11 Sep
2013
11 Sep
'13
6:38 p.m.
Kalia, I don't live in a place where it's possible to book 11 date in 8
weeks unless I do some significant traveling. No offense, but I don't know
who you are or where you live...How far away are the 11 dances you've
booked? to get anything like that I'd have to drive 1000 miles, minimum.
But I'd agree with Perry on the essentials: eat well, drink lots of water,
get as much sleep as you can, and leave time to enjoy the drive so you're
not in a panic mode.
I make a new dance program for every dance I call. If it's less the 75%
different from the last several dances I've called, I feel like I'm
cheating my own talent, as well as the dancers who expect me to do
something special for them.
Keith Tuxhorn, caller
Austin TX
On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 4:47 PM, Colin Hume <colin(a)colinhume.com> wrote:
On Wed, 11 Sep 2013 12:50:39 -0700, Kalia Kliban
wrote:
My question is for the other callers who call a
lot, especially if
you travel to do it. What sorts of things to you do to take care
of yourself when your schedule is really intense? How do you keep
your calling fresh, and your attitude good? Do you have any
personal routines that help you focus?
I was calling at Whitby Folk Week in August (4 evening dances and 7
workshops) then drove for four hours to get to Southam in time for a
long weekend there (2 evening dances and 4 workshops). I was
exhausted before I got there! But the adrenaline kicks in and I
believe I still did a good job. Taking care of myself - I sleep when
I can! I sometimes lie down at the back of the stage between an
afternoon workshop and an evening dance. I didn't do much dancing at
Southam because I knew my first priority was the calling. As for
keeping the calling fresh and my attitude good, it may be partly that
I have a large repertoire and therefore no chance to get bored! I
only repeated three of the Whitby dances at Southam, and one session
title ("Squares and Contras to make you think"). I don't have any
routine to help me focus, but the focus is certainly there - I'm not
thinking of anything else while I'm calling. People ask me to
announce things and I say "Yes, I'm perfectly willing to, but I won't
remember - come up and remind me". I even forget to try and sell my
own CDs.
The other thing that keeps my attitude good (or so I hope - you'd
better ask the dancers) is that I really enjoy calling, particularly
getting people through difficult dances and getting them to dance
better, but also the banter between me, the band and the dancers.
I see myself as an entertainer, not just a teacher, and I believe that
comes across as part of my attitude - I want people to enjoy their
dancing.
There's a local square dance caller who does
something like 320
gigs a year. I need to ask him sometime how he does it, but he's
always moving too fast to engage in conversation.
I imagine he's a full-time professional, and that's a different world.
I would hate to feel that I had to take all those gigs just to pay the
mortgage!
Colin Hume
Email colin(a)colinhume.com Web site http://www.colinhume.com
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