Hey everyone,
I asked Bob Issac's if it was OK to share the materials that he gave me
from the callers workshop that he teaches and received permission to
share them. So attached to this e-mail are the Word documents. There is
the breakdown of "The Baby Rose" by David Kaynor that I called at
Pinewoods this summer. The Repertoire is pretty impressive. 50 basic
dances (Bob, of course, inserted a few of his own).
Enjoy,
Chris Weiler
P.S. I'm not sure if the list will allow attachments, so forgive me if
they don't go through. If it doesn't work, we'll put a link to them on
the website.
Hello =-
While dancing I have been able to call the figures in my head. It's a
challenge for me to remember the name and the choreographer. I enjoy
helping people that I can, when I can. Without being in their face. I
feel more confident in asking the callers (at the appropriate time)
what the name of a dance was. I find it a challenge for me still to
write the dance down while I sit out and watch. I like it. My technique
is to write the figures and then figure out where the A1, A2 and so on
go. Would love to have any helpful hints in this area.
I am still on the high that I had at Pinewoods. I am still very excited
and would love an opportunity to call for the practice with friends.
I just sat in on a seminar for two days this past weekend and was
reassured that contradancing is a WONDERFUL tool to use as a teacher
with children. The speaker kept talking about Peter and Mary Alice
Amidon as a resource. I am very interested in knowing any info on
giving a dance to a community at my school. The proposal was put for
Feb. I am thinking about it still. I have already danced a few of the
dances that would be taught to children. it seems ok.
Cheers
Jenna
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. callers: what are you guys up to? (Lisa Greenleaf)
> 2. Re: callers: what are you guys up to? (Seth Seeger)
> 3. Re: callers: what are you guys up to? (Chris Weiler)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 12:05:18 -0400
> From: Lisa Greenleaf <greeny(a)rcn.com>
> Subject: [Callers] callers: what are you guys up to?
> To: <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <BD901EA8.16C20%greeny(a)rcn.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> So you took Tom's class at Pinewoods, and now you're asking questions
> and
> going to dances with a different eye and ear. Have you been calling?
> Got
> any stories you want to share? What did you learn? What delighted
> you?
> What surprised you? Keep us posted!
>
> Lisa
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 15:48:25 -0400
> From: Seth Seeger <seth(a)seeger.ws>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] callers: what are you guys up to?
> To: <callers(a)sharedweight.net> <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <83A94CFA-1BBE-11D9-BD94-000A959CF174(a)seeger.ws>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>
> A couple things have happened to my dancing:
>
> I now pay more attention to the dances themselves and what in
> particular I may not like about a dance. I'm also listening very
> closely to the caller's walk through, looking for things I would have
> done differently or nice ways of explaining something that I may want
> to remember.
>
> During a dance however, I'm still able to get into my "zone" where I'm
> not thinking about the dance - just letting my body move with the
> music. If it's a dance that I want to write down, I have to really
> work at coming out of that zone so I can remember the dance. (If I
> just let my muscle memory handle it, I have a hard time recalling the
> details afterwards.)
>
> Writing down dances is an interesting task: If it's a dance I like,
> I'll repeat the moves to myself as I'm dancing it. In hopes that will
> help me write it down afterwards. (I've been carrying pen and paper in
> my pocket.) I usually have trouble remembering the name and author.
> I've emailed the callers afterwards asking for clarifications on ones
> I'm not sure about.
>
> As for calling, I've got a gig on Nov 20th in East Sandwich. I've very
> excited (and nervous) about it. I'm going down to East Sandwich this
> weekend to see what the dancing is like and to get a feel for the
> dancers.
>
> I also tried calling a square to a small group of friends recently - it
> was MUCH harder than I thought it would be. The hardest parts were
> keeping up with the music, remembering when to come in after a swing,
> and the transition between the square and the break. (I hadn't
> practiced to the music that I ended up using.)
>
> I'm going to try to go to the Nelson NH dance every now and then (it's
> an open mic), but it's 1.5 hours away.
>
> Seth
>
>
>
> On Oct 11, 2004, at 12:05 PM, Lisa Greenleaf wrote:
>
>> So you took Tom's class at Pinewoods, and now you're asking questions
>> and
>> going to dances with a different eye and ear. Have you been calling?
>> Got
>> any stories you want to share? What did you learn? What delighted
>> you?
>> What surprised you? Keep us posted!
>>
>> Lisa
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Callers mailing list
>> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
>> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 23:00:22 -0400
> From: Chris Weiler <chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] callers: what are you guys up to?
> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Message-ID: <416B48C6.8070908(a)weirdtable.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> I, too, am paying more attention at dances. I notice what I like and
> don't like about particular dances. I bought a cheap digital voice
> recorder to keep in my pocket (I sweat too much to keep paper in my
> pocket). If I like the dance I dictate the dance into the recorder
> before the next dance starts (along with who called it what night and
> what they said about the name/author).
>
> I find that I'm only taking mental notes about wording/teaching, etc.
> with callers that I enjoy instead of critiquing callers that I don't.
>
> I have been doing some work on figuring out how I am going to organize
> my dances. Being a geek working in a digital environment, I am working
> on a system where my dances are formatted on my computer and I print
> them on colored card stock and cut them to index card size. (The data
> has a backup!) 8^) I plan on using the colored card system that Bob
> Issacs (and Nathaniel Jack) use. Bob sent me a basic library of 50
> dances that he uses as part of the callers workshop that he teaches and
> that I plan on using as the seed of my collection.
>
> A friend has helped organize a new callers dance on December 4th from
> 2-5pm in Arlington (Park Ave. Church). Seth, Nathaniel and I are each
> doing 1/3 of the program. I have been doing some thinking about my
> program (I'm calling the first 4 dances) and the feeling that I am
> going
> to try for, but haven't picked out the dances yet. I will probably do
> that once I have my dances organized on cards. I have also talked to
> another caller about doing an entire evening at another dance. I'm also
> going to try and get to the Milford, NH dance this month. A (different)
> friend told me that the organizer might be open to allowing a new
> caller
> to call half or all of an evening and I want to go there and see what
> it's like and meet him.
>
> Once I have some calling experiences to share, I will definitely share
> them with the list!
>
> Chris
>
> Seth Seeger wrote:
>
>> A couple things have happened to my dancing:
>>
>> I now pay more attention to the dances themselves and what in
>> particular I may not like about a dance. I'm also listening very
>> closely to the caller's walk through, looking for things I would have
>> done differently or nice ways of explaining something that I may want
>> to remember.
>>
>> During a dance however, I'm still able to get into my "zone" where I'm
>> not thinking about the dance - just letting my body move with the
>> music. If it's a dance that I want to write down, I have to really
>> work at coming out of that zone so I can remember the dance. (If I
>> just let my muscle memory handle it, I have a hard time recalling the
>> details afterwards.)
>>
>> Writing down dances is an interesting task: If it's a dance I like,
>> I'll repeat the moves to myself as I'm dancing it. In hopes that will
>> help me write it down afterwards. (I've been carrying pen and paper
>> in my pocket.) I usually have trouble remembering the name and
>> author. I've emailed the callers afterwards asking for clarifications
>> on ones I'm not sure about.
>>
>> As for calling, I've got a gig on Nov 20th in East Sandwich. I've
>> very excited (and nervous) about it. I'm going down to East Sandwich
>> this weekend to see what the dancing is like and to get a feel for the
>> dancers.
>>
>> I also tried calling a square to a small group of friends recently -
>> it was MUCH harder than I thought it would be. The hardest parts were
>> keeping up with the music, remembering when to come in after a swing,
>> and the transition between the square and the break. (I hadn't
>> practiced to the music that I ended up using.)
>>
>> I'm going to try to go to the Nelson NH dance every now and then (it's
>> an open mic), but it's 1.5 hours away.
>>
>> Seth
>>
>>
>>
>> On Oct 11, 2004, at 12:05 PM, Lisa Greenleaf wrote:
>>
>>> So you took Tom's class at Pinewoods, and now you're asking questions
>>> and
>>> going to dances with a different eye and ear. Have you been
>>> calling? Got
>>> any stories you want to share? What did you learn? What delighted
>>> you?
>>> What surprised you? Keep us posted!
>>>
>>> Lisa
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 2, Issue 7
> *************************************
>
Chris and Seth, you guys rock. I'm impressed at what you have done so far. I
have one suggestion. When you go to a dance for fun, record the entire
dance. This way you don't have to interrupt your dancing enjoyment. AND
you'll have the walk through and music as well (what was that tune that worked
so well with that dance?). You could listen to the dance while driving to
work etc. Be sure to get permission from the band and caller before doing
any recording. Recording directly works infinitely better than putting a
recording out in the hall. The sound person might even give you a separate
mix of your choice (example- caller is louder in your mix than in the main
hall mix). This depends on the equipment. I have also heard of recorders
that clip to the speaker wire and pick up the music and calling through
induction. I was really impressed with the quality.
Tom
eperate wrote:
> Send Callers mailing list submissions to
> callers(a)sharedweight.net
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> callers-request(a)sharedweight.net
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
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>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..."
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. callers: what are you guys up to? (Lisa Greenleaf)
> 2. Re: callers: what are you guys up to? (Seth Seeger)
> 3. Re: callers: what are you guys up to? (Chris Weiler)
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 12:05:18 -0400
> From: Lisa Greenleaf <greeny(a)rcn.com>
> Subject: [Callers] callers: what are you guys up to?
> To: <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <BD901EA8.16C20%greeny(a)rcn.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> So you took Tom's class at Pinewoods, and now you're asking questions and
> going to dances with a different eye and ear. Have you been calling? Got
> any stories you want to share? What did you learn? What delighted you?
> What surprised you? Keep us posted!
>
> Lisa
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 15:48:25 -0400
> From: Seth Seeger <seth(a)seeger.ws>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] callers: what are you guys up to?
> To: <callers(a)sharedweight.net> <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <83A94CFA-1BBE-11D9-BD94-000A959CF174(a)seeger.ws>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>
> A couple things have happened to my dancing:
>
> I now pay more attention to the dances themselves and what in
> particular I may not like about a dance. I'm also listening very
> closely to the caller's walk through, looking for things I would have
> done differently or nice ways of explaining something that I may want
> to remember.
>
> During a dance however, I'm still able to get into my "zone" where I'm
> not thinking about the dance - just letting my body move with the
> music. If it's a dance that I want to write down, I have to really
> work at coming out of that zone so I can remember the dance. (If I
> just let my muscle memory handle it, I have a hard time recalling the
> details afterwards.)
>
> Writing down dances is an interesting task: If it's a dance I like,
> I'll repeat the moves to myself as I'm dancing it. In hopes that will
> help me write it down afterwards. (I've been carrying pen and paper in
> my pocket.) I usually have trouble remembering the name and author.
> I've emailed the callers afterwards asking for clarifications on ones
> I'm not sure about.
>
> As for calling, I've got a gig on Nov 20th in East Sandwich. I've very
> excited (and nervous) about it. I'm going down to East Sandwich this
> weekend to see what the dancing is like and to get a feel for the
> dancers.
>
> I also tried calling a square to a small group of friends recently - it
> was MUCH harder than I thought it would be. The hardest parts were
> keeping up with the music, remembering when to come in after a swing,
> and the transition between the square and the break. (I hadn't
> practiced to the music that I ended up using.)
>
> I'm going to try to go to the Nelson NH dance every now and then (it's
> an open mic), but it's 1.5 hours away.
>
> Seth
>
> On Oct 11, 2004, at 12:05 PM, Lisa Greenleaf wrote:
>
> > So you took Tom's class at Pinewoods, and now you're asking questions
> > and
> > going to dances with a different eye and ear. Have you been calling?
> > Got
> > any stories you want to share? What did you learn? What delighted
> > you?
> > What surprised you? Keep us posted!
> >
> > Lisa
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Callers mailing list
> > Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 23:00:22 -0400
> From: Chris Weiler <chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] callers: what are you guys up to?
> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Message-ID: <416B48C6.8070908(a)weirdtable.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> I, too, am paying more attention at dances. I notice what I like and
> don't like about particular dances. I bought a cheap digital voice
> recorder to keep in my pocket (I sweat too much to keep paper in my
> pocket). If I like the dance I dictate the dance into the recorder
> before the next dance starts (along with who called it what night and
> what they said about the name/author).
>
> I find that I'm only taking mental notes about wording/teaching, etc.
> with callers that I enjoy instead of critiquing callers that I don't.
>
> I have been doing some work on figuring out how I am going to organize
> my dances. Being a geek working in a digital environment, I am working
> on a system where my dances are formatted on my computer and I print
> them on colored card stock and cut them to index card size. (The data
> has a backup!) 8^) I plan on using the colored card system that Bob
> Issacs (and Nathaniel Jack) use. Bob sent me a basic library of 50
> dances that he uses as part of the callers workshop that he teaches and
> that I plan on using as the seed of my collection.
>
> A friend has helped organize a new callers dance on December 4th from
> 2-5pm in Arlington (Park Ave. Church). Seth, Nathaniel and I are each
> doing 1/3 of the program. I have been doing some thinking about my
> program (I'm calling the first 4 dances) and the feeling that I am going
> to try for, but haven't picked out the dances yet. I will probably do
> that once I have my dances organized on cards. I have also talked to
> another caller about doing an entire evening at another dance. I'm also
> going to try and get to the Milford, NH dance this month. A (different)
> friend told me that the organizer might be open to allowing a new caller
> to call half or all of an evening and I want to go there and see what
> it's like and meet him.
>
> Once I have some calling experiences to share, I will definitely share
> them with the list!
>
> Chris
>
> Seth Seeger wrote:
>
> > A couple things have happened to my dancing:
> >
> > I now pay more attention to the dances themselves and what in
> > particular I may not like about a dance. I'm also listening very
> > closely to the caller's walk through, looking for things I would have
> > done differently or nice ways of explaining something that I may want
> > to remember.
> >
> > During a dance however, I'm still able to get into my "zone" where I'm
> > not thinking about the dance - just letting my body move with the
> > music. If it's a dance that I want to write down, I have to really
> > work at coming out of that zone so I can remember the dance. (If I
> > just let my muscle memory handle it, I have a hard time recalling the
> > details afterwards.)
> >
> > Writing down dances is an interesting task: If it's a dance I like,
> > I'll repeat the moves to myself as I'm dancing it. In hopes that will
> > help me write it down afterwards. (I've been carrying pen and paper
> > in my pocket.) I usually have trouble remembering the name and
> > author. I've emailed the callers afterwards asking for clarifications
> > on ones I'm not sure about.
> >
> > As for calling, I've got a gig on Nov 20th in East Sandwich. I've
> > very excited (and nervous) about it. I'm going down to East Sandwich
> > this weekend to see what the dancing is like and to get a feel for the
> > dancers.
> >
> > I also tried calling a square to a small group of friends recently -
> > it was MUCH harder than I thought it would be. The hardest parts were
> > keeping up with the music, remembering when to come in after a swing,
> > and the transition between the square and the break. (I hadn't
> > practiced to the music that I ended up using.)
> >
> > I'm going to try to go to the Nelson NH dance every now and then (it's
> > an open mic), but it's 1.5 hours away.
> >
> > Seth
> >
> >
> >
> > On Oct 11, 2004, at 12:05 PM, Lisa Greenleaf wrote:
> >
> >> So you took Tom's class at Pinewoods, and now you're asking questions
> >> and
> >> going to dances with a different eye and ear. Have you been
> >> calling? Got
> >> any stories you want to share? What did you learn? What delighted you?
> >> What surprised you? Keep us posted!
> >>
> >> Lisa
> >>
> >>
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Callers mailing list
> Callers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 2, Issue 7
> *************************************
For someone who is calling a square for the first time, I would suggest that you
first make sure the figure works and that you understand the dance inside and
out. Draw out the dancers at each stage of the dance. Pick a break that uses
movements that are different than those used in the figure. Check to make sure
that the ending and beginning of the break meshes well with the ending and
beginnings of the figure and visa versa. Example: You may find a break that
ends with promenade once around and a figure that begins with heads promenade
half (or all) of the way around. Not the end of the world here but do you want
the heads to promenade once and a half? Other transitions may just not work or
be awkward.
If this is your first time calling a square, call something that is different
for your group BUT is bomb proof. You want the dancers to win. The dancers want
you to win. I want you to win and call squares for a living! Practice calling
the dance all the way through (breaks and figures) without cards to music.
Don't practice the day of the dance only. Practice maybe a week before, a
couple of days before and the day of and WITHOUT CARDS.
Music- for the most part music for squares is happy. This means that you'll
want to use music in a major key. But break the rules. I do. If you want,
you can create different moods with minor tunes. But make sure it fits into the
program so that minor tunes are over used. Many of the CDs out there are
terrible to practice calling to. They're meant for listening not dancing. You
can't beat New England Chestnuts (Rod and Randy Miller) for NE style music.
Old time music can be what I call the 'drone' type which some people love and
others hate. This type of music is hard for some people to hear the A and the
B music because it lacks much of a melody. I would suggest A. Robic and the
Exertions as an excellent recording to practice to. The cuts are long and there
is a melody. One cut has a crocked tune. Quebec Pure Laine (French-Canadian
music) is a recording that has two long cuts (atleast the cassette has two cuts-
one on side A and the other on side B) but no 4 beat intro.
Tom
callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote:
> Send Callers mailing list submissions to
> callers(a)sharedweight.net
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> callers-request(a)sharedweight.net
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> callers-owner(a)sharedweight.net
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..."
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Re: Dance organization? (Lisa Greenleaf)
> 2. Re: OK, I'll start off with a question. (Lisa Greenleaf)
> 3. (no subject) (Jenna Watson)
> 4. Crooked Tune (Clark Baker)
> 5. Re: (no subject) (Lisa Greenleaf)
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2004 12:04:12 -0400
> From: Lisa Greenleaf <greeny(a)rcn.com>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Re: Dance organization?
> To: The Witful Turnip <wturnip(a)sympatico.ca>,
> <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <BD898FBC.16A4A%greeny(a)rcn.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> > One other thing I do, which I've found helpful, is to note on the back of
> > the card the date I called the dance. I found that in the beginning, I was
> > calling the same dances over and over again for a while.
>
> Keeping track of dance frequency is a good idea. I don't write on the card,
> but I do have a little notebook in which I write down the program, the band
> and the pay. Lisa
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2004 12:10:38 -0400
> From: Lisa Greenleaf <greeny(a)rcn.com>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] OK, I'll start off with a question.
> To: Chris Weiler <chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org>,
> <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <BD89913E.16A4B%greeny(a)rcn.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> > Is it difficult to find music that
> > is good for practicing? What is the same or different between practicing
> > for squares and practicing for contras (besides the material and talking
> > a whole lot more)? 8^)
>
> Squares tend to be a bit faster than contras, but it really depends on the
> square. If you have a 32 bar square, then any lively contra music should
> be enough for you to practice to. It also need to have a very good downbeat
> drive; syncopated tunes aren't great for calling squares.
>
> There's also the question of patter. If you want to build excitement by
> inserting patter in a square, that takes practice. Again, it's just a
> matter of picking motivating music and getting into a rhythm.
>
> Lisa
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 02:48:47 -0400
> From: Jenna Watson <watsonj75(a)earthlink.net>
> Subject: [Callers] (no subject)
> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Message-ID: <F09E08C3-182C-11D9-AB30-0050E4797B04(a)earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>
> I have a question about music that an aspiring caller could practice
> to? What is something that would be a good beginner band to listen to
> while practicing at home?
>
> What signifies a "crooked tune"?
> Jenna
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 23:39:14 -0400
> From: Clark Baker <cmbaker(a)tiac.net>
> Subject: [Callers] Crooked Tune
> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
> Message-ID: <200410070339.XAA01543(a)localhost.localdomain>
>
> > From: Jenna Watson <watsonj75(a)earthlink.net>
> > Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 02:48:47 -0400
> >
> > What signifies a "crooked tune"?
>
> For contra dance purposes, a tune that isn't in the usual AABB (or A1,
> A2, B1, B2) form, especially one that doesn't repeat in 64 beats.
> Almost all of our dances expect the music to be phrased in 8-beat
> phrases and to repeat every 64 beats.
>
> --
> Clark Baker, Belmont, MA
> cmbaker(a)tiac.net
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 11:19:58 -0400
> From: Lisa Greenleaf <greeny(a)rcn.com>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] (no subject)
> To: Jenna Watson <watsonj75(a)earthlink.net>, <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Message-ID: <BD8AD6DE.16A9C%greeny(a)rcn.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> > I have a question about music that an aspiring caller could practice
> > to? What is something that would be a good beginner band to listen to
> > while practicing at home?
>
> Any contra dance band CD that has a good beat and clear melody line: Rodney
> Miller, Nat Hewitt, Larry Unger. Frank Ferrell. Note that these are all
> classic New England musicians. If you want to practice to old time,
> The Horseflies CD "In the Dance Tent" is a good one. Lift Ticket and other
> new bands have very nice CDs out, but some of the tunes are very syncopated
> and may not be easy to practice to, although listening to that kind of music
> makes for good ear training.
> >
> > What signifies a "crooked tune"?
>
> Contra tunes are 32 bars/64 beats. A crooked tune has more or fewer bars,
> usually just within one part of the tune (the A or the B). You can feel a
> crooked tune because it's like a hiccup. Ruthie Dornfeld plays a lot of
> crooked tunes; there's one on her "Egyptian Dominoes" album. Old time bands
> love crooked tunes, so Bruce Molsky and Dirk Powell play them on their
> respective CDs.
>
> Lisa
>
> ------------------------------
>
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>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 2, Issue 5
> *************************************
I'm wrapping up the next booking cycle at the VFW in Cambridge, and
as a result have thought of some more music to recommend for practice
calling. Again note that most of these are New England-style, which means
they will have clear phrasing:
Moving Violations
Latter Day Lizards
Groovemongers
And most of the CDs being produced by Great Meadow Music,
a production company (actually 2 dancers from NH/Greenfield)
who are passionate about well-phrased New England dance music.
Lisa
I have a question about music that an aspiring caller could practice
to? What is something that would be a good beginner band to listen to
while practicing at home?
What signifies a "crooked tune"?
Jenna
Hello everyone,
It's a little early for me to be thinking of this, but I'm curious about
how to practice calling squares. Is it similar to practicing for a
contra (write out the words, find some recorded music to practice
calling with)? How do you make the leap from calling contras?
Thanks!
Chris
Hi all,
Regarding Seth's question about dance collection organization, here's my
method. I guess on a grand scale, I organize my dances into mixers,
improper/proper dances, beckets, double progressions and triplets/triple
minors/other unusual formations. Within those grand categories, I organize
dances by first figure, as I try not to have two dances in a row that start
with the same figure. Within each first figure category, I roughly organize
them from easy to hard. I have some double progression and mixer beckets,
but I file them under beckets.
One other thing I do, which I've found helpful, is to note on the back of
the card the date I called the dance. I found that in the beginning, I was
calling the same dances over and over again for a while. Now I try to
include dances I haven't called yet or called less frequently in my
programs. I also write any teaching notes to myself on the back of the
card.
Hope that helps,
Bev
(p.s. I'm getting the digest version of the list. I notice that when I
reply, I don't get a copy of the original post. That's fine with me, as I
just copied the subject line into this email. Hopefully, It's not a problem
for anyone else.)
*****************************************
The Witful Turnip wturnip(a)sympatico.ca
"If you're gonna eat shit, don't nibble."
- said by Tom Hinds re: calling square dances
*****************************************
As a new caller, I'm starting to put my small (but growing) collection
of dances together. I'm trying to figure out how to best organize
them. I'd love hear from other callers about how they organize their
dance cards.
Thanks!
Seth
Just in case folks are not aware of another very active list of about 150 subscribers,
the "traditional dance callers" list at yahoo groups may be of interest. In includes contra, and modern western squares callers, as well as a few people who call english, and a few who are not-yet-calling, like me.
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