Re: [Callers] A Unique calling style

I just returned from Pigtown Fling dance weekend outside of Cincinnati, with featured caller  Susan Petrick,  who has a unique, effective style for teaching dances.  During walk-throughs she never stops talking.  The time callers often pause and wait for the dancers is instead filled usually with her telling about either the position the dancers will be after the figure, or advice about a flourish or  end effects.    Thus very few dances, even the more intricate ones, required a second walk-through.    Susan noted her pleasant surprise  rarely needing a second walk-through, noting the collective skill of the dancers, but her technique contributed.    Even if during the walk-through dancers are chatting and miss the figure, they know where they should end up and correctly position themselves. I speculate  that if Susan had realized what  the collective skill level of the dancers would be, she might have chosen a slightly more challenging set of dances for the two general sessions (Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon)  she called. This contrasts with Colin Hume's equally distinctive and effective  style of  making very  witty remarks while teaching a dance to hold the dancers' attention. Callers can usefully  copy Susan's technique.    I doubt  many callers can mimic Colin.   Michael Fuerst      802 N Broadway      Urbana IL 61801      217-239-5844 _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers