5 Jan
2017
5 Jan
'17
2:37 a.m.
Re: "Have fun and make sure the dancers and the band know you are having fun. If
the dance is executed perfectly by dancers who are annoyed or insulted, it's a
failure. If mild chaos ensues but (most) everyone is enjoying muddling thru anyway, life
is good.
Dale"
BUT having fun whilst playing an instrument on the stage whilst also calling is NOT
professional - as I witnessed at the Southbank. Its having fun in a selfish way at the
expense of the dancers - who are the most important folk in the room.
And Dave also brings me to another intense irritation. This is callers being patronising
to their dancers during a walkthru. Most dancers, if not all, are intelligent if perhaps
inexperienced. In the UK where we are so PC its insulting the terms 'ladies' and
'gents' are not acceptable only 'women' and 'men.' And at some
ceilidhs you are not even allowed to talk about left or right due to political
sensitivities. Too many ceilidh bands are composed of bleeding heart left wing liberals.
Even the EFDSS has gone all PC in fear of losing grants from arty farty left wing orgs.
Chris B.
--------------------------------------------
On Wed, 4/1/17, Dale Wilson dale.wilson(a)gmail.com [trad-dance-callers]
<trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> wrote:
Subject: Re: [trad-dance-callers] Callers who gab on too for far too long ....
To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, 4 January, 2017, 22:29
....
for every dance the 'caller' is spending over 10
minutes explaining each dance -
This brings to mind a quote attributed to Blaise
Pascal: Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus
longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire
plus courte.
Roughly translated
as
I have made this [letter] longer
than usual because I have not had time to make it
shorter.
In called-dance
context:
I am taking too long to explain
this dance because I haven't invested the time to
discover the best way to describe it.
A couple of notes to
myself:
A dance walk-thru is rarely the time
for a history lesson. [Although a rare short amusing
anecdote before the start of a walk-thru may occasionally be
forgiven.]
If
you come up with a really cool analogy -- for heaven's
sake, don't use it! [Teaching a ricochet hey in terms of
slices of pizza comes to mind.]
Chose the right word for the
occasion. Before a balance and petronella I say "make
a ring" not "make a circle" because if I
mention the word "circle" most dancers will start
moving [to the left!]
Do not teach to one couple or one
gender/role unless you identify them. "Swing your
neighbor below" only works for the actives. With luck
the inactives will translate, but they may well be looking
below for the neighbor *they* should be swinging.
"Ladies start a Mad Robin." leaves the gents
standing still when they should be moving.
Do not teach to individual dancers or
even sets. If, for example, you say "ladies
chain" and all but one set does it, do NOT simply
repeat "ladies chain". The ones who dutifully
followed your instructions the first time will do so again
leaving EVERYONE confused and in the wrong spot. Instead
say something like "you should now be on the side of
the set with your partner" then pause to let them sort
things out -- with possible help from the experienced
dancers around them.
Speaking of experienced
dancers:
Trust your dancers, but give them a
chance. Watch the entire room. If you see some ad-hoc
teaching going on, be quiet and let it happen. [up to a
point -- determining the point at which you step in and
reassert the fact that you are the caller comes from
experience.]
Have fun and make sure the dancers and
the band know you are having fun. If the dance is
executed perfectly by dancers who are annoyed or insulted,
it's a failure. If mild chaos ensues but (most)
everyone is enjoying muddling thru anyway, life is
good.
Dale
#yiv0502759201 #yiv0502759201 --
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6 Jan
6 Jan
12:57 a.m.
New subject: Callers who gab on too for far too long ....
Hey Chris: I have to take umbrage with you re: “..playing an instrument on stage whilst
calling is NOT professional” (I love that “whilst). I am a pro. Been doping this stuff
for 67 years. 65 of them playing while calling. Started with piano accordion, then with
fiddle, and now with melodeon. I make a living at it. I have to admit that the dances I
call are more family community oriented than computer originated contras of the day. But
the same attention is given to the floor no matter. And I am not the only one.
Jacqueline plays fiddle while calling. So does Fred Bruenig in Vermont. Andy Davis does
accordion. What about the Kaynors? And over in Maine? There are at least 8 fiddlers who
call while they play. Not professional? Give me a break. Never mind that it is the
backbone of tradition...when calling became acceptable, the job fell in the lap of the
fiddler. I have a book that devotes an entire chapter on how to play and call(prompt) at
the same time.
Haven’t seen much action on Trad Callers of late. Maybe the above will stir up some
“activity of age. activity of youth.”
Happy New Year. Dudley
WELCOME HERE AGAIN cd
Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra
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
4:48 a.m.
New subject: Callers who gab on too for far too long ....
I've run across caller/musicians; Dick Lee fiddle and guitar in the
"eastern" tradition, Dave Kaynor at Cornwall, CT.- He couldn't drop the
calling at acommunity dance level. Dick Leger would play a medley of singing call tunes
on guitar calling for the MWSD crowd....where the money was at the time.
Dudley plays through the walk through - so you never know when the walk though is over and
the dance begins - Oh yeah...there was no walk through!
Bob
From: "jdlaufman(a)comcast.net [trad-dance-callers]"
<trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com>
To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January 5, 2017 7:57 PM
Subject: Re: [trad-dance-callers] Callers who gab on too for far too long ....
Hey Chris: I have to take umbrage with you re: “..playing an instrument on stage
whilst calling is NOT professional” (I love that “whilst). I am a pro. Been doping this
stuff for 67 years. 65 of them playing while calling. Started with piano accordion, then
with fiddle, and now with melodeon. I make a living at it. I have to admit that the
dances I call are more family community oriented than computer originated contras of the
day. But the same attention is given to the floor no matter. And I am not the only one.
Jacqueline plays fiddle while calling. So does Fred Bruenig in Vermont. Andy Davis does
accordion. What about the Kaynors? And over in Maine? There are at least 8 fiddlers who
call while they play. Not professional? Give me a break. Never mind that it is the
backbone of tradition...when calling became acceptable, the job fell in the lap of the
fiddler. I have a book that devotes an entire chapter on how to play and call(prompt) at
the same time. Haven’t seen much action on Trad Callers of late. Maybe the above will
stir up some “activity of age. activity of youth.” Happy New Year. Dudley WELCOME
HERE AGAIN cd
Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra
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 #yiv7602704048 #yiv7602704048 --
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trad-callers@lists.sharedweight.net
2 comments
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participants (3)
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Chris J Brady -
jdlaufman＠comcast.net -
Robert Livingston