New subject: How much is too much? How little is too little?

12 Feb 2011

Martha,

This reminds me of a situation that sometimes comes up when I am 
calling to halls with lots of first-timers.  It involves what I call 
"excessively helpful" dancers.

These are folks who talk to their first-timer partners during the 
walk-through and will give them instructions while I am still 
calling.  In the worst case these folks will shout instructions to 
dancers in a different minor set while leaving their own neighbor 
without a cue as to who they should be dancing with.  This draws the 
confused dancer's attention in the wrong direction and makes many 
dancers in the general area nervous.  Think of someone shouting: 
"NO!  Star with THEM!"

These folks are, of course, the very ones who come up to the stage 
looking frustrated, tell me the dancers in their set were really 
confused during the last dance, and insist that I need to call "more 
walk-throughs" or call longer.  Sometimes these folks are aspiring 
callers themselves who feel a need to instruct newcomers.

Almost all feedback to callers needs to be interpreted.  Listen to 
the symptoms being described...and take the proposed solution with a 
grain of salt.

My strategy is to: First, make sure that I am calling precisely, 
clearly, and with impeccable timing.  Then I focus on keeping the 
entire situation light--working to establish an attitude that no one 
fails and having fun is more important than "getting it 
right."  (Using humor, for example, to lower the stress level allows 
people to focus on what they are doing.)  My third strategy is to 
walk up to the "excessively helpful" dancer during the break and tell 
them how much I appreciate the fact that they do not talk to other 
dancers during the walk-throughs.  "That really helps me when I am 
teaching the dance," I tell them.  "Thank you!"

It doesn't often have a marked effect.  But over time it 
might...particularly if other callers reinforce the message.

Incidentally: Dancers and dancing callers on the floor can sometimes 
help verbally,...but never while the caller on stage is 
speaking.  After the caller drops out those who can may, when it 
seems needed, call the dance in the set.  But always use well-formed, 
precise, and timely calls please.  And shut up immediately if the 
caller begins calling again.

Just a thought,

Greg

************

At 04:00 PM 2/11/2011, Martha wrote:
...
 Thank you!

This came up because someone told me I had dropped out too early in my dance
- or maybe they meant that some callers recently had dropped out too early,
and they felt they had to work too hard. The complaints were heartfelt, but
vague.

My dances, as I said, were easy dances we've done tons of times, and I
called most of them 4+2 (four times with full calls and 2 times with
partials), and just a hint here or there after that - mostly after swings. I
tend to call pretty rhythmically, being a musician-type person and all, and
the dancers, in my humble opinion, looked great!  There was one time a line
started to break down a bit in one dance so I came back in (called that one
14 times!), but for the most part, I saw nothing amiss -- and I was watching
like a mother hawk -- so I kept my mouth shut.

The PROBLEM?  One dancer told me there were several people who grumbled that
I dropped out. Unless they were grumbling that some other caller in recent
weeks had dropped out. I could never get specifics.

So I started wondering. At Pinewoods, one famous caller had a policy of not
coming back in - he would just let the lines break down.  I can see a small
advantage in that approach - there is a benefit in training your dancers to
be ready to pay attention and remember. That might work, but I have no plan
currently to be the first on my block to test that theory.

I hasten to add that the dancers showed absolutely no signs of distress
(except during that one dance) -- yet our troupe of new callers said they
had to call the dance in the line or it would have broken down...WHA????
How the heck is a caller supposed to know that there's a problem if there's
no problem?

I mean, if a caller were to stop calling, as one friend of mine did, on the
first time in a no-walk-through contra "because it was going so well," that
would be too soon. And if you keep talking long after everyone knows the
dance, that would be too long.

So, just to be able to say something like "Well the standard is to call four
times (two? six?) for an easy dance in a mostly experienced crowd," would be
useful. No one has to stick to that - there are too many variables. But I'd
still like to know what the common practice is.

Funny, though - the complaint that callers were dropping out was aimed at
"the callers at the last 3 or 4 dances." I was at those dances, and I did
not have the same complaint - far from it!  There were lots of beginners
(New Year's Resolution dancers?) and I had to work hard a few times, but I
take that as part of the fun, or at the very least, the small price I pay
for a steady stream of new and interesting people in my life.  But that's
not a good answer to give to someone who took the trouble to give me
feedback.

So maybe my question is "how long do YOU call easy dances at your regular
dance?"

M
E

On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 4:34 PM, &lt;mhillegonds(a)comcast.net&gt; wrote:

  Thank you, Mac.  I whole-heartedly agree with
your approach.

 Even if one could formula-ize this, I don't have the brain power to work
 like that.  I just try to drop out as quickly as possible after the first
 time through and watch for places I need to reinforce a bit more.

 Happy calling!
 Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

 -----Original Message-----
 From: Richard Mckeever &lt;macmck(a)ymail.com&gt;
 Sender: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net
 Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:04:09
 To: Caller's discussion list&lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Reply-To: Caller's discussion list &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] How much is too much? How little is too little?

 I take a much different approach.  There are far too many variables to try
 to
 attach a number to anything. The most important is how the dance is
 designed -
 and I mean each transition - not the whole dance. That is far more
 important
 than the experience level, difficulty of the dance or anything else.  For
 example: I often call one night stands with 100% beginners.  One really
 popular
 dance is the Patty Cake Polka - a fairly complicated dance for new dancers.
  I
 can call it 2 or 3 times and stop because the dance flows so well.

 On contras I generally stop calling one part of the dance at a time - look
 for
 the transitions that are obvious - like going into most swings - everyone
 knows
 when that is coming - so don't call it.  Then one by one I drop out other
 calls
 determined by watching the dancers and see what they are doing really well.
  For
 a well designed dance - it doesn't take long to stop altogether.  If I see
 that
 some of the dancers are having problems or are late for a move - I throw in
 a
 couple firm calls to try to get them to pay attention to the timing.  Some
 dances I never stop calling - but those are usually not the most fun
 dances.

 Don't try to make rules for this. Watch the dancers - their comfort level
 will
 let you know what you can do.

 Mac
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