Re: [Callers] practice vs. preparation

[Rich Hart]

I call regularly at 3 different dances that are multi-caller. None of 
them keep any records of the dances called, to my knowledge. But the 
callers are mostly very flexible. I certianly come with a few 
possibilities to chose from, depending on the crowd and the previous dances.


At the Nelson dance, I often follow Don Primrose calling Chorus Jig. 
When that happens, I simply plan to call a dance without contra corners, 
and I seldom pick a chestnut either. I do remember at least one time 
when I and my predicessor had both seen an interesting dance to try (on 
this or the other callers mailing list!), and we both planned to try it. 
As i was second in line, I lost, and did something else. Otherwise, I 
simply make sure that I don't call a second instance of a hey, contra 
corners, petronella turn, wavy line (in either direction), and very few 
others right after the same thing. But if one of these hasn't been done 
yet, it's a good possibility for me to try.


There are so many dances available, and callers are usually dancing when 
they are not calling, so we always get a good mix of dances. The one 
time when this might be an issue is when there is a new, beginning 
caller in the lineup. But this is a teaching moment to talk to them 
about before they are at the mike, to help them pick a dance that is 
right for the crowd, and their slot in the sequence.


On 5/30/2012 4:48 PM, donper...@gmail.com wrote:

On , Richard Mckeever  wrote:
We have never attempted to track this and have not had a problem with 
caller using the same dances or ones that are similar.


Our dance is multi-caller, and our standard procedure is to have the 
night's callers fill a spreadsheet with their anticipated dances (not 
cast in stone) including all the moves, so everyone knows when they 
are going on and we can look out for too many in a row too similar. 
Last dance, we got a little tight on time and the spreadsheet had only 
titles. We ended up with 2 dances exactly the same under different 
titles. Some dancers noticed, some didn't.

Re: [Callers] Mentorship for Choreographers

[Rich Hart]

Those calling parties do sound like a good idea, and they sound similar 
to 3 regular dances that we have here in NH. There are 3 regular dances 
here where there is always an open mike for callers, and musicians can 
join the band, or play for a dance or two themselves.


Calling is shared at these dances by all callers who attend and wish to 
call a dance, regardless of experience level. The experienced callers 
are always willing to help a new caller pick a dance to call, based on 
the dancers present, and the caller's abilities. Then, afterwards, talk 
with them about what went right, and any problem the caller might have had.


Musicians at these dances can also join in and play for a a single dance 
or more, if they wish, and then dance the rest of evening.  Experienced 
musicians are always willing to help the new ones, as well.


These 3 dance include Dover (1st Thursday), Milford (4th Friday), and 
Nelson (every Monday).  In Dover and Milford, there is a single big band 
that musicians may join, while in Nelson musicians usually take turns, 
and seldom all play together - which can result in considerable 
variations in musical styles in a single evening.


I love these dances because I get to both call and dance the same 
evening.  Callers will often use these dances to try out a new dance, 
either one they just wrote, or one they picked up somewhere.  
Experienced callers will also talk with a new caller to help them pick  
a dance for the crowd, and one that will fit in the sequence of dances 
that evening. Dancers are usually helpful and appreciative when a new 
callers attempts a dance, and almost always a new caller will be guided 
to call a dance that the experienced dancers have danced many times 
before, so that failure is not a real possibility.  Among the things 
that happen for a new caller is that the musicians will pick a tune for 
him or her, and a mentor caller will provide an "appropriate" dance, so 
the new caller just needs to think about the walk through and the words 
to use when calling the dance, perhaps emulating another caller they 
heard recently or that evening.


We have had callers and musicians at these dances who range in age from 
about 12 to 80. Actually, I think Bob McQuillen will make that 90 next 
year!  Experienced callers and musicians are always willing to help a 
new younger caller or musician get started.  And as I think about it, I 
realize how much here just happens "automatically" so that a new caller 
or musician can concentrate on just what he or she needs to do, while 
letting others handle details that they can consider later once they've 
gotten the basics. But these details that the new caller may ignore 
initially, are also so important to help to keep the dances organized, 
and the dancers satisfied.


Rich Hart.

On 5/12/2012 12:39 AM, Greg McKenzie wrote:

Martha's calling parties sounds like a great tool for new callers as well
as new dances.

Too often I have attended an open, public contra dance and heard a local
caller announce that they will be calling the next dance at a festival, or
dance camp, and want to "try it out" at our event before they present it to
the, more sophisticated, special event attendees.

This has always seemed so strange--that they would inflict this unknown
quantity on our local, public dance where we have welcomed non-dancers to
join us for a social event.  Better that the festival crowd should be the
ones to try it out.

The "calling parties" sounds like an even better venue for this kind of
"try-out" dance.

- Greg McKenzie
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[Callers] NEFFA Dance ID

[Rich Hart]

Can any of you help me identify a dance that we danced during the last 
NEFFA session on Sunday? The dance in question was called with the 
Festival Orchestra playing and it may have been called by Sue Rosen.  
The key figures were 2 "past through to an ocean wave" figures.  In one 
case you end with your neighbor in your right hand, and the other time 
you end with your partner in the same place. The dance flowed very 
smoothly and i liked it a lot, so any help with the title, author, or 
the choreography would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Rich Hart.

Re: [Callers] number of contra dancers?

[Rich Hart]

David,

What do you mean by "regularly"?

- At least twice in the past 5 years?
- At least twice in the past 2 years?
- At least twice in the past 12 months?
- At least twice in the past 3 months?
- At least twice in the past week?

I say twice, because I assume that by "regularly" you mean at least more 
than once.  Then depending on how you define "regularly" you will get 
quite different answers. If you pick the first definition above, you 
will get a much bigger number than if you pick the last definition.


A slightly easier question to answer is, "How many people attend a 
contra dance on a particular night?" On any particular night, worldwide, 
there will be many regular dancers dancing, as well and some new people. 
A few regular dancers will not attend because they are sick, or vising 
relatives in Alberta.  The new dancers and the missing regular dancers 
may cancel each other out, at last to some degree.


So, the number of people dancing, worldwide, on a particular night might 
be a rough estimate of the number of regular dancers, worldwide. It may 
be a bit low if we pick a night when there are no dances in Denmark, or 
Oregon, but it would set a good lower bound.


So, how many people will be dancing, worldwide, on the the first 
Saturday in May, May 5th?


The members of these 2 lists probably have contacts with or attend 
nearly every regular dance in the world (and quite a few irregular ones, 
too). If everyone on these lists who attends a dance on May 5th would 
take a count and send both the name of the dance and the attendance to 
someone, a count of the total number of dancers at the known dances 
could be made.  It would take some work, as people would need to find a 
contact at dances they could not attend, but wanted to report. And the 
organizer who was doing the analysis would need to do enough planning 
ahead of time to be sure that as many dances, worldwide, were covered, 
as possible.


Rich Hart.

On 3/25/2012 1:31 PM, David Millstone wrote:

[Duplicate posting to trad-dance-callers and SharedWeight lists]

A friend recently wrote me, "I am trying to pin down an unpindownable 
number: namely the number of people in the world who regularly 
contradance. Any idea of this number, or anyone who might steer me to 
it?"


I'm wondering if anyone on this list has tackled this question, has 
developed even a crude methodology, and would be willing to share what 
you came up with.


As for "the world," with the exception of the folks in Denmark and in 
England, I think we're really talking about the US and Canada in terms 
of any significant numbers. I can ask friends ub Denmark for their 
estimates. The annual country dance festival in Prague brings together 
several hundred dance enthusiasts from central Europe, though their 
definition of "regular" is certainly different from someone in the 
Boston or SF Bay or DC areas.


David Millstone