Perhaps the caller can have dancers form contra lines and the caller then transform the line into squares. EZ transformation, but there may be some dancers left out at the bottom. This could save set up time. Rich
________________________________ From: Colin Hume <co...@colinhume.com> To: Caller's discussion list <call...@sharedweight.net> Sent: Monday, September 9, 2013 9:21 AM Subject: Re: [Callers] Calling squares at contra. On Mon, 9 Sep 2013 08:47:54 -0400, JoLaine Jones-Pokorney wrote: > Speaking as a dancer here and not a caller, I enjoy a square now > and then but I really don't like it when the caller calls two > squares back to back... > In my experience, the main reason contra dancers don't like squares > is that it takes a long time to get set up, there is a chance you > will get left out if you're slow to find a partner and then can't > get enough other people to make a square, and that it often takes > more teaching time. The reason I usually call two squares back to back is precisely because it can take longer to set up. Contras in The States typically go on much longer than squares, so it makes sense to do two squares together. But I agree that if there's too much teaching time people will start to complain. I think part of the problem is that squares are not popular among contra dancers and therefore callers have less chance to become good at calling them. A square is harder to call than a contra, so either the caller chooses a simple square and gets the response "Squares are boring" or he chooses a complicated square and gets the response "Squares are confusing"! Fortunately there are some great contra callers who are also great square callers - Kathy Anderson and Lisa Greenleaf for instance - and they can convince any unprejudiced contra dancer that squares can be fun. Colin Hume Email co...@colinhume.com Web site http://www.colinhume.com _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list call...@sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
