Re: [Callers] alternate formations

--- JoLaine wrote: I haven't even ventured into squares because I don't know how to call them and don't know where to learn. --- end of quote --- Tony Parkes includes a discussion of squares in his his Contra Dance Calling text book: http://hands4.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&am… Calling so-called "New England squares" is much the same as calling for a contra dance; figures fit the phrasing of a typical AABB tune. Ted Sannella's two collections (Balance and Swing, Swing the Next) contain many examples of these style of dances, as well as examples of his triplets, and the syllabi of the annual Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, available online, are a valuable resource for more such dances. Ted Sannella's booklet on Calling Traditional New England Squares is available from CDSS: http://www.cdss.org/product-details/product/calling-traditional-new-england… res-bookcd.html It deals especially with how to call breaks and gives scores of examples of appropriate breaks for a square. As a bonus, the $17 purchase price includes a CD of live recordings of Ted calling 15 squares, which provides you with an excellent model from which you can learn timing from a master. You already have the Ralph Sweet book; the singing squares in that volume provide a ready-made script to follow. You jst sing the correct words and folks do the dance... no need to figure out the timing, since that's already built into the lyrics. Caution-- singing squares may take a little longer to teach, since the dancers need to be doing the figure at the same time as you're singing out the command. This is different from the prompting style you're used to with contras, where the action is called out several beats before the dancers do it. different formations That's where a house party is a great idea. Invite some other callers and a bunch of friends who like to dance and who are willing to be guinea pigs, roll up the proverbial or literal rug in the living room or dance in the kitchen, and practice. There are also opportunities to learn more by attending dance camps: CDSS frequently offers classes on calling squares at its camps at Pinewoods or Timber Ridge, and Bob Dalsemer runs an intensive callers' class at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. Finally, one can always seek out an experienced caller to act as a mentor. Sometimes it's possible to get funding for such apprenticeships through a state arts council, and CDSS offers support for such projects as well. David Millstne Lebanon, NH