I concur with Koren on this. Making the medleys longer will just increase what I call the "meat market" atmosphere. I think more medleys is a better idea.
On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 2:09 PM, Koren A. Wake <[email protected]> wrote: > I say this as someone who LOVES medleys, but I personally would not like > the > NEFFA medleys to be longer. I think it would great to have *more* of > them, > but... well, I've got an issue with the medley culture at NEFFA: there's a > lot of pressure to get a fantastic partner and a fantastic set, for fear > that the medley/square won't be *quite* as awesome as it *has* to be. If > you make the medleys longer, that ups the pressure even more. A lot of my > friends had their medley partners booked weeks in advance! > > On the other hand, if you add, say, two more medleys of the same length > (even make each medley session into an hour-long session, but run two > separate medleys in each session), then you've got four chances rather > than > two to have that perfect-medley experience, so that could decrease the > pressure for each individual medley. > > So... what do the rest of you think? Longer medleys, more medleys? No > medleys? > > - Koren > > On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 2:01 PM, Janet Levatin <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > I danced the medley last weekend and thought it should have been > > longer, perhaps eight callers with eight cycles thru each dance. What > > do other think about this idea? > > Janet Levatin > > > > On May 1, 2008, at 1:47 PM, cathy jones wrote: > > > > > This is a rather long post, including background on > > > the NEFFA contra dance medley. > > > > > > First, it's worth considering why you want to call a > > > dance medley. Are you trying to test your level of > > > skill as a caller? Are the dancers clamoring for a > > > medley? Has the band asked for a challenge? The > > > approach you take to calling a medley depends on your > > > answers to these questions. > > > > > > When I created the NEFFA contra dance medley in 1984, > > > there was a specific reason for it. The festival had > > > been moved from its usual time at the end of the > > > school vacation week to the beginning due to religious > > > holidays. This meant that there were only a few hours > > > to set up spaces for events. We (I was program > > > co-chair that year) decided to have a two-day > > > festival, with programming running for 2 full days and > > > nights on Saturday and Sunday with a pre-Festival > > > dance Friday night. > > > > > > We hired two bands, New England Tradition and Yankee > > > Ingenuity, to play for the dance, and had several > > > callers do a few dances each. Because there would be > > > two bands, we decided that a break would be > > > unnecessary- dancers could sit out when they wanted > > > to. > > > > > > When I was trying to figure out how to do the > > > transition from one band to another, the idea of the > > > medley occurred to me. Some individual callers have > > > been calling dances for a long time, but I hadn't > > > experienced I'm oriented toward community building, > > > and saw the transition aspect of changing bands and > > > callers as challenging for all involved- callers, > > > musicians, and dancers. When I spoke with the bands. > > > they were very enthusiastic. > > > > > > My original thought regarding the bands was that they > > > would literally change places during the medley- Bob > > > McQuillen would start at the piano and then Peter > > > Barnes would slide onto the bench, etc. The band had > > > other ideas though. They decided they would all play > > > through the whole medley. > > > > > > I approached several callers to see if they were > > > interested in participating, and, knowing this would > > > be the first time, decided to work within several > > > guidelines. I alternated between men and women > > > callers to help dancers distinguish between voices. I > > > had the second caller call the last time through the > > > first dance, using that as a signal to both the > > > dancers and musicians that a change would be happening > > > the next time. I asked the bands to alternate between > > > jigs and reels, and they agreed enthusiastically. > > > > > > When I announced the medley, I deliberately went out > > > of my way to scare people off. I said it was for > > > experienced dancers only, there would be no > > > walk-through, and explained how it would work. > > > Because it was the first time, and I naively assumed > > > it would be the only time the medley was done, i > > > really didn't want to see it fall apart because some > > > couldn't get through contra corners. It was also > > > Friday the 13th (the dance I called, the last in the > > > medley, was brand new, and so titled), so I was > > > concerned that it wouldn't go over well. > > > > > > The rest, as the saying goes, is history. > > > > > > Comments on calling medleys yourself- > > > > > > I agree with other posters that it's important to know > > > your material well. The dances must have smooth > > > transitions, leaving dancers facing in the right > > > direction with the appropriate hands free for the next > > > figure. Left hand star to balance and swing, and > > > right and left through to forward and back are good > > > examples of this notion. > > > > > > It's not at all important to have what you think of as > > > challenging dances in the medley. In fact, especially > > > for the first time, interesting but not unusual > > > figures are better. If you're going to continue to > > > call medleys, make sure you start simple and build up. > > > > > > > > > Talk to the band. If it's a band that you work with > > > regularly, all the better, since you and they know > > > each other well enough to trust each other. If > > > they're comfortable changing tempos, fine. The > > > success of the medley is based on collaboration. > > > > > > Susan Elberger > > > Arlington, MA > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________________________________ > > > _____________ > > > Be a better friend, newshound, and > > > know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. > > > http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Callers mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Callers mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers >
