One of the things that I've often noticed about many of the dances that
I attend is the fact that we seem to be able to gather together people
with vastly different backgrounds and professions in one room to dance.
At one dance there are often a few with Ph.D or M.D. degrees. But there
are many more engineers, farmers, selectmen, foresters, factory workers,
retirees, students (at various levels), writers, electricians,
carpenters, teachers, sailors, nurses, boat builders, artists, and so
many others. I know of no other place where people with so many
different backgrounds get together so often to share something that they
all enjoy.
Rich.
Chrissy Fowler remarked on 5/13/2008 8:15 AM:
nicely put, tina! i couldn't agree more.
for my part, on the "isn't that interesting" front, i've noticed that there are many callers in my circle who are (or have been) various sorts of educator/teachers and/or are first-born children. both of these loose associations seem pretty logical -- as has been pointed out, good calling involves good teaching while managing groups of people, often of varying skill levels, effectively enough to ensure a positive experience for the greatest number. and eldest children often have spent years practicing orchestrating & leading, and are "quite-comfortable-telling-others-what-to-do-next". as tina points out, it's just an observation, sort of like observing that there are lots of math/engineering professionals attending modern urban contradances.
ah, which brings me to another association - many callers are prone to observing, noticing patterns and making guesses about why those patterns might be occurring. hah! :-)
chrissy fowler
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~http://www.belfastflyingshoes.org home 207-338-0979 cell 603-498-3506> > > Message: 2> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 12:26:22 -0700 (PDT)> From: Tina Fields <[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [Callers] Callers with higher degrees> > Greg makes a very important point here. The 'elitism'> factor really never occurred to me when asking this> question; it really came out of surprised curiosity. Like> many of us, I'm just interested in weird phenomena. There> aren't that many Ph.Ds/MDs/JDs etc. in the country, and> it's wild to see how many wind up calling too. > > My dad was a brilliant square dance caller, and he had a> junior-high education. I'm the first one in my family to> even get through high school; the relatives were worried> that "that much education might ruin yer girl." And I> could not agree with Greg more. As a college teacher,> artist-in-residence with kids, and outdoor leader alike,> I've noticed that the best teaching is really a form of> servant
leadership or midwife education rather than egoic> performance; that is, the 'guide on the side', not the> 'sage on the stage.' This is, of course, exactly Greg's> point about good calling. > > One of the reasons I find calling so compelling is the> challenge of making sure everyone - band, dancers, sound> person, dance manager - all are having a good time, feeling> confident, appreciated, and in sync; all the while not> screwing any of it up myself. (As a newish caller, that> last bit is the tricky part.) Callers have to focus> effectively on many parts at the same time to create one> cohesive, joyful whole -- talk about a humbling meditation> practice! > > If I offended anyone inadvertently, please take this as a> sincere apology. The question comes out of curiosity, not> snobbishness.> > Tina> >
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