Hi all,
I just wanted to share a little news from my Dance Callers Week here at
the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, taught
by Bob Dalsemer. The short version is: highly recommended for
advanced beginner - intermediate level callers (like me!)
The course is designed for people who have knowledge of basic contra
calling technique and at least a few years of dancing experience. It's
limited to 8 people so each person gets a lot of mike time and personal
coaching. In addition to discussions of technique, working with
musicians, sound systems, teaching strategies, etc, there are practice
sessions each morning and afternoon that build up toward a big dance
each evening. There are maybe 16-20 dancers at each practice session
(some sign up for the week of dancing, including many parents of the
children's camp that's happening at the same time at the Folk School),
then a huge very mixed crowd each night from little kids and
in-the-groove teenagers up through hard core contra types and
pensioners, all very psyched to have a week of free dancing. The
people in my class come from all over the place -- Indiana, France,
Georgia, North Carolina, me from Vermont, etc. and it's been a fun and
supportive group to work with. It's a good place to make mistakes and
move on (what made me think I wanted to try a singing square?!?!)
Bob offers personalized feedback after each dance you call, in addition
to opening his library of books and database of dances to participants'
search for the right material. Steve Hickman and John Devine, plus
assorted friends, are the band and are great about working with callers
to identify the right kind of music, tempo, etc.
Just seeing the Folk School, itself, is worth the trip--a wonderful
place filled with magical touches everywhere you look, from carved
wooden mushrooms tucked into the gardens to steel curly-cued TP holders
in the bathrooms. It's been operating since 1925 in the Danish Folk
School tradition and has built up its own aura--very wonderful.
This timing couldn't be more perfect for me. After taking on the
challenge of calling for a conference of 500 river protectors in the
Mount Washington Hotel ballroom with an OPEN BAR, and coming out
relatively unscathed, but painfully aware of my shortcomings and
yearning for more skill, I am a total sponge this week.
A couple of thoughts that have struck me:
1) After doing an apprenticeship with David Millstone, I was an
absolute Millstone groupie. Now hearing Bob offer opinions completely
contradictory to some of David's points is making me realize what I
should have figured out all along: in the end, I have to develop my
own style and set of opinions about all this!
2) It's interesting to hear Bob's thoughts about how different the
dance scene in New England is from North Carolina. For one thing, he
says that the music tempos in New England are much more moderate than
here. That here the band raises the tempo to try to raise the energy
in the room, while in New England, the dancers, themselves, create the
high energy atmosphere, so it's more flowing and even with a band like
Wild Asparagus, you can dance all night in New England without getting
as tired. I don't know enough to say whether it's true but it's
interesting to think about.
Anyway, it's been a great week, a nice follow-up to calling squares
with Kathy Anderson last summer at Pinewoods and my lessons with David.
I can't wait for my next gig to try some of this new material -- Next
week!
If you're interested, it's always this third week in June and you can
learn more at www.folkschool.org.
Delia
Delia Clark
PO Box 45
Taftsville, VT 05073
802-457-2075
[email protected]
