Tina Fields wrote: > > I think 'singing' contra bits can help some calls be much more > integrated with the music and dancers' moves than the more currently > common 'chop chop' spoken calling style, especially because singing > the call helps us stay right on rhythm. >
I'm not sure I agree that "chop chop" calling indicates the rhythm
less than singing in the style of a singing square. In a singing
square the call is generally sung starting at the same time as the
figure. So in smoke on the water you have for the chorus:
There'll be smoke on the water, on the land, on the sea
Right hand to your partner, turn around and go back three
It's a left, right, left; go all the way around
Right hand to your partner, box the gnat, and settle down
A square would be with the caller, doing the figures roughly at the
same time as they were called. (For some bits the caller is a little
a head, for others the caller is a little behind, never more than a
beat, though). With "chop chop" calling you call immediately before
the action, such that the call ends on beat 8 and the action starts on
beat 1. [1]
I would think that the call ending right before the action starts
would help people stay on rhythm more, both because the caller has
already indicated what the action is so dancers can start it right
away, and because the caller always stops *right* before you should
start the figure.
Jeff
[1] For an example of how the timing works, the table on the first
page of seth tepfer's "easy dances for a novice caller" is good:
http://www.dancerhapsody.com/handouts/DancesEasyCall.pdf
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