27 Mar
2015
27 Mar
'15
3:38 p.m.
Erik I will take you up on mailing me your book - how do
I get you a check?
I will try to post the program I did recently for about 10 dancers and 45 beginners - I
had to abort a couple dances ( including ladies chain) but we did manage to get to contras
and progress. I use callers companion to plan program and introduce on new move at a
time. Usually do a circle dance with couple progression to get the concept
Cheryl Joyal
630-667-3284
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 27, 2015, at 11:10 AM, Erik Hoffman via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Yes, the courtesy turn is a challenge. And, in a right & left thru, finding your
"turner" is a challenge for the women. This is because for the person on the
right, the natural way to turn is away from your partner. And, for some reason, men often
think they don't have to move...
But, for a room of beginners, I think, as said in an earlier email, the chain is a
challenge, as the mere idea of progressing one way or the other...
~erik Hoffman
On 3/27/2015 8:54 AM, Cheryl Joyal via Callers wrote:
The courtesy turn is the hard part. Sometimes Teaching hat first works as they practice
the movement prior to moving - then have them walk across and do same turn. Similar for
ladies chain although I think having a dance with R&L b4 chain is my new
approach. And sometimes it just doesn't work with many beginners - so I apologize
for not explaining well and change to an easy backup dance
Cheryl Joyal
630-667-3284
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 27, 2015, at 8:28 AM, Jacob Nancy Bloom via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I would absolutely believe that the dancers were completely confounded by "right and
left through". I remember how surprised I was, when I called my first dance, to
discover how much more confusing it was than a Ladie's Chain. If you are used to both
of them, then you tend to think of them as being similar. If you've never done
either, then one of them has you connected to other people, while the other leaves you by
yourself, trying to figure out which way to turn (and usually getting it wrong.)
But learning which figures are easier and harder comes quickly. Learning which dances to
call for a given crowd and how to teach them efficiently is a neverending process!
Jacob
On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 10:47 AM, Brooks Hart via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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So, as the original poster, I am reporting back.
The dance with the solo fiddler was a mixed bag. The music was very nice, but because I
am new to calling, and our dancers are 99% beginners, way too much time was spent on
walk-throughs and teaching. The fiddler sat out for long stretches of time, which seemed
like a waste of his time and the money spent on live music.
I thought I had picked easy dances, but you wouldn't believe how confounded so many
of the people were at "right and left through", and that falls on me and my
lack of experience with teaching and crowd wrangling.
A special moment for everyone, though, was doing a circle waltz dance with the fiddler
playing, unplugged, in the center of the circle.
So, thanks again for everyone's input and encouragement,
Brooks
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http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2015 03:50:51 -0700
To: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] Solo fiddler or recorded music?
From: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
[resting up before the CALLERLAB convention, catching up on some older
messages]
On Thu, Mar 05, 2015, Neal Schlein via Callers wrote:
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So, the moral of the story is that if a caller isn't USED to working with a
band, live music isn't necessarily going to result in the best experience
for the dancers.
My experience as a relatively new caller is that it also depends on the
caller's experience as a dancer. My hearing makes it a bit difficult to
tune into the phrasing of a live band to call at the correct times, but
because I've been contra dancing for so many years (almost exclusively to
live music) I can roughly manage it -- and I know what it's supposed to
sound like.
--
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
<*> <*> <*>
Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html
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