I have a lot of latitude to work with this one, because it is in a medley of a band for whom I call regularly. Thinking about what I've seen happening when we hit that tune, I think that the idea of the balance and swing, or the Petronellas, where what's happening has its own rhythm that can be carried independent of what people think they hear in the phrasing of the music. Since this is a band I also sometimes play with (and therefore practice with), I have a fair amount of latitude to get some practice on the tune to see if we can get the phrasing to come more clearly or to match it with a different medley. Amy asked about the other tunes in the medley - generally they are Snake River > Shenandoah Falls > Possum on a Rail. Since I am VERY BAD at remembering tune names, I don't really know if I've encountered this problem with other bands, although I do occasionally encounter that same phenomenon where a particular tune (or, more likely, a part of a tune) in a medley requires constant calling to keep the dancers in rhythm. I had one musician tell me he thought it was a good thing because it must feel so satisfying to the dancers when it all falls into place again every time they come back around to the A part! Thanks for the suggestions. -cynthia -----Original Message----- From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Jeff Kaufman Sent: Friday, August 21, 2009 11:02 AM To: 'Shared Weight' Subject: Re: [Callers] Dance for Tune? Shenandoah Falls Cynthia Phinney wrote: Shenandoah Falls is unusual in that some of the B-part is quite synchopated. The phrasing is still very regular, with well defined four beat chunks, but within the chunks the beat might be difficult to detect for some. So if you have a band that really wants to play shenandoah falls but you think that the group might not be able to take it in stride, you could call something that matches the phrasing well and lets the dancers reenforce each other's sense of the beat. Richard's suggestion of petronellas is good, as would any "balance for four, move for four" sort of repetition. Balance and swing would also work ok, as the synchopated hard to think about part comes in the middle of the swing. The bigger problem is that the caller generally doesn't know what tunes the band intends to play until the band switches tunes. So you generally never have an oppertunity to go "oh? You'd like to play shenandoah falls? Let me choose a dance that fits." Instead the best you can do is probably tell the band after observing the hall that you think it would be best if they avoided synchopated tunes like shenandoah falls tonight. Jeff

Is it always in a medley with the same other tunes? Perhaps it is the tune change --- On Fri, 8/21/09, Amy Cann <ACann(a)putneyschool.org> wrote: From: Amy Cann <ACann(a)putneyschool.org> Subject: Re: [Callers] Dance for Tune? Shenandoah Falls To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Date: Friday, August 21, 2009, 1:49 PM Hmmmm. Who's playing Shenandoah Falls, different groups at different events or always the same group? I've played that tune many times and called to it as well, and don't recall any issues. Tell us more? Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net> writes: _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers