There are certainly many things that make a caller good or even great. One I don't find mentioned very often is their role as an entertainer. When I first started calling I attended a workshop with Fred Park and he emphasized this. It stuck with me even though I don't think I have ever heard it mentioned by anyone else. I don't mean acting strange or telling jokes - but just connecting with the dancers and having fun. If you can let the dancers see you are enjoying yourself it is contagious. We do hear of the band and the dancers building excitement as they 'feed of each other' The same is true between the caller and the dancers. If you find yourself paying more attention to what's going on in the card in your hand than what is happening on the floor - you are not connecting with the dancers and they notice that. Relax, have fun and allow the dancers to follow your lead. Think of the really great callers - they all do this very well. I could name examples - but I would leave out too many who deserve to be mentioned. Mac ________________________________ From: barb kirchner <barbkirchner(a)hotmail.com> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net Sent: Mon, April 11, 2011 9:41:06 AM Subject: Re: [Callers] What makes a caller a great caller? also flippant, but true: good teaching and an open mind. best comment i ever got "she can holler so pleasantly to get us to do what she wants!" so - learn to holler pleasantly. and it's absolutely true that a very mediocre caller can have a fabulous night with a good band, but it's darned hard for a caller to overcome a bad band. so don't forget that the musicians are more important than you are. working WITH whatever they want to do will almost always lead to the best experience. good luck! _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

Keith wrote: I want to clarify the cognitive frame I am using here. I see these different venues as having very different purposes and the caller has a very different role in each one. The "level" of calling ability, in my framing, would not correlate with the "level" of dancing experience of the participants. On the contrary, I see calling at dance enthusiast gatherings to require the lowest level of calling expertise. Calling for dance enthusiasts is an easy gig. Calling at a venue that attracts almost entirely dance enthusiasts has its own challenges, but the real challenge of contra dance calling is at the open, public contra dance event where first-timers are welcomed without separate instruction. My measure of a great contra dance caller is how well they handle an open event with 15% first-timers in attendance. These events are the heart and soul of contra dance, and they define the tradition. In this public venue the caller’s first priority should be to integrate the newcomers into the community. A great caller is one who can integrate newcomers seamlessly—with short walk-throughs and smooth transitions into dancing to live music. When a great caller is calling at an open public contra dance all first-timers are immediately partnered with more experienced dancers and the regulars look forward to dancing with newcomers because they recognize that the caller knows how to make that experience exciting, easy, and fun for everyone. The great caller will give the regulars an important and satisfying role to play in partnering with newcomers and guiding them through the moves—without verbal teaching. Instead, the great caller will allow the regulars to “show” the newcomers all of the details they need to know. The great caller will integrate the music into the teaching so that the first-timers will be amazed at how quickly they are able to begin dancing to exciting live music. The regulars will take delight in seeing the excitement and discovery in the faces of the first-timers. When a great caller calls an open public contra dance there will never be a “center line syndrome.” The atmosphere will be cordial, welcoming, generous, and joyful. In fact, a “center line syndrome” is, by this framing, a clear symptom of poor calling. Calling at a “one night stand” or at an exclusive event for dance enthusiasts are both challenging gigs in their own right. The important thing is to recognize that there is a big difference in the skill set required for calling at each kind of event as well as the frame the caller should be using at the event. A full discussion of the skills, strategies, and framings required to manifest the above vision would be very helpful. --Greg McKenzie ******** On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 8:27 AM, Greg McKenzie <grekenzie(a)gmail.com> wrote:

I'd like to echo what Mac has said, and give an example. The late Culver Griffin once showed up unexpectedly at a contra dance I was leading, with a mixed crowd including some adults and children new to dancing. I asked if he would call a dance and he began teaching a square, including a grand square figure. Hmm, I said to myself, I wouldn't have chose grand square, would take me too long to teach and I'd only expect a 50% success rate. Culver, however, took very little time to teach it, and had a 100% success rate. What was his teaching secret? As far as I could tell, his confident, cheerful and authoritative voice, and that mysterious creation of trust and communication of character that removed all doubt and hesitancy from the dancers. Definitely something for me to aspire to! Richard On Apr 12, 2011, at 7:31 PM, Richard Mckeever wrote:

PS The link for Cumberland Dance week had errors. The correct link is http://www.cumberlanddanceweek.org/ (Thanks Aimee) -----Original Message----- From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Tepfer, Seth Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 1:40 PM To: Caller's discussion list Subject: [Callers] Callers’ Week Intensive at Cumberland Dance Week Exciting news! Callers’ Week Intensive at Cumberland Dance Week (July 17-23) Cumberland Dance Week will feature a callers' intensive program this year. Two full sessions each day of instruction, exercises, and practice time, led by Seth Tepfer. The week will feature 3 late night open mic calling times and opportunities to add more dance parties. During the week we will cover: * Introduction to calling * Effective teaching * Calling squares * Programming an evening * The Beginners workshop (new dancer session) * And much more This class is for people who want to: * learn to call from scratch * take their calling to the next level * call and teach more effectively * practice calling in a safe space Each day we will have one session where we will go over material in a setting that provides a mix of lecture, discussion, and active participatory exercises. The second session will be lab, where we will be practicing calling contras and squares with live music and dance guinea pigs. Participants will have homework each day and be expected to participate in the open calling sessions and dance parties. Cumberland Dance Week is July 17-23, 2011 at Lake Cumberland 4-H Educational Center, Nancy Kentucky. More information about Cumberland Dance week is available at: www.cumberlanddanceweek.org/<http://www.cumberlanddanceweek.org/> Cost starts at $699 (2 adults per room, all inclusive). Scholarships are available. Call 770-289-3204 or email seth@danceRhapsody.com<http://dancerhapsody.com/redir.aspx?C=9ea99a1f8b424edba2141ac2e0fc0748&URL=mailto%3aseth%40danceRhapsody.com> to discuss details. ________________________________ This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the original message (including attachments).

Cooperation. Creativity. Clarity. -Barb's right, the band will be the arbiter of how well the dance turns out. Grant's replly might be flippant, but it's largely true. But the question is what makes the caller great... -Talking to the band ahead of time. I've worked with bands that want my program 10 days before the show so they can work through tunes. But at least have a pre-show discussion about your needs and your program, and needs from their end. Also, talk to the dance organizers early about their group, needs, quirks, dance hall, etc. You're working for them. -Creativity includes the idea of improvisation. Make a good program. Don't make a program that only has the moves you like. Mix it up with different stuff. You're there to serve the dancers, not the other way around. Give them an evening filled with nice little surprises. And have your planned/hoped-for program ready, as well as at least a half- program of easier dances and 3-4 additional harder dances than what your program features. -I've learned a lot about calling from Joseph Pimentel, and perhaps his best message is to teach using as few syllables as you possibly can. To do that, you have to practice calling, and choosing just the right words to use, and the most effective order to say them in. Less words from the caller forces dancers to pay better attention. -Mac is right with the latter part of his criteria... A good caller is "into it"--following and enjoying the band, watching the dancers and enjoying their fun (while still calling when needed!), and staying in the moment yourself and enjoying everything around you. If the crowd can see you with them in their enjoyment, it adds a level of fun for everyone... Jokes are not a requirement, sincere happiness is. -Greg is right, some criteria are level-dependent. I'd judge someone calling a ONS more on how accessibly they design their program, in order to keep everyone dancing.... At a dance weekend I'm watching for a better variety of dances. Re: your question on hiring. I'm currently a booker here in central TX. Even with a fairly active dance scene in the four big TX towns, our dance planning for dances on every-other-weekend fall all too often to "are you available on this date?" I do an initial screening by not sending invites to people I know are not impressive to Austin dancers, or to callers who don't meet a certain level of quality. That level is determined, by, me, using the criteria I talk about above.... We don't have nearly the number of callers (or bands) that you find on the coasts, so our options are somewhat limited. Keith Tuxhorn Austin