David Millstone wrote: > I'd suggest > that any caller interested in investigating breaks would do well to purchase a > copy of Ted Sannella's "Calling Traditional New England Squares," which is > full > of general comments and theory, scores of breaks that Ted used, and a CD of > Ted > callign squares. The cuts on the CD were chosen in part to illustrate many > different breaks. Two other items that may be helpful are Tom Hinds's recent > publication with a similar title, "Calling New England Squares" and Tom's > earlier "Give Me a Break!" All of these materials are available from the sales > office at Country Dance and Song Society, http://www.cdss.org/sales/index.html >
I would like to throw in my own endorsement for Tom Hinds' "Calling New England Squares" and "Give Me a Break!" I have found both to be very fine resources as I seek to call fun and satisfying squares. I've been reading and rereading these as I've been traveling lately. One of the wisest nuggets is the lesson that squares I find fun to dance may not be suitable for me to call because callers are generally more experienced dancers. So Tom offers several ways to analyze squares for suitability to a particular crowd. I know that some contra dancers think squares aren't fun. It's my judgement that when callers are very well prepared and the figures are well-matched to the crowd's ability, I don't hear from those "squares aren't fun" dancers. In fact, I even hear "that was a fun square!" It's especially satisfying to get a smile from a grump. Contrawise, if I am not well prepared on a square, I will hear it. Jerome Grisanti
