chris, it has not been my experience that dancers/organizers who complain about lack of variety in a program are talking about different formations. i have never been to the whitefield dance, and i don't know anything about it - so i could be wrong in this instance. but i have been to dances where i felt the dances "were all the same" and they were all contras. i've also been to dances where all the dances were contras and every dance felt different. so here are some of my thoughts on planning an evening. each dance needs a "hook" - something interesting that makes people remember the dance, and which distinguishes it from the dance before. early in the evening, at a "normal" dance, the hook may not be so memorable. as you move through the program, you should add something (usually one thing at a time - don't overwhelm them!) to keep people interested. example: 1. nice combination - gene hubert. a glossary dance, easy to do/remember, both neighbor and partner swing, down the hall is great. i think it's important to have a neighbor swing in the first few dances when you have beginners, just in case they're all dancing together. they need to swing with OTHER people for awhile to get the hang of things. down the hall is a good move for understanding timing - ask for a strongly phrased tune from the band so it's really clear to the dancers when to turn around and come back. 2. for dances with high proportion of beginners, i might do peter lippincott's snake river reel. there is no partner swing - only a neighbor swing. beginners don't know they're always supposed to have a partner swing, and again, they need to swing with people other than beginners to learn. wavy lines in the middle are easy and fun, and the B1 is similar to down the hall in terms of timing (they're in a wavy line, drop hands, walk forward alone in the direction you're facing for 8 counts, turn around and come back to find your neighbor to B/S). reinforces the timing aspect, but feels different than down the hall. 3. add an easy/medium dance with a full hey (easier than a half hey - they start and end in the same place). make sure it has good flow - no unexpected changes of direction, etc. i like to set this up ahead of time with a group of dancers who know how to do a hey - during the walkthru, have them do it right the first time, then instruct them to "do it wrong" the second time WHILE YOU CALL IT CORRECTLY. tell one person to imitate a "deer in the headlights" and the others wander around aimlessly and THEN ALL RUN BACK TO WHERE YOU STARTED TO B/S your partner. tell them either kind of hey is ok, AS LONG AS THEY SWING THEIR PARTNER at the end. be sure to congratulate them during the dance when you see "both kinds of heys" going on. 4. do another easy/medium dance without a hey, but with some other interesting figure - wavy lines, etc. 5. something without a hey or a wave - maybe a petronella dance. i like "salmonella evening" - an easy variation of steve zakon's salmonchanted evening with a petronella in the B part. for a more experienced crowd, something like becky hill's "balance to my lou" is good. 6. end the half with something that has both neighbor and partner swing and some variation of one or more of the figures above. second half - first dance, start easy. second dance, add another new figure - or maybe something on a diagonal - even a circle to the right. you get the idea. one dance i really like is "friday night fever", which has both neighbor and partner swing and a square through (another figure where you START AND END in the same place). use a dance with the progression in the middle. use a different progression - circle left, slide left to NEW neighbors, circle left. use a couple of dances where there is interaction with people from other minor sets. use at least one dance with a shadow and a couple of beckets. it's always great to throw in at least one proper dance. that's a whole lot of variation without ever using a formation other than a contra line. i love to call squares and four-face-fours and mixers, but some places don't want 'em. i can still have a varied program without them. looking forward to hearing the details of your first full evening soon! barb http://www.barbkirchner.us ----Original Message Follows---- From: Chris Weiler <chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org> To: Tom Hinds <twhinds(a)earthlink.net> CC: callers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: Re: [Callers] question about squares Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 23:39:17 -0400 Hi Tom, I haven't collected any as of yet (except the ones in the reference books that I've bought). I do plan to call them and have signed up for the Square Dance Callers course at Pinewoods next month. I'm really looking forward to working with Kathy Anderson. One of the things that was reported back to me from the N. Whitefield dance (I'm still working on the full e-mail to the group) was that the person thought I lacked some variety in my program. I'm thinking that it has to do with my limitations as far as formations go. Putting a couple of squares in the evening breaks things up nicely. Chris Tom Hinds wrote: _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers