David, thanks in particular for your comments. Mixers can indeed be interesting, and just like contras and squares, I know there is a variety within the genre that provides opportunity to select one that is optimal for the specific mix of experience levels present, as well as the intangible "mood" of the group.
Here's another thought that just occurred to me: At least around here in the mid-Atlantic, callers typically do not learn anything about mixers (why? when? which one?) in callers workshops. If anything, we pick them up as we go along especially if we do weddings and such. This clearly is a regional difference. Another potential difficulty which could come up here is the built-in downside to circle type dances: you need more than 10-12 dancers, but not too many because the circle does not use space efficiently. Our hall is about 30' x 50' including chairs lining the walls. The circle formation creates dead space in the center, and we don't have the room for multiple circles. We had our dance last night, and our guest caller did call a circle mixer. It was a well attended night. With the folks present the circle was right at the edge of discomfort. Only 4-6 more people in the circle would have made it next to impossible. I saw a fair number of people sitting out, and I don't know if their thinking was "it's just a mixer so I'll rest this one" or perhaps "it's already too crowded." The rest of the night, the two contra sets accommodated all present with room to spare. I'm thinking this dance space may be only marginally suited to circles, and when I call there on 3/30 I'll most likely opt for a scatter instead unless the attendance is lighter. Thank you all for your input. I'm aiming to make the mixer in my program as pleasant as possible. Brian Hamshar -----Original Message----- List-Post: callers@lists.sharedweight.net Date: Saturday, March 03, 2012 9:08:01 am To: call...@sharedweight.net From: "David Millstone" <david.millst...@valley.net> Subject: [Callers] Mixers: [was: Request about requests] I'm fascinated by this discussion about mixers. with most of the comments so far indicating that a) the authors don't like 'em, b) they don't use them, c) they don't see the point, and d) dancers don't like 'em. This strikes me as another example of people liking what they are accustomed to. One of my caller mentors was Ted Sannella, who usually programmed a mixer as the third dance of an evening; Tony Parkes, also, I believe, puts one there for similar reasons. By this time, the caller can assume that the bulk of the dancers have arrived, and a mixer gives everyone a chance to see everyone else who's there. Mixers come in all shapes-- Sicilian circle, big circle / big set, scattered couples, lines of three... They are a systematic way of taking new couples clinging to each other and mixing them up. They give experienced helpful dancers a chance to learn who's new, to note that person to ask later in the evening. They add choreographic variety to a program. I applaud the Charlottesville community for putting such an expectation in place. In a short time, dancers there will come to expect a mixer in the program as the normal thing. Who knows? Perhaps we can look forward to other communities giving explicit instructions to callers: "We'd like the evening's program to contain a few dances that are not duple improper or Becket contras" or maybe "We'd like the caller to go onto the floor at least once in a night to illustrate a style point." As a caller who gets to work in a variety of venues, I love it when a community has formulated such guidelines. It lets me know that what I'm doing that night fits into an established pattern, that those local dancers are accustomed to some variety in their program, or that they look forward to improving their dancing skill. Larry Jennings coined the "zesty contras' moniker and worked hard to bring that ideal into reality. Among his most useful contributions to us all was stressing the importance of "vision" for a caller and for a dance series. At this fall's "Puttin' On the Dance" weekend conference that attracted 80 dance organizers from the Northeast and beyond, the very first session for everyone focused on that key ingredient. The notes from that conference are here: http://www.puttinonthedance.org/post-conference/archive/ David Millstone Lebanon, NH _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list call...@sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
