I have called a couple of parties, and a handful of dances that are open events on a summer recreation calendar or town anniversary or such - and where the liklihood of having anyone in the set who has contradanced at all before is slim to none. I have had very good success using the dances, guidelines, and suggested order of things in a wonderful little booklet called "Calling for Beginners by Beginners" written (and illustrated) by David Kaynor. He describes it briefly on a page on his website and says to contact him if you are interested in it http://www.davidkaynor.com/booklet.html -cynthia -----Original Message----- From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net]On Behalf Of Beth Parkes Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 1:45 PM To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com; Caller's discussion list Subject: [Callers] Private Party Dances, ONS, Bandana dances, Hay Bale gigs,etc. Hi all! I am doing a callers discussion at NEFFA on private party dances aka One Night Stands. I define these as events where the vast majority (or all) of the attendees are what Dudley so aptly called "Not beginners. They're not beginning anything." In other words, dancers once a year or once a lifetime with no experience who, appropriately, just want to have a good time. I am hoping that many of you will be interested in attending, (Friday night, 9:30 pm, in the Chorus room. If you don't know about NEFFA: www.neffa.org) but that is not why I'm posting this. My original intention for this hour was a material swap. I'm rethinking that, but would still want to have material to share. If you have favorite private party material (remember, 100% non-experienced dancers) that you are willing to share, I would appreciate it. If you call lots of private party dances and would be willing to email me a "typical" program*, that would be great. I would give you credit, unless specifically requested not to. So email me back at: beth(a)hands4.com and I hope to see some of you at NEFFA, where I am wearing way too many hats. * Yes, I know that there is no "typical" program and that one of the skills of a good caller is the ability to adapt to conditions on the floor, but many of us have a pretty good idea of what is common. Beth Parkes _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers