[Callers] First Dance Weekend

Jack Mitchell wrote: "I've gotten to the point in my calling that calling for a weekend in the next few years is something that I'd like to set as a goal for myself, but don't have a good idea of how to go about it." Lynn Ackerson followed with many excellent suggestions. I'd like to add one other: Diversify. Many years ago, I was in the position that Jack is in. I looked around at folks being hired for prestigious dance camps and wondered, "Why not me?" I took a harder look-- I remember sitting down and drawing up a list of every caller I could see listed at a camp advertised in the CDSS news. I soon realized that just about everybody on that list could offer more than simply calling contra dances. Some taught tango, or waltz, or swing. Some had honed their ability to teach a special dance that would appeal to avid dancers; "Dutch Crossing" is one popular example. Some were crackerjack square dance callers. Some had lots of experience leading caller workshops, or had written many themselves and had led sessions on how to write dances. Some had lots of experience teaching children or novice dancers. Virtually everyone had something to offer a programmer in addition to their ability to call contras. I already had lots of experience with kids-- decades as an elementary school teacher, including teaching longsword, morris, and country dance, and I had lots of family dances on my resume. But I decided that I would hone my skills as an English country dance caller; I already enjoyed dancing ECD and was eager to share that dance form with others. Looking around, these seemed to be relatively few callers who taught both American and English. (That's still the case, though the numbers have grown in the past 15 years.) Today, my gigs are pretty evenly split, with about one third of my jobs being English country dance, one third contras and squares for the hard-core dance crowd, and one third family dances. I've also developed presentations on dance history, something that relatively few others offer. Each of these items have been helpful at special dance events, whether weekends or weeklong camps. Good luck! David Millstone Lebanon, NH