Re: Page & Sannella -- Dropping Out

Hey Lindsey from Tacoma: Way back in the day there was no calling or even prompting of the dances. Dances were “taught” by dancing masters. Dancers memorized the figgers. It was considered rude to yell out the changes and it was considered a mark of esteem if you could have the figgers down pat. (Some folks wrote the direction on their cuffs or on a napkin which got stuffed in their cleavage. If there were no dancing master lurking about, then the poor folk did what they knew...knees up mother brown, three hand reels and the such. Later, when calling (prompting) became acceptable, the task fell in the laps of the fiddler. I have an old book of fiddle chunes and instruction how to play them and also instruction on how to call the changes while sawing away. Brits say that they started the ball rolling. Servants would have their dances Downstairs, do the same dances folks Upstairs did, but, without the benefit of dancing school. Someone needed to call out the changes. Lord knows why it took them all so long, but look how long it took to invent the wheel. But listen to this. Plantation party going full tilt. in North Carolina, black musicians, fiddles, tambourine. Black fiddler would nod to couples when they reached the top, but knew his place of silence. Next night the blacks have their own frolic. Fiddler shouts out Git yer sets together. Make a ring now, up and back you go. Gentlemen turn your partners. And there you have it. Calling became necessary when the halls got bigger. Folks from other nationalities – Poles, Germans, Swedes, needed assistance. Microphones were invented and calling became an art unto its own. I never heard Ralph Page call without using a mic. Even in a small room. He had a light voice. He sang and chanted his calls. He was inspired by the calling of one Happy Hale. Happy could sing his calls without using a mic. He would even go outside and call through the open window on a summer’s night. But he and Ralph never stopped calling. They were part of the show. Part of the music. They liked the sound of their voice. Reminds me of the preacher who said “We will now have a moment of silence like in Quaker meeting.” It would last ten seconds and then he would launch into the next prayer or whatever. Most of the dances I do are whole set longways and circle dances, unphrased. I call anyway. Seldom “drop out”. If I do, it is to share a joke with one of the other musicians or quip with a dancer waiting at the top of the set. Dudley from Canterbury where we have yet to have a killing frost. Dudley & Jacqueline Laufman PO Box 61, 322 Shaker Rd Canterbury, NH 03224 www.laufman.org 603-783-4719 jdlaufman(a)comcast.net Education book & CD at www.humankinetics.com Performance Calendar at www.laufman.org