Thanks, Ben!  I will hang in there.  

Someone posted this video in our facebook group.  It's cute and well done. It has inspired me to see this other small dance, and the statement, "Making mistakes is part of the fun," has really stuck with me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj-nIMA_f5E&feature=share

Brooks



> Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2015 14:18:21 -0400
> From: benzall@cox.net
> To: brookshart@msn.com
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Solo fiddler or recorded music?
> CC: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
>
> From Ed Butenhoff's book, "Dance Parties for Beginners"
>
> Question - "How do I get good judgement?" Answer "Experience."
>
> Question - "How do I get experience?" Answer "BAD JUDGEMENT..."
>
> We all take our lumps, and hopefully learn from it... hang in there, Brooks!
>
> Ben Allbrandt
>
> ---- Jacob Nancy Bloom via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> > I would absolutely believe that the dancers were completely confounded by
> > "right and left through". I remember how surprised I was, when I called my
> > first dance, to discover how much more confusing it was than a Ladie's
> > Chain. If you are used to both of them, then you tend to think of them as
> > being similar. If you've never done either, then one of them has you
> > connected to other people, while the other leaves you by yourself, trying
> > to figure out which way to turn (and usually getting it wrong.)
> >
> > But learning which figures are easier and harder comes quickly. Learning
> > which dances to call for a given crowd and how to teach them efficiently is
> > a neverending process!
> >
> > Jacob
> >
> > On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 10:47 AM, Brooks Hart via Callers <
> > callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >
> > > So, as the original poster, I am reporting back.
> > >
> > > The dance with the solo fiddler was a mixed bag. The music was very nice,
> > > but because I am new to calling, and our dancers are 99% beginners, way too
> > > much time was spent on walk-throughs and teaching. The fiddler sat out for
> > > long stretches of time, which seemed like a waste of his time and the money
> > > spent on live music.
> > >
> > > I thought I had picked easy dances, but you wouldn't believe how
> > > confounded so many of the people were at "right and left through", and
> > > that falls on me and my lack of experience with teaching and crowd
> > > wrangling.
> > >
> > > A special moment for everyone, though, was doing a circle waltz dance with
> > > the fiddler playing, unplugged, in the center of the circle.
> > >
> > > So, thanks again for everyone's input and encouragement,
> > > Brooks
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2015 03:50:51 -0700
> > > > To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> > > > Subject: Re: [Callers] Solo fiddler or recorded music?
> > > > From: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> > > >
> > > > [resting up before the CALLERLAB convention, catching up on some older
> > > > messages]
> > > >
> > > > On Thu, Mar 05, 2015, Neal Schlein via Callers wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > So, the moral of the story is that if a caller isn't USED to working
> > > with a
> > > > > band, live music isn't necessarily going to result in the best
> > > experience
> > > > > for the dancers.
> > > >
> > > > My experience as a relatively new caller is that it also depends on the
> > > > caller's experience as a dancer. My hearing makes it a bit difficult to
> > > > tune into the phrasing of a live band to call at the correct times, but
> > > > because I've been contra dancing for so many years (almost exclusively to
> > > > live music) I can roughly manage it -- and I know what it's supposed to
> > > > sound like.
> > > > --
> > > > Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
> > > > <*> <*> <*>
> > > > Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > Callers mailing list
> > > > Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> > > > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> > > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
> > >
> > >
>