Mark, Well said.
Personally, I don't often call medleys - but it has nothing to do with the dancers abilities. I did call one at a regular dance a couple weeks ago as the last dance of the evening. By that time everyone there had enough experience to handle a couple easy dances without a walk thru. While I avoid doing anything that excludes new dancers, I am not afraid to challenge them along with our more experienced dancers. With the new dancers properly dispersed in each line and some very talented regular dancers assisting, you can get away with quite a bit. I spend the early dances evaluating the skill level for that evening and revise my program to suit the crowd. I come with a program I have planned for the evening - but usually end up using about half of it. For example, you mentioned contra corners. I almost always include it in my program for the second half of the evening - but it usually gets cut for something more appropriate for beginners. If we have a fairly skilled group, it stays in. In my experience - the regular dancers really enjoy a wide variety of dances - so my focus is making sure we show the new dancers the best time we can. Hopefully they finish the evening having had a lot of fun and feeling like they really could do this type of dancing. Mac ________________________________ From: Mark Widmer <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, February 1, 2011 8:59:49 PM Subject: Re: [Callers] Back to Calling Medleys Rich, You've pretty much summed up my approach (and that of other callers I know) to calling medleys at a regular contra dance -- i.e., not at a festival. A medley is a fun surprise for the dancers, there is no need to "warn" them about it. Straightforward dances are used, so it is arguably less challenging to beginners than doing a dance with contra corners or having a shadow. That being said, I do occasionally encounter a hallful of dancers where I feel, on balance, a medley would not be a good idea. But that is the exception rather than the rule. Mark Widmer On Tue, 1 Feb 2011 19:27:31 +0000 (UTC),[email protected] wrote: > Hi, > > My two cent regarding medleys. > > Most all medleys I've ever encountered were not extra length, usually lasting > at most six times through per unique dance.? Medleys by nature must be easy > dances with progressions that fit together nicely.? > > I frequently call a medley as the last dance of the evening.? None of the >moves > are ones that have not been used somewhere else in the evening. > > Usually I will ask the band to play three tunes, 4-4-5, and I will?signal > the tune changes myself.? The dance changes when the > tune does, but you know that part well. > > I really don't see medleys as being any more challenging than any other contra > dance.? Every dance should be just fun, and the?switch is what makes it so. ? > Each dance in the medley should be totally accessible to all skill levels at > that point in the evening. ? If there is a bit of fumbling about at the >switch, > I think that just adds to the fun.? I just make sure I make my calls a bit > earlier and very clearly, with a "Listen UP, Listen UP" thrown in at the > dance >switch. > > Perhaps we're talking about a different sort of medley. > > Hope all you northeasterners are braving the latest storm okay.? Looks > nasty.??Nice sunny day here in the Pacific NW. > > Rich _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list [email protected] http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
