[Callers] idea for a longer contra medley

This is a rather long post, including background on the NEFFA contra dance medley. First, it's worth considering why you want to call a dance medley. Are you trying to test your level of skill as a caller? Are the dancers clamoring for a medley? Has the band asked for a challenge? The approach you take to calling a medley depends on your answers to these questions. When I created the NEFFA contra dance medley in 1984, there was a specific reason for it. The festival had been moved from its usual time at the end of the school vacation week to the beginning due to religious holidays. This meant that there were only a few hours to set up spaces for events. We (I was program co-chair that year) decided to have a two-day festival, with programming running for 2 full days and nights on Saturday and Sunday with a pre-Festival dance Friday night. We hired two bands, New England Tradition and Yankee Ingenuity, to play for the dance, and had several callers do a few dances each. Because there would be two bands, we decided that a break would be unnecessary- dancers could sit out when they wanted to. When I was trying to figure out how to do the transition from one band to another, the idea of the medley occurred to me. Some individual callers have been calling dances for a long time, but I hadn't experienced I'm oriented toward community building, and saw the transition aspect of changing bands and callers as challenging for all involved- callers, musicians, and dancers. When I spoke with the bands. they were very enthusiastic. My original thought regarding the bands was that they would literally change places during the medley- Bob McQuillen would start at the piano and then Peter Barnes would slide onto the bench, etc. The band had other ideas though. They decided they would all play through the whole medley. I approached several callers to see if they were interested in participating, and, knowing this would be the first time, decided to work within several guidelines. I alternated between men and women callers to help dancers distinguish between voices. I had the second caller call the last time through the first dance, using that as a signal to both the dancers and musicians that a change would be happening the next time. I asked the bands to alternate between jigs and reels, and they agreed enthusiastically. When I announced the medley, I deliberately went out of my way to scare people off. I said it was for experienced dancers only, there would be no walk-through, and explained how it would work. Because it was the first time, and I naively assumed it would be the only time the medley was done, i really didn't want to see it fall apart because some couldn't get through contra corners. It was also Friday the 13th (the dance I called, the last in the medley, was brand new, and so titled), so I was concerned that it wouldn't go over well. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Comments on calling medleys yourself- I agree with other posters that it's important to know your material well. The dances must have smooth transitions, leaving dancers facing in the right direction with the appropriate hands free for the next figure. Left hand star to balance and swing, and right and left through to forward and back are good examples of this notion. It's not at all important to have what you think of as challenging dances in the medley. In fact, especially for the first time, interesting but not unusual figures are better. If you're going to continue to call medleys, make sure you start simple and build up. Talk to the band. If it's a band that you work with regularly, all the better, since you and they know each other well enough to trust each other. If they're comfortable changing tempos, fine. The success of the medley is based on collaboration. Susan Elberger Arlington, MA _______________________________________________________________________ _____________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers