11 Apr
2007
11 Apr
'07
11:14 p.m.
Hello everyone,
It's been a while since I've written one of these, and a lot has
happened in my calling career since the last one. I had my debut at the
Scout House in January, calling for the 2nd Saturday dance. I've called
for the Monday night dance there as well. I've been booked to call
another Monday night dance and this time the band is Notorious! The Mill
City dance has been on hiatus for various reasons (hall unavailable,
storms, festivals) and will return in May for our 1 year anniversary!
Lots of wonderful opportunities.
But this report is about my session at the Down East Country Dance
Festival a couple of weeks ago in Maine. If you haven't been, this is
one of my favorite festivals. So many wonderful sessions, great people
and a strong community. I call up there semi-regularly now and it's
great each time to visit with my Maine friends.
My session was titled "Neighborly Contras". I had no idea what I was
going to do with it when I applied, but worked it out over a few weeks
after I found out that my application had been accepted. What I decided
was that I was going to push the boundaries of modern urban contra
dancing by breaking a few of the rules. For example, I planned on
calling dances without partner swings, unequal movement (1s are more
active than the 2s) and mixers. The last one turned out to be the most
problematic. David Millstone sent me a contra mixer that I liked very
much, but didn't quite meet the vision that I had for the session. In
the end, I decided to write my own. The weekend before, I tried it out
on some willing test subjects at a dance called by Lisa Sieverts and
discovered that the gents progressed and the ladies stayed in the same
spot each time through. After some re-work that week, I was ready for
the session. The new dance is copied down below.
The session was at 11am on Saturday. I arrived a little after 10am,
hoping to attend Chrissy Fowler's caller's workshop, but ran into the
band in the hallway. I had worked with Calliope a couple of times before
on visits to Maine, so it was nice to be familiar with them. They were
putting together tune sets, so we were able to plan out the session, get
the feel for each dance set and pick the tunes ahead of time. This made
things very easy on stage. We started late, so to fit in 4 dances turned
out to be very tight. Having the tunes picked let me focus on keeping
the walkthroughs short and the dancers dancing.
To be fair to the dancers, I provided a disclaimer at the beginning of
the session warning them that they wouldn't see their partners too much.
I even jokingly mentioned that the waltz session was across the hall if
they wanted to make goo-goo eyes at their partner. 8^)
Here are the dances that I called:
Essex Reel
duple improper
Tony Parkes
A1: neighbor do-si-do, neighbor swing
A2: 4 in line down the hall, turn as couples and come back
B1: Circle Left, Circle Right
B2: Right Hand Star, Left Hand Star
I had a choice between this dance and another with unequal choreography,
but this one fit better with the session as a whole.
No use crying over...
becket mixer
Chris Weiler
A1: Partner balance and swing
A2: Circle Left 3/4, pass thru, neighbor #2 swing
B1: Long Lines (notice 3rd neighbor next to you)
Neighbor #3 allemande left 1+1/2
B2: Ladies Chain
Left hand star, turn away from your star and face your next partner
I had some great positive feedback from a few people after the session.
People did want me to call it all the way through. One person pointed
out to me that there are no anchors in this dance, no partner to turn
to, no shadow, nothing consistent. Another person figured out that if
you mess it up, you can grab just about anyone and start over. It taxed
their brains a bit, but it was early in the festival and people were up
for the challenge.
I had asked Calliope to play easy, happy reels for the first two dances
to keep people's spirits up while doing unfamiliar choreography.
Calliope loves to play jigs, so the next one they set to a nice bouncy
set. I also took pity on the dancers and called some more conventional
dances to finish the session.
Black Bird in the Night
duple improper, waves (neighbor right, ladies, left)
Don Flaherty
A1: balance wave, rory-o-more slide right
balance wave, rory-o-more slide left
A2 neighbor balance and swing
B1: Ladies do-si-do 1+1/2
partner swing
B2: long lines, circle left 3/4, pass thru to new waves
The last dance, I asked for driving reels and Calliope picked some great
rip-roaring ones!
Sleepless at Pinewoods
duple improper
Bob Isaacs
A1: Neighbor #1, pull by right, #2 pull by left, #3 pull by right #4
allemande left once
#3 pull by right, #2 pull by left
A2: Neighbor #1 balance and swing
B1: Circle left 3/4, partner swing
B2: Ladies chain, left hand star
I had a lot of fun calling the session and working with Calliope. It
felt great to have almost everything that I wanted to do succeed so
well. I look forward to calling at more festivals in the future!
I'd love to hear how other people are doing (especially the people who
are newer to calling)!
Happy calling and dancing!!
Chris Weiler
Goffstown, NH
12 Apr
12 Apr
11:24 a.m.
New subject: Greetings from a new caller and some random questions about calling
Greetings to all of you!
My name is Richard Green and I have decided to come out of the lurking
closet and announce my intention of learning how to call. I discovered this
wonderful discussion list about a month ago and avidly read through the
multiple years of postings. Now, alas, I am up to date and finding it hard
to adjust to having only an occasional new post to read.
I live in Maine, and my calling interest began in January when I attended
John McIntire's calling workshops. At the time I thought it would be nice
to learn some calling skills because my wife and I have had some
opportunities to play music for some barn and family dances in the area, and
on one occasion the caller was not present and we didn't know how to
proceed.(He did eventually show up). At the end of the caller's workshop we
were given the opportunity to call at a live contradance, and despite a
rather anxious time spent worrying about the fiasco that was sure to occur,
it went quite well and I really had a good time. It was a breakthrough
moment for me, and it was then and there that I decided I would like to
pursue calling more seriously. I am grateful to John for giving me that
chance.
Since then I have doubled my calling experience by calling a mixer at a
recent family dance that we played at. John has also scheduled another
dance next month with guest callers which I will be one of. Other than that
I have spent time preparing by transcribing several dances that I have found
online,(several on this list), donning my mp3 player and practicing calling
as I jog around the neighborhood. It is a pretty good way to become
familiar with the timing of the calls, but doesn't really do much for the
stage fright that I will still have to deal with, although I suppose that
running around the streets shouting contradance calls in cadence does make
me an object of attention.
Despite my lack of experience I now have several gigs lined up to call.
They are all for family type and special dances that we have been asked to
play at. Since it is not very likely that much of this dancing is going to
be done to the phrasing of the music it takes a little pressure off the need
to be precise with timing, but in general I think that calling these types
of dances is actually more difficult in some ways because teaching, as well
as just maintaining the dance, can be a challenge.
I would like to say that I will be satisfied with calling these family
dances, but I really harbor a secret desire to make it to the big time and
call a "real" dance. I have always been pretty impressed by how the callers
could stand up there and make a dance happen, and now that I know more about
what goes into it I am even more in awe of you all.
Since it is too late to avoid being long-winded, I would like to add a few
random questions which I will throw out to see if they generate any
discussion:
Timing issues- I think that I have a pretty good handle on the eight and
sixteen beat figures, but how do you keep track of others? For example, the
petronella balance & spin are 4 & 4, I think. Do you call them together,
like a balance and swing, or try to separate the call a little? And for
that matter, for a balance and swing call, is it better to call that all at
once, or would it be good to call balance......and swing, with a separation.
And what about these dances that have other timing. Sometimes I see timing
of 7 or 9, or other odd numbers. Does the timing of the calls have to
change to reflect this?
Calling and Playing - Does anyone call and play an instrument at the same
time? Are you able to call and play simultaneously or do you do some
calling and then join the band when the calling is no longer needed. Any
hints on how to share these tasks?
Ending the Dance - Do most callers change the call at the end of the dance
so that you swing your partner or something to close the dance? I know Bill
Olson does, but I can't really remember if it is the common thing to do. If
so, do you have some special ending already prepared or do you just develop
something on the fly or with experience. In transcribing dances and I have
not included anything like that.
Varying your Calls - Is it a good thing to vary the words that you use when
calling a dance or is it better to use the exact same words each time
through? It seems like it would be a nice to avoid repetition, but on the
other hand it also seems like it would be easier to be consistently
understood if you stick to the same phrases. Also, should you always call
using the same phrases from dance to dance? It seems like the dancers would
get used to hearing things in the same way and understand them better, but I
wonder if it would make you seem limited or boring as a caller.
Judging the Dancer's Level - Any tips on how to judge the ability of the
dancers in order to introduce more complex dances? Is this something that
is obvious or does it take some special skills to observe, or is it
something that you develop over time?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Richard
8:01 p.m.
New subject: Greetings from a new caller and some random questions about calling
one of the best pieces of advice I thought I got when
I was starting to call was this:
tape record yourself teaching a dance (in the
privacy of your own home is ok). Then come back in
a couple of days and play the tape - and be the
dancer trying to comprehend what you are to do based
on the teaching coming off the tape. It was a
terrific eye opener for me! What I thought was so
clear - wasn't necessarily the case. What I thought
was concise - was too abrupt - I couldn't understand
me -- I found that it helped me to focus on what
words were really helpful - For me it proved to be
an excellent way to improve my ability to teach. PS.
I used the word thought --- because months later I
thanked the person and learned they hadn't meant that
at all. They meant tape my live calling and listen
to that. That too can be extremely helpful
-especially if something didn't go well - you can
listen to what you said that might have confusedthe
dancers. WELCOME to Calling --- ENJOY
--- Richard Green <richard.a.green(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
Greetings to all of you!
My name is Richard Green and I have decided to come
out of the lurking
closet and announce my intention of learning how to
call. I discovered this
wonderful discussion list about a month ago and
avidly read through the
multiple years of postings. Now, alas, I am up to
date and finding it hard
to adjust to having only an occasional new post to
read.
I live in Maine, and my calling interest began in
January when I attended
John McIntire's calling workshops. At the time I
thought it would be nice
to learn some calling skills because my wife and I
have had some
opportunities to play music for some barn and family
dances in the area, and
on one occasion the caller was not present and we
didn't know how to
proceed.(He did eventually show up). At the end of
the caller's workshop we
were given the opportunity to call at a live
contradance, and despite a
rather anxious time spent worrying about the fiasco
that was sure to occur,
it went quite well and I really had a good time. It
was a breakthrough
moment for me, and it was then and there that I
decided I would like to
pursue calling more seriously. I am grateful to
John for giving me that
chance.
Since then I have doubled my calling experience by
calling a mixer at a
recent family dance that we played at. John has
also scheduled another
dance next month with guest callers which I will be
one of. Other than that
I have spent time preparing by transcribing several
dances that I have found
online,(several on this list), donning my mp3 player
and practicing calling
as I jog around the neighborhood. It is a pretty
good way to become
familiar with the timing of the calls, but doesn't
really do much for the
stage fright that I will still have to deal with,
although I suppose that
running around the streets shouting contradance
calls in cadence does make
me an object of attention.
Despite my lack of experience I now have several
gigs lined up to call.
They are all for family type and special dances that
we have been asked to
play at. Since it is not very likely that much of
this dancing is going to
be done to the phrasing of the music it takes a
little pressure off the need
to be precise with timing, but in general I think
that calling these types
of dances is actually more difficult in some ways
because teaching, as well
as just maintaining the dance, can be a challenge.
I would like to say that I will be satisfied with
calling these family
dances, but I really harbor a secret desire to make
it to the big time and
call a "real" dance. I have always been pretty
impressed by how the callers
could stand up there and make a dance happen, and
now that I know more about
what goes into it I am even more in awe of you all.
Since it is too late to avoid being long-winded, I
would like to add a few
random questions which I will throw out to see if
they generate any
discussion:
Timing issues- I think that I have a pretty good
handle on the eight and
sixteen beat figures, but how do you keep track of
others? For example, the
petronella balance & spin are 4 & 4, I think. Do
you call them together,
like a balance and swing, or try to separate the
call a little? And for
that matter, for a balance and swing call, is it
better to call that all at
once, or would it be good to call balance......and
swing, with a separation.
And what about these dances that have other timing.
Sometimes I see timing
of 7 or 9, or other odd numbers. Does the timing of
the calls have to
change to reflect this?
Calling and Playing - Does anyone call and play an
instrument at the same
time? Are you able to call and play simultaneously
or do you do some
calling and then join the band when the calling is
no longer needed. Any
hints on how to share these tasks?
Ending the Dance - Do most callers change the call
at the end of the dance
so that you swing your partner or something to close
the dance? I know Bill
Olson does, but I can't really remember if it is the
common thing to do. If
so, do you have some special ending already prepared
or do you just develop
something on the fly or with experience. In
transcribing dances and I have
not included anything like that.
Varying your Calls - Is it a good thing to vary the
words that you use when
calling a dance or is it better to use the exact
same words each time
through? It seems like it would be a nice to avoid
repetition, but on the
other hand it also seems like it would be easier to
be consistently
understood if you stick to the same phrases. Also,
should you always call
using the same phrases from dance to dance? It
seems like the dancers would
get used to hearing things in the same way and
understand them better, but I
wonder if it would make you seem limited or boring
as a caller.
Judging the Dancer's Level - Any tips on how to
judge the ability of the
dancers in order to introduce more complex dances?
Is this something that
is obvious or does it take some special skills to
observe, or is it
something that you develop over time?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Richard
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2 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
-
Chris Weiler -
mavis mcgaugh -
Richard Green