Chrissy, On 10/14/06, Chrissy Fowler <ktaadn_me(a)hotmail.com> wrote: -- -- wjw1961(a)gmail.com William J. Watson

I was at the event and it was a fun and very useful experience! There were about fifteen of us altogether, I think. Everyone spent some time at the Friday night dance noting down observations about caller/musician interaction (the musicians remarked later that it was a little odd to have so many people looking at them). We talked about our observations to start the morning on Saturday. Later Saturday morning we did some dancing to some medleys that someone (Chrissy, I assume) had put together. There was one mix of various genres of popular music, and one contra mix. We, of course, danced contra to both of them. It was so interesting to see how different music made us dance differently (some had us marching, some had us swinging our hips - all while doing the same contra) and how some of the music really felt right with the dance and some of the tunes you had to work at to make the dance fit. Then we spent some time discussing language, and common (and uncommon) terms and interpretations of terms. "What would a 'welcoming' tune be? How about smooth? What does that mean?" etc. "What are some other words you have used or heard used?" Following a fantastic potluck lunch, we finished the afternoon by matching dances with tunes. The callers separated from the musicians. The callers selected a dance and told the musicians what characteristics they wanted in the music. While the musicians worked on putting together a medley for that dance, one of the staff musicians played a medley for the callers and the callers selected a dance to go with it. Then both groups got back together and the dances were danced to the selected music and discussed. As both a musician and a caller (although I chose to break out with the callers, since that was my primary focus for the day) it was a wonderful learning experience, and one that I would happily repeat. -cynthia -----Original Message----- From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of William Watson Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006 4:48 PM To: Caller's discussion list Subject: Re: [Callers] Callers and Musicians Workshop - Belfast, ME Nov 3 & Chrissy, So how did your event go? I'm trying to initiate a callers' even out here in Oregon (in "the other Portland"), and thought it'd be worthwhile to pick your brain a bit. I don't know if there's sufficient interest on this list for a discussion here, or if it'd be a better idea instead to post some materials or the summary of a discussion somewhere on the web, with a pointer sent to the list. Thanks! William P. S. Folks, sorry about the nearly empty message that just went out. I read this list in GMail, and forgot that hitting the tab key moves the cursor to the "send" button, such that the next keystroke sends the message immediately! Whoops! On 10/14/06, Chrissy Fowler <ktaadn_me(a)hotmail.com> wrote: callers White, -- wjw1961(a)gmail.com William J. Watson _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

This dance is not really a full-blown contra, but its also not a square or circle. I use it to teach a few of the basics, without having to also worry about the formation (proper, improper, etc.) and the progression at the same time. Beginners seem to like it and I can use it to teach a few of the basic moves without the additional complexities. Trip to F'Town (or Francestown) Setup: have couples form circles of 4 with couple facing couple anywhere on the floor - no contra lines. At start, but really at the end of the B2 part: bow to your neighbor. A1: dos-a-dos neighbor; dos-a-dos partner. A2: Chose 1 of Right & Left, over & back, or Ladies' Chain over & back, or Star left, then star right (Depending on the skills of the dancers, I will chose one or more of these to teach, then practice during the dance. Sometimes I pick just one, other times I alternate each time through, and sometimes even just call the move randomly if they can handle it.) B1: Circle Left 1X Circle Right back to place. B2: pass through and go and find a new couple to dance with. bow to your new neighbor. This dance allows me to focus on the basic calls, without having to also teach progression at the same time. After doing this dance, it is much easier to introduce the idea of the progression with the next dance. Rich Hart. Joy Greenwolfe remarked on 11/17/2006 9:27 PM: