Let me put on my grumpy hat for a moment. :-) All of us enjoy favorite dances. However, as a caller, it is sometimes best to avoid programming dances solely because they are personal favorites. Of course I call dances that I like, because you have to believe in a dance to call it well. But it's more important to select dances that are appropriate for your group, and that fit dance-to-dance to build an enjoyable evening.
Last night I worked out my program for a dance that I'll call on Saturday. The venue is a community hall in a seaside town. It is the Labor Day weekend, so I'll have a mix of experienced, core-group dancers plus a lot of beginners who will constantly be coming and going throughout the evening. Some beginners will last for one or two dances, some will stay until the end of the evening, and all of them will have come through the door simply because they heard the sound of live music while walking past the building. So I need to keep the beginners active and involved using well-taught dances that they can learn on the fly and succeed - but I can't neglect my experienced dancers either. The experienced dancers will understand that I need to accommodate the beginners, but I must give them a sufficiently varied program with enough interesting twists to let them know that their dance desires weren't forgotten. Later in the month I'll call at a gender-free venue, and then at a larger, urban, experienced dance. My dance choices for those events will differ quite a bit. It's a balancing act: accommodating peoples' abilities and tastes, and gaining their trust and then (sometimes) moving the experience into new territory, but without breaking the bond between caller, musicians, and dancers. Well that didn't turn out half as grumpy as I thought it would .... Bob ---------------------------------------------------- Robert Jon Golder 164 Maxfield Street [email protected] New Bedford, MA 02740 (508) 999-2486 voice > From: Jeffrey M.Petrovitch <[email protected]> > Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:29:20 -0400 > To: <[email protected]> > Subject: [Callers] Favorite Dance... > > Hey Everyone!!! > > Seems like there hasn't been too much activity... So anway, I think dance > collecting could possibly become a full time job. There are just so many > different and new dances that are out there... > > And of course there are books and books and books, which are great, but there > are a lot of great dances out there that just haven't been published... If > only there were this huge contra dance composition online exchange... > > But of course there is a lot of tradition and fun from passing dance to dance > from dance to dance. > > I am always looking for new dances to add to my "contra dance composition > journal", so just a question to everyone, what is your favorite dance to call > and what is your favorite dance to dance... > > To dance for me, I think that is very easy... No doubt being a Nelson Dancer > I am very bias and I love dancing "Chorus Jig". Nelson is where I first > learned to dance Chorus Jig, where I first learned to call Chorus Jig, and > Nelson is where I learned to love Chorus Jig. > > To call for me, that is not such an easy answer... There are some many dances > I love to call, and dances that I know back and forth, forward and back, but > for some reason, everytime I try to call them, they just don't feel quite > right... > > I think if I had to pick a dance to call, as a caller, a "go-to-dance", I > would say "Trip To Lamberville" by Steve Zakon-Anderson > > A1: > (8) Ladies into the center to a wave and balance > (8) Gents into the center to a wave and balance > > A2: > (8) Gents allemende left 3/4 to a wave across and balance > (8) Neighbors swing > > B1: > (8) Gents allemende left 1 1/2 > (8) Partners swing > > B2: > (8) Right and left through > (8) Ladies chain > > I really love this dance and it is has become a quick modern classic I > believe. I remember when I first called this dance at Nelson, I was > horrible... Not that I hadn't call before, or hadn't called well, but I just > could not find my flow with this dance... But I kept on trying... I think it > wasn't till half a dozen times calling this dance, did I even begin to find > the flow... And now, it is a favorite dance to call... > > Thanks, > > Jeff > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
