On Mar 13, 2018, at 11:14 AM, Jonathan Sivier via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: I like to have a program of dances selected and laid out for my gigs. Of course I know that sometimes the prepared program has to be departed from, or completely replaced, but I like to at least start from the point of having a prepared program. For a typical contra dance I will spend an hour or so selecting dances and getting them in order. This may be a bit longer if I'm trying any new dances that need to be written up. Then I always practice all of the dances, even old familiar ones and especially any new ones. I practice both the walk-through and calling to music. This usually takes an hour or so as well. I usually do the preparation a day or two before the day of the dance. Extra time, and more advanced planning, may be needed if I'm coordinating with the band on any of the dances. The process is similar for English dances, but often takes more time. It also needs to be done well in advance so that the band can be informed of the dances. Jonathan ----- Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html ----- Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call! On 3/13/2018 12:58 PM, Rich Sbardella via Callers wrote: _______________________________________________ List Name: Callers mailing list List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/

As a new caller I spend way too many hours preparing. I used to start weeks in advance, just so I could read all the choreography books I have. Now I’m down to 1 or 2 weeks. LOL. Where I’m spending most of my time nowadays is developing a sense of “story” and “biorhythm” to the program, and not just a logical progression of complexity. I look forward to getting it down to an hour! By now I have been through my library enough and called enough that I have a couple special folders of fallback easy/fun/low-turnout dances to rely on when I need them. Having fallbacks makes programming simpler (thus faster) so I don’t need an absurd flowchart. (Yes, I tried that once.) On Mar 13, 2018, at 17:28, Jean Gibson-Gorrindo via Callers < callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: My calling took a big leap forward when I started paying more attention to what I would say during the walk-thru, and practicing saying it out loud as concisely as possible (Lisa Greenleaf influence!). I do this as well. Saying the teaching aloud, alone, helps me test and pare the words down. Walking a couple positions as well helps me aware of the dancer perspectives as well. \Bob Peterson http://contracorner.com/caller/ _______________________________________________ List Name: Callers mailing list List Address: Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/