I called a dance last night in the town where I grew up (Bellingham, WA).
It's always great to go back and see people with whom I learned to dance.
Calling there makes me a little nervous, though, because I didn't start
calling until I left there about 11 years ago.
Anyway, keeping in mind the recent discussion about clapping for the band,
I did my utmost to make sure last night's band was well appreciated. They
are a really good home-town band, and very fun to work with, so I didn't
feel a need to fake it.
After the first dance there was a smattering of applause, so I said, "It is
customary to applaud the band after each set." This sort of stopped them in
their tracks and they responded well. The band was grinning at me. I then
said, "I have also heard that bands perform better when they know they are
being appreciated." This brought even more applause. I said they were
dancing to the playing of "Northern Contraband" and I'd introduce the
individual members later.
During the evening I smiled broadly at the band members, they responded
with the same; I applauded at the ends of each dance, while looking and
smiling at them; I whooped when it was appropriate (they threw in some
really cool stuff, off the cuff) and the dancers joined in. All-in-all the
band was very well-received and appreciated, they responded well to the
attention, and the dancers were consistently appreciative the rest of the
evening. I introduced the individual band members twice - once in the first
half and once in the second. It helps that I know them and didn't have to
read their names. I mentioned the sound person a few times, too. Everyone
was smiling and happy. It was good.
I hope I can spread the joy at other gigs.
-Amy
Second Dance: Friday 15th May, 2015.
Following the success of the first event (see
<http://barndancecaller.net/exetercontra.html>
http://barndancecaller.net/exetercontra.html), the next Contra Dance will be
held at The Kenn Centre, Exeter on Friday 15th May, 2015.
Beginners tuition at 7:30pm, main dance 8pm to 10:30pm.
Cost is only £4 per person.
The Kenn Centre ( <file:///\\www.kenncentre.co.uk> www.kenncentre.co.uk) has
a lovely modern large hall with ample parking. It's just a few miles outside
Exeter and is easily accessible from the M5/A30/A38/A380. Satnav: EX6 7UE
The caller is Jeremy Child ( <http://barndancecaller.net/index.html>
http://barndancecaller.net/index.html), an experienced contra caller who has
recently returned from a calling tour of South Eastern US. You may have seen
him and his rather bright orange shirt calling at Willand, Sidford and
Bridport.
We will be using recorded music, so you can dance along to your favourite
English bands such as Vertical Expression, English Contra Dance Band, Arden
Folk, Blowzabella, Fiddlin' Around and The Night Before, as well as some of
the top American Contra Bands such as Yankee Ingenuity, Wild Asparagus,
Contraforce and Perpetual e-Motion.
There will be a short interval for tea / coffee at around 9:15. Soft
drinks, tea, coffee and biscuits will be available f.o.c. but there is no
bar.
For further information or to be added to the Exeter Contra mailing list,
please email
<https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=ContraExeter@gmail.com>
ContraExeter(a)gmail.com. You can find more information, including photos and
videos from the first dance, at
<http://barndancecaller.net/exetercontra.html>
http://barndancecaller.net/exetercontra.html
and the Facebook page at
<https://www.facebook.com/events/1009884862357972/>
https://www.facebook.com/events/1009884862357972/
Jeremy
On the question of paying attention:
A while back, in one of these e-groups, someone pointed out that we
contra dancers keep talking about "community." This post pointed out
that we contra dancers go to a dance, and, often forsaking applause (yet
another topic...), run off to find our next partner and line up for a
dance. This posting compared that to country-western dance, or swing
dance, where they would sit around a table and talk, get to know others
through chatting, and not dance every dance, but have other social
things happen. It got me to thinking:
Often, after people have lined up, they talk with each other, their
partner, their minor set, or other people around them. Often callers
strive to get everyone to shut-up so they can start the dance. I've come
to believe this time of conversation is the main time we get to know a
little about each other and is thus a "community building time."
My practice now is to say into the mic in a regular talking voice, "Are
you ready?" If the general banter keeps going on, I wait a couple beats,
and say, again, "Are you ready?" After two to four times of asking the
question, someone will say, "Yes!" Then another might do a loud,
"Shhhh!" When people finally quiet down, I teach the dance.
~erik hoffman
oakland, ca
On 8/4/2014 10:26 AM, barb kirchner via Callers wrote:
> sometimes when dancers aren't paying attention, it's because there are
> too many other things going on in the hall.
>
> sometimes it's the band warming up or sound checking, but i've seen
> all kinds of things going on - bake sales, people on their mobile
> devices, a group of beginners coming in who don't yet know dance
> etiquette, or maybe the dancers are having trouble hearing you.
> sometimes musicians talk loudly behind the caller (i'm a musician and
> a caller) and it's hard to understand the caller because the chatter
> can be heard through mics or pick-ups.
>
> you can't fix some of those things, but you can address retail events
> in the hall, cell phones, sound system, etc
>
> are your experienced dancers modelling good dance etiquette? are you
> teaching efficiently, or are you spending so much time talking that
> people lose interest?
>
> sometimes, i just start the walkthru anyway. as soon as people
> realize that most people are starting to swing, they get a little more
> interested :-)
>
> cheers,
> barb
>
>
> > Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2014 13:05:57 -0400
> > To: maia.mcc(a)gmail.com
> > CC: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> > Subject: Re: [Callers] When the dancers aren't paying attention
> > From: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> >
> > It depends why the dancers aren't paying attention. Are there lots of
> > experienced dancers, such that the walkthrough isn't really necessary?
> > Are they ignoring walkthroughs the first time through because they
> > know there will be a second one? Are they just having a lot of fun
> > with their friends and prioritizing that above listening to the
> > caller? How does the dance go once it starts?
> >
> > A few strategies I might try:
> >
> > * Not bother with the walkthroughs entirely. If the crowd is ignoring
> > the walkthroughs because as a whole they don't need them, then just
> > call the dance. This means only picking dances that can be called
> > no-walkthrough, but there are still a lot to choose from.
> >
> > * Give the dancers a bit longer between dances before starting the
> > walkthrough. If they're chatting with neighbors and catching up, let
> > them do that for a bit. Then once you start the walkthrough go
> > quickly.
> >
> > * Ask the band for rolling starts, where they play music under the
> > walkthrough. This makes it harder for people to talk and feels more
> > like dancing. You don't have time to explain complex things, so you
> > have to give that up, but it's much more forgiving than straight-up
> > no-walkthrough.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 4, 2014 at 11:08 AM, Maia McCormick via Callers
> > <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> > > At Falcon Ridge this weekend, I saw a couple of different styles
> of dealing
> > > with that frustrating state of affairs when 50%+ of the hall just
> isn't
> > > paying attention to the walk-through. I'm curious if you all have any
> > > particular strategies you employ here, thoughts on how to deal
> with this,
> > > how to get the attention of the hall, etc.
> > >
> > > In dance,
> > > Maia
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Callers mailing list
> > > Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> > > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Callers mailing list
> > Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
Maia writes:
On 4/22/2015 7:20 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers wrote:
> I often announce the band again, possibly with a "give a big hand to..."
I have done this, too, or, as the last note goes quiet, announce the
band name. In certain communities this doesn't do much. I've also
announced the band at the beginning of a dance. This often does receive
a round of applause. Of course, it's sort of funny, because often it's
done when the band is trying to tune. Or start the potatoes...
Also, Barb asks if it's on tour or at a local dance. Both. Been on tour,
been on a seriously good roll, only to stop at a town where no applause
whatsoever. And, as noted, certain communities are known for their lack
of applause, for locals or not. Other communities are known for their
warm welcome. In our area, we love playing the Sacramento dance because
they are so appreciative.
~erik hoffman
oakland, CA
> On Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 10:08 PM, Erik Hoffman via Callers
> <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> There are several places where almost no applause occurs after a
> dance. In some communities, when I've been subjected to that
> experience, I've asked, "were we off tonight?" The reply usually
> is something like, "no, the dance was fine (or even great), we
> just head for our next partner..." I know sometimes it's just the
> night. Sometimes, though, it's the community's habit. I spoke with
> a renowned musician the other day, who will no longer play for a
> certain series. One of the reasons: lack of applause -- lack of
> that palpable sense of appreciation.
>
> I think dancers don't often know that applause really makes the
> band and caller feel better. If they feel better they play better.
> And, as a dancer, applause usually makes me feel better, too. Any
> ideas on how to encourage applause? Or, if you're in one of those
> communities where applause is minimal, does it bother you?
>
> ~erik hoffman
> oakland, ca
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net>
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
Indeed.
My original reply was merely speaking about relative difficulty of dances.
All of the subsequent posts have made good related points.
On Apr 20, 2015 6:13 PM, "Dugan Murphy via Callers" <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> Hi Maia,
>
> I used to organize my dance cards by difficulty, but currently, I use
> categories in my box that are largely based on dance-defining figures
> (Petronella, star promenade) and types of progression (slide left,
> circle-pass-through). I find that system of organization to be more useful
> when writing out a program for an evening.
>
> Dugan Murphy
> dugan(a)duganmurphy.com
>
>
> Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2015 13:53:01 -0400
>> From: Maia McCormick via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
>> To: "callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net" <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
>> Subject: [Callers] Difficulty rankings?
>> Message-ID:
>> <CAHUcZGPHaCuWAZv+d+6EX1aJ7D25CDSvJUFD=
>> VLYV8g43Fyr6A(a)mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>>
>> As I overhaul my contra deck and realize that my difficulty ranking system
>> is super incoherent, and most of my dance rankings are from way before I
>> had any idea what actually makes a dance easy or hard, I've been thinking
>> of scrapping this difficulty ranking system and just starting over. So I
>> was wondering: if you rank your dances by difficulty, what is your system,
>> what are your benchmarks for various difficulty levels, what sorts of
>> things do you consider when determining the difficulty of a dance? If you
>> DON'T
>> rank your dances, why not?
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Maia
>>
>> ***************************************
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>
>
yes, thanks! ~
When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance. ~Hans Bos~
~
On Monday, April 20, 2015 10:36 PM, frannie via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Definitely Frannie not Fannie. :-)~Frannie Marr.
Southern CaliforniaOn Apr 20, 2015 7:31 PM, "Maia McCormick via Callers" <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hmm, I have it written as "Frannie's Alarm Clock"... Is this the dance you're looking for?Frannie's Alarm Clock by Luke Donforth (becket, counterclockwise; mod+)
A1: gents alle. L 1 1/2; N swing
A2: long lines, ladies roll next N; ladies chain
B1: half hey; single file circle R in hands-4 (ladies face across, gents face partner)
B2: (ladies turn over R shoulder to) gypsy P, swing PCheers,
Maia
On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 9:27 PM, Laur via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Does anyone have "Fannie's Alarm Clock" to share?
Thanks -
Laurie PWest MI ~
When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance. ~Hans Bos~
~
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
Definitely Frannie not Fannie. :-)
~Frannie Marr.
Southern California
On Apr 20, 2015 7:31 PM, "Maia McCormick via Callers" <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> Hmm, I have it written as "Frannie's Alarm Clock"... Is this the dance
> you're looking for?
>
> *Frannie's Alarm Clock* by Luke Donforth (becket, counterclockwise; mod+)
> *A1:* gents alle. L 1 1/2; N swing
> *A2:* long lines, ladies roll next N; ladies chain
> *B1:* half hey; single file circle R in hands-4 (ladies face across,
> gents face partner)
> *B2:* (ladies turn over R shoulder to) gypsy P, swing P
>
> Cheers,
> Maia
>
> On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 9:27 PM, Laur via Callers <
> callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> Does anyone have "Fannie's Alarm Clock" to share?
>>
>> Thanks -
>>
>> Laurie P
>> West MI
>>
>> ~
>> When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself
>> from life. I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance. ~Hans Bos~
>> ~
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Callers mailing list
>> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>
>
Does anyone have "Fannie's Alarm Clock" to share?
Thanks -
Laurie PWest MI ~
When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance. ~Hans Bos~
~
Hi Maia,
I used to organize my dance cards by difficulty, but currently, I use
categories in my box that are largely based on dance-defining figures
(Petronella, star promenade) and types of progression (slide left,
circle-pass-through). I find that system of organization to be more useful
when writing out a program for an evening.
Dugan Murphy
dugan(a)duganmurphy.com
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2015 13:53:01 -0400
> From: Maia McCormick via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
> To: "callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net" <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
> Subject: [Callers] Difficulty rankings?
> Message-ID:
> <CAHUcZGPHaCuWAZv+d+6EX1aJ7D25CDSvJUFD=
> VLYV8g43Fyr6A(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> As I overhaul my contra deck and realize that my difficulty ranking system
> is super incoherent, and most of my dance rankings are from way before I
> had any idea what actually makes a dance easy or hard, I've been thinking
> of scrapping this difficulty ranking system and just starting over. So I
> was wondering: if you rank your dances by difficulty, what is your system,
> what are your benchmarks for various difficulty levels, what sorts of
> things do you consider when determining the difficulty of a dance? If you
> DON'T
> rank your dances, why not?
>
> Cheers,
> Maia
>
> ***************************************
>
