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2524 discussions

by Jerome Grisanti via Callers

One of the lessons I learned in a Bruce Hamilton workshop was that the caller's attitude is a tool and it must be kept sharp. He mentioned the example of Bob Dalsemer always projecting a strong sense of well-being, everything is going just fine. I realized that while my stage presence often did this, too often I also projected the tension of my worries about the dance -- whether I would be able to teach something, whether the dancers would "get" it, whether I could fix a problem if it developed. So I became more intentional, identifying callers who projected well-being and trying to copy some of those things they did. I realized it is about awareness, and about decision-making, and about preparation (knowing the dances, knowing the music, the band, the crowd...). Fast forward to yesterday. I was calling an English dance, the music was going, the room was quiet except for the band (glorious!) and the movement of the dancers, when a baby -- the several-months-old grandchild of one of our dancers, began babbling. Not crying, just making noises over the music. And the part of me that saw it as an interruption was itself interrupted by the part of me that said, "hey, he's in the right key." So I said that. And maybe it was only for me, but it made everything OK. Thank you Bruce and the many others who teach this lesson. --Jerome Jerome Grisanti 660-528-0858 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com “Dance like no one is watching... Because they are not... They are checking their phone.

9 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] Difficulty rankings?

by Lindsey Dono via Callers

Alan wrote:"A caller can make any dance difficult, and a caller can put across an intrinsically more difficult dance with clarity, confidence, and precise prompting. So some of that suitability of dance to crowd has to deal with the state of the caller. This makes it hard to write down a rating on a card that's going to have meaning when you use it." Alan: I completely agree. Occasionally, I've found myself bumbling through a walk-through for what seems like an especially boggling dance, only to have the caller announce the dance's familiar title (and on one occasion, the title of a dance I had called without trouble the night before). Another aspect to consider is the dance flavor of the local community. Depending on the main "crossover dance" (if any) of the majority, the same move can easily be taught to one group while completely flummoxing another. Communities that more frequently dance squares are much more comfortable with pull-bys, for example, while communities with many English Country dancers are less phased by mad robins, heys, etc. I've noticed this more and more as I've started calling dances further away from my home turf, and have begun asking organizers about other popular styles of dance within their community to try to get a sense of this beforehand. The music is also a major factor in determining difficulty. Is the phrasing hard to hear? Does the phrasing match the dance? Mismatched choreography and music can subtly but profoundly increase the challenge level of a dance. Conversely, an excellent match can make a quirk of a "stretch dance" easier to remember. Matching seems to be especially helpful on dances with isolated balances on the 5th beat (Balance the Hey, for example) instead of the 1st (any dance with a balance and swing). More broadly, selecting dances that the band can't match well seems like an easy recipe for trouble. At one of my early gigs, I couldn't figure out why all of the slinky dances I tried seemed to be giving experienced dancers problems. During the break, someone pointed out that my band had two modes: "bouncy" and "barnburner." The elegant dances I tried to call didn't fit the strengths of the band, and I modified my program for the second half. -Lindsey DonoTacoma, WA From: Jerome Grisanti via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> To: callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2015 9:45 PM Subject: Re: [Callers] Difficulty rankings? Erik and Alan make good points. I also think it's worth the exercise to try to rank dances, and individual figures, by difficulty as a way of thinking about what makes a dance hard or easy. For example: Which is easier to teach (or to learn): chain, hey, right & left through? That analysis is worthwhile, even if sorting your cards by such rankings is problematic. --Jerome Jerome Grisanti 660-528-0858 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com “Dance like no one is watching... Because they are not... They are checking their phone. _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net

9 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] Difficulty rankings?

by Jerome Grisanti via Callers

Erik and Alan make good points. I also think it's worth the exercise to try to rank dances, and individual figures, by difficulty as a way of thinking about what makes a dance hard or easy. For example: Which is easier to teach (or to learn): chain, hey, right & left through? That analysis is worthwhile, even if sorting your cards by such rankings is problematic. --Jerome Jerome Grisanti 660-528-0858 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com “Dance like no one is watching... Because they are not... They are checking their phone.

9 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] Difficulty rankings?

by Alan Winston via Callers

Maia -- While you can assign a level of difficulty of dances in isolation, it doesn't really tell you the whole story. Whatever intrinsic difficulty the dance possesses interacts with what the floor can do right now and what the caller can put across. A dance that's easy right after the break might have been fatally difficult as an opener. A floor of relatively fit dancers with some level of experience and no hearing impairment can do things easily that others can't do at all. A caller can make any dance difficult, and a caller can put across an intrinsically more difficult dance with clarity, confidence, and precise prompting. So some of that suitability of dance to crowd has to deal with the state of the caller. This makes it hard to write down a rating on a card that's going to have meaning when you use it. So what makes a dance easy, intrinsically? - strong flow - Low piece count - few or no fractions (some people can't hear, don't process, or won't do the "and a half" part of 1 and 1/2; this is recoverable if the next thing is partner swing but bad news if you need to do something else right away) - no action outside the minor set - clear progression - symmetry (because if the roles are the same there's less confusion at the ends) - recovery point(s); moment of poise - sticking with your partner - straightforward end effects - familiar figures or figures that you can get without drill When I'm calling for a dance society dance where I have a strong expectation that there'll be enough people for satisfactory longways contras through the whole evening and there'll be more experienced people than beginners and I know the strengths of the band, I make up a program with what I think is increasing intrinsic difficulty, figure variety, etc, maybe building up to a medley with all figures in it handled earlier in the evening if the organizers like medleys, cruising down to a satisfying low-piece-count strong-flow dance as a finish. (If it's an old-timey band that doesn't phrase strongly - some do - I try to avoid dances that need tight timing; mushy Petronellas are annoying.) But if it's something where I can't get a good read beforehand on attendance, I have a file of easier contras and a file of harder contras on my tablet computers and while this dance is running I'm flicking through the file and picking the next dance based on my current read of the floor, what figures they know already, what I now think the band can do, etc. (You could just have twenty dances memorized and have all the bases covered, but I like to have a bunch of different choices for the same niches so that I stay out of the rut of only calling the same twenty dances in front of the same people, since people dance gypsy all over Northern California and you'll see the same ones 150 miles apart.) As you can guess, I don't have a quantified difficulty scale for dances. I might mark "good opener", and I throw them into the "easier" or "harder" piles. I don't find it worth doing more than that because so much of the perceived difficulty is contextual rathe than intrinsic. -- Alan On 4/19/15 10:53 AM, Maia McCormick via Callers wrote: > 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

9 years, 8 months

[Callers] Difficulty rankings?

by Maia McCormick via Callers

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

9 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] Anyone seen this sequence?

by David Harding via Callers

Or swat the flea instead of box the gnat. Then there wouldn't be a hand switch into the allemande. -Dave On 4/16/2015 6:08 PM, Roger Hayes via Callers wrote: > Hmmm. How about, rather than ring balance: > neighbor balance, box the gnat, > switch to left hands, allemand 1 1/2 > > This might have some educational benefit, as I imagine it's going to > be painfully awkward unless you give decent weight. > > - R > > > > On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 5:51 PM, Kalia Kliban via Callers > <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: > > I'm not entirely clear on what's happening in B2 1-4. One > possible stumbling point, though, is that pass-throughs are almost > always by the right shoulder, so you'll need to come up with a > really strong way to teach that it's left (LEFT, no, the _other_ > left). > > Kalia > > On 4/16/2015 3:32 PM, Ric Goldman via Callers wrote: > > Hi folks, > > In the midst of a discussion with some dancers during the > break at a > recent gig, this dance sequence came up.Has anyone seen its like? > > Allemandery, My Dear Watson – improper > > A11-4(New) Nbrs alle R 1-1/2 > > 5-8Gents alle L 1-1/2 (end in front of and facing Ptnr) > > A21-4½ hey (PR, WL, NR, GL) > > 5-8Ptnr swing > > B11-4Women alle R 1-1/2 > > 5-8Nbrs swing > > B21-4Balance ring; pass by Nbr (pass thru backwards) > L-shoulder and turn > back L to… > > 5-8(Old) Nbrs alle L 1-1/2 (to next cpl) > > Thanx, Ric Goldman > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 <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

9 years, 8 months

[Callers] Anyone seen this sequence?

by Ric Goldman via Callers

Hi folks, In the midst of a discussion with some dancers during the break at a recent gig, this dance sequence came up. Has anyone seen its like? Allemandery, My Dear Watson improper A1 1-4 (New) Nbrs alle R 1-1/2 5-8 Gents alle L 1-1/2 (end in front of and facing Ptnr) A2 1-4 ½ hey (PR, WL, NR, GL) 5-8 Ptnr swing B1 1-4 Women alle R 1-1/2 5-8 Nbrs swing B2 1-4 Balance ring; pass by Nbr (pass thru backwards) L-shoulder and turn back L to 5-8 (Old) Nbrs alle L 1-1/2 (to next cpl) Thanx, Ric Goldman

9 years, 8 months

[Callers] Alemandery (WAS: Anyone seen this sequence?)

by Ric Goldman via Callers

Hi Kalia, As written, at the beginning of B2, folks come out of the nbr swing - 1s below, 2s above. The balance ring gives folks a chance to reorient (1s facing up, 2s facing down). The pass-by L (and turn L around to face the "normal" direction) flows into the subsequent allemande L 1-1/2. Another possible alternative for the pass-by might be a L-shoulder gypsy, which might flow into the nbr allemande L more easily (a "gypsy/allemande meltdown"?) However, going the other way with a normal pass-thru and turn to the R brings the L hands around to connect (perhaps with a clap) for the allemande: B2 1-4 Balance the ring; pass thru (and turn back R into) 5-8 Nbrs allemande L 1-1/2 (to new cpl...) This avoids the counter intuitive pass-by, and while not as smooth a flow, might be an exciting contact point for the dancers. Definitely worth considering :-) Thanx, Ric Goldman -----Original Message----- From: Callers [mailto:callers-bounces@lists.sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Kalia Kliban via Callers Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 3:52 PM To: Caller's discussion list Subject: Re: [Callers] Anyone seen this sequence? I'm not entirely clear on what's happening in B2 1-4. One possible stumbling point, though, is that pass-throughs are almost always by the right shoulder, so you'll need to come up with a really strong way to teach that it's left (LEFT, no, the _other_ left). Kalia On 4/16/2015 3:32 PM, Ric Goldman via Callers wrote: > Hi folks, > > In the midst of a discussion with some dancers during the break at a > recent gig, this dance sequence came up.Has anyone seen its like? > > Allemandery, My Dear Watson improper > > A11-4(New) Nbrs alle R 1-1/2 > > 5-8Gents alle L 1-1/2 (end in front of and facing Ptnr) > > A21-4½ hey (PR, WL, NR, GL) > > 5-8Ptnr swing > > B11-4Women alle R 1-1/2 > > 5-8Nbrs swing > > B21-4Balance ring; pass by Nbr (pass thru backwards) L-shoulder and > turn back L to > > 5-8(Old) Nbrs alle L 1-1/2 (to next cpl) > > Thanx, Ric Goldman > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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

9 years, 8 months

[Callers] Names and authors for a few dances

by Martha Wild via Callers

OK, I've got a few dances here (actually more than a few but I'll start with a few) that I don't have attribution for. I'd appreciate any help, thanks! Number 1 4 face 4 A1 Forward and back Swing corner A2 Heads right and left through Sides right and left through B1 Men star left Do-si-do the one you swung once and a bit more to see partner B2 Balance and swing partner Number 2 Duple Improper A1 Allemande right neighbor 1 1/2 With NEXT neighbor, left shoulder do-si-do once A2 Swing original neighbor Lines forward and back (note, this is how I took it down but in practice I would probably rather Balance and swing original here) B1 Circle left 3/4 Swing partner B2 Women chain FULL and zesty square through Number 3 Duple improper A1 Wave balance with the MEN in the middle (left to partner, men right), men do Rory O'More move past each other to partner Swing partner A2 Women chain Women pull by the right and allemande left neighbor 1X to form a wave with the women in the middle B1 Wave balance, women Rory past each other to neighbor Swing neighbor B2 Pass through across the set to an ocean wave and balance (women in the middle) Step forward and with new neighbor facing you, allemande left 1 1/2 to form a wave with the men in the middle Number 4 Duple improper A1 Lines forward and back Swing neighbor A2 4 in line down the set, turn as couples come back up B1 Circle left Swing partner B2 Men allemande left 1 1/2 Star promenade, butterfly whirl That'll do for now. Thanks in advance!

9 years, 8 months

Re: [Callers] Bob Isaacs?

by Amy Larkin via Callers

I'm really sorry, This was thoughtless of me. I'll finish my taxes, and then use my brain to track him down. It will not be hard. Sorry for the inconvenience. Back to Shared Weight's regular programming; talking about dances & calling and stuff. Amy On Apr 15, 2015 12:00 PM, "Amy Larkin" <amylarkin(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Would you kindly get in touch regarding NEFFA? > Thank you, > Amy for Heyday >

9 years, 8 months

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