This thread is making my heart sing! I have called squares for years, but was actually booed at a contra dance once when I set up a square dance. Dancers have become more respectful since that time (20 years ago) but I don’t get to call squares too much these days. However, at my local dance, the organizer, Sherry Nevins, is also a square dance caller and always suggests that I call a square during the evening. So I do, and people actually have fun! I have found that calling phrased squares, such as the New England quadrilles, or other western squares that have phrased moves, are best for calling for contra dancers. It’s a bit more in their comfort zone. And I second Tony’s suggestion to look at the Square Dance History project for lots of great ideas and amazing callers (including Tony!). Suzanne Girardot Seattle, WA From: Tony Parkes via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2023 10:49 AM To: Maia McCormick &lt;maia.mcc(a)gmail.com&gt;om>; Shared Weight Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Subject: [Callers] Re: Starting to call squares at contra dances A resource definitely worth exploring is David Millstone’s Square Dance History Project. I didn’t mention it in my first response because it may not be the easiest place to find specific types of dance video quickly, but it’s a must for anyone who loves squares and has a bit of free time to peruse. www.squaredancehistory.org <http://www.squaredancehistory.org> Tony Parkes Billerica, Mass. www.hands4.com <http://www.hands4.com/> New book! Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century (available now) From: Maia McCormick via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> > Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2023 12:21 PM To: Shared Weight Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> > Subject: [Callers] Starting to call squares at contra dances After dancing to some of Lisa's Greenleaf's 🔥 squares at Beantown Stomp last weekend, I'm feeling inspired to add some to my repertoire. (To be clear, I'm looking for squares-for-contra-dancers, not MWSD squares.) 1. Any resources to recommend for someone learning to call squares? 2. Any advice to share, techniques to look into, things you wish you'd known when starting out / wish contra callers knew about squares? 3. Suggestions for callers to look up on YouTube (besides Lisa ofc) / fave videos? 4. Favorite dances that I should add to my box? Thanks in advance, Maia -- Maia McCormick (she/her) 917.279.8194

YES to everything that’s been said so far! Here’s one piece that no one has overtly said: figure out ways to go dance squares called by people who love calling squares — as much as possible. That way you can add to your repertoire just as you probably have developed your contra repertoire by lots of contra dancing and scribbling down the dances you like. Also, I’d like to add to what Jonathan said about “getting off the tune” and also about the fact that you are calling all the time: I think it’s best to just add a few squares to your rep at a time, and call them in lots of situations. I believe it is a Kathy Anderson quote that said you need to call a square 10 times before you have it mastered. I always recommend people gather lots of squares, but really only work on calling 2-3 of them at first. And — if your dance community isn’t real hip for squares, hold a square dance practice party in your living room. I’ve done it tons of times and it’s a great way to build your repertoire. All the books and web resources mentioned so far have been great. My book, Join Up Hands, has a whole chapter about learning to call squares. The info in my book is definitely aimed at beginning callers than Tony’s book and the others that have been mentioned, but might be of some interest to you or to other callers in your community who are just getting started.(www.suehulsether.com <http://www.suehulsether.com/>) Great thread. sue Sue Hulsether New Day Hoedown LLC www.suehulsether.com newdayhoedown(a)icloud.com shulsether(a)mac.com 608-632-1267 Cell P.O. Box 363, Viroqua, WI 54665

Bill, I have been using singing squares at contra dances in southern New England for about 10 years. I must admit that many of these are the smaller dances in CT and on Cape Cod, but I have also done some at the Scout House. Generally, the singing squares are received well, especially on Cape Cod. My singing square method is a mix of modern and traditional. I often ask the band what singing tune they are comfortable with, and even if I do not know the "traditional" dance, I can prompt most traditional NE squares to fit the tune. Two of my favorites are Tony Parke's Malden Square set to Yankee Doodle Dandy (or any 32 Bar Tune) and Ted Sannella's Dosido and Face the Sides to Hurry, Hurry, Hurry (or any 16 Bar Tune repeated 3 times for each figure). Here is an example of Tony's Malden Square that was recorded at a club dance. I have called to contra bands many times, bothe with this tune or to a generic reel. I particularly love this square because I can call it almost anywhere. I often replace the Grand Square with Circle Left and then Circle Right. https://youtu.be/bB16Q348CWA Rich (Stafford, CT) On Sun, Mar 19, 2023 at 10:54 AM Bill Olson via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

A minor point, but one which seems to noticeably improve how contra dancers react to a square: After the room has achieved hands-four for the contra dance immediately before the square, but before the walk through for that dance I announce "The dance after this one will be a square." This does a couple of things. It gives the dancers an opportunity to opt out if they really don't enjoy squares or opt-in if they are big fans of squares; it lets them select partners that they like to do square dances with; and it avoids the confusion of switching from contra dance lines to squares. Timing is important. If you announce it too soon some people will hear the word "square" and try to form squares for *this* dance. If you announce it too late, the dancers have already started to absorb the teaching for this dance and they forget the heads up. Dale On Sat, Mar 18, 2023 at 5:34 PM Woody Lane via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: -- There are only two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors.

When in doubt, let the band play the tunes they most want to play. This is especially true for a less experienced band. Because really, any dance works with any tune (assuming we’re not talking about some weird crooked dance or tune). Lisa Nelson, NH Lisa Sieverts 603-762-0235 lisa(a)lisasieverts.com On 19 Mar 2023, at 17:54, Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers wrote:

Bob, thanks for posting that link. Yeah, I think I’ve heard that tune for contra. That tempo seems a bit slow for contra. It’s very much 8-count phrases and not so much internal punctuation. A long lines forward and back would be fighting the music - you want something there that’s kind of a string of forward motion rather than forward, stop, back, so right-and-left over, chain, could work, or you can have the punctuation at four bars, so circle l for 8, circle r for 8, or stars, or some such. The tune does take a lift and an energy boost in the B so you’d want broader figures. My brain goes to English figures that have more recently become popular in contra (poussette, half-figure-eight, hey, circle into gate turn) which are not so helpful in your circumstances, but maybe line of four stuff, or 1s down the middle and back and assisted cast off, or some sequence like star right, keep moving into circle left, circle right, keep moving into star left. Not sure how helpful this is. — Alan ________________________________________ From: Bob Morgan via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2023 3:43 PM To: Katherine Kitching Cc: New Contra Callers List Subject: [Callers] Re: Curious about a tune - what dance would go with it? - with longish pre-amble This tune? https://youtu.be/eVvYjXtutT0 Seems like it feels quite laid back, even if you're taking it quite quick. You'd probably want to use it as the first of a set of dances if you want to build (1 or 2 before the interval or end say). Maybe something with leading or promenading and maybe more of a chestnut feel? Bob On Sun, 19 Mar 2023, 21:54 Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers, <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: Hello from Halifax! I will preface this by saying that I consider myself a relatively "beginner" caller. I have been working on it for about 15 years now and I think I've become somewhat proficient at calling a very beginner-friendly sequence of dances at our monthly beginner-friendly dances here in Halifax - but that is about the extent of what I do. And we rarely ever dance anything as involved as a Hey, here :) One area where I definitely lack skill is communicating to our bands (we have 4-5 groups who play for us regularly), in a succinct manner that doesn't ruffle their feathers, about what sort of a tune I want for each dance. This task is made more difficult by the fact that I write (or heavily modify) pretty much all our dances, so I can't look online to find recommendations or videos of tunes that fit. As far as I know, I am a polite and caring human who never sets out to put anyone down or show them that I know better. I try to be humble about the fact that i'm just learning and doing the best I can. For example, last month, with apologies, I asked the band if they would mind quickly going through their planned tunes for the evening, so I could run through my dance program and try to assign a dance to each tune. Because I lack the vocabulary and experience to tell a band "for this dance, I need a tune with characteristics X and Y" - having them play the tune one time through (sometimes even just half of it!) is so far the most effective method i've found to get a tune that works for each dance. It's also worth mentioning that our bands are not experienced contra bands - since we are the only contra group they work with - and most have limited sets to offer us - for example the last band came with 8 sets of tunes, to match up with the 8 dances I had planned.... so when I found one or two that weren't an ideal fit for anything, I did have to work quite hard rearrange things a few times to slot everything in! Anyhow it took about 7 minutes to do this, and I thanked them profusely, and the dance-tune meld went well! I thanked them again after. But still, the lead musician told me after the event that she "didn't really appreciate being told which tune to play when" . And that deflated me for sure :( Anyhow, I welcome any grains of wisdom on this process generally (and/or a link if one exists to this amazing cdss online workshop I took years ago on matching tunes to dances/communicating with bands).... but my specific question is this: A *different* band - the one whose feathers I most often seem to ruffle haha - has always played a tune set somewhere in the evening, the past few times they've played for us, that no matter which dance I called to it, I felt it was always a really bad fit. I never said anything bad about it, to be clear!! But after a few dances where it bummed me out every single time, I finally asked the lead musician via email (as politely as I could, putting all the blame on myself: "I just can't seem to find a dance that i'm able to call to this tune, would you mind leaving it out in the future?" ). I got this response: "The Queteux Pomerleau set that you are quoting can be removed - the speed of the dancers never gets up to a level to make that set effective. They are Quebecois tunes that we learned from Sue, but in Quebec they are danced to quite fast." (This refers to Sue Songer who came as part of an amazing week-long workshop CDSS blessed us with about 8 years ago.) Anyhow I was curious if anyone knows of this set, and could suggest some simple contra dances that would go well with it. I confess I am not a fan of the feel of the tune for the context in which I call - most of the east-coasty jigs and reels that this band and our other bands play really get all the dancers cheering and stomping their feet, and this one never does.... But I want to be open minded about it :) thanks! Kat K in Halifax _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net>

This tune is fairly common around Boston. The B1 says down the hall to me. When all else fails, go with Linda Leslie <https://lindalesliecaller.contracorner.com/dances/duple-minor-contras.html> : Autumn Leaves Becket-CW/Easy (10/21/2000 Northampton, MA) A1 Long Lines forward and back Circle left three-quarters, pass through A2 Next neighbor do si do and swing B1 Four in line down the hall, turn as couples, Return B2 Ring Balance Gents bring partner home to swing Lots of alterations possible from there. -Don On Sun, Mar 19, 2023 at 5:54 PM Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

Hi Kat, As someone not in the bands you were working with in this is a bit of speculative reply, but here's a try anyway. Thinking about how I'd feel as the band in the first situation, being asked to give previews of the tunes we intended to play after which the caller would tell us which tune to play when, heres why I wouldn't be thrilled: * We usually don't know what tunes or sets we're going to play. We have a bunch of sets we like, but we normally select a specific one right before it's time to play based on a range of things: what dance has the caller chosen, what role does the caller see this dance filling, what was the last dance like, maybe what is the next dance like, how does the hall feel, how tired we are, etc. * Hearing each tune once through doesn't tell you that much about what it will feel like to dance to. For example, in one of my bands we play Trip to Moscow as a trancy peaceful march, while in another we play it as a very energetic set to end a half with. * If the caller chooses the tunes for us they might pick ones that we don't think fit musically with what we're playing before or after, or with this spot in the evening. * It's normally the caller's role to choose the dances and decide the general feeling for each slot, and the musicians' role to pick the tunes to match. Sometimes we'll work together in advance with a caller to decide which tunes to play when, usually back and forth over email, but generally only for unusual events: a short festival slot, medley, etc. And we both understand that this may need to be changed on the fly based on what's happening in the hall. With the second situation you're describing, it's very hard to say what was going wrong without hearing how this particular band plays that tune, and which sorts of dances you were trying to pair with it. Jeff On Sun, Mar 19, 2023 at 5:54 PM Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

Katherine Kitching wrote: When I am doing the walk through (which is more than a walk through in our community - before each dance a new figure or two are taught in a big teaching circle so it can take 5-7 minutes depending on the dance), the band is often in the kitchen having a tea break, or quietly talking amongst themselves. I am 99 percent sure they are not listening to me at all, and certainly not thinking about the specific dance and what will go well with it. Kat, I hesitated to jump into this discussion until I saw the paragraph above (part of your response to the responses). I hesitated because I realize I’m one of the most privileged callers out there, living in the Boston area with access to dozens of skilled musicians, many of whom have played for dancing for decades and pride themselves on prioritizing dancers’ needs. It obviously won’t help you to tell you that you should insist on certain behavior from your local bands. But. I do feel that any band that chooses to play for group dancing (square, contra, ECD…) should be willing to meet the caller halfway. I would have trouble taking seriously a band that presented me with only 8 tunes or medleys, insisted on choosing the order of play, and opted out of watching the walkthroughs. You say you work with bands, plural. Would it be possible in your community to get the bands to agree to participate more in the process if they wish to continue playing for dances? Called forms of dance are weird in that they’re the only performing art I can think of where artists are routinely expected to collaborate onstage with other artists they don’t necessarily practice with and may not even have met. Again, I’m aware of my privilege – my area is rich in musicians and I’m not desperate for contra gigs – but after a recent negative experience, I insist on approving the organizers’ choice of band before I agree to have my name used in publicity. If I’ve worked with or listened/danced to key members of the band, that’s usually enough to satisfy me. But I want to give the dancers the best evening possible, and I can’t do that with insensitive music. Tony Parkes Billerica, Mass. www.hands4.com<http://www.hands4.com/> New book! Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century (available now) From: Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Sent: Monday, March 20, 2023 8:13 PM To: Jeff Kaufman &lt;jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu&gt;du>; Shared Weight Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Subject: [Callers] Re: Curious about a tune - what dance would go with it? - with longish pre-amble Hey I wanted to thank everyone so much, who replied about the general issue of communicating with musicians and how important it is (or not) to match tunes to dances. the comments that some of you have shared, including Jeff below, makes me realize a very important difference between the bands I am working with and (at least some? all?) of the bands you are working with. the bands I work with do not choose music based on the walk-through. They have a set-list already set for the evening when they come in the door. When I am doing the walk through (which is more than a walk through in our community - before each dance a new figure or two are taught in a big teaching circle so it can take 5-7 minutes depending on the dance), the band is often in the kitchen having a tea break, or quietly talking amongst themselves. I am 99 percent sure they are not listening to me at all, and certainly not thinking about the specific dance and what will go well with it. So ....this is interesting! I think i'll reach out to the bands and ask if they are interested in taking an active role in tune selection. If you have any suggestions on how I should do this, let me know. Many of our musicians are not contra dancers so..... will they even be able to do this? I am not sure. And/or it might take some time? For the folks who said it's best to let the band play what they want, I did want to ask - would you be satisfied as a caller if you called every dance for the entire year, to a tune that was selected by the band without them knowing what dance it was? That is how i've been operating the past decade and i've found it so hit and miss. personally I find sometimes having the wrong tune can really hamper the dancers' enjoyment of a dance. For a recent example - we have occasionally danced Citronella Morning in my group - or some variant that includes the last half of the dance - -and it's always been a great crowd pleaser. it's not an easy dance for our group - but when they get it, and they sink into the rhythm of the balances and turns, the joyous energy in the room is palpable. I love calling it. In my experience it works better with a jig - and that is the level the bands are currently at -they often (though not always) ask me if I want a reel or a jig for each dance. So the most recent time I called it, I requested a jig - but as the music started I realized it was not at all the bouncy feel I was looking for. I soldiered on and called the dance, and the dancers did dance it -- but it never got easy for them - they never really sank in to the rhythm of the balances and petronellas, and we never got that feeling of joy in the room. As the caller I tried so hard to use the cadence of my voice to get people to feel the rhythm of the balances and turns (in my group I call for the whole dance! Ppl complain if I don't).... but I just felt like I was fighting the music the whole time. that was one of those moments that made me feel like I want more from my relationship with the band, than them simply playing a random tune of their choosing. I am curious if this is a reasonable desire to have. A few folks on this thread have said "let the band play what they want, any dance will go with any tune" - but-- is this really ok 100 percent of the time? Or is this an approach to take once in a while if you feel friction with a particular band? It just feels like a terrible waste of potential for me - where having a good match of tune and dance can create magic in the air.... and without that good match an otherwise good dance seems to fall quite flat sometimes.... thank you some more, for your thoughts :) Kat Mar 19, 2023 8:11:57 PM Jeff Kaufman via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>: Hi Kat, As someone not in the bands you were working with in this is a bit of speculative reply, but here's a try anyway. Thinking about how I'd feel as the band in the first situation, being asked to give previews of the tunes we intended to play after which the caller would tell us which tune to play when, heres why I wouldn't be thrilled: * We usually don't know what tunes or sets we're going to play. We have a bunch of sets we like, but we normally select a specific one right before it's time to play based on a range of things: what dance has the caller chosen, what role does the caller see this dance filling, what was the last dance like, maybe what is the next dance like, how does the hall feel, how tired we are, etc. * Hearing each tune once through doesn't tell you that much about what it will feel like to dance to. For example, in one of my bands we play Trip to Moscow as a trancy peaceful march, while in another we play it as a very energetic set to end a half with. * If the caller chooses the tunes for us they might pick ones that we don't think fit musically with what we're playing before or after, or with this spot in the evening. * It's normally the caller's role to choose the dances and decide the general feeling for each slot, and the musicians' role to pick the tunes to match. Sometimes we'll work together in advance with a caller to decide which tunes to play when, usually back and forth over email, but generally only for unusual events: a short festival slot, medley, etc. And we both understand that this may need to be changed on the fly based on what's happening in the hall. With the second situation you're describing, it's very hard to say what was going wrong without hearing how this particular band plays that tune, and which sorts of dances you were trying to pair with it. Jeff On Sun, Mar 19, 2023 at 5:54 PM Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: Hello from Halifax! I will preface this by saying that I consider myself a relatively "beginner" caller. I have been working on it for about 15 years now and I think I've become somewhat proficient at calling a very beginner-friendly sequence of dances at our monthly beginner-friendly dances here in Halifax - but that is about the extent of what I do. And we rarely ever dance anything as involved as a Hey, here :) One area where I definitely lack skill is communicating to our bands (we have 4-5 groups who play for us regularly), in a succinct manner that doesn't ruffle their feathers, about what sort of a tune I want for each dance. This task is made more difficult by the fact that I write (or heavily modify) pretty much all our dances, so I can't look online to find recommendations or videos of tunes that fit. As far as I know, I am a polite and caring human who never sets out to put anyone down or show them that I know better. I try to be humble about the fact that i'm just learning and doing the best I can. For example, last month, with apologies, I asked the band if they would mind quickly going through their planned tunes for the evening, so I could run through my dance program and try to assign a dance to each tune. Because I lack the vocabulary and experience to tell a band "for this dance, I need a tune with characteristics X and Y" - having them play the tune one time through (sometimes even just half of it!) is so far the most effective method i've found to get a tune that works for each dance. It's also worth mentioning that our bands are not experienced contra bands - since we are the only contra group they work with - and most have limited sets to offer us - for example the last band came with 8 sets of tunes, to match up with the 8 dances I had planned.... so when I found one or two that weren't an ideal fit for anything, I did have to work quite hard rearrange things a few times to slot everything in! Anyhow it took about 7 minutes to do this, and I thanked them profusely, and the dance-tune meld went well! I thanked them again after. But still, the lead musician told me after the event that she "didn't really appreciate being told which tune to play when" . And that deflated me for sure :( Anyhow, I welcome any grains of wisdom on this process generally (and/or a link if one exists to this amazing cdss online workshop I took years ago on matching tunes to dances/communicating with bands).... but my specific question is this: A *different* band - the one whose feathers I most often seem to ruffle haha - has always played a tune set somewhere in the evening, the past few times they've played for us, that no matter which dance I called to it, I felt it was always a really bad fit. I never said anything bad about it, to be clear!! But after a few dances where it bummed me out every single time, I finally asked the lead musician via email (as politely as I could, putting all the blame on myself: "I just can't seem to find a dance that i'm able to call to this tune, would you mind leaving it out in the future?" ). I got this response: "The Queteux Pomerleau set that you are quoting can be removed - the speed of the dancers never gets up to a level to make that set effective. They are Quebecois tunes that we learned from Sue, but in Quebec they are danced to quite fast." (This refers to Sue Songer who came as part of an amazing week-long workshop CDSS blessed us with about 8 years ago.) Anyhow I was curious if anyone knows of this set, and could suggest some simple contra dances that would go well with it. I confess I am not a fan of the feel of the tune for the context in which I call - most of the east-coasty jigs and reels that this band and our other bands play really get all the dancers cheering and stomping their feet, and this one never does.... But I want to be open minded about it :) thanks! Kat K in Halifax _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net>

On Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 05:54:42 PM EDT, Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: "didn't really appreciate being told which tune to play when" .  And that deflated me for sure :( Big shout out to the Dead Sea Squirrels and Cathy who asked to see each card I called. Bob Livingston Middletown CT

Thanks for the kind words, Ridge. A minor correction: Ed Durlacher (who indeed influenced recreational square dancing to an astounding degree) died while I was still in grade school. It was his son Don, who inherited his Jones Beach summer series, that I danced to around 1970. I learned more about crowd psychology and working with first-timers from Don than from any other single caller, through a few one-on-one conversations but mostly through watching him teach and call. There have been many excellent suggestions in this thread. I’ll add one: Learn from as many different sources as you can. Squares are much more dependent on the caller’s personality than contras are, and every caller has a unique style and favorite wordings. If you listen mainly to one caller, you’ll find yourself copying him or her, at least for a while. If you listen to several, you’ll absorb what you like about each of them. (“If you copy from one source, it’s plagiarism; if you copy from three or more, it’s research.”) Tony Parkes Billerica, Mass. www.hands4.com<http://www.hands4.com/> New book! Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century (available now) From: Ridge Kennedy via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2023 12:51 PM To: Maia McCormick &lt;maia.mcc(a)gmail.com&gt; Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Subject: [Callers] Re: Starting to call squares at contra dances Maia McCormick said: On Sat, Mar 18, 2023 at 12:21 PM Maia McCormick via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: After dancing to some of Lisa's Greenleaf's 🔥 squares at Beantown Stomp last weekend, I'm feeling inspired to add some to my repertoire. (To be clear, I'm looking for squares-for-contra-dancers, not MWSD squares.) 1. Any resources to recommend for someone learning to call squares? You've received many excellent recommendations. Add to them Tony Parkes' dance collection books --- Shadrack's Delight and (I think) Son of Shadrack. They include squares that are highly contra dancer accessible. And since Tony can't toot his own horn, do get his book on square calling and do attend any dances he calls if possible. He danced on Long Island to Ed Durlacher's calls --- author of Honor Your Partner<https://www.abebooks.com/HONOR-PARTNER-Durlacher-Bonanza-Books-N… and one of the leading lights of the huge post WWII square dance explosion. This was a pre-television era when square dances were staged in Central Park and thousands of people participated. He's your finest living link in this great tradition. (Pete met Toshi Seeger at the square dance in NYC). Ted Sannella, in addition to starting the Ralph Page Legacy weekend, included the idea of publishing a syllabus with all the dances included. These syllabi, maintained over the years by David Smukler, are an extraordinary resource and include lots and lots of great square dance material/info. All are available online via the University of New Hampshire Library. (google search will find them) Organize Dare to be Square: NYC and build your own caller education track into it. 1. Any advice to share, techniques to look into, things you wish you'd known when starting out / wish contra callers knew about squares? "Laugh when you make a mistake," John Krumm circa 1995. Have fun and share your joy with your dancers. If anything goes wrong, roll it in a tight little ball and tuck it away in a pocket somewhere to think about later. Emotions are contagious. You want to spread happiness. When you call squares, you're part of the band. This is super true with singers, but also when calling any square. You're the lead instrument. Your sound people should know to dial back the band and keep you in front in the mix. No cards, phones, tablets, or other distractions allowed while you're calling a square. Know your material cold. Keep your attention reserved for your dancers and your musicians. When calling for contra dancers, call to the music--not the dancers. If a square falls apart, don't watch it -- you can't fix it on the fly. If things go crazy all over the floor, laugh, square 'em up, and start up again. 1. Suggestions for callers to look up on YouTube (besides Lisa ofc) / fave videos? On the dance history project site, do watch Tony calling the Merry Go Round. 1. Favorite dances that I should add to my box? Many of Ted's dances can be tricky for contra dancers and tricky to teach. But Joyeux Quadrille is not. You can dance it to the name tune per Ted's suggestion (a jig, btw), but done to southern reels with energy, it can bring down the house. Tony does a neat change-up that's easy to accomplish with the long lines to corner swing transition, alternating between ladies and gents with the allemandes (and you can throw other stuff in there--an opportunity for fun). Tony's dances -- for starters, Star Breakdown, Left-Hand Star Breakdown, and Duck Through and Swing Contra dancers like keepers -- where you end each time through the figure with your original partner. Tom Hinds: Shooting Stars Gene Hubert: Kimmswick Express (32-bar version) and Early Autumn Express (32-bar version) Bob Isaacs is making up come contra dancer accessible squares these days. And he has some grid squares that are quite manageable when you have dancers who can handle all the basics. (And a shout-out to Kathy Anderson who was calling grid square at the Ralph Page Legacy Weekend back in the late '90s.) For graduate studies, explore The Teakettle, created by Ron Buchanan. Get comfortable with doing Appalachian-style squares where you do a visiting couples figure like Rights Hands Across or Duck for the Oyster. Do the figure, then it's "circle up four, find another couple and circle some more." These are dances you can call for dance parties, contra dancers, and anywhere in between. You can start one up and people can join at any time. Visiting couples figures can be boring in a four-couple square and a lot more fun in a big circle. And laugh when you make a mistake. Have fun. R

Oooh, Sandy Bradley! The whole "Potluck and Dance Tonite" album is right here: Potluck and Dance Tonite (stickerville.org)<http://stickerville.org/potluck/> This includes the liner notes with all the calls and mp3's of the recordings. I still have an old cassette tape that I wore out. There were a couple bands on the recording. I mostly remember Arm and Hammer because Pete Sutherland and Maine's own Joel Eckhaus were in the band. Sandy's band Gypsy Gyppo (Warren Argo was in that band!) was on there too with Tracy Schwartz sitting in for Sandy since she was calling.. I danced to Sandy and Arm and Hammer in Philly back in the late 70's.. I remember "Cheat or Swing" with a call something like "go kiss the caller" (which I did). That was a turning point in my life I must say, phwew... That all said, I remember conversations with Susan Kevra and Will Mentor about learning from that album.. I guess lots of us were paying attention! there are a couple vinyl LP's on ebay right now probably only important if you want the nostalgia or the cover photo! Sandy was an auctioneer in Seattle and sadly quit calling in order to save her voice for her "day job", what a loss.. bill ________________________________ From: Suzanne Giradot via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Sent: Monday, March 20, 2023 1:46 AM To: 'Tony Parkes' &lt;tony(a)hands4.com&gt;om>; 'Ridge Kennedy' &lt;ridgek(a)gmail.com&gt;om>; 'Maia McCormick' &lt;maia.mcc(a)gmail.com&gt; Cc: 'Shared Weight Contra Callers' &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Subject: [Callers] Re: Starting to call squares at contra dances When I first started calling in 1981, it was after taking a callers’ workshop from Sandy Bradley (in Seattle). She had made a record with the Arm and Hammer String Band, along with other musicians, where she called square dances along with the music. The calls were written out in the record insert and it was the perfect thing to call along with to learn those square dances. The name of the recording was “Potluck and Dance Tonight”. I wore that record out, and to this day can still call those squares – Texas Star, Take a Little Peek, dances like that. It was re-released on CD quite a while back, so I don’t know how you would get hold of a copy, but it sure worked for me. I also recorded square dance callers during an evening dance or at a dance weekend, after requesting permission, and used those recordings to write down new dances and to copy the caller’s patter. I still use some of that patter, too. Most callers are happy to share their dances with you. Suzanne From: Tony Parkes via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2023 6:00 PM To: Ridge Kennedy &lt;ridgek(a)gmail.com&gt;om>; Maia McCormick &lt;maia.mcc(a)gmail.com&gt; Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Subject: [Callers] Re: Starting to call squares at contra dances Thanks for the kind words, Ridge. A minor correction: Ed Durlacher (who indeed influenced recreational square dancing to an astounding degree) died while I was still in grade school. It was his son Don, who inherited his Jones Beach summer series, that I danced to around 1970. I learned more about crowd psychology and working with first-timers from Don than from any other single caller, through a few one-on-one conversations but mostly through watching him teach and call. There have been many excellent suggestions in this thread. I’ll add one: Learn from as many different sources as you can. Squares are much more dependent on the caller’s personality than contras are, and every caller has a unique style and favorite wordings. If you listen mainly to one caller, you’ll find yourself copying him or her, at least for a while. If you listen to several, you’ll absorb what you like about each of them. (“If you copy from one source, it’s plagiarism; if you copy from three or more, it’s research.”) Tony Parkes Billerica, Mass. www.hands4.com<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3… New book! Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century (available now) From: Ridge Kennedy via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>> Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2023 12:51 PM To: Maia McCormick <maia.mcc@gmail.com<mailto:maia.mcc@gmail.com>> Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>> Subject: [Callers] Re: Starting to call squares at contra dances Maia McCormick said: On Sat, Mar 18, 2023 at 12:21 PM Maia McCormick via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: After dancing to some of Lisa's Greenleaf's 🔥 squares at Beantown Stomp last weekend, I'm feeling inspired to add some to my repertoire. (To be clear, I'm looking for squares-for-contra-dancers, not MWSD squares.) 1. Any resources to recommend for someone learning to call squares? You've received many excellent recommendations. Add to them Tony Parkes' dance collection books --- Shadrack's Delight and (I think) Son of Shadrack. They include squares that are highly contra dancer accessible. And since Tony can't toot his own horn, do get his book on square calling and do attend any dances he calls if possible. He danced on Long Island to Ed Durlacher's calls --- author of Honor Your Partner<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2… and one of the leading lights of the huge post WWII square dance explosion. This was a pre-television era when square dances were staged in Central Park and thousands of people participated. He's your finest living link in this great tradition. (Pete met Toshi Seeger at the square dance in NYC). Ted Sannella, in addition to starting the Ralph Page Legacy weekend, included the idea of publishing a syllabus with all the dances included. These syllabi, maintained over the years by David Smukler, are an extraordinary resource and include lots and lots of great square dance material/info. All are available online via the University of New Hampshire Library. (google search will find them) Organize Dare to be Square: NYC and build your own caller education track into it. 1. Any advice to share, techniques to look into, things you wish you'd known when starting out / wish contra callers knew about squares? "Laugh when you make a mistake," John Krumm circa 1995. Have fun and share your joy with your dancers. If anything goes wrong, roll it in a tight little ball and tuck it away in a pocket somewhere to think about later. Emotions are contagious. You want to spread happiness. When you call squares, you're part of the band. This is super true with singers, but also when calling any square. You're the lead instrument. Your sound people should know to dial back the band and keep you in front in the mix. No cards, phones, tablets, or other distractions allowed while you're calling a square. Know your material cold. Keep your attention reserved for your dancers and your musicians. When calling for contra dancers, call to the music--not the dancers. If a square falls apart, don't watch it -- you can't fix it on the fly. If things go crazy all over the floor, laugh, square 'em up, and start up again. 1. Suggestions for callers to look up on YouTube (besides Lisa ofc) / fave videos? On the dance history project site, do watch Tony calling the Merry Go Round. 1. Favorite dances that I should add to my box? Many of Ted's dances can be tricky for contra dancers and tricky to teach. But Joyeux Quadrille is not. You can dance it to the name tune per Ted's suggestion (a jig, btw), but done to southern reels with energy, it can bring down the house. Tony does a neat change-up that's easy to accomplish with the long lines to corner swing transition, alternating between ladies and gents with the allemandes (and you can throw other stuff in there--an opportunity for fun). Tony's dances -- for starters, Star Breakdown, Left-Hand Star Breakdown, and Duck Through and Swing Contra dancers like keepers -- where you end each time through the figure with your original partner. Tom Hinds: Shooting Stars Gene Hubert: Kimmswick Express (32-bar version) and Early Autumn Express (32-bar version) Bob Isaacs is making up come contra dancer accessible squares these days. And he has some grid squares that are quite manageable when you have dancers who can handle all the basics. (And a shout-out to Kathy Anderson who was calling grid square at the Ralph Page Legacy Weekend back in the late '90s.) For graduate studies, explore The Teakettle, created by Ron Buchanan. Get comfortable with doing Appalachian-style squares where you do a visiting couples figure like Rights Hands Across or Duck for the Oyster. Do the figure, then it's "circle up four, find another couple and circle some more." These are dances you can call for dance parties, contra dancers, and anywhere in between. You can start one up and people can join at any time. Visiting couples figures can be boring in a four-couple square and a lot more fun in a big circle. And laugh when you make a mistake. Have fun. R

On Mon, 20 Mar 2023 13:39:16 -0700, Suzanne Giradot via Contra Callers wrote: And not just your country! I danced to her at Cecil Sharp House in London and thought she was amazing. I'm still calling two of the dances she introduced me to. And many years later I was taken to the shore where she was presenting her radio show (Portland, Oregon?) and had a chance to talk to her afterwards. Colin Hume