I just had a gig like this! A friend of mine is heavily into MWSD and is always looking for ways to cross-pollinate the scene. She asked me to come and share an evening with the regular caller because they couldn't get a round dance caller for that particular night. I did not have a live band; I used recordings, and I provided my own sound gear and mic. Here's what I learned: 1. Long swings, of even eight counts, are not intuitive and you have to spell out exactly what you want. The one time I introduced an eight count swing, I counted it for them so they knew how long it was going to be - and some people did not care for it at all. It does mean that a lot of the easy contras I have, with 16-count swings that give people a chance to recover and get back on the phrase, do not work very well. 2. Many calls overlap, and you can use those to your advantage. I was trying to figure out if I was going to have to teach a ladies' chain, for example, and I asked a MWSD caller acquaintance what would happen if I said to the group, with no explanation, "Ladies, chain across the set," and when I realized it was exactly what I needed them to do, I relaxed a little. :) 3. Be prepared for something you say to *not* mean the same thing you intend, even if you think you are being exceedingly precise. I can't remember what it was - but I intended for people to end up back to back with their neighbor, facing a new foursome. What I got was people standing shoulder to shoulder with their neighbors in what a contra dancer might describe as a "short wavy line" without hands.
That point about becket dances perhaps being easier to understand progression in is something I noticed at another recent gig I called - interesting enough that it is making me rethink what I have flagged as "first three dances of the night." Good luck and have fun! Meg On Sun, Feb 21, 2016 at 12:22 PM Lisa Greenleaf via Callers < callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > Check this out: > > http://www.tiac.net/~mabaker/how-contra-dances-work.html > > Clark Baker is a MWSD caller and a contra dancer, and he wrote an article > explaining the differences. > > Lisa > > > > > > On Sat, Feb 20, 2016 at 3:28 PM, Joseph Erhard-Hudson via Callers < > callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > Hi Everyone, > > > > I've been pretty low-key on calling for several years now, just a few > local dances a year. Years ago I did close to one gig a month at home and > around my local region, but cut back due to busy life. Now I've accepted an > invitation for a regular gig that's going to be a bit different, so I'm > back on this email list, and I seek your advice. > > > > A few people from the nearby Western Square Dance group came to one of > our local contra dances where I was calling, and had such a fun time they > have invited me, and the band from that evening, to come and do a monthly > series in their hall, promoted and sponsored by them. The band and I > decided we'd give it a shot. > > > > I've had barely any exposure to Western Square Dance, but I know their > education system is formalized, calling is improvised, and the music is > mostly recorded; whereas in contra dancing the education is more by > assimilation, the calling is mostly fixed within a given dance, and the > music is live and improvised. I anticipate we may feel like strange cousins > to each other. Do any of you have any experiences or thoughts about > crossing over into this parallel universe of traditional dancers? I'm > particularly concerned about how I can best help them feel comfortable with > the way Contra Dance is done, and how I can be a gracious presence in their > space. > > > > Bonus question: they want to know how to split the gate, since they > don't have experience paying bands. Your thoughts? > > > > Best regards, > > Joseph > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Callers mailing list > > Callers@lists.sharedweight.net > > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > > > > > > Lisa > > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers@lists.sharedweight.net > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net >