This is very interesting.
Martha writes:
>I don't believe that we humans exhibit community and civility by nature - it
>seems to be a learned thing.
>
>Left to our own devices, we get all clicquey and snobby - or turn into
>loners.
I think you have gone to the core of the matter with this
statement. This view of human nature is a common framing of the
situation, and it is such a basic view that it affects almost
everything the caller does, or does not do with regard to civility
and an attitude of inclusiveness.
I reject this view for two main reasons: First, I don't believe it
is true. I see humans as social animals who have evolved to be in
communities or tribes where each individual's own survival depends
upon cooperation and working together for common goals. It is our
nature to support one another and to see ourselves as a community.
Second, I reject the idea that snobbishness and selfish actions are
inherent in the human condition simply because it is not a useful
framing of the situation, particularly for a dance caller. I don't
see any value that can come from this framing beyond creating an
excuse for the caller to blame the dancers for any untoward actions
in the hall. This framing is only useful to absolve the caller of
responsibility, something that is at the core of the caller's job.
The caller takes responsibility for everything that happens in the hall.
Instead of making excuses for why we are not responsible why not
discuss what we can do to build a more inclusive spirit in the
hall? Callers have a lot of influence. They certainly have more
influence than a handful of dance leaders. How should we use our influence?
Martha also wrote:
"A kind and inclusive word dropped here and there
from the stage can work wonders..."
Now this is an idea that I agree with completely. The caller is in
view of everyone in the hall and can see everyone in the room. The
caller can project their voice throughout the hall, and this gives
the caller more influence than any other single person in the
room. Let's explore this idea more deeply. What words do you
use? When? what words to you avoid using?
I use single words such as "good," "excellent," "wonderful," or
"nice," during the walk-through and while calling. A light touch is
best. I usually use a couple of these words during each
walk-through. I also think a lot about what I don't say. I never,
for example, speak to small groups or individuals over the mike. If
people in a particular set are out of position I address the entire
room with my comments, and then only with positive comments. I even
try to avoid looking directly at the group that is out of position.
I am interested in what others do to influence the partnering process
and the level of civility and community spirit in the hall.
- Greg
**************
Martha wrote:
>I don't want to say "It's simple," but I'm going to have to. The grownups
>(aka Dance Leaders - board members, callers, major dance gypsies, thoughtful
>members of the community) have to start, by gentle precept and strong
>example, teaching the rest of the crowd how to behave.
>
>Here, we talk about it. Not a whole lot, but whenever there's a chance - we
>bring things up. Got Center Set Syndrome? Ask the Cool Kids to start
>dancing all over the floor. Someone complains about the new dancers?
>Someone else pipes up and says "Oh, I remember what it was like. I always
>dance with new people at the beginning of every dance - you find some real
>gems that way, and it's always a fun challenge." After a while you just
>develop a culture of inclusiveness.
>
>It wasn't always like that here. St Louis used to have a very bad reputation
>for snobbery - some people still won't come to our dance weekend because of
>it, even though it changed over ten years ago. We had to make an effort -
>and we have to keep making the effort. Even with an established culture of
>kindness, new people come in, and it takes a while for them to adjust - to
>believe that they will be accepted, and that we expect them to treat others
>well, too.
>
>I don't believe that we humans exhibit community and civility by nature - it
>seems to be a learned thing.
>
>Left to our own devices, we get all clicquey and snobby - or turn into
>loners.
>
>It can't be just the callers who turn a community around, even though we do
>have a major Bully Pulpit. A kind and inclusive word dropped here and there
>from the stage can work wonders in reminding people why we chose contra
>dance over all those other dance forms. But we can't get all moralistic on
>stage without risking losing what influence we have.
>
>My suggestion to us as callers? Start talking to the Leadership. If they
>don't get it, use thoughtful discussion to try to get them to see the
>advantages. We can also lead by example, dance with everyone ourselves. What
>we do, others will too.
>
>M
>E
>
>On Sun, Jan 30, 2011 at 11:52 AM, Greg McKenzie <grekenzie(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > Bob Green wrote:
> >
> >> In some communities, a different approach is taken - to help avoid
> >> breakdowns while switching dances on the fly, trying to see that less
> >> experienced/skilled dancers have a partner the can give them a little help
> >> along on the way. I favor this approach as I believe it tends to make the
> >> overall dance experience better.
> >>
> >
> > I would be very interested in any techniques or strategies you, as the
> > caller, would use to achieve this behavior: "...trying to see that less
> > experienced/skilled dancers have a partner the can give them a little help
> > along on the way." I am particularly interested in what callers do to
> > encourage more generous partnering behaviors in a medley. How do you
> > achieve that "We're all in this together," sentiment that Larry Jennings
> > speaks of?
> >
> >
> > - Greg
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Callers mailing list
> > Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
> >
>
>
>
>--
>For the good are always the merry,
>Save by an evil chance,
>And the merry love the fiddle
>And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats
>_______________________________________________
>Callers mailing list
>Callers(a)sharedweight.net
>http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
That's by Bob Isaacs, Princeton Petronellas. The first allemande left is with
partner, the second one is with neighbor. Very smooth dance.
David Millstone
Bob Green wrote:
>In some communities, a different approach is taken - to help avoid
>breakdowns while switching dances on the fly, trying to see that less
>experienced/skilled dancers have a partner the can give them a little help
>along on the way. I favor this approach as I believe it tends to make the
>overall dance experience better.
I would be very interested in any techniques or strategies you, as
the caller, would use to achieve this behavior: "...trying to see
that less experienced/skilled dancers have a partner the can give
them a little help along on the way." I am particularly interested
in what callers do to encourage more generous partnering behaviors in
a medley. How do you achieve that "We're all in this together,"
sentiment that Larry Jennings speaks of?
- Greg
I think Parker is planning to do a 1-caller medley, rather than a
multi-caller NEFFA-style medley. I do this at perhaps half the dances I
call, so I can share what I know.
Guidelines for 1-caller medleys:
1. Calling 3 dances seems to work the best here, and doing 2 dances is
okay too.
2. Choose straightforward dances. You **might** walk through the first
dance, but the rest will be no-walkthrough. Save any tricky stuff for
after you have mastered the basics of doing medleys, and only if you're
sure the experience level of the dancers is appropriate.
3. Pay attention to how the dances flow when transitioning from one
dance to another. Just for example, **avoid** having a dance the ends
with a star left followed by a dance that starts with a
neighbor-allemande-left.
4. Let the band know ahead of time that you plan to do a medley. It
would be great to show the band the dances several days in advance --
but usually I will mention to the band shortly before the start of the
dance that I plan to call a 3-dance medley later on. Perhaps at the
break I'll offer to show them the medley dances, and then actually do
the medley shortly before the end of the evening, often the
second-to-last dance. Since bands generally play 2 or 3-tune medleys
anyway, it's not a great stretch for them to put something together.
5. I usually clue the dancers in to the fact that we are doing a
medley. Between walking through the first dance and starting the dance,
I might say "we'll dance [name of dance] by [author of dance], and other
dances too, so be on your toes..." When I switch dances, I might say
"Listen up -- THIS TIME, do-si-do your neighbor".
6. Call each dance an **even** number of times, except that the final
dance gets called an **odd** number of times. This means that each new
dance starts with no couple out at the top. It's not the end of the
world if you don't do it this way, but it's a bit of a letdown for a
couple to come out at the top just as a new dance is starting.
7. (A consequence of #6...) Signalling the band for the tune switches
may seem counterintuitive for the caller -- when you want to signal two
more times through, at the start of B2, there should be a couple out at
the top. When you want to signal one more time through, there will not
be a couple out at the top. This is the opposite of how you are used to
signalling the very end of a dance! For the final dance in the medley,
the usual rule applies: signal 2 more times when nobody is out at the
top, and 1 more time when 1 couple is out at the top.
8. How many dances? I find that 6, 6, & 5 or 6, 6, & 7 time through
generally works for a 3-dance medley; probably 8&7 or 8&9 for 2 dances.
Adjust those numbers if the lines are unusually short or long.
9. Keeping count. With my hand inconspicuously down at my side, I hold
out 1 finger the first time through a dance, 2 fingers the 2nd time
through, etc., to keep track. When it's the 4th time through, I know to
signal the band "2 more" at the start of the B2. There should be a
couple out at the top when I do this, and that is a little error-check I
do on myself.
And finally, 10, The surprise medley trick I learned from Beau Farmer:
Sometimes I regret choosing a certain dance after it has already started
-- maybe I didn't notice before how similar it is to another recent
dance in the program, or (as happened to me just last week) I
inadvertently chose 2 consecutive dances without a neighbor swing. If
you can think of another dance that starts the same way (for example, a
neighbor balance and swing), then just listen for when the band switches
tunes. When that happens, start calling the other dance. It's a
surprise medley!
Hope that helps,
Mark
> Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 09:39:31 -0800
> From: PARKER MANN<M_P_Mann(a)shaw.ca>
> To: "Shared Weight, Callers"<callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: [Callers] Calling medleys for the first time
> Message-ID:<fb8eb41b6a27.4d19b053(a)shaw.ca>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
> I
> want to try calling a dance medley in our contra group in 2011. ?As
> this will be new for me and all of our dancers I?m writing for advice.
> ?Specifically:
> What are some sets of dance that work well as medleys?
> What coordination should you do with the band ahead of time?
> What recommendations do you have for instructions during the walk through?
> Anything else (other than screwing my courage to the sticking point?)
> Thanks.
I'm assuming the word has already gone out, but if it hasn't: Mary
DeRosier's house was gutted by a fire yesterday.
All people are ok, but -- if you know her -- you'll know it's pretty safe to
assume that there's been a huge loss of a lifetime's worth of
caller/musician/folk-radio-show-host resources. Does anyone out there have
more specific information? I've heard there's a CD drive starting up to help
her replace music.
<sigh>
A hard thing. What can we fellow callers do to soften it?
-Amy
thanks for all the great suggestions, and associated details, that all have provided so far (on and off-list). happy to hear more suggestions, if anyone has them.
to answer alan's question, when she made the query, my friend wrote something like "are there any contra-dances that have lyrics that would lend themselves to arrangement?" i was guessing she was imagining a choral piece that might be performed with a demo group of dancers doing the dance while it was sung. but who knows!
-chrissy fowler
beautifully snowy belfast maine
Alan responded to Chrissy's call,
"The vast majority of modern contra dances don't have particular tunes
associated with them, although certainly some of the tunes which get used for
contra have lyrics."
Along with the commonly played Southern tunes with lyrics that Jeff mentioned,
I'll add a couple of trad Irish:
Little Beggarman
Mairi's Wedding
Once in awhile, if the band agrees, I'll sing along with such tunes for a little
bit after the dancers are launched. I did it at the No Snow Ball last year; a
couple surprise rounds of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. :-p It went over
well.
And a few years ago at Folklife, the band did medleys of Beatles songs that had
the whole hall singing along - heap big fun.
I'm glad you started this thread, Chrissy, because it'd be fun to have more
contra singing.
Tina
Does anyone know the name of the author and correct title for this square?
H/S F&B
H/S Pass thru, separate, around 2 lines at the S/H
F8 8Back, Forward again, box the gnat
outsides make an arch, insides dive, go around one form lines at the H/S
F8 8Back, Forward again, box the gnat
outsides make an arch, insides dive, go around one form lines at the S/H
F8 8Back, Forward again, box the gnat
outsides make an arch, insides dive, go around one form lines at the H/S
F8 8Back, Forward again, box the gnat
outsides make an arch, insides dive, swing partner at home.
