New subject: Medleys (was Techno contras)

27 Mar 2015

On Wed, Mar 25, 2015, Eric Black via Callers wrote:
...

 MEDLEYS: Medleys are becoming or have become mainstream at many contra
 dances.  I often call a 3-dance no-walkthrough medley at a regular
 contra even with lots of beginners (in fact, I did so several times
 on my recent tour in NC), and local dancers kind of expect it.  I do
 45-minute medleys from time to time (not at a regular evening dance).
 Lots of callers do medleys, and dancers get a thrill from successfully
 navigating an accessible medley chosen for the crowd.  For my taste,
 the most salient aspect of a Techno Contra is the long-running dance
 set, with the option (and encouragement) for people to drop out at the
 bottom, get refreshed, maybe change partners, and join back in.  But
 for sure the long medley is not restricted to a techno. 
Medleys suck for people with hearing impairments.  As I've mentioned
before, the average contra caller definitely has worse enunciation than
the average square dance caller, amplified by sound that focuses more on
music than voice.  Trying to hear calling over the music while dancing
really doesn't work very well.

(I can manage because I have a good kinesthetic sense and many years of
experience with both contra and folk dance -- most of the folk dances I
know I never was formally taught, so I'm pretty good at just following
along.  But I still loathe medleys, and I would be much more inclined to
sit them out if I knew ahead of time when one was being called.)
-- 
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6                        http://rule6.info/
                      <*>           <*>           <*>
Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html
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Re: [Callers] Medleys (was Techno contras)