8 May
2012
8 May
'12
5:11 a.m.
Thanks Bill. I have had the tremendous privilege of being allowed to video
a number of the dances being called by some of our truly great callers. As
the dance video archive project is focused on cataloging the dances, I have
restricted my permissions and public postings to that end, and the videos
are shot from that point of view of each particular dance works. However,
one of my rewards in editing these videos is the chance to study some of
the nuances that help these callers be so successful. There has been many a
case where I had wished I'd had the camera focused on the caller to see how
they did a demo, what gesture they had used, etc.
The idea of doing some kind of "Best of ..." series came to me in the
process of getting posting permissions from a dance weekend. One of my
idols, who had called the weekend, asked if I had any footage of the
teaching, so that learning could be obtained from all the mistakes. Of
course I had just spent several hours dissecting all the fantastic things
that went so well, ( Wasn't hard to see why we were on different
octaves as callers [?]), it hadn't even occurred to me the potential mutual
benefit.
BTW...if you want objective feedback on you calling, and you have access
to video camera, it doesn't get any more objective. Caution: Do be
prepared for the brutal truth!
Bob
On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 10:35 PM, Bill Baritompa <
staf186(a)ext.canterbury.ac.nz> wrote:
Hi Lynn,
Why am I asking? As a CDSS board member
particularly interested in
contras,
I'm brainstorming about what a long-distance
mentoring program could
look like.
A long-distance mentoring program would be great. And Bob your idea
sounds
promising (your video dance archives are a useful resource). Even using
skype in some
way might be helpful.
When I learned to call MWSD, I was very lucky to be mentored by an
excellent
local caller, Kelvin Love, here in Christchurch and helped by
understanding dancers
who were willing put up with my first steps. In Japan, "Fancy" Tanaka took
me under
his wing and allowed me to call regularly for his club. Both these men
have a fantastic
understanding of how to move dancers in unbroken flowing patterns, and
this imparted
skill has helped me greatly when working out contra dance choreography.
Calling for contra has come from dancing to and learning from
visitors who have
come to NZ. Bev Bernbaum, Mike Boerschig, Bob O'Brian, Gaye Fifer, Steve
Gester,
Alice Millmoe, Andrea Nettleton and Susie Rudder have all be extremely
helpful when
they have been here. I've learned much from them.
SW is a great resource, and off list a number of people have been
very helpful to me.
In particular Bob Isaacs has been very generous answering some technical
questions,
David Millstone has helped me get dancing established here with his advice
and resources
he has provided to me. I enjoy Linda Leslie's regular continuing help and
encouragement
and honest appraisal of my ideas.
Of course nothing is better that personal contact. On our recent trip
to San Francisco,
it was great to finally meet you Lynn, and our brief conversation when you
drove me home
from the dance was a kind of mentoring for me :-). Sharing ideas with
Alan Winston and
Jim Saxe at the special 'woolshed' dance series arranged by the BACDS
really made me
feel part of the contra community.
Success with your mentoring program. I'm happy to help if I can.
Cheers, Bill
______________________________**_________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/**mailman/listinfo/callers<http://www.shared…
