At our dance the callers generally acknowledge the band in a global way throughout  the evening. We take a few minutes before the last dance of the first half, after people have lined up, to officially have one of the organizers introduce the band members and thank them, as well as thanking the caller, the sound person, and the manager, and asking people who might be interested in being managers or sound people in the future to speak to the organizers. This way everyone is generally  lined up and listening, and everybody involved gets acknowledged. 

Martha


On Nov 10, 2025, at 12:50 PM, Bill Olson via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:i

Hi Loke and all, Keep in mind that not everyone makes it to the end of the dance, sometimes not even half the crowd. So saving all the thanks to the end might be shorting the "thankees". I often try to thank the band throughout the evening, often saying at the end of each dance, "thank your partner, and thank the band". David Kaynor, always prone to slightly off-color jokes, would often explain that thanking the band got them "aroused" after which they would play better.. Seems to work. I don't normally call for thanking the caller if I'm calling, hoping someone in the band will figure a way to do it after the band gets thanked. I normally thank the sound person, but once again not at the bitter end, and the organizers (if it's not me).

Of course the organizers often recognize the band and caller at the break and introduce them if there are announcements at that time.

bill
From: Luke Donforth via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Monday, November 10, 2025 12:11 AM
To: Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: [Callers] Order of thanks
 
Hey folks, 

I wonder what people's thoughts are on end-of-the night thank-you's for a contra dance. 
Folks you might thank or call-out for applause:
Band
Caller
Organizers/volunteers
Sound person

I feel like a lot of places go band->caller->sound person; hopefully thanking the volunteers at the announcements. 

I can see doing the final band thank you right after the band gets to play their big closing number for the evening. Everyone's amped up, call out the band and then tack the other ones on.

But I think about the theater, where at the end of the performance the performers come out for bows. There, it's usually chorus->supporting->main cast; and by that system I think we should thank the band last. But usually in theater when all the cast is on stage they give a thank you and wave to the tech crew and director. Which would imply caller->band->sound+organizers.

Just wondering what folks' thoughts were on the subject.

Happy dancing, 
Luke Donforth
(Burlington, VT)



_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net