Sue Hulsether wrote:
<< Another voice helper for me is a wireless mic - so I can be on the floor and both consciously and unconsciously monitor my own vocal levels. Being on stage without a vocal monitor (and with the regular monitors blasting the band's music at them) is a sure bet I have vocal fatigue, if not hoarseness, at the end of a night. >>
Yes. I decided a long time ago that I need to hear the house mix, partly to reassure me that the dancers can hear the calls and partly so I can hear myself, which keeps me from straining. (Years ago the telephone folks hit on the idea of introducing a bit of your own voice into your earpiece to keep you from shouting.)
This means I need to be either out in front of the house speakers or, at worst, next to them and very slightly ahead, so I can see the front of a speaker even if it's only a little bit of the front. I use a wireless version of the Shure Beta 58A, which has a tighter pickup pattern than the SM58 (probably the most common vocal mic, in and out of the dance world) and lets me get pretty close to the house speakers, even stand in front of one, without feedback. I love this mic and take it everywhere I go, unless I'm flying with books to sell and a week's worth of clothes.
In situations like the big gyms at NEFFA, where I can't get in front of the house speakers (I'm stuck onstage and they're overhead and slightly ahead of me), I have to rely on a caller's monitor. I usually ask for the house mix in my monitor, but at NEFFA they usually need to boost my voice higher over the music than it is in the house mix, or I find myself straining because my subconscious doesn't trust the PA to make my calls understood. This is critical when I'm doing a square like Merry-Go-Round where the dancers don't know what's coming next. (Veering off topic: In modern square dancing, where the dancers *never* know what the next call will be, intelligibility is an absolute requirement. The most popular brand of amplifier built for that market has controls calibrated so that the default setting is to give the caller lots of treble and very little bass, with the music vice versa. The callers sound as if they're Skyping.)
To try to prevent voice problems, I drink lots of water - every day, not just "cramming" before a dance. If my throat is already sore, I fill a Thermos with hot lemonade. It gives some of the benefits of a honey & lemon juice mix without the hassle of keeping both on hand and mixing them.
A few years ago I realized a childhood dream of getting into community theater, and I took some voice lessons. I learned to generate the "buzz" in my mask (basically the sinus area) rather than my throat. I also learned that it's important to warm up the voice before performing; in the car I do a series of exercises from a CD called "Total Warm-Up" (now available as a download too) from www.singingvoicelessons.com<http://www.singingvoicelessons.com>. I've tried several CDs, but this is my favorite.
Tony Parkes
Billerica, Mass.
In mine and my brother's collection of Edison cylinder records, (late
1800's, early 1900's,) I was delighted to find two actual dance records:
one was The Lancers Quadrille, the other a "Plain Quadrille" WAY before
microphones were invented, so they used Megaphones: like cheerleaders of
today. They yelled out the bare bones of the calls through the megaphone:
in high Society, you were supposed to have taken lessons and only
needed "prompts" similar to actors in plays having a backstage person (the
Prompter) ready to help actors who forgot their lines.
The available records only played for either 2 minutes or later, 4
minutes.
Interesting to hear the caller scream out "R I G H T A N D L E F T"
meaning "Right and left over AND back"
Ralph Sweet
In a message dated 10/13/2016 6:11:14 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com writes:
> I’m curious about calling before microphones became ubiquitous. Is
> there much information about callers prior to sou
nd amplification?
> Did they drop out quickly to save their voices? Were the dances just
> known by enough dancers that they were danced without calling?
>
> Lindsey
And Jacob replied: "Here are some quotes from Page's 1937 book:
"The best prompters baby their throats as if they were opera singers.
Their greatest horror is laryngitis. They don't drink olive oil or wrap
up in pink cotton batting, though; strange as it may seem, the oftener
they call, the better their voice. They claim that six nights a week
are better than one or two, because their vocal cords are really
exercised then and so become stronger."
So it sounds like Ralph Page, and the other callers of his generation,
didn't believe in trying to "save" their voices."
Which prompts me to ask what other callers do to take good care of their
voices. It's hard when you're partway through a heavy-duty event and
your voice starts to feel ragged.
Kent Gilbert, in Berea, gave me his recipe for a
disgusting-but-effective gargle that helped me hang on to my voice
during a long, intense week. It's equal parts Listerine, hydrogen
peroxide and warm salt water. Gaa-ACK! But it definitely cleared and
soothed my throat. Just warm salt water all by itself is supposed to be
great, too.
How about the rest of you? What do you do to take care of your voices,
especially during multi-day gigs, especially-especially if there's
flying involved?
Kalia (getting ready for an English dance weekend near Santa Cruz)
I often call LL Fwd & Back, the Bow to your partners all.
>From my square dance days, I guess.
Sometimes I just let it end.
Rich
On Tue, Oct 11, 2016 at 12:52 PM, Bill Olson callbill(a)hotmail.com
[trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>
>
> Yeah, I always try to change the ending of a dance to get a partner
> swing.. Not sure I learned that from ted or not.. maybe.. Seems to "tie
> things up" nicely, though I notice many callers (most?) just let it go..
>
>
> bill
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com <trad-dance-callers@
> yahoogroups.com> on behalf of Sylvia Miskoe sylviasmiskoe(a)gmail.com
> [trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 11, 2016 4:27 PM
> *To:* trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
> *Subject:* Re: [trad-dance-callers] Page & Sannella -- Dropping Out
>
>
>
> Another now discontinued move was finishing the dance with some little
> ending;
> All join hands and go forward and back
> Forward and pass through and turn around
> Forward and back
> Forward and swing your partner.
> There are several variations to this. If there were multiple lines. you
> could go fd, back. fwd and pass through to the next and turn around.
>
> Sylvia Miskoe
>
> On Tue, Oct 11, 2016 at 11:18 AM, Bill Olson callbill(a)hotmail.com
> [trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Hi Sylvia, Well I was referring to TED calling the last time.. maybe
>> that's what you meant.. I don't really remember what Ralph did, but I
>> suspect he did and that may even be where Ted picked that up..
>>
>>
>> bill
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:* trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com <trad-dance-callers@yahoogroup
>> s.com> on behalf of Sylvia Miskoe sylviasmiskoe(a)gmail.com
>> [trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com>
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:30 PM
>> *To:* trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
>> *Subject:* Re: [trad-dance-callers] Page & Sannella -- Dropping Out
>>
>>
>>
>> Ralph made his name and fame calling singing squares. I can understand
>> why he would call the last time. A way of wrapping everything together.
>> Sylvia Miskoe Concord NH
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 11, 2016 at 10:19 AM, Bill Olson callbill(a)hotmail.com
>> [trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> When Ted moved to Maine in 1990 I had the pleasure of working with
>>> him at the 4th Friday North Whitefield dance.. That was "his dance" and he
>>> called every month and I was doing sound. As a relatively new caller, I
>>> also got a lot of "mentoring", Ted always like to share what he was doing
>>> up there... I got to dance to his calling a lot as well. The band was "the
>>> Usual Suspects" and other Maine bands and they definitely played medleys.
>>> Ted would always specify a tune to be played with the dance he was going to
>>> call.. He'd pass out a sheet of paper to the band, listing the dances and
>>> suggested tunes.. "or similar" he would say. Ted was pretty fussy so if he
>>> hadn't liked medleys he definitely would have said so, but we always played
>>> medleys.. As far as dropping out, Ted definitely dropped out, though,
>>> probably called for longer than is the norm these days.. I can remember him
>>> dropping out, turning away from the dancers and start looking at the card
>>> for the next dance.. BUT he had a sense about what was going on out on the
>>> floor and would chime in to get things back on track, EVEN if his back was
>>> to the dance.. I never figured HOW he did that.. Ted ALWAYS called the last
>>> time through.. I still do that because I learned from him and to this day
>>> it seems weird to me for a caller to NOT call the last time through!!~
>>> Ted's programs pretty much always followed the same format, a couple
>>> glossary dances then a circle mixer third on the list. A set of squares in
>>> each half, but later on I think he changed to just one set of squares per
>>> evening..
>>>
>>>
>>> I only danced to Ralph a couple times. That was pretty late in his
>>> life.. My memory is that he would drop back on the calling as well.. but it
>>> wouldn't surprise me if he called all the way through some times. He sort
>>> of liked to "demand attention" up there..
>>>
>>>
>>> bill
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>> *From:* trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com <
>>> trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> on behalf of Sylvia Miskoe
>>> sylviasmiskoe(a)gmail.com [trad-dance-callers] <
>>> trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com>
>>> *Sent:* Monday, October 10, 2016 10:52 PM
>>> *To:* trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
>>> *Subject:* Re: [trad-dance-callers] Page & Sannella -- Dropping Out
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ted Sannella and Ralph Page generally called the whole time. They both
>>> used records and live music if available. Their programs contained as many
>>> squares, which had to be called all the way through, as contras. Medleys
>>> were unknown. You played the same tune all the way through the dance. In
>>> the 60's the younger callers began outnumbering the oldsters. A contra
>>> would go on forever as the newer callers got things started and then joined
>>> the line. In defence, the musicians began using more than 1 tune per
>>> dance. Have you ever had to play Rickett's Hornpipe 17 times? Of course
>>> Newt Tolman wrote that you were not a dance musician until you could play
>>> the tune, at proper tempo, without mistakes, 17 or 18 times.
>>> The exception were the Chestnuts that had their own designated tune, NO
>>> alternates.
>>> Cheers,
>>> Sylvia Miskoe, Concord NH
>>>
>>> On Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 5:13 PM, Ridge Kennedy srk3nn3dy(a)gmail.com
>>> [trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Dear All,
>>>>
>>>> Those of you who can recall -- back in the day -- did callers like
>>>> Ralph Page and Ted Sannella "drop out" or did they continue calling. I
>>>> have a recording of Page and he calls throughout -- pretty much the same
>>>> patter every time, and even adds instructions to cross over at head and
>>>> foot. But maybe he knew he was being recorded and that wasn't standard
>>>> operating procedure???
>>>>
>>>> I assume that some chestnuts didn't require calling at all. But when
>>>> it was a newer contra, how much calling did callers do in the 50s and 60s?
>>>>
>>>> I theorize that callers began "dropping out" more and sooner as live
>>>> contra dance music became more prevalent and had more dynamic arrangements
>>>> -- one instrument or another taking leads, multi-tune medleys, etc.
>>>>
>>>> Any thoughts on the history of contra callers dropping out?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> Ridge
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Ridge Kennedy [Exit 145]
>>>> When you stumble, make it part of the dance. - Anonymous
>>>>
>>>> And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at
>>>> least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied
>>>> by at least one laugh. - Friedrich Nietzsche
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
So -- the formation is named for the location in the great state of MA --
Becket. But when used as the name for a dance formation, should it be
becket? Or Becket?
*********
Becket is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is
part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The
population was 1,779 at the 2010 census.
- Zip code:
- 01223
- Population:
- 1,779 (2010)
********
Unrelated. At the Philadelphia Thursday Night dance, the dancers have
taken to clucking like chickens when callers arrange them in becket/Becket
formation. as in "buk, buk buk buk, becket."
Just thought you'd want to know . . .
--
Ridge Kennedy [Exit 145]
When you stumble, make it part of the dance. - Anonymous
I heard there is usual tune that goes with Shadrack's delight. But can you recommend a commonly played modern tune that would fit well? The band doesn't have time to learn a new tune for the 8/28 contra dance.
Thanks!!
Claire Takemori
Bay Area CA
Watch this before it disappears. At 17:45 Jason Robards teaches the old-time square dance to the song Billy Boy.
https://youtu.be/d8uQkyCVWts
The 1987 film Square Dance was produced by Michael Nesmith. Later Wynona Ryder teaches Rob Lowe. Anybody know the visit? Billy Boy is effectively played as a march here. It is thought to be from the British Isles. The silly song Billy Boy seems based on the old English ballad "Lord Randall." It came to New England with British immigrants and spread south and west. The movie is set in Texas.
Fred Feild
Mo Waddington wrote:
<<Are we talking about the same thing though.
Barn dance, ONS, square dance, ceilidh are one thing.
But some of the things Tony was talking about in the first post (if I remember????) assume more knowledge maybe.>>
As Mo may have suspected, we've been talking about two different things in this thread: (1) the eclectic style of square dancing and calling that I've seen emerging over the last 10-20 years, primarily in the contra dance scene, and (2) the world of one-nighters or barn dances, which has always been eclectic to some extent because the simpler the material, the less difference between regional styles and the less it matters which way you give hands. Both (1) and (2) are legitimate expressions of a folk art.
My original post was entirely concerned with (1). It was an attempt to find out if others agreed with me that square dancing and calling has become more eclectic, and to find out whether anyone has given this style a name that is worth perpetuating. My impression, after several responses, is that there is no such name in common use. I've just about decided to use "neo-traditional" in my own writing; I don't expect anyone else to follow suit, but I do suspect that anyone reading my words who is familiar with the recent and current dance scene will know what I mean.
Tony Parkes
Billerica, Mass.
Dancing doctor, medical musician or qualified nurse wanted for on-call duty
at Eastbourne International Folkdance Festival April 28 - 1 May 2017.
On site accommodation provided.
For further details of the event see; www.eiff.org.uk
<http://www.eiff.org.uk/> or Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/EastbourneInternationalFolkdanceFestival/
Both of these sites are regularly updated.
Contact me for further details.
Robin
I'd like you all to hear the song Solomon Levi is based on.
http://www.sheetmusicsinger.com/solomon-levi-1885/
I believe this to have some Jewish history based on some Youtube videos about it. It may be related to the Yiddish theater that was established in New York. Many ethnic groups enjoyed seeing theirs and others' cultures caricatured on stage.
The strength of this song shows why it was used for singing SD.
Fred Feild, sheet music singer
-------- Original message --------
From: "Tony Parkes tony(a)hands4.com [trad-dance-callers]" <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com>
Date: 08/15/2016 12:26 PM (GMT-06:00)
To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: [trad-dance-callers] The Slow One (Was: Is there an emerging SD style?)
Bob Livingston wrote:
<<The Slow One, known as Solomon Levi, will most likely be called at the Heath and Cummington, MA Fairs before August is finished.>>
Many thanks, Bob, for mentioning the Cummington Fair! I recently searched for local fairs that featured square dancing, and the only one I found was Heath (Aug. 19-21), which has its dance on the Friday. We decided against taking time off our day jobs to drive 2+ hours on a Friday night. Somehow I overlooked Cummington (Aug. 25-28), where the dance is on the Saturday. We happen to be free that night, so we’ll likely go.
Everyone: The dances at both fairs are by the Falltown String Band with Doug Wilkins calling. The Square Dance History Proect (www.squaredancehistory.org<http://www.squaredancehistory.org>) has several video clips of this band with Bob Livingston calling, recorded in Chesterfield, CT in 2013.
<<In CT/RI fiddler Tom Hall does a neat "doodle dee do" during the quiet part... But there is no quiet part on the Square Dance History recording. And there is no
slow part; with the complete stops that come after each line during the arm turns...at the caller's discretion. "I'm not going too fast for anybody am I??" ...followed by double time for the dosadoes and promenades. Caller Ted Glabach in Southern VT was great with it.>>
I don’t think I’ve ever danced The Slow One, though I’ve heard a lot about it. Jon Lurie, who got me started as a caller at the Farm & Wilderness Camps, used to threaten to call it, whereupon one or two people who knew it shouted “No! No! Anything but that!” I think it was Jon who sang it to me offstage, with fast and slow parts alternating.
Curiously, although Jon learned many of his calls from David Park Williams, there is no fast part on the recording that Dave made of The Slow One. (Several of Dave’s dances are at the History Project, but apparently not The Slow One.)
The only place I’ve seen it in print is in a folio by Allemande Al Mueller (of upstate New York), published around 1940 I think. It’s called something like “To the Corner with Your Right,” and there’s no indication of a change in tempo. The tune is similar but not identical to Solomon Levi.
Tony Parkes
Billerica, Mass.
