[Callers] ACK! First time calling night of *squares* -- any last minute advice?

[Neal Schlein via Callers]

John--it sounds to me like successive R&L Grands with a full partner
allemande stuck into the middle of each.  Could also be a partner 2-hand
turn, either interpretation works.


As Woody said, with a couple of other notes here:

*Music*

Talk to your band.  Arrange a cut signal to go out at the end of the
current phrase.  Also, arrange a signal in case you are musically lost and
need to know where the end of the tune is--like, patting your head is a
request for them say A1/2 or B1/2 at the top of the phrase.  Still, that
doesn't ultimately matter until the very end.   At the end of the dance, if
you're lost, have the dancers circle (I don't advise promenade or R&LG,
because those both have end points that require attention) and ask the band
to cue you when the top/bottom of the second A or B arrives.

Embrace the music style.  It's easier to call cross-phrase to southern
style music, less traumatic to everyone if the band has to end suddenly,
and also much easier to lose your place in the music.  To me, New England
squares are less satisfying to this kind of music.

More highly structured, New-England derived music is less-suited to western
or southern style squares, but harder to lose your place in and the calling
is like contra: ahead of the phrase.  It is also more difficult to make
dancing cross-phrase satisfying, which then becomes "off phrase."  Go with
dances and 8 count figures that take advantage of the more pronounced
measure.

*Calling*

Have your squares MEMORIZED.  A rhymed script will help with memorization
and delivery (caveat: don't be a slave to it!)
Calling from a card isn't great for contras, but for squares it is a very
bad idea.  You need to be able to make choreography changes on the fly,
adjust timing on the fly, and watch those dancers like a hawk.  You also
have to keep calling and not make mistakes.  If you are reading from a card
you can't do any of that, because part of not making mistakes is staying
with the dancers if something goes wrong.  Also, it will sound wrong if you
are reading.  Don't ask me how, but it does.

Remember that in a square, an "error" is not a problem unless you make it
one!  There's no strict timing, no strict choreography, and part of the fun
of squares is the unpredictability.  If you teach it with an extra figure
thrown in, that's fine--they'll never know so long as it doesn't affect the
order of couples.  If it does affect the order, just do it again and the
problem should resolve.  If you toss in a figure they aren't expecting,
it's not an error but a way of checking who is listening.


Most of all: Smile and have fun!
Neal


Neal Schlein
Youth Services Librarian, Mahomet Public Library


Currently reading: *The Different Girl* by Gordon Dahlquist
Currently learning: How to set up an automated email system.

On Tue, Feb 7, 2017 at 10:39 AM, John Sweeney via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Hi Meg,
>
>               Or you may have seen the Grand Chain, sorry Grand Right &
> Left for you Americans, without the Allemande in other dance styles.
> English ceilidh dances don’t bother with the Allemande.  And of course it
> occurred in 1650 dances as well.  The earliest record I know of is in the
> square dance Murry, from before Playford: http://contrafusion.co.uk/
> lovelace.htm#Murry:
>
>
>
> “They all standing ni their places, they shall goe round apac a kind of
> hay only of giving of hands, as they goe unto every one, both men and
> woemen, and when they shall meete with their own again, sthey shall turne
> quite round both of them together, and meting any other but their owne,
> they shall turne but halfe round, and soe after this manner, they shall goe
> round as often as they please, the tune is played akording :4: or 5: goings
> round”
>
>
>
>               That looks like a Grand Right & Left to me, with no
> Allemande!
>
>
>
>             Happy dancing,
>
>                    John
>
>
>
> John Sweeney, Dancer, England   john at modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802
> 940 574
>
> http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events
> & DVDs
>
> http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Meg Dedolph [mailto:meg.dedolph at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* 07 February 2017 13:21
> *To:* John Sweeney <john at modernjive.com>; callers at lists.sharedweight.net
> *Subject:* Re: [Callers] ACK! First time calling night of *squares* --
> any last minute advice?
>
>
>
> Ha! I read that book, but I thought I came up with that trick on my own.
> Maybe I remembered it long after I read it and thought I'd invented it. :)
> Meg
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers at lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sharedweight.net/pipermail/callers-sharedweight.net/attachments/20170207/169afa4b/attachment.htm>