a remote new caller mentoring program, some ideas: - There are a few Internet solutions for free-or-cheap, real-time meetings / voice calling. - One of the biggest challenges is learning dances. A library of shared dances would be invaluable. (Also, for a dance choreographer...) - There's a number of good books already written by a number of good callers. Bob wrote his own sizable workbook for the caller's workshop, too. The CDSS shopkeeper could create a sub-section of the books on the website for just calling, and just dances - it's difficult sometimes to weed through everything. Maybe a book-club for one or more of these contra calling books could have a basic curriculum developed? - There seems to be a wide variety of feelings on guest calling opportunities. I'm blessed because Glenside, PA has local caller nights and has been receptive to new callers, Princeton encourages guest calling with *every* local rotation caller, and I've known the CDNY folks for years and so have been able to secure guest spots there. However, there are many dances that just aren't receptive to guest spots. There are still others where the organizers don't care either way, and put it on the individual callers to decide. I'm certainly not saying that there ought to be any unified way, but discussion overall across CDSS of how dance organizers and callers feel about guest callers would go a long way in opening people up to the idea, maybe planning for it, maybe encouraging it. - There's a gap in time between when a trained new caller CAN call and when they get gigs. I'm faced with this now. I've got a few half-nights lined up with dances that are my regular dances *and* because I have strong recommendations. I hear time and time again from callers with 3-5 years experience that the first year and booking first gigs is really, really difficult. What I might recommend would be a database listing of new-caller-friendly dances, for example, smaller university dances that have difficulty drawing premium callers and bands and may only have 20 - 30 dancers per night. - These online groups are great. Shared weight has a lot of interesting discussion, and though I'm a lurker and just listen in, I've gained a lot of insight, even just on seemingly trivial threads. (Like talking about the merits of one particular dance, for example.) I've heard the singing squares workshop from Pinewoods has a great group. Princeton has a group from Bob's class and there's a lot of discussion between us informally. - I'd love a list of every dance everywhere, divided by region, with listings of address, organizers, contact info, links to websites, and their policies toward callers. (does this resource exist?) Anyway. Watching this discussion unfold is heartening - as I join the caller community, I have met a LOT of callers who are warm and welcoming and foster a spirit of cooperation. I would say it's easily the majority of callers who do this. Continuing to cultivate a spirit of cooperation and concreting it as the social norm in the contra community at large is a big benefit for new callers. In Dance, -Ron Blechner On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 7:08 PM, lynn ackerson <callynn1(a)pacbell.net> wrote: _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers