A brief response to Greg, and then I'm turning my attention elsewhere... lots
of other things to do!
> Social engineering is at the heart of what a contra dance caller does.
At the heart? C'mon, Greg. Really? Choosing an appropriate selection and logical
sequence of dances? Is that social engineering? Teaching clearly, with enthusiasm
and warmth? Working with the musicians?
Using your terms, I'd encourage you to reconsider the frame in which you're viewing
an evening of dance. If indeed you see yourself as a social engineer, that can
lead to some poor decisions, IMHO. I think of the dance as a party, with the caller
in charge because that's the way everyone agrees things will work well.
Bruce Hamilton says it best. Here's an excerpt from his booklet, "Notes on Teaching
Country Dance" published by CDSS and available from that organization. Highly
recommended.
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
====
Country dancing needs a single individual making dozens of decisions every minute--Which
dance do we do next? Which version? Does it need another walkthrough? Are all
the sets long enough? Is that tempo too slow? etc. It's usually not as important
which answer gets chosen as that some answer is chosen. Otherwise things stall,
and people don't get to dance.
It is crucial to understand this: people accede to your authority be cause that's
the shortest way for them to get to dance. Generally speak ing, they do what you
say, not out of respect for your experience, because they think you know more
than they do, because you have a big voice, because it's a habit they picked up
in school, or anything like that. They do what you say out of enlightened self-interest.
Every one of those decisions mentioned above could be made democratically, but
then we'd do less dancing. For every decision made there is some dancer who wanted
a different choice; but if she speaks out to dissuade you, someone else will speak
up for a different choice, and while we get that resolved we're not dancing.
So this is a textbook example of government by the consent of the governed.
======
Regarding David Millstone's comments: Same here on all of the below.
Also, while I won't speak for them, I can imagine many other well-respected callers besides David have similar thoughts on the topic, including at least 4 I can think of off the top of my head.
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, Maine
> I include a mixer at nearly all
> of my home dances, typically the third dance of the evening.
>
> I love mixers, as a dancer. It's an opportunity to see who's in the hall. It's
> a chance to dance, briefly, with folks I don't know.
>
> And as a caller, I love calling them, to provide all of those opportunities, and
> for other reasons. I don't run most mixers for very long, perhaps 8-10 times,
> depending on the dance. That means that I'm adding one more dance into the mix,
> inthe course of which everyone is getting that many opportunities to dance with
> a different partner. Mixers also come in many shapes: big circle, Sicilian circle,
> scatter promenades, three person lines, and so on. That also allows me to vary
> the look and feel of the floor so that it's not all contra contra contra, and
> since the dance floor is part of life, I do believe that variety adds spice.
>
> David Millstone
> Lebanon, NH
>
>Message: 1
>Date: 08 Oct 2011 09:10:27 -0400
>From: David.Millstone(a)VALLEY.NET (David Millstone)
>To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
>Subject: Re: [Callers] The Beginners' Lesson Tips?
>Message-ID: <147276629(a)retriever.VALLEY.NET>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
>Greg wrote: "Mixers are often used to force integration of the dance hall."
>
>I'm glad that he included the "often" qualifier, thereby leaving open the
>possibility
>that not every caller who chooses a mixer is condemned to the 9th circle of
>hell.
I completely, totally, utterly, absolutely agree with every single thing
David Millstone wrote in his response. It's a rare event when I don't call a
mixer in my dance programs. And I love dancing a mixer. They are fun!
Just my 2 Canadian cents. I believe now worth less than American cents
again...
Bev
Greg wrote: "Mixers are often used to force integration of the dance hall."
I'm glad that he included the "often" qualifier, thereby leaving open the possibility
that not every caller who chooses a mixer is condemned to the 9th circle of hell.
Following the lead of my mentor, Ted Sannella, I include a mixer at nearly all
of my home dances, typically the third dance of the evening. That was Ted's custom,
and Tony Parkes, another great caller, once explained that the third dance is
late enough to catch the late arrivals but early enough to help set the stage
for the evening.
I love mixers, as a dancer. It's an opportunity to see who's in the hall. It's
a chance to dance, briefly, with folks I don't know. Oh, here's a face I don't
recognize, but based on her swing, it's clear that she's a dancer who's been on
the floor for some time... Aha, this is someone brand new, good smile but unsteady
on her feet, good person to ask for a dance... yippee! she's here tonight! gotta
make sure to get her for a partner if there's a square caller since I remember
that she loves squares... and so on.
And as a caller, I love calling them, to provide all of those opportunities, and
for other reasons. I don't run most mixers for very long, perhaps 8-10 times,
depending on the dance. That means that I'm adding one more dance into the mix,
inthe course of which everyone is getting that many opportunities to dance with
a different partner. Mixers also come in many shapes: big circle, Sicilian circle,
scatter promenades, three person lines, and so on. That also allows me to vary
the look and feel of the floor so that it's not all contra contra contra, and
since the dance floor is part of life, I do believe that variety adds spice.
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
P.S. An interesting cultural sidenote: Greg's negative feelings about mixers are
based on them being used as a form of social engineering, to get folks to partner
up with people with whom they wouldn't normally. I've had the opportunity to call
often in Denmark and in the Czech Republic, and there you can end a mixer and
ask people to take that partner to line up for the next dance and that's okay,
an accepted part of what people will cheerfully do. In Prague, for example, they
usually dance squares without break figures, in part to language issues-- a steady
stream of unexpected calls in a foreign language can be daunting But they'll run
a partner-changing square five or more times, and at the end they'll take that
final partner for the next dance. It's simply not a big issue. They're there to
have fun, and it's not as important as it seems to be with hard-core contra dancers
in the US that they have The Right Partner for a swing. It's a refreshing laid-back
alternative to what sometimes is an overly-intense partnered scene at our dances
in the US.
Has anyone found a good way to juggle the beginners' lesson with the sound check? When do you start each of them so they don't interfere with each other?
What is working for you?
Jill Allen
My wireless headset microphone died.
I had an audio-Technica 600 series (ATW-601H which is the headworn
Microphone system) and used it for 7-8 years. It was very reliable until this
past month when I started getting intermittent connections on the receiver. I
think it's the antenna from the transmitter.
Before I replace the unit, I was wondering which brand other folks use and
if you have a strong preference?
Donna Hunt
"Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should
dance." -unknown
I don't like relying on the "experienced dancers" to teach a buzz-step
swing as I know some of them have bad habits and I would like to
minimize how much of that is passed on :-)
I explain there are three parts:
- the beginning - negotiating how to get into a comfortable position,
especially with a preceding balance
- the middle - the swing itself - focusing on being gentle and caring
about your partner - how to avoid dizziness
- the end - absolutely critical - this is where it all goes wrong and
the lady ends up on the left - describe the position as an arrow-head,
with the joined hands being the point and aim the arrowhead in the
direction the caller calls - this is also the chance to explain the
terms up, down and across - then open out and keep in contact (another
element that beginners need to be taught - stay in contact with as many
people as possible as often as possible)
If time is short at the very least I cover: being gentle, avoiding
dizziness and finishing with the lady on the right.
A good way to practice the swing is to make a big circle, put on some
music and call:
Into the middle and back
Swing your Neighbour
Into the middle and back
Swing your Neighbour
.
This give new dancers a chance to have lots of swings with different
people and get used to finishing on the right side and at the right
time, but without any pressure - they can recover from faults on the
"into the middle" - which you can call multiple times if necessary until
they are ready for the next swing.
More details at http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/Contra.html#swinging
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 &
07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
The dance is easily located online in the syllabi of the Ralph Page Dance Legacy
Weekend, called in 2003 by Linda Leslie. I highly recommend both of Ted Sannella's
collections of dances.
David Millstone
Lebanon, NH
Cabot School Mixer
By Ted Sannella (March 6, 1981)
published in Swing the Next
Formation: Circle mixer
A1 Circle right
All go into the center and back
A2 Circle left
Allemande right your corner, allemande left your partner
B1 Do-si-do your corner and swing
B2 Promenade
As Richard said, it helps to focus on key concepts, rather than particular
calls. There's a lot of great suggestions already in response to your query.
I find it useful to organize the session around an outline, based on the
styles of a couple callers who mentored me.
1. Have the dancers find a 'partner' and form a circle. Have the band, even
just the fiddler, play a clearly-phrased tune - typically a jig. Have
dancers circle L, circle R - internalize the feel of simply walking to the
music, and feeling the eight-bar phrase.
(Sometimes i teach the swing here, while the dancers are still in a circle,
so two more experienced dancers can demo it in the center. This depends on
how many beginners versus experienced dancers i have.)
2. I have the "gents" role face out. Emphasizing the elbows-down hand and
arm position, i have them lean back, keeping the tension in their arms: this
is shared weight. Ok, straighten up. Drop left hands and allemande R. Now
allemande L.
3. Now, you've got your left hands joined. Join your right hands behind the
lady's back.... promenade position. I have them promenade around the ring,
(can have them reverse direction to teach the courtesy turn) and then
promenade up to face the band. Turn to face that 'partner'. Voila: contra
sets.
>From here, it's pretty simple to teach hands-four, 1's and 2's, actives
cross, ladies chain (remember that promenade position? here's a courtesy
turn!) etc cetera. The truly fundamental concepts, though, like weight
sharing, dance roles, feeling the music - are already established and easy
to build on, and starting with the circle formation helps bring everyone in
and allows you to interact with them more intimately and demo things with
ease.
As JD said, don't assume a move (e.g. a hey) is too 'difficult' for
beginners. Most moves can be done easily if you find the right reference
points and simple language to talk the dancers through them. I prefer to
emphasize the concept of passing one shoulder with one dance role, and the
opposite shoulder with the other; sneaking in a half-hey early in the
evening and a full hey a couple dances later.
Simple, positive.... amen.
Don't forget that as the caller, you have a unique possibility to facilitate
the learning curve, especially if the 'regulars' are cliquey. Ways to do
that? After a few dances, have the noobs all raise their hands. Praise them,
say they're doing great, and invite a round of applause. Sometimes i sneak
in the suggestion that experienced dancers ask them to dance.
Above all, though: have fun!!! If you're having fun, chances are the dancers
will be having fun too.
David "Tavi" Merrill
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.
