In the local MWSD scene, each caller gets one dance per amateur evening. A small
percentage of those amateurs ever make it to a full calling engagement without starting
their own caller run group/club. This arrangement actually keeps clubs from hiring
callers who are not ready, but allows those callers with skills to develop.
Dancers in the MWSD community are very gracious to these new callers no matter what the
skill level.
I am not sure how many clubs still offer these nights, but they are a fun experience that
serves a greater good to the whole community.
Rich Sbardella
Stafford, CT
________________________________
From: Lindsay Morris <lindsay(a)tsmworks.com>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 1, 2013 1:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Callers] Scheduling/programmer Question
Twice I have seen groups encourage new callers, then put them on the local dance schedule.
It was bad. The new callers only got a chance to call once every 2-3 months. They never
improved. The community was saddled with several less-than-stellar callers for 2 years.
Just something to consider.
------
Lindsay Morris
859-539-9900
On Oct 1, 2013, at 1:18 PM, Aahz Maruch <aahz(a)pobox.com> wrote:
On Tue, Oct 01, 2013, rich sbardella wrote:
Several MWSD clubs host an "Amateur Callers Night". That is how I
got started. I local contra dances did the same, new callers would
have opportunities to get stated and to gain exposure. It would be a
great service to both the calling and dancing communities. Although
some dancers may skip that night, aspiring callers would may up with
partners/friends and pay admission.
There are definitely equivalents in the contra community, I called two
days ago (Sunday) in Hayward for the "community dance", which also
featured a community band (and it's how I got started a year ago, at the
SF dance). But it's really not clear how to make the jump to calling
more in contra (and despite being on this list since January, I haven't
learned much about that).
By contrast, probably largely due to Callerlab, the MWSD community seems
more oriented to bringing new callers on board. It's also quite likely
that I'm missing something in the contra community due to my hearing, but
lots of people suck at informal information gathering even with good
hearing, and if the contra community wants more diversity in callers,
we'll have to figure out ways to introduce more formality to bringing in
new callers.
--
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6
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