Re: [Callers] Announcing Dance Names

Thank you, Greg, for your thoughtful, well-stated, and caring responses to the points folks brought up in response to your original question. I really appreciate-- and this is something I've felt in your earlier posts-- the way that you work at bringing different points of view together, finding common ground without minimizing different opinions. As you certainly recognize, this particular question comes down to an individual caller's personal preferences and style, and there's not One Right Answer. Thank goodness! We don't aim to create a coterie of certified clones, but rather to celebrate the unique style that each caller brings to the mix. And I agree that through thoughtful discussions of issues such as this, callers from all vantage points come away with ideas to consider. I've often told folks at my callers' workshops to get copies of Larry Jennings's two books. Initially, newer callers are excited by the idea of obtaining collections of so many dances all in one volume. Useful as those dances are, I think the greater value of "Zesty Contras" and "Give-and-Take" is found in Larry's thoughtful essays. He was a man of many opinions and he wasn't bashful about sharing them. Whether or not you agreed with him wasn't the point; reading those many essays forces callers-- established and newbies alike-- to think about what they themselves value and to hone their own vision of what they want the dance to be when they're at the caller's mic. David Millstone Lebanon, NH