27 Mar
2015
27 Mar
'15
3:09 p.m.
When the DC area started their contra sonic series, many callers started with medleys but
that actually was scrapped because not only for the issue that Aahz mentioned (the hearing
problem) but also the fact that we wanted people to be able to dance with as many partners
as possible and not have to dance with the same person for a long period of time. I think
medleys work pretty well for standard contra dances with live musicians, but technos can
get kind of loud and I think it's pretty difficult. One caller tried to do a 4x4
medley and the whole set completely broke down because nobody could hear a word the caller
was saying.
Perry
From: Aahz Maruch via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
To: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2015 4:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Callers] Medleys (was Techno contras)
On Wed, Mar 25, 2015, Eric Black via Callers wrote:
MEDLEYS: Medleys are becoming or have become mainstream at many contra
dances. I often call a 3-dance no-walkthrough medley at a regular
contra even with lots of beginners (in fact, I did so several times
on my recent tour in NC), and local dancers kind of expect it. I do
45-minute medleys from time to time (not at a regular evening dance).
Lots of callers do medleys, and dancers get a thrill from successfully
navigating an accessible medley chosen for the crowd. For my taste,
the most salient aspect of a Techno Contra is the long-running dance
set, with the option (and encouragement) for people to drop out at the
bottom, get refreshed, maybe change partners, and join back in. But
for sure the long medley is not restricted to a techno.
Medleys suck for people with hearing impairments. As I've mentioned
before, the average contra caller definitely has worse enunciation than
the average square dance caller, amplified by sound that focuses more on
music than voice. Trying to hear calling over the music while dancing
really doesn't work very well.
(I can manage because I have a good kinesthetic sense and many years of
experience with both contra and folk dance -- most of the folk dances I
know I never was formally taught, so I'm pretty good at just following
along. But I still loathe medleys, and I would be much more inclined to
sit them out if I knew ahead of time when one was being called.)
--
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
<*> <*> <*>
Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html
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