Hi,
I am wondering if you have any dances for low numbers of dancers (perhaps 6
or less), when most or all of the dancers are beginners and adults. I am
also wondering if you have any dances (presumably different dances), that do
not require choosing a partner and are good openers for beginner adults.
Thanks as always to all,
Rickey Holt.
I can only speak with reference to calling at NEFFA, as I have never applied to DownEast. As some of you may know that Linda Leslie is NEFFA's program chair, I will note that the program chair does not select performers for contra sessions.
Regarding NEFFA 2007, the following notice is now posted at http://neffa.org/perf_app.html - The Program Committee is not prepared to take your application at this time, since it is too late to apply for this year's NEFFA Festival. Please note that the application to perform is always available during the month of September, with a deadline in October. If you'd like to get an e-mail notice of application availability, send a blank e-mail to NEFFA_Performers-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com
So you can note on your calendar that September is a good time to check the NEFFA web site, and also arrange for a notice to pop up in your e-mail.
The NEFFA application invites you to come up with a briefly-described theme for your session, with a title of 20 characters or less. IMO, use your own judgment as to how important the theme is. If you are offering a concept that's really meaningful to you, don't be afraid to describe it. If what you really want to do is just call some hot contras, then IMO I wouldn't go overboard on the theme.
Unlike Northwest Folklife, callers and bands apply SEPARATELY to the New England Folk Festival. And I believe that this is a very good thing for beginning callers who hope to have a chance at getting onstage. This mix-and-match policy gives a fresh perspective for experienced performers, and can be an eye-opening experience for newcomers who may get to work with seasoned veterans. I will never forget calling at NEFFA with Northern Spy, a band that has worked with caller David Millstone for 25 years. And where was David during this session? Out on the floor, happily dancing to the music of his own band. NEFFA's selection process made that wonderful hour possible for me.
For what it's worth, the first year I successfully applied I asked for a "Festival Orchestra" slot, which means that instead of calling a themed, hour-long session I called two dances in the Main Hall with the assembled orchestra and then got off the stage as the next Festival Orchestra caller had a turn. IMO, the key here (as well as in submitting a session proposal) is to choose dances that you know by heart, can teach well, fully believe in, and love to share with a crowd. You don't want to have second thoughts as you approach the microphone.
If you're wondering why performer applications are required so far in advance of a festival, note that NEFFA may have 1700 performers, many of whom perform in multiple sessions (perhaps performing alone, and with a participatory dance group, and also with a concert performance group!). You can't doublebook a performer (or larger groups to which she may belong), you have to give her time to move from one venue to another, plus a bunch of other scheduling etceteras that would drive me loony to contemplate further. How scheduling was done in the days before computers is beyond me.
--
Robert Jon Golder
164 Maxfield St
New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 999-2486
Dear Caller, Musician or Sound Person
A need for your talents is opening up with the re-starting of the dance in
Deerfield, NH. We are writing to see if you, or any of those you call or
play dances with, are available on a first Saturday sometime between
November 2011 and May 2012. We are attempting to restart a local dance that
the late Marianne Taylor started close to twenty years ago and that has
continued since. The dance is special to us because of her tremendous and
varied contribution to the dance community, and because of its special local
character. For the love of the dance and in honor of the memory of Marianne
Taylor.
Contact Rickey Holt: holt.e(a)comcast.net ASAP
Cheers, Rickey Holt, Peter Thompson and Sarah Mason, New Hampshire.
So Amy, in the first photo, which shows the whole camp, the word "Tribe" is visible
in the desert. Why is the "e" backwards? Dyslexic burners, or Something Of Significance?
David (former elementary school teacher) Millstone
The post on walk-throughs for new dancers got me thinking about
recruiting new dancers. This straddles dance caller and dance
organizer, but I'd like to hear people's responses.
I'm curious about people's experiences recruiting new dancers. I've
seen several dances that do a lower cost for first time dancers to try
to lower the barrier for entry. Has any group tried doing a coupon for
a discount when they come back a second time?
I feel like the venues for dances are usually such that folks don't
randomly wander in. If folks show up for a first time, they've decided
to come (or were brought). Does knowing there is a discount for first
timers help make them come? When there is a discount, how often do the
first timers know that coming in? I'm pondering the scenario where you
charge full price for the first time, when they've committed to coming
out, and then give them a coupon to come back at a discount price
their second time.
I know a lot of people who tried contra once and were hooked, and I've
seen people who try for a little bit and then never come back. Is it
worth trying to up the likelihood of a second experience, at what
fractional cost for the first? Or should the focus be on that first
experience, and making the barriers for entry as low as possible?
If a group has the resources, then it can just say that the first two
dances are cheaper, but I feel like giving someone a reminder,
business card sized, with the website to check for more information,
is a nice way of having them think about the dance at least once more.
Do callers doing one night gigs announce local dance options if they
know them? Or do you only talk about it with the folks who come up and
ask? Presumably if a caller has been brought in, the organizer of the
party knows the folks at the party and the local dance scene. Is it on
the caller or the organizer to spread information about other chances
to dance? And do you broadcast wide, or focus on the folks who seem
really in to it. I think culturally, at a societal level, we've lost
the sense that we can dance after our 20s at things besides weddings,
which is a real shame.
--
Luke Donev
http://www.lukedonev.com
Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com
Thanks for the clarification, JoLaine! This is exactly how I interpreted the concept in the first place: not an evil hazing but a good-natured game among dance-loving youth...another potentially effective vehicle like the "ants, pants" thing. This is the kind of fraternity I would have jumped at. Maybe it takes a younger guy like me to see all that, but I didn't think so.
I really like the idea of a fraternity built around social dancing rather than drinking, mischief and all the rest. In a way, I think many of us profound gypsies could say we have something of an adult fraternity, maybe making up for what we didn't have in our college experience (at least in my case).
I'm still laughing inside at the very idea of an old-school sadistic hazing-type frat taking any interest whatsoever in contra dancing. If they wanted to be evil about it, why not make them wear a skirt to a less friendly context...maybe a dance club. Then again, I could picture them getting bounced at the door, so maybe not.
Yes, folks, I'd say this is humor - not humiliation. Now the question is whether the idea of a contra fraternity might spread to other campuses...
-----Original Message-----
From: "JoLaine Jones-Pokorney" <jolaine(a)gmail.com>
First let it be said that the frat guy who came up with the idea thought the
pledges would find it fun, not humiliating. His idea was that they would
LIKE contra and want to keep coming. Why would it be humiliating to join in
a group where there are others dressed in the same way and doing the same
thing? Its not like asking a guy to wear a skirt to the mall or church.
In the conversation, there were lots of ideas thrown around. Perhaps none of
it will happen.
First let it be said that the frat guy who came up with the idea thought the
pledges would find it fun, not humiliating. His idea was that they would
LIKE contra and want to keep coming. Why would it be humiliating to join in
a group where there are others dressed in the same way and doing the same
thing? Its not like asking a guy to wear a skirt to the mall or church.
In the conversation, there were lots of ideas thrown around. Perhaps none of
it will happen.
JoLaine
We are a college town - Gainesville FL - and have had very few young people
until recently when a committed contra dancer moved here from SC to go to
school and came to dance with us. She started a club on campus and now we
have dances on campus as well as our regular dances and are having a good
turnout of all ages to all the dances.
It was a little slow at first. The on-campus dances would have more
"geezers" than young people, but as long as there were several young people,
that was enough to keep them interested and coming back. The thing that got
the most young people coming was the techno contra. We would always have
techno contra at the break with blacklight and mirror balls and glow-stick
bracelets, etc. Last month, they held their first all techno dance and had
100 people, many from other universities across the state.
The young folks are coming up with all kinds of great ideas now. One guy is
in a fraternity and they are going to require their new pledges to come to a
contra dance in a skirt.
We also have a young person who is becoming a really fine caller and also
young musicians. We try as often as is possible to get the young caller and
band for the campus dance. For the others, we are looking at the most
high-energy bands. One band plays a medley of Beatles tunes that is always
a hit. Others have electric guitars, or other electronic instruments that
interest the young people.
Early on, we talked about a flash-mob on campus, but all agreed that it
would be counter productive if all the flash mob participants were
"geezers." We might as well hang up a sign that said: "Demonstration of
what you wouldn't be caught DEAD doing this weekend!!!" If you're going to
do a flash-mob to attract young people, you must have young people doing it!
I love the "ants-pants-contra dance" idea! We'll use that on campus!
One thing that I am very pleased about is that our dances are now truly
inter-generational. We have children through seniors and everyone dances
with everyone.
--
JoLaine Jones-Pokorney
"We are as gods and might as well get good at it!"
- Stewart Brand
-----Original Message-----
Date: Thursday, September 22, 2011 12:41:25 am
To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
From: "Greg McKenzie" <grekenzie(a)gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Recruiting new dancers
Thank You Richard for this topic.
You did a great job of describing the situation. Word of mouth is key. All
of the other methods of "getting the word out" are ancillary at best and
should be regarded as serving to support the word of mouth effort. Flyers,
for example, are there to remind folks of what they heard from someone else
and substantiate the reference they have heard. This is one reason I think
flyers should be limited to only the vital information needed to
participate. Flyers work better when they do *not *attempt to persuade
anyone or tell them *why *they should attend. In a similar vein flyers
should also not attempt to describe or define the dance. Assume that the
reader has already heard about the dance from a friend or an acquaintance.
Using some reverse psychology is important. If the reader thinks the flyer
is "begging" for new participants it can be a turn off. In this respect
small dances might consider setting an exclusive tone in the sense that it
is a "best kept secret" rather than a poorly attended dance. I have seen
this work for small dances in our area. When dancers "discover" a small
dance and view it as a private secret other dancers become very interested.
Some dancers will keep the secret for fear that lots of new people will
destroy the "charm" of the small dance. This also works for newcomers.
You are absolutely correct about the role of young people. Here in Santa
Cruz, CA the area dance society has welcomed young people to become key
players in the dance community. Several are on the Board of Directors,
several are musicians at dances, and at least one is a caller.
I don't, by the way, view this process as one of "recruiting" new dancers.
I view it as a way of opening the dance events to the wider community. That
is a different perspective. If we view the dance as a community social
event the goal shifts from one of attempting to convert newcomers into dance
enthusiasts to one of simply opening the dance to a more diverse and
interesting community of participants. An effort to "convert" people or
"get them hooked" requires too much energy and is not consistent with the
explicit message that "all are welcome" and "no experience is needed."
- Greg McKenzie
On Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 8:21 PM, Richard Hart <rich(a)harts.mv.com> wrote:
> Luke,
>
> While looking through old email messages, I found your query about new
> dancers and the thread of responses. I'd never read them until now (think I
> was away then), so forgive me my considerable delay in responding. I attend
> and call a number of dances in New Hampshire, and a few in Mass. and VT, as
> well. Some are fairly small, while others are much larger. Here are a few of
> my observations on this subject of attracting new dancers.
>
> 1. I have often asked new dancers how they heard about the dance and came
> to try it out. At least 95% of the time, the new dancers say that they came
> with a friend who recommended it to them. Most of the rest were existing
> da
