Workshops are really great! I took Bob Isaacs' weeklong workshop as well as shorter workshops at a number of weekend events. I learned something valuable in each. Many have been mentioned already.

If you're interested in positional calling, Louise Siddons does online workshops (and is probably here).

When I was learning (still am), I would corner every high-end caller I could, and some local callers, and ask them for advice. I'd reach out before an event and set it up during a lunch break or something, and pick their brain for an hour or so. Ditto organizers. I got so many helpful tips! A few:

Video your calling and watch the videos to see what you can improve. Warning: can be painful!

Get feedback by asking, "what's one thing I can improve?" not "how was that?" Ask different types of people (beginners, experts, callers, musicians, etc.).

There's nothing that improves your calling more than calling. Three friends are enough to get started.

Work on one skill area at a time (cueing, teaching the walkthrough, programming, mic voice, etc.). Prioritize. You can't fix everything at once.

Clarity. Brevity. Repetition.

Viele Grüße,

--jh--

On Wed, Feb 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM Jerome Grisanti via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

It may be worthwhile to ingratiate yourself with the existing square dance communities in Austria. I believe they call in English; there's certainly considerable overlap in moves (allemande, do-si-do, chain, right and left through). They may not swing as much as we do in contra, but certainly worth visiting if they're close, maybe even worth taking classes. It's a different flavor, so take an attitude of "I'd like to learn from your tradition while trying to grow this other tradition."

If I visit Austria I'd love to drop in.

Jerome

On Wed, Feb 12, 2025, 5:36 PM Jerome Grisanti <jerome.grisanti@gmail.com> wrote:
Brian,

It's one thing to learn calling for dedicated dancers who already know the tradition and can in fact help you. Your challenge — calling for people who aren't (yet) in the tradition — is something I'm well familiar with. You will be the "expert," looked up to, and you will find the most success initially with very simple material that often doesn't even look like contras. Finding a way to make all these dances varied and fun as you help build skills toward a dedicated contra dance is a long term project.

As well, the organizational piece is yet another skill. If you have other folks willing to help, recruit them and cherish them.

Jerome Grisanti

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