How bad would it have been to have the board basically put its foot down and, after one of the not-very-great evenings, suggest that the next time that person is asked to call, they prepare just half a night, or a third of a night?
I'm curious - how did you "bring along" the new callers? Was there a teacher/student relationship, or more of a peer-to-peer setup? I ask because we have a bunch of cubs - I'm one of them - and it's always been peer-to-peer, with input from experienced callers only from time to time. To a certain extent, we critique each other. When one of us manages to screw up, we have a friendly enough atmosphere at our Calling Parties that we can admit it, figure out what to do better, and move on. We've been at it for almost two years, and are only slowly moving into the rotation, mostly at shared caller nights until someone is "ready", and even then, not as often as the regular callers. So far, it seems to be working. I hope that we don't develop a situation such as the one you described! We should remain on our toes, just in case. Interestingly, we previously had a couple of regular callers whose dances broke down often enough that it was becoming noticeable, but after the cub callers started calling, it happened less often! I'd like to think that the improvement was less from the competition than from the fact that more people were paying attention to the callers' art, and so what had become somewhat routine took on renewed energy. M E On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 9:48 AM, Lindsay Morris <lind...@tsmworks.com>wrote: > Our dance group brought along a group of half-a-dozen "cub callers" a few > years ago. > > It was a bad thing. > > After they got into the calling rotation at our weekly dance, they never > wanted to get off, of course. > Our really good callers got to call less often; the new callers only got to > call a dance once every 3 months, so they never got any better. The dance > was plagued with inexperienced and not-very-great calling for years. > > Sorry to offer problems without solutions, but this well-intentioned > debacle > has stayed on my mind. Seem like this is the place to share the > "cub-callers" problem. > > > Lindsay Morris > Principal > TSMworks > Tel. 1-859-539-9900 > lind...@tsmworks.com > > > On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 10:42 AM, Delia Clark <delia_cl...@comcast.net > >wrote: > > > David, > > Let's do one of these for VT/NH! Aren't you just the guy to organize > it!! > > ;-) OK, I would help -- how about you put me in charge of organizing > > supplies for the schmoozing part! > > Delia > > > > On Dec 15, 2009, at 9:25 PM, Katy Heine wrote: > > > > Hi, David-- > >> > >> Ever since the "Ted's Triplets" marathon eight years ago, we in Central > >> New > >> York have had an annual callers' gathering on different themes. These > have > >> been more an opportunity to share repertoire than for older, more > >> experienced callers to mentor younger, less experienced callers--so > really > >> not a parallel to what you're talking about, but maybe of interest > anyway. > >> > >> The topics over the years have included dances in unusual formations; > >> "living room dances" (i.e., dances for small numbers of people); the > Gene > >> Hubert legacy; English for contra dance callers; and calling for > community > >> dances, weddings, and one-night-stands. The next one (March 6) will be > >> "Zesty Contras," which will be dances from Larry Jennings' first book. > >> (Many > >> of us have the book on our shelves but have not actually mined it for > the > >> gems that assuredly lie within.) > >> > >> These annual workshops are a great opportunity for the community of > >> regional > >> callers to come together to schmooze, share, and enjoy each other's > >> company. > >> I strongly encourage callers everywhere to give it a try! > >> > >> --Katy Heine > >> > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: callers-boun...@sharedweight.net > >> [mailto:callers-boun...@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of David Millstone > >> Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 6:48 PM > >> To: call...@sharedweight.net > >> Subject: [Callers] Callers' workshop > >> > >> Dear fellow dance callers, > >> > >> I have an opportunity coming up next spring to lead a day-long workshop > >> for > >> dance callers. It'll be a small group, perhaps 10-12 people, with a > range > >> of > >> experience. Some will have had only 2-4 years of active calling while > >> others > >> may > >> have had 20 years or more. These will be folks who are comfortable with > >> contras > >> and with traditional squares. They will know each other already. They're > >> open to > >> a wide variety of topics and teaching methods. > >> > >> I've been invited to address just about any topics that are near and > dear > >> to > >> me, > >> so I'm relishing this prospect. > >> > >> At the same time, I'd like not to spend an entire day on a soapbox. With > >> that in > >> mind, I'm soliciting opinions from this group-- rather than, say, the > >> trad.dance.callers listserv-- because this Shared Weight group includes > >> some > >> callers on the less experienced end of the spectrum. > >> > >> So, what are topics that _you_ would like to see in a workshop? Assuming > >> that > >> one already has the nuts and bolts of programming an evening, teaching a > >> dance, > >> and delivering the calls in good fashion, what skills would be useful to > >> address? > >> > >> Thanks for sharing your thoughts. > >> > >> David Millstone > >> Lebanon, NH > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Callers mailing list > >> call...@sharedweight.net > >> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Callers mailing list > >> call...@sharedweight.net > >> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > >> > > > > <>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<> > > > > Delia Clark > > PO Box 45 > > Taftsville, VT 05073 > > 802-457-2075 > > delia_cl...@comcast.net > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Callers mailing list > > call...@sharedweight.net > > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > call...@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
