Re: [Callers] Wrist-lock Stars
Sylvia Miskoe, in rec.folk-dancing on March 4, 1999 said: Wrist grip stars became popular after the appearance at New England Folk Festival (NEFFA) of the Lithuanian Dance Group doing their dances and they all used wrist grips. The square dancers thought it was a neat idea and adopted it. Cheers, Sylvia Miskoe, Concord, NH
Re: [Callers] Dances licensed with CC or similar (Sam Whited)
Last time I checked, dance sequences were not copyrightable. The physical description of the dance sequence is copyrightable, and you couldn't just take the author's published description and put it in your own collection w/o permission. You, on the other hand, could describe the dance with a different notation. In every instance I have seen, publishers of dance collections have gone the extra step of getting permission from the dance author to include their dance. I'm not sure any of those Creative Commons licenses map exactly to this situation. Dan
Re: [Callers] How to Teach a Hey
During a workshop at the DownEast Festival which discussed effective use of words, I discovered that I came up with a teaching technique for the hey that I could use if I REALLY wanted to teach the hey to a room full of newbies (which is, like, never BTW). Use hands. For instance: "Women turn by the right halfway. Now turn your partners by the left halfway. Now the men turn by the right halfway, and turn your neighbor halfway" "Now do it again, but leave out the hands (but take them if it helps). ___ two WOmen BY the RIGHT then PARTner by the LEFT TWO MEN BY the RIGHT, NEIGHbor ___ by the LEFT etc. I have never used this in an actual dance, but I think it would work. Dan
Re: [Callers] Teaching in Classroom
Arms folded in dosidos? I don't "correct" it for three reasons: 1. I don't want to undermine the kids' model of what this dancing is all about. In other words, I don't want the message to be "if you are doing THIS, then you are wrong". 2. The folding of their arms keeps the kids from confusing the movement with any number of other movements that do use hands/arms, and that's a win in my book. 3. Unless they are doing a demo where uniformity counts for something, IT DOESN'T MATTER! In picking my battles, this one is way, way down on the list!
[Callers] Contra Academia?
Hast, Dorothea E. "Performance, transformation and community: contra dance in New England." Dance Research Journal 25.1 (1993): 21+. Schwartz, David M. "Contra dancing." Americana 7 (1979): 62+. Becker, Robin. "Contra-dancing in Nelson, N.H." The Kenyon Review 14.1 (1992): 26+. Flinn, Juliana. "American country dancing: a religious experience." Journal of Popular Culture 29.1 (1995): 61+. Abstract: American country dancing such as contra and square dancing is assuming religious status for many U.S. citizens, who want to have a sense of coherence and community integration above materialism and individualism. They use religious terms such as spiritual and transcendental to express their experiences of dancing. They compare the dance with religion on the basis that both these functions generate a feeling of togetherness among participants. Dance gives them an opportunity to have spiritual experience. Simplicity of the dance is another reason for its popularity. Contra dancing in Maine: the revival of an American tradition : a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment ... for the degree of Master of Arts (Musicology - Ethnomusicology) -- Vincent Tufo, University of Michigan. School of Music University of Michigan, 1979 Good luck!
Re: [Callers] Progression and "Going Out"
Jeff Kaufman :
>As a musician and a caller, I have mixed feelings on callers jumping
>back in for the last time through. Changing the dance to end with a
>partner swing ("this time, long lines, swing your partner") can be
>nice, but mostly I don't think bringing the calls back in adds very
>little and detracts from the music.
If the dance has a satisfying ending as it is, it stays. But I can't think of
a worse way to end a dance than with "Dosido next neighbor" or "Pass Through
along the Line". So I plead guilty as charged!
There are other ways to handle the situation. If it is the end of a set and
there is a partner swing at B1, then I'll use B2 to ask the dancers to thank
the band, and they do. Also, in very rare cases I'll ask the band to play an
extra B (for the A1 partner swing in Batja's Breakdown) and then go out.
As far as the question of where you go out in Becket dances that progress in
the middle of the phrase, it seems to matter less than DI, but I prefer to have
the dancers "in" at the top at the end ('cuz most Becket dances these days end
with a partner swing). If you screw it up, don't worry about out. There are
*lots* more important things to worry about.
Dan
Re: [Callers] Taking hands four
Around hereabouts (Boston), dancers have been observed lining up duple improper. I'd say that is a good bet upwards of 98% of the time. Usually the cross-over makes it halfway down before some cajoling from the downstream dancers gets the cross-over the remaining way. If you train the dancers to take hands four in improper circle as they join the set, then the sets will be comfortably spaced out, as well. Worth trying, I think. As a dancer or floor manager, I sometimes have done what the Scottish Country Dancers do: An individual from the top couple walks down the set and counts people off. Instead of "1, 2, 3, 4: end of set; 1, 2, 3, 4: end of set; ..." it would simply be 1, 2, 1, 2...
Re: [Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 94, Issue 5
I can't remember it in the NEFFA news. From: "callers-requ...@sharedweight.net" To: call...@sharedweight.net Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2012 12:00 PM Subject: Callers Digest, Vol 94, Issue 5 Send Callers mailing list submissions to call...@sharedweight.net To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to callers-requ...@sharedweight.net You can reach the person managing the list at callers-ow...@sharedweight.net When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Dancing in prison at Christmas: does anyone remember this? Did I post it here? (Amy Cann) -- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2012 11:54:03 -0400 From: Amy Cann To: "Caller's discussion list" Subject: [Callers] Dancing in prison at Christmas: does anyone remember this? Did I post it here? Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 I'm currently sitting in an airport with balky wifi and my google-fu has deserted me. Many moons and several computers ago I went on a post-gig rant. The gig was in the correctional facility up in St. J at Christmastime, and it was...thoughtprovoking. I'm in the midst of some work that relates to the for-profit prison industry and wish I could put my hands on it, but I can't. Is it archived somewhere? Why can't I get to it from the sharedweight homepage? Does anyone remember if it was printed in the NEFFA newsletter or CDSS? (am I just a moron?) I would dearly appreciate any links you could pass on. And thank you for not laughing at me (at least not audibly) :) Cheers, Amy -- ___ Callers mailing list call...@sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers End of Callers Digest, Vol 94, Issue 5 **
Re: [Callers] Duties of the Caller Role
I can think of some others: Present a program consistent with the vision of the producer. If this means for example "one chestnut per night", then so be it. Raise the dancing level of the crowd a wee bit each time. Be as prepared as you can be. Dan
[Callers] Proper use of vocal mic by caller
1. What is the proper distance to the mic? I have been told that
several inches is best, and I have seen one caller who is always clear
measure that distance by placing her fist, with thumb and pinky extended,
between her mouth and the mic. I have also seen other highly respected
callers rest it on their chin. What are your feelings?
The kind of mics seen at contra dances ("dynamic") suffer from "proximity
effect". The bass frequencies are boosted the closer you get. Some callers
work too close to the mic, and it makes for uncorrectable boominess in the
hall.
A span (thumb tip to pinky tip), about 6 to 7 inches or so, might be a bit too
far away, as it will pick up some measure of stage/hall noise.
Tony Parkes recommends grasping the mic around the barrel, and extend the thumb
above the windscreen and nestle the tip in the hollow between your lower lip
and chin. This keeps the mic locked at a consistent distance (which is a good
thing) about an inch or two from the mouth.
2. I have been taught to speak down the axis of the mic and not hold it
like an ice cream cone, yet many prominent callers do not seem to do this.
How important do you think that this is?
In general, talking down the axis is a good thing. If you work an inch or two
from the mic, doing the "ice cream cone" thing will probably be OK, and in
fact, may be desirable if you tend to pop your Ps ; the plosive force will
bypass the mic element. If you work 6 inches from the mic, the "ice cream
cone" will definitely be out of the pick-up pattern of virtually all mics
you'll see contra sound engineers use.
3. I have a good wireless mic (a Sennheiser Evolution G3), which I like
to put on its stand when I can. When I scan the room, sometimes turning my
head from side to side, how important is it to move the mic so I do not
change the angle between me and the axis of the mic?
Whatever you can do to keep the mic in the same position relative to your
mouth, the better. I would recommend either a headset mic for you, or go
handheld. If you work 1 to 2 inches from the mic, you can probably get away
with not fiddling with the mic as you move your head.
Re: [Callers] Heys for new dancers
Yes, Flirtation Reel is a lovely dance, but there are a few things about it which make it a bit less than ideal for dancers' first exposure to heys. First, the transition from the up-the-center to the hey provides no momentum/flow guidance about which shoulder to pass to start the hey. For the first hey dance, I'd prefer one with stronger flow at the moment of initiation. Second, the series of passes (NR, 2's L, Same sex R, 1's L, etc.) is not only different from most heys (which have same-sex in the center [because they are equal dances]), but the series of passes seems to be a bit harder to grasp in the same way that the differing roles of unequal dances bumps up the complexity of the sequence a bit. For my money, a hey dance that satisfies my requirements is a modified "Roll in the Hey". The original is: A1 circle left; swing neighbour A2 circle left three quarters; swing partner B1 long lines go forward and back; half ladies chain across B2 hey for four, ladies pass right to start Lately, I have been calling it A1 Dosido neighbor; swing neighbor. This is much more forgiving than the Hey/Circle (full) left combination. This dance features a Ladies Chain immediately before the hey, and the women's track is essentially the same as the hey. I use this similarity when I walk through the dance. Dan
Re: [Callers] When did pre-dance beginners' workshops start in YOUR area?
The first contra dance I ever attended was in 1979 at the CDS Boston Tuesday night dance at the Brimmer and May School in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The pre-dance workshop was handled by none other than Al Olson. Later, when Al moved to Chicago, I was one of the people who took responsibility for that early teaching session. I don't know how long the pre-dance sessions were in operation before I arrived. Dan
Re: [Callers] Caller's Fees
In answer to questions, we give $50 to the person who provides/runs the sound. Dan
Re: [Callers] Caller Fees
Interesting! I chair the Thursday Night Dance Committee of NEFFA, which runs a weekly dance at the Concord Scout House, in Massachusetts. I would characterize our pay as good. Here are the basics: 1. We expect equal shares for all performers (musicians/callers). In only very unusual circumstances will we pay different amounts. 2. Guarantee (per performer) is dependent on # of performers. 3 => $155; 4 => $145; 5 => $125; 6 => $104; 7 => $89. 3. Performers who travel a distance (say over 1 hour) to get to the dance get $15 extra. 4. Bonus *is* dependent on attendance. We assume that if people came out in droves to dance, the performers probably had something to do with it, and they should be rewarded. For a well-attended night, it is not unusual for performers to make around $200 each. For an exceptionally well-attended night, they might make $300 each.
[Callers] Help with "Coleman's March"
I don't know Coleman's March, but the transcription has a timing problem. If you want to get your sequence to work better, try: A1. LL F&F, W almd L 1-1/2 A2. Bal & sw pt B1. Cir L 1/2 (4 cts); gypsy pt R-sh about 3/4 (4 cts); W gypsy Lsh while M orbit clockwise to home side (8) B2. Gypsy N R sh, swing N
Re: [Callers] Medleys
> Where, when and how do you find them most effective when incorporated in a >program? > The Medley is a special case of the "no walk-through" slot which incorporates more than one dance. For my money, a nice mini-medley is three dances coordinated with the three tunes that the band plays. By "coordinated" I only mean that when the tune changes, the dance sequence changes, too. When do you program them? During an "Experienced Only" evening, anytime (except maybe the first slot, when the sound system is still being balanced). During a community dance (lot of beginners -- mixed/low level of dancing), never. The general rule is that you want to ADD fun, excitement, spontaneity and energy to the event. If you wind up adding frustration, panic, anxiety and failure to the event, then you have chosen the slot poorly. > Tips for teaching? Since they are no-walk-thru, you don't teach them, per se. However, excellent and special calling is required of no-walk-thru dances. I have led a workshop at NEFFA describing how you do this, and here are some highlight recommendations: 1. Get the call out early, and fill in with patter to preserve the timing. Usual prompt: ___ ___ ___ ___ THOSE two LAdies CHAIN acROSS No walk-thru: ___ ___ ___ ___ LAdies CHAIN acROSS the SET 2. Put recovery information in between calls: PARTner SWING [ on the men's home side ] 3. Keep the calls up, especially for similar sequences. > Any other comments? Make sure you select material that is achievable by you (as a caller) and the dancers without a walk-thru. Keep it straightforward (embracing contra tropes) and fun. Dan
[Callers] Dances with tricky end effects
There are actually two possible cases to think about. First: what couples do when they have progressed out of the set (and the answer is USUALLY "cross over and wait"). Second: what pairs (not partners) do when they move out of the minor set at some point during the sequence, like in "Cal and Irene". In "Cal...", the end effects are pretty manageable and observe END EFFECT DEFAULT RULE #1: Just face into the set (e.g., face up at the bottom) with the W on the right, M on the left. It is very close to the way you shift out of the set. In this dance, the default rule works for both cases mentioned in the first paragraph. The DIAGONAL DANCE END EFFECT RULE: Dances that work out of the minor set with some sort of diagonal action require that an idle pair station themselves on the correct side of the set. Some special cases worth mentioning: "Fiddleheads" by Ted Sannella is a great dance and features an automatic crossover when you progress out at the ends. Other dances require that an idle pair at the foot be on the 'wrong' side because the progression happens everyone is on their non-home side. (I think "Be Here Now" is one of those dances.) Here's another one Becket Formation A1. Cir L 3/4, Sw N A2. W Chain, 1/2 promenade B1. Petronella bal & twirl, swing new N B2. M almd L 1+1/2, Sw Partner At the , the idle couple needs to be on the 'unusual' side for an idle couple. This sort of thing is worth mentioning in the walk-through.
Re: [Callers] Sung contras
Tony Saletan (formerly from Boston, now in Seattle) has been known to sing lyrics of his own devising to chestnut contras. For example, for Petronella: You go 'round to the right, and you balance to your partner. You go 'round to the right, and you balance once again. You go 'round to the right, and you balance to your partner. You go 'round to the right, and you balance once again. Now down the center with your own. Turn around come right back home. Cast off with the twos and you right and left right over. Right and left -- go over and go back again... etc.
Re: [Callers] Calling without a band?
While I vastly prefer using live music, I call my share of dances with recorded music, and have for decades. Some people have cited some good recordings. Listen to recordings that are *almost* suitable, but can be made suitable by lengthening, shortening, excision of an "interesting but undancible" round, etc. Use audio editing software such as Audacity (free) to make things the way you want. As a result, I have a collection of cuts from 5x to 7x (lots of those), 8x, 9x, 11x and 15x. I keep my music organized on my laptop and accessed by the MIT Folk Dance Club player. See http://home.comcast.net/~a1penguin/ for details on that. It is mostly bug-free, but it is free. You don't need tons of material right away. Build it up as you go along. Dan
[Callers] Walk-throughs
I just led a session on conducting walk-throughs at NEFFA, so the topic is fresh on my mind. (BTW if anyone wants a copy of the handout from that session, drop me a line, and I'll send you a pdf.) I have a hard-and-fast rule about walk-throughs: "There are no hard and fast rules." The number of walk-throughs depends on a zillion factors, so I usually make the decision about another walk-through at the end of the first walk through. But because I'm a big-city-slicker from the East Coast, my goal is usually one walk through. Why? 1) I like the pace of the evening to be at a reasonable clip. Extra walk-throughs tend to slow the evening down, in my opinion. 2) I want to train the dancers to pay attention the first time, and not rely on omnipresent subsequent walk-throughs. 3) I want to maintain my credibility by doing the right amount of teaching that a dance requires. 4) The level of the evening should be attainable by most, with just a few challenges. 5) I think the dancers want to dance. Exceptions? Sure! Here are some: a) Monthly dance, lots of new dancers? Two walk-throughs (especially 1st half of the evening). This is where I explain about "out at the ends". I might go to one walk-through later in the evening. b) Experienced crowd? Maybe no walk-through. [Actually, a real-time walk-through with music, if you get my drift] c) Triple Minor dance? Two walk-throughs. (so the 2's and 3's can experience the "other" role). Decision Time: Do another one? LISTEN to the crowd at the end of walkthrough 1 and differentiate between friendly chit-chat sounds, and worried murmurs of people asking each other what to do. I would recommend to all callers that have tried one walk-through with little success to a) Examine the material you have chosen. Is it reasonable dance material, or challenging, unorthodox, etc.? b) Record yourself and analyze later whether the words you chose were the best ones to get the dancers to do what you wanted. If not, figure out better ones. In my mind, better = shorter, less ambiguous, more memorable, etc. Happy dancing! Dan
Re: [Callers] Putting Out Fires
Until very recently, I thought "it is always the caller's fault". The problem
with absolutes like "always" is that a counterexample jumps up and hits you in
the face.
I like (and use) the tactics for putting out fires that others recommended:
Beef up the calling (earlier, more directional, more complete), NOT calling to
the late group, etc. Not mentioned here yet is the old "manual intervention".
I use a wireless mic, and that allows me to move around, hopefully addressing
issues before they erupt in flames, but also providing an in-your-face
hard-to-ignore knowledgeable guide post.
If you ever read Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, you'll remember that the science
of psychohistory which allowed practitioners to essentially predict the future
of civilizations was compromised by a random mutation ("The Mule"). I was
thinking of that a few Saturdays ago when I was calling for a challenging
dance. I don't mean challenging to the dancers: I mean challenging to me to
call! It was a regular dance series, and the "regulars" weren't there, and
there were lots of new dancers. That's OK with me; I do that all the time. I
found myself presenting pretty easy stuff, and astonishingly, I needed to make
it easier as the evening went on. I was running out of easier-than-dead-easy
material. That's also OK -- I know how to write dances on the fly. What I was
not prepared for was a concentration of dancers that needed special handling.
One dancer, an older fellow who had been dancing for some time, was literally
moving in slow motion, and in a time delay so that the people around him were
sucked into his rift in the time-space continuum. Another dancer, a newcomer
who seemed to "get it" initially, began careening in random directions at high
speed, with a great big smile on her face. Another new gentleman, also after
seemingly "getting it", started to regress to periods of non-movement. I moved
right next to him and said "right hand star", putting my own hand out to model
the action. He just stood there and repeated "right hand star".
This made me think about, and question, the assumption that the caller is
always at fault. Perhaps that is a fine mental state to be in (that is, not
blaming the dancers), but you know, the conduct of the evening is not, and
cannot be entirely one person's responsibility. A dance is like a machine with
many moving parts, and they need to be functioning in expected ways for a
smooth experience. Mistakes? They are part of what the machine does. I have
more trouble when communication that has worked before begins to fail, when
lessons learned are forgotten, and when other unexpected behaviors arise.
So this was one of the least fun, least rewarding gigs in my 30 years of
calling. I chalk it up to an unfortunate confluence of factors likely not to be
repeated for another 30 years.
Re: [Callers] Unknown callers adn misicians...
Some callers are indeed referenced (like in the article on NEFFA), but have no independent articles associated with them. Examples are Ralph Page and Ted Sannella.
Re: [Callers] Calling to Quebecois Tunes
Best get some recordings of Quebecois to see what's up. Any tune that departs from the usual 4x32 form can be called "crooked". One of the ways that I have Quebecois musicians usually make a tune crooked is by playing the introductory notes of a tune in its own measure instead of grouping them in the last measure of the tune. Think of the Star Spangled Banner. If you were to sing the first stanza over and over again, you'd sing it like: LAN-AND OF the | FRE-EE AND the | HOME OF THE | BRAVE ___ OH-oh | SAY CAN YOU A Quebecois musician would do this: LAN-AND OF the | FRE-EE AND the | HOME OF THE | BRAVE ___ ___ | ___ ___ OH-oh } SAY CAN YOU but they'd do it with jigs and reels. I have worked with musicians that swear up and down they are playing straight tunes when they actually are not. If you are unsure, it would be best if you can do a dry run with the musicians before the dance to alert them of your needs. If the musician is flexible, they can do what you need. Good luck!
[Callers] Opinions on various topics
>I've most commonly heard four different calls for the four different >combinations of man's left/right and woman's left/right: >man woman figure >--- - -- > R L California twirl > L R Star through > R R Box the gnat > L L Swat the flea This doesn't jibe with my understanding. California twirl is executed with the dancers facing in the same direction, and leaves them facing the opposite direction. The other three calls are executed with two facing dancers. Star thru also uses M's R and W's L and leaves the dancers facing in the same direction. Box.. and Swat.. leaves the dancers in each other's place, facing each other. Regarding the Admission issue... When NEFFA took over the Thursday dance from Tod Whittemore in 1990, we established the policy that non-dancers do not have to pay. In fact, our policy allows dancers to do up to two dances (about 30 minutes worth) and leave and they get their money back. These policies were from Larry Jennings, and I can envision some rationale for each. Certainly people who attend are getting something of value, even if they do not dance. I think it is OK to sometimes give something away; it tends to pay itself back in the long run what with increased goodwill. Very often, non-dancers will INSIST on paying a donation to "support the dance". The refund issue was to address situations where someone gives it a try and discovers pretty quickly that it is not "their thing".
Re: [Callers] Announcing Dance Names
I wholehearted agree with Susan Elberger, and with Greg a bit as well. In general, at regular open dances I announce dance names and authors just before I begin the walk-through. It is my acknowledgement, in lieu of a license fee, to the person whose creativity I am taking advantage of by calling their dance. I tend not to announce my own name, as I feel uncomfortable even bragging a little bit. At one night stands, I do not announce names or composers because in that setting I want to make every syllable count, and I want the music to start as soon as possible. So that's what I do. Inconsistent? Yeah. Reasoned? Who knows... Dan
Re: [Callers] How can we improve acoustics in a gym?
>Gretchen, >I knew a ballet group that was meeting in a large warehouse room - >they covered the walls with large grey cardboard egg flats - you may >have seen them, they carry more eggs than the traditional cartons, >though those can also be used. I think one of their members/friends >had a chicken ranchNot sure where you can get them, or how much >they cost, but they do absorb sound and keep it from reflecting all >over. >Martha OMG This is what can happen when you improvise with sound deadening material: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Station_nightclub_fire Cardboard? Cardboard!? CARDBOARD!!!
Re: [Callers] NYE dances and ideas for the stroke of midnight....
Well that brings me back... I was hired for a NYE dance at the Swingin Tern dance in Chatham NJ. They were paying me well, so I felt obligated to do something a little, um.., special. Before the big countdown, I stepped into the stage wing and ended the dance in progress. I donned an Old Man outfit and mask, and announced myself onto the stage. I made a few parting remarks, and then came the big countdown. At 5 seconds to midnight, I whipped off the old man outfit and mask, and at midnight I had transformed myself into Baby New Year, complete with big diaper and sash proclaiming the New Year. (This took practice.) We then launched into a waltz and then broke for a dessert buffet. Don't worry too much about the ritual. Work with the producers and just have a fun, safe, time.
Re: [Callers] Collecting Tips at dances
I have never seen this. Some dances have a fiddle case open collecting admissions, and sometimes as informal as "$X dollars in cash or barter". Some dances are "bought out" by sponsors, and an optional donation is solicited to help defray expenses. I have seen optional collections for the "Floor refinishing fund" or whatever. But (happily) I have never, ever, seen a collection for tips. Dan Cheap talk? Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates. http://voice.yahoo.com
[Callers] Caller's Database
Alice Milmoe put together a filemaker application which is very nice. Contact her at contrad...@aol.com
[Callers] Wireless Mic Intolerance
There seems to be resources regarding "electrosmog" and "electric pollution" along with a long list of symptoms at http://www.lifeenergies.com/index.htm The resources that I glanced at cited studies of electomagnetic energy more in the microwave range and cellphone transmitter range, which is much higher than wireless mic range. I would imagine that the energy issued from a wireless mic would pale in comparision to the energy emitted from the 50 cellphones in the dance hall. It would be interesting if this sensitive person could detect when the wireless was on. TEST: 5 batteries: one charged, others dead, each with hidden labels (A-E). Wireless mic with all displays and indicators concealed. One by one, put a battery in mic for 20 minutes and record all reported symptoms. See if there is a corelation.
