I have to admit that we have a secret weapon - Mac McKeever. He's a very accomplished caller, and president of the board, so he has both personal authority and positional authority, and he has a long record of fairness. He is more interested at this point in encouraging us than in discouraging us, but he's set a few standards for us to strive for - and asks that we come up with a personal statement of "what we are going to try and improve this time" each time we call. It reminds us that there is stuff to fix.
M E On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 1:13 PM, Lindsay Morris <[email protected]>wrote: > Could be that we just put the cubs into the rotation too early. > Sad to trash the democratic freewheeling nature of some groups, but maybe > we > need a vetting committee - or some less formal bar to people getting up on > stage. > > Lindsay Morris > Principal > TSMworks > Tel. 1-859-539-9900 > [email protected] > > > On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 2:06 PM, Martha Edwards <[email protected] > >wrote: > > > How bad would it have been to have the board basically put its foot down > > and, after one of the not-very-great evenings, suggest that the next time > > that person is asked to call, they prepare just half a night, or a third > of > > a night? > > > > I'm curious - how did you "bring along" the new callers? Was there a > > teacher/student relationship, or more of a peer-to-peer setup? I ask > > because > > we have a bunch of cubs - I'm one of them - and it's always been > > peer-to-peer, with input from experienced callers only from time to time. > > To > > a certain extent, we critique each other. When one of us manages to screw > > up, we have a friendly enough atmosphere at our Calling Parties that we > can > > admit it, figure out what to do better, and move on. We've been at it for > > almost two years, and are only slowly moving into the rotation, mostly at > > shared caller nights until someone is "ready", and even then, not as > often > > as the regular callers. > > > > So far, it seems to be working. I hope that we don't develop a situation > > such as the one you described! We should remain on our toes, just in > case. > > > > Interestingly, we previously had a couple of regular callers whose dances > > broke down often enough that it was becoming noticeable, but after the > cub > > callers started calling, it happened less often! I'd like to think that > the > > improvement was less from the competition than from the fact that more > > people were paying attention to the callers' art, and so what had become > > somewhat routine took on renewed energy. > > > > M > > E > > > > On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 9:48 AM, Lindsay Morris <[email protected] > > >wrote: > > > > > Our dance group brought along a group of half-a-dozen "cub callers" a > few > > > years ago. > > > > > > It was a bad thing. > > > > > > After they got into the calling rotation at our weekly dance, they > never > > > wanted to get off, of course. > > > Our really good callers got to call less often; the new callers only > got > > to > > > call a dance once every 3 months, so they never got any better. The > > dance > > > was plagued with inexperienced and not-very-great calling for years. > > > > > > Sorry to offer problems without solutions, but this well-intentioned > > > debacle > > > has stayed on my mind. Seem like this is the place to share the > > > "cub-callers" problem. > > > > > > > > > Lindsay Morris > > > Principal > > > TSMworks > > > Tel. 1-859-539-9900 > > > [email protected] > > > > > > > > > On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 10:42 AM, Delia Clark <[email protected] > > > >wrote: > > > > > > > David, > > > > Let's do one of these for VT/NH! Aren't you just the guy to organize > > > it!! > > > > ;-) OK, I would help -- how about you put me in charge of organizing > > > > supplies for the schmoozing part! > > > > Delia > > > > > > > > On Dec 15, 2009, at 9:25 PM, Katy Heine wrote: > > > > > > > > Hi, David-- > > > >> > > > >> Ever since the "Ted's Triplets" marathon eight years ago, we in > > Central > > > >> New > > > >> York have had an annual callers' gathering on different themes. > These > > > have > > > >> been more an opportunity to share repertoire than for older, more > > > >> experienced callers to mentor younger, less experienced callers--so > > > really > > > >> not a parallel to what you're talking about, but maybe of interest > > > anyway. > > > >> > > > >> The topics over the years have included dances in unusual > formations; > > > >> "living room dances" (i.e., dances for small numbers of people); the > > > Gene > > > >> Hubert legacy; English for contra dance callers; and calling for > > > community > > > >> dances, weddings, and one-night-stands. The next one (March 6) will > be > > > >> "Zesty Contras," which will be dances from Larry Jennings' first > book. > > > >> (Many > > > >> of us have the book on our shelves but have not actually mined it > for > > > the > > > >> gems that assuredly lie within.) > > > >> > > > >> These annual workshops are a great opportunity for the community of > > > >> regional > > > >> callers to come together to schmooze, share, and enjoy each other's > > > >> company. > > > >> I strongly encourage callers everywhere to give it a try! > > > >> > > > >> --Katy Heine > > > >> > > > >> -----Original Message----- > > > >> From: [email protected] > > > >> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of David > > Millstone > > > >> Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 6:48 PM > > > >> To: [email protected] > > > >> Subject: [Callers] Callers' workshop > > > >> > > > >> Dear fellow dance callers, > > > >> > > > >> I have an opportunity coming up next spring to lead a day-long > > workshop > > > >> for > > > >> dance callers. It'll be a small group, perhaps 10-12 people, with a > > > range > > > >> of > > > >> experience. Some will have had only 2-4 years of active calling > while > > > >> others > > > >> may > > > >> have had 20 years or more. These will be folks who are comfortable > > with > > > >> contras > > > >> and with traditional squares. They will know each other already. > > They're > > > >> open to > > > >> a wide variety of topics and teaching methods. > > > >> > > > >> I've been invited to address just about any topics that are near and > > > dear > > > >> to > > > >> me, > > > >> so I'm relishing this prospect. > > > >> > > > >> At the same time, I'd like not to spend an entire day on a soapbox. > > With > > > >> that in > > > >> mind, I'm soliciting opinions from this group-- rather than, say, > the > > > >> trad.dance.callers listserv-- because this Shared Weight group > > includes > > > >> some > > > >> callers on the less experienced end of the spectrum. > > > >> > > > >> So, what are topics that _you_ would like to see in a workshop? > > Assuming > > > >> that > > > >> one already has the nuts and bolts of programming an evening, > teaching > > a > > > >> dance, > > > >> and delivering the calls in good fashion, what skills would be > useful > > to > > > >> address? > > > >> > > > >> Thanks for sharing your thoughts. > > > >> > > > >> David Millstone > > > >> Lebanon, NH > > > >> _______________________________________________ > > > >> Callers mailing list > > > >> [email protected] > > > >> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> _______________________________________________ > > > >> Callers mailing list > > > >> [email protected] > > > >> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > >> > > > > > > > > <>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<> > > > > > > > > Delia Clark > > > > PO Box 45 > > > > Taftsville, VT 05073 > > > > 802-457-2075 > > > > [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Callers mailing list > > > > [email protected] > > > > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Callers mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > For the good are always the merry, > > Save by an evil chance, > > And the merry love the fiddle > > And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats > > _______________________________________________ > > Callers mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > -- For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats
