Re: [Callers] Trouble Getting Gigs (Nancy Turner)

Wouldn't it be great to have an online directory of dance organizers who want to recruit callers--and callers looking for gigs? The dance organizers could give their specifications, preferences (possibly including insights into the local style), how payment would be handled, etc. The callers could say what they're looking for and have to offer, how far they're willing to travel, etc. as well. Oh, yeah, the system could include musicians too...the whole thing could be modeled after the "personals" classifieds or the NY Times employment section. Oops, maybe not such a good idea--maybe the postings would soon be crowded with offers of pseudo-pharmaceutical substances to add/subtract inches to various body parts or windfall opportunities to share in large amounts of offshore currency. The tension for dance organizers between wanting to lean toward the security of proven big names who will insure consistently large and enthusiastic turnouts, and the uncertainties of trying relatively unknown callers and musicians isn't going to go away. Fortunately, there are still folks trying to keep smaller local dance series alive, even occasionally starting new ones. Without these people, who often have even fewer training resources to draw on than beginning callers, the future of contra dance "in the wild" would be bleak indeed... Chip Hedler