14 Sep
2023
14 Sep
'23
3:40 p.m.
It always helps to read the room first. Got a bunch of beginners? Call
simpler dances, at least the first half. Explain them well. Don't call a
complicated move that will discourage them. You want them to return, right?
Baby steps, then walking, then jogging, then dolphin heys.
Unless you have the language to clearly and succinctly teach a dance
perhaps it's too difficult for _you_ right now.
I have experience in really messing up calling a dance. Then I go home and
practice.
-Amy
On Thu, Sep 14, 2023, 8:13 AM Tony Parkes via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Bravo, Michael! (I’ve bolded, below, the point on
which I want to agree
wholeheartedly.) I’ve believed this for years, and had no way of knowing
what percentage of active contra callers agreed. I dare to hope that, as
Michael is known for writing and advocating difficult sequences, his
opinion will carry added weight.
Over the decades, I’ve seen the number of contra “basics” increase
dramatically – from about 12 in the 1960s, when many groups got started, to
at least 36 today. I’ve worried that the modern contra world has been going
down the same path as modern “western” squares did. There’s always a gap
between what a first-timer can grasp in one night and what a dancer needs
to know to be comfortable at a dance series. But if “basics” are
continually added, the gap gets ever wider, until a lesson or a series of
lessons is needed. Western squares started with 6 lessons in the late
1940s; currently the Plus program (the prevailing club level in most parts
of the US) contains 97 “basics” and (coincidentally) is recommended to be
taught in 97 hours, or about 50 lessons. (Most clubs insist that their
callers take less time, which results in new dancers not learning the calls
adequately.)
We contra and trad square callers are nowhere near the excesses of MWSD.
But even 36 “basics” are too many for an activity that supposedly anyone
can join in without lessons. Some sequences – maybe even some moves –
should be reserved for workshops. I’m glad to see an influential modern
contra caller speaking out on this.
Tony Parkes
Billerica, Mass.
www.hands4.com
New book! Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century
(available now)
*From:* Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* Thursday, September 14, 2023 4:11 AM
*To:* Helle Hill <hellehill(a)yahoo.com>
*Cc:* Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* [Callers] Re: New Terminology Question
Jeff's suggestion of "facing star" works perfectly, and merits becoming
the standard term used for discussions about and written descriptions of
dances. However, *such occasionally used figures must always be explained
during walk-throughs*, so the caller can designate, for the duration of
the dance, any appropriate name. (I think I have used "funny" or
"silly"
star in the past.) The point being that *dancers should need to
understand the names of a dozen or so basic figures* (such as F&B,
allemande, promenade, star, chain, right and left, circle, shoulders round,
hey, and maybe several more) and that callers should need only basic
figures to teach any dance.
On Wed, Sep 13, 2023 at 8:58 PM Helle Hill via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
With all the changes to the "old" terminology, I am wondering what a
"Gypsy Star" is now called.
Thank you.
Helle Hill
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