Hi,
I'm new to the list - met Chris at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend and
he told me about this list (gave me the card he made for the site).
I have to echo much of what's been said about the RPDLW. Besides being a lot
of fun, the weekend is a real resource for callers who are learning the art.
Since I've started calling, I don't get to dance as much. At RPDLW I get to
dance with people who really know and love dancing. I always enjoy the
variety of dances - easy to complex, old favorites to new compositions, not
to mention the variety of forms (duples, triples, squares, circles - and
almost always a few for odd numbers of couples). I get to hear a whole
variety of callers. I get to go to really informative calling workshops. I
get to talk with other callers - both new and experienced. And one real
treat is that they put out a syllabus including all the dances (as called)
and the names of the tunes that were played with them - so I don't have to
miss out on getting a partner for the next dance because I'm busy scribbling
something down that I liked that we just finished dancing.
I took the opportunity to call at the open mic last year. Since the dances I
normally call for have a high percentage of beginners, I took the
opportunity to call a dance that I love but is more complex than I would
dare to call at my home dances. Afterwards I got some really good
encouragements and tips for improvement from David Millstone (my calling was
a little late in a few places I hadn't even noticed! I notice it more easily
now).
I look forward to participating in this list discussion.
-cynthia
Due to other commitments, I was unable to attend the full weekend.
However, I was able to attend the callers workshops and the open mic. I
also found time to talk to other callers and do some networking. Quite a
few of the callers I talked to had students who they thought would be
interested in the list, so I expect that we will have some new members
soon (beside the recent additions: Welcome Jeremy, Karen and Lynn). I
actually made up some business cards with the website address on them to
hand out. I attached a picture of it. I also put a small stack of them
on the flyer table before I left.
Tony's workshop was titled "Calling Squares Without Fear". I don't think
that I'll be interested in calling squares for a little while, but Tony
had some good things to say about calling in general. He talked about
the differences in a caller's rhythm (keeping the beat), timing (giving
the dancers enough time to do the call) and phrasing (prompting so the
dancers do the moves on the musical phrase) and how each could be good
or bad independently. He had an audio cassette that had examples of each
problem and asked us to identify each callers issue.
He also talked about preparing to call a square in the same way that you
prepare for a contra. Write the figure or break on a card, write the
words and phrasing down and practice calling it to recorded music. He
also suggested purchasing old recordings from the 50s of different
callers (on eBay) and listening to them to hear what they do well and
what they don't so you can learn what you want to include and listen for
in your own calling.
Mary's workshop was titled "Roots and Branches of Community Dance" and
was generally a discussion about organizing a dance and how to create
the environment that you want. There was a tangent discussion at one
point about our duty as an itinerant caller to serve and support the
vision that the organizer has for the dance and work creatively in that
framework when we program an evening.
During the discussion about community dances, we all introduced
ourselves and talked about our background. When I expressed an interest
in finding places to practice calling, I was told again about the Nelson
dance on Monday nights. Lisa Sieverts said that she offers to put people
up who travel to come to the dance. She asks for some warning, but said
that some people just let her know at the dance. Her e-mail is:
lisa(a)lisasieverts.com and her website is
http://www.lisasieverts.com/contra . Lisa expressed an interest in
joining the group along with her mentees. I was also told that the
fourth Friday in Milford, NH is an open mic. Milford is significantly
closer to the Boston area (and me!).
Another good tip that I picked up from the workshop was from a
discussion about communication between callers and musicians. Beth
Parkes talked about what a caller can do to learn about the music and
develop the lingo to talk to musicians. First, listen to music! Get as
many CD's and learn the tune names and listen for what you like and
write down your favorites. Talk with the musicians that you are going to
work with. Ask them to play tunes in their repertoire and describe the
"flavor" of the tune (smooth, bouncy, sultry, etc.), not just the
technical terminology (jig, reel, French-Canadian, etc.). There was also
a suggestion to have a metronome to provide a reference for tempo.
I can't express enough the importance of networking with callers and
organizers and putting yourself out there as an available caller. There
was a couple at the workshop who were talking about starting a dance in
Exeter, NH and were looking for people to call. He has the website and
may or may not contact the list. I ate lunch on Saturday with Lynn
Ackerman, David Millstone, his wife and his student and picked up a lot
of information and advice. David recommended a book called Chimes of
Dunkirk from the New England Dancing Masters Productions as a good
resource for easy dances for groups with a high percentage of beginners.
It has an accompanying DVD and CD (I only picked up the DVD). I met Lisa
Sieverts and several other callers there, too.
The best part of all of it, though, was the feeling of connection to the
tradition and history of traditional dancing. We were doing dances that
were popular 30-40 years ago and are still done in certain areas. We
were talking to callers who learned under the people who helped make
this a popular dance form again. Most of all, for me, was the reminder
that the modern, urban contra dancing that I do is not the only game in
town. It was a much needed reminder that the older forms are still out
there and I need to learn them to be able to call any dance gig that I
am offered (and accept) and succeed as a caller. The sad part of the
modern contra dance scene is that it is not as supportive of the new
caller in it's lack of tolerance for poor calling. The best
opportunities for learning are in the smaller, community dances where
the emphasis is on fun and interesting figures, not on partner swings
and duple minor formations. My eyes were also opened to the opportunity
and challenge in calling private parties. They require a totally
different repertoire and teaching skill set, but also pay more and are
potentially more satisfying. I don't know what I am going to do with
this information, but I am going to try and prepare myself to take on
whatever types of gigs that come my way.
I signed up for the open mic. on Sunday (today) and was rewarded with
the 7th slot out of 8 during the session. I signed up to call Mary Cay's
Reel by David Kaynor. One of my favorite dances and one that I hadn't
called yet. The crowd was very supportive and the band accommodating (I
am a little ashamed that the only person I knew in the band was Peter
Barnes. The others are probably pretty famous musicians that I should
know). Everything went smoothly, and I was treated to a personal
critique from Tony Parkes. He did a great job of listing the things that
I did well as well as the things that I could improve on. Some of the
things he liked were my clarity, my concise and efficient teaching, and
the fact that I asked the dancers to get into position before the four
potatoes were played. He noted that this was a philosophy of Larry
Jennings that asking the dancers to prepare for the next move was a
responsibility of the caller. My points for improvement mostly had to do
with energy, enthusiasm and confidence. He suggested that I needed to
express my excitement and love of the dance more (this will make up for
a lackluster band, though hardly necessary with the musicians at RPLW).
He also commented on my hesitancy in my calling. There was a note of
"asking" instead of "telling" the dancers what to do. He noted that
stage fright and excitement involved the exact same physical reaction.
The trick is to channel the energy from nervousness into the calling
instead of trying to suppress it. The last note had to do with putting
more of the beat and rhythm into my voice. He talked about it in terms
of letting the dancers know that I'm working with the music instead of
working against it. He suggested that I practice calling into a tape
recorder and listening to what I do right and wrong. He called the tape
recorder the "callers friend" and indicated that we might hate it
sometimes, but it's our friend, too. It was a very nice conversation and
Tony was very supportive. He indicated that everything I did fell into
the "acceptable" range for a caller, but that these things could be
improved to make me better.
Whew. I think that covers my experiences at Ralph Page. I would be
interested in hearing about other people's experiences, too.
Happy calling,
Chris
This is Jeremy Korr from Los Angeles, bringing the West Coast into the
conversation. I echo everything Bob writes about the Ralph Page weekend. But
Bob is too modest in his comments below -- he forgets to mention that at
last year's Open Mike, he gave a clinic on calling triple-minors with his
precise and carefully-worded calling of Ted Sannella's wonderful "King of
the Keyboard."
Have a terrific time in Durham, for all who are going. I'm sidelined this
year (we're expecting a baby two days ago, who stubbornly hasn't arrived
yet), but hopefully Lynn Ackerson from the Bay Area will be there again to
represent California.
>From: Robert Golder <robertgolder(a)comcast.net>
In order
>to be considered for the Sunday Open Mike session, you'll be asked to write
>down the name and the formation of the dance you wish to call. If you've
>ever wanted to try calling one of the old triple-minor, proper contras
>(such
>as "British Sorrow," a nineteenth-century dance that Ralph Page
>rediscovered), this is the place to do it. Whatever you call, be well
>prepared! The dancers are friendly and patient, but you'll want to give
>them
>your best when you're on stage.
>----------------------------------------------------
Friends,
The SharedWeight mailing list is now a little more than three months
old. We're very happy with how things are working out and would like to
share the wealth. So go ahead and invite any caller or person who is
interested in calling to join the group.
Just direct them to our website for instructions on how to join:
http://www.sharedweight.net/
If they have any questions, have them e-mail us at the addresses below.
They can view the archives on the website if they're curious about the
content or message frequency.
Thank you!
Chris Weiler chris(a)sharedweight.net
Seth Seeger seth(a)sharedweight.net
Hello All,
I have come up with a preliminary program for my dance in East Sandwich
on December 18th. This turned out to be fairly difficult since I haven't
collected very many easy dances. I spent a lot of time with my nose in
"Give and Take" and the other books I have. The crowd will be fairly
unpredictable with regards to the balance of beginner and experienced
dancers since it is right before a holiday and people will be visiting
from out of town or looking for an excuse to escape their families.
I know that there are parts of the program that aren't optimal, but I
feel like there is a progression in teaching figures and a lack of
repetition (except for Long Lines early in the program, but I didn't
know how to get away from that). I have included a couple of moderately
more difficult dances that I can substitute in the program if I feel
like there are enough experienced people to carry them.
See the attached PDF file for the dance cards for this program. I have
made some minor changes to a couple of the dances to fit the program and
the crowd.
Marian's Delight (with mods)
La Bastringue
The Carousel
Forgotten Treasure
The Baby Rose
The Second Time Around (Alt: Mary Kay's Reel)
Judah Jig
-----
Waltz
-----
Break
-----
Hambo
-----
Midwest Folklore
Another Nice Combination (Alt: Chorus Jig)
Zoe and Me
Bertha's Landfall
Al's Safeway Produce (mod)
I would love to get feedback from people about what they think. Am I
being too ambitious in certain places?
Thank you!
Chris
I like your program, Chris. It gradually introduces moves. Maybe you could switch the Carousel with Forgotten
Treasures. I think the dancers (beginners) would be more successful at the Carousel having done two contras, one
having circle left 3/4 into a swing. Therefore the hey would be the only significant move to teach the new
people. I have a suggestion for callers. Before calling an evening's dance make a list of all of the contra
moves (like ladies chain, hey etc.) Then, besides each move list the frequency that each move will be used for
the entire evening. Swings will usually get the most frequency. Circle right may not occur at all. In the
program that Chris is going to use, there is almost a circle left in every dance (usually circle left 3/4). But
I wouldn't worry about this. The way the program becomes difficult and then gets easier toward the end is the
most important aspect of programming for me. I think I called an entire evening where all but one dance had
forward and back. The dancers had a good time. I think one dancer noticed.
The idea of listing moves and their frequency came from (I think) the Southern California Square Dancers Assoc.
Callers in this Assoc. decided to record an entire festival- multiple halls! They then went over those recordings
and listed the frequency that each call was used. Considering how many moves are fit in each dance, that was
quite an undertaking!!!!!! Western square dancers take lessons for a year before they graduate. This square
dance assoc. structured their year long lessons on this frequency, teaching the most called moves first. In
other words, the dancers practiced the more popular moves the mostest.
Tom
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> 1. Re: Dec. 18 program for E. Sandwich (Chris Weiler)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 23:27:50 -0500
> From: Chris Weiler <chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Dec. 18 program for E. Sandwich
> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Cc: amy.larkin(a)netzero.com
> Message-ID: <41BE6BC6.5090109(a)weirdtable.org>
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> Skipped content of type multipart/alternative
Hey everybody!
Does someone have the sequence for Esmerelda's Revenge by Beth Parkes?
It was suggested to me as a good dance for beginners. I've looked in my
reference books and on the Web, but no luck.
Thanks!
Chris
Hi! I received a request about what I ended up doing for my dance cards
and thought I would reply to the list.
I decided not to use a database program (although I have to admit that I
didn't try very hard to look for one). I would be interested in knowing
what program people are using and how they like it, though. I decided to
go for looks instead. I used MS PowerPoint to make slides and formatted
them the way I wanted to look at the card. You can see an example in the
attached PDF file.
First I'll talk about the dance card, then I'll talk about the Legend.
Most of the card is self-explanatory: title in the upper left, formation
and author on the upper right. Where you might not understand is at the
bottom edge: I have put (in notation) each of the non-universal moves
that appear in the dance. You can look at the legend card to see what
letter codes I used for each figure. This allows me to put the cards in
order on the table and do a quick scan for patterns (too many stars in a
row or too many contra corners in the evening). The notation in the
bottom center is also described on the legend card: It counts the types
of swings that appear in the dance. Again, this allows me to look for
patterns while I'm programming and to make sure I don't go too long
without a neighbor swing or if the dance is unequal.
The last code at the bottom is just a placeholder at this time. I know
that I want to sort the dances somehow later on, but right now I don't
know how I want to do it. It could be a code for Beginner or Advanced,
or it could be a code for a certain type of figure. I'll decide that later.
PowerPoint has a search utility, so I can use that when I'm looking for
a dance.
Hope this has helped!
Chris
