New subject: Celebrating Caller Brad Foster, CDSS Executive Director Emeritus

8 May 2012

Ron wrote, "One of the biggest challenges is learning dances. A library of shared  
dances would be invaluable."

I'll call folks' attention to a resource that's been mentioned here before,
the  
detailed syllabi from the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend:

http://www.library.unh.edu/special/index.php/ralph-page-dance-legacy-weekend

The whole collection contains hundreds of dances-- mostly contras, as well as  
squares, triplets, dances in odd formations, chestnuts, new compositions. Each  
dance is carefully notated, and there is frequently backgroun information to round  
out the interested caller's knowledge. Some dances are easier, suitable for mixed  
crowds, and some are more complex. (Occasionally, the syllabus editor, David Smukler,  
will add a cautionary note that clues in the reader that this particular dance  
may be more complicated than it appears.)

All in all, this is a superb resource for callers both experienced and those newer  
to the mic. I think it's the best collection available on the web.

...
   - I'd love a list of every dance everywhere,
divided by region, with listings  
of address, organizers, contact info, links to websites, and their policies toward  
callers. (does this resource exist?) 
Don't think you'll find the "policies toward callers" but there are
several excellent  
resources that do the rest:

* http://www.contradancelinks.com/

* http://www.neffa.org/Top/Folk_Dancing/Contras/Dances/index.shtml

* http://tedcrane.com/dancedb/

* http://www.thedancegypsy.com/

* http://www.contracorners.net/contra/links/dancemap.html

Hope this helps.

David Millstone

Re: [Callers] mentorship