[Callers] When the dancers aren't paying attention

Wed Apr 22 19:48:51 PDT 2015

It's interesting that "shut-up" and "quiet down" mean the same. Michael Fuerst      802 N Broadway      Urbana IL 61801      217 239 5844 

     On Wednesday, April 22, 2015 8:59 PM, Erik Hoffman via Callers <callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

  On the question of paying attention:

 A while back, in one of these e-groups, someone pointed out that we contra dancers keep talking about "community." This post pointed out that we contra dancers go to a dance, and, often forsaking applause (yet another topic...), run off to find our next partner and line up for a dance. This posting compared that to country-western dance, or swing dance, where they would sit around a table and talk, get to know others through chatting, and not dance every dance, but have other social things happen. It got me to thinking:

 Often, after people have lined up, they talk with each other, their partner, their minor set, or other people around them. Often callers strive to get everyone to shut-up so they can start the dance. I've come to believe this time of conversation is the main time we get to know a little about each other and is thus a "community building time." 

 My practice now is to say into the mic in a regular talking voice, "Are you ready?" If the general banter keeps going on, I wait a couple beats, and say, again, "Are you ready?" After two to four times of asking the question, someone will say, "Yes!" Then another might do a loud, "Shhhh!" When people finally quiet down, I teach the dance. 

 ~erik hoffman
     oakland, ca

 On 8/4/2014 10:26 AM, barb kirchner via Callers wrote:

 #yiv9145554759 #yiv9145554759 --.yiv9145554759hmmessage P{margin:0px;padding:0px;}#yiv9145554759 body.yiv9145554759hmmessage{font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri;}#yiv9145554759  sometimes when dancers aren't paying attention, it's because there are too many other things going on in the hall. 
  sometimes it's the band warming up or sound checking, but i've seen all kinds of things going on - bake sales, people on their mobile devices, a group of beginners coming in who don't yet know dance etiquette, or maybe the dancers are having trouble hearing you.  sometimes musicians talk loudly behind the caller (i'm a musician and a caller) and it's hard to understand the caller because the chatter can be heard through mics or pick-ups. 
  you can't fix some of those things, but you can address retail events in the hall, cell phones, sound system, etc 
  are your experienced dancers modelling good dance etiquette?  are you teaching efficiently, or are you spending so much time talking that people lose interest? 
  sometimes, i just start the walkthru anyway.  as soon as people realize that most people are starting to swing, they get a little more interested :-)

 cheers, barb

 > Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2014 13:05:57 -0400
 > To: maia.mcc at gmail.com
 > CC: callers at sharedweight.net
 > Subject: Re: [Callers] When the dancers aren't paying attention
 > From: callers at lists.sharedweight.net
 > 
 > It depends why the dancers aren't paying attention. Are there lots of
 > experienced dancers, such that the walkthrough isn't really necessary?
 > Are they ignoring walkthroughs the first time through because they
 > know there will be a second one? Are they just having a lot of fun
 > with their friends and prioritizing that above listening to the
 > caller? How does the dance go once it starts?
 > 
 > A few strategies I might try:
 > 
 > * Not bother with the walkthroughs entirely. If the crowd is ignoring
 > the walkthroughs because as a whole they don't need them, then just
 > call the dance. This means only picking dances that can be called
 > no-walkthrough, but there are still a lot to choose from.
 > 
 > * Give the dancers a bit longer between dances before starting the
 > walkthrough. If they're chatting with neighbors and catching up, let
 > them do that for a bit. Then once you start the walkthrough go
 > quickly.
 > 
 > * Ask the band for rolling starts, where they play music under the
 > walkthrough. This makes it harder for people to talk and feels more
 > like dancing. You don't have time to explain complex things, so you
 > have to give that up, but it's much more forgiving than straight-up
 > no-walkthrough.
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > On Mon, Aug 4, 2014 at 11:08 AM, Maia McCormick via Callers
 > <callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
 > > At Falcon Ridge this weekend, I saw a couple of different styles of dealing
 > > with that frustrating state of affairs when 50%+ of the hall just isn't
 > > paying attention to the walk-through. I'm curious if you all have any
 > > particular strategies you employ here, thoughts on how to deal with this,
 > > how to get the attention of the hall, etc.
 > >
 > > In dance,
 > > Maia
 > >
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