13 Feb
2014
13 Feb
'14
2:03 p.m.
On 2/13/2014 12:39 PM, James Saxe wrote:
In any case, you must somehow decide what words to
include in your
calling (and in what order) and what to leave out. You could just
lead a walk-through, signal the band to start, watch the dancers, and
trust that the appropriate and well-timed words to help them through
the dance will come into your brain and out of your mouth. But if you
do so, you may find that your first try isn't so great and that it
takes you a few repeats of the dance to refine it. Those first few
rounds of the dance, however, are the ones where dancers would most
benefit from clear and well-timed calling, both to guide them through
the figures with the right timing and to get the feeling of the right
timing into their memory for the rest of the dance.
I like to change around the exact words I use during a dance. In
part to keep myself and the dancers alert. Also if a given phrase
doesn't work for someone then the next time through if I say something
slightly different it may make more sense for them. Also if some part
of the dance seems to be causing problems for some of the dancers I may
change the words I'm using in order to, hopefully, help them out. This
may be as simple as interchanging "Long Lines Forward and Back", with
"Long Lines" and "Forward and Back", or as complex as adding in words
to
tell in more detail who to do the next figure with, or which hand to use
or whatever. I can't think of a specific example at the moment, but I
know that I do this all of the time and it isn't something that I plan
ahead of time.
I do like to work out economical phrases for complex sequences of
figures as you mention, but I also like to keep my options open to allow
additional words where needed.
Jonathan
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Jonathan Sivier
Caller of Contra, English and Early American Dances
jsivier AT illinois DOT edu
Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html
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Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
A: It depends on what dance you call!