Re: [Callers] alternate formations

Mac asked about how other callerrs incorporate other formations into their programs. I call English (for 25+ years), barn dances, historical-themed (Regency/Early American, Civil War, Dickens) and contra (for the last five or so years, but only a few times a year). My answers are different for each kind of thing. For English, I typically call more duple minor (usually proper) than anything else, but try to mix it up with small-set dances (two-couple set, three-couple set, squares) and a triple minor or two in an evening. Since tunes go with particular dances, I also consider variety in mood, key, meter, and tempo when I'm making up the program. (I'll also use what I know about the musicians I have that night and try to keep away from notey reels for a fiddler with tendinitis, bias toward Bb tunes if I have a cello player, etc.) For barn dances, anything goes. Sicilians, threesome Sicilians, big circles, grand march, circle mixer, whatever. For historically-themed, it depends somewhat on what I can justify historically, so Regency has lots of longways duples and some triples, mixed with an occasional three-couple set (adapted from a triple minor, like Fandango, Prince William, etc), interspersed with waltzes. For Civil War / Victorian, Sicilians, threesome Sicilians, whole sets in longways formation (Gothic Dance, Virginia Reel/Roger de Coverley), mixed up with waltzes, polkas, schottisches and galops. Around here (SF Bay Area) if you do a whole evening of duple-minor improper contras at a contra dance, nobody complains about it. Some callers like to include a square or two in an evening. A noticeable number of people will sit down if they realize it's a square. (As a dancer, I've had a partner bail on me when she realized it was a square.) That doesn't happen as much at local weekend or week-long camps, but at regular dances with local callers, 10% or more of the people who'd be up for a contra sit down for a square. I'm not the miracle square dance caller who's going to change their minds about it, either, so I don't program squares. When I first started calling contras here, my ten-dance program might have a circle mixer in slot three and a triplet sometime after the break. I've had complaints relayed to me about calling 'gimmicky' dances, and I wasn't getting great response from the triplets, so I've dropped those. I want to get invited back to call again, and I don't need to change everybody's mind about what a good time is. My most recent program (a very successful outing in Monterey last month) had a circle mixer in slot three (setting the ground for the poussette figure I used in "Joyride" later) and a four-face-four right after the break, and I got positive response to both of those. (The music was great; if it weren't I could have had the best program in the world and it wouldn't have been a wonderful evening.) -- Alan -- =============================================================================== Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056 Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025 ===============================================================================