Harold, I call a LOT of weddings and private parties.. It is very unusual that I would
call a duple improper or other "normal contradance" at such an event..
You're right, often the couple has been at another wedding or party which had
(let's call it) old time country dancing.. and it was really fun, so they want it at
THEIR wedding.. Sometimes, in the process of hiring a band or caller, they will come to a
regular contradance to scope things out. It's at THIS point that I normally "have
the talk" with the couple and tell them that what they will get at the wedding
"will be a LOT easier than this". The dancers don't care, they just want to
have fun, often have been consuming alcohol, and need something that is accessible for
everyone often KIDS too.... Some people won't want to dance at first, but often relent
after a while if it looks easy and fun and the bride "insists".. If there are
"experienced contradancers" at the party they will be happy to go along with
what ever you are calling just to be part of the fun..
So, that being said, you need a bunch of simple dances.. usually "WHOLE SET"
contras , like Galopede, Virginia Reel, "Une deux trois poussez" (whatever the
actual name of that dance is), there are a ton of them and many I don't even have
names for.. There are some easy circle dances too (La Bastringue where you stay with your
partner the whole time).. For a crowd that seems to "get it", I might call Haste
to the Wedding as a "duple proper" dance.. proper so they don't have to
worry about "crossing over at the ends".. but this would be only occasionally.
I'm sure there will be TONS of dance suggestions following so I won't need to go
into more specifics.. Some times at a wedding, (remember there are OTHER things on the
agenda besides "contradancing") you might do only 2 or 3 dances the whole
evening - honest! - and the bride and groom are TOTALLY happy, pay the big bucks along
with a tip and on they go with the DJ for the next part of the party and off you go home..
Down side is occasionally dealing with drunk people and sometimes being treated like
'the help'..
hope this rambling is helpful to some..
bill
From: hwatson(a)uark.edu
To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 15:33:03 +0000
Subject: [Callers] Calling weddings and private parties
Good morning everyone.
I've been calling for 15 years and to this day, the hardest dances for me to call are
private parties, like weddings. Usually, a "soon to be wed" couple comes to a
regular dance for the first time, has a great time, and that's what they want at their
wedding reception. What they fail to realize is the atmosphere of a wedding reception is
completely different than a normal contra dance. The focus of attendees to a contra dance
is the dance. The attendees of a wedding reception are there to socialize and usually
drink.
I learned through trial and mostly errors that actual contra dances are rarely a good
idea at such an event. The stumbling block is the contra progression and has caused more
private dances to crash and burn than I can count. You don't want to spend much time
teaching as the dancers will lose interest very quickly. So, I keep a stash of very
simple proper dances, circles, and squares which seems to work the best. The Virginia
Reel is always a favorite because it can become totally messed up, will still be fun, and
is easy to recover. Even little kids can join in.
Would other callers share some of their experiences and solutions for these types of
events? What dances have you found to be the most successful? I thought this might be
relevant because if you call dances long enough, at some point you will be asked to do one
of these.
Harold
-----Original Message-----
From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On
Behalf Of Harold E. Watson
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2014 9:03 AM
To: Caller's discussion list
Subject: Re: [Callers] Programming on-the-fly
I echo the congrats on your full evening! I still remember mine. Balancing the planned
program with the crowd you end up having is almost always a challenge. Your idea of a
backup program was absolutely correct but sometimes you have to "dumb it down"
further than you first thought. As with Alan, I keep an emergency list of very easy
dances as a fallback. I call this list my "wedding" dances because if you ever
call a dance for a wedding or a private party of non-contra dancers, this list is a must
have (usually alcohol is involved). Maybe I'll start a thread on that.
Harold
-----Original Message-----
From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On
Behalf Of Winston, Alan P.
Sent: Sunday, February 9, 2014 5:30 PM
To: Caller's discussion list
Subject: Re: [Callers] Programming on-the-fly
Congratulations, Danielle, on your first full evening.
What I do:
- I have a file of easy contra dances with me.
- I know a bunch of one-night-stand (super easy, often whole-set rather than
duple-minor) dances, including mixers, and will whip them out when necessary.
- Even without a bunch of beginners, no battle plan survives initial contact with the
energy. Always evaluate how your program is going, whether the next dance you had is
what's best for the people on the floor, etc.
(Sometimes they can handle more than you thought they could.)
I echo Andrea's point that as you develop as a caller you'll be able to teach
beginners more in less time.
-- Alan
________________________________________
From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of
Danielle Boudreau [elle.boudreau(a)gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2014 10:16 AM
To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
Subject: [Callers] Programming on-the-fly
Good morning,
My name is Danielle, and I am a new caller in New Mexico. I just called my first full
evening last night. We ended up having a rather large group of beginners, so much so that
I could use neither my planned program nor even my backup program that I thought would be
appropriate for a mixed crowd. I ended up programming on the fly, which didn't go as
smoothly as I would have liked.
I'd love to hear what other callers do in this situation, or how they are able to
avoid it with prep work beforehand.
Thanks!
Danielle
--
Danielle Boudreau
<dbou(a)unm.edu> elle.boudreau(a)gmail.com
cell: (505) 377-3071
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