Thanks Bill. I have had the tremendous privilege of being allowed to video a number of the dances being called by some of our truly great callers. As the dance video archive project is focused on cataloging the dances, I have restricted my permissions and public postings to that end, and the videos are shot from that point of view of each particular dance works. However, one of my rewards in editing these videos is the chance to study some of the nuances that help these callers be so successful. There has been many a case where I had wished I'd had the camera focused on the caller to see how they did a demo, what gesture they had used, etc.
The idea of doing some kind of "Best of ..." series came to me in the process of getting posting permissions from a dance weekend. One of my idols, who had called the weekend, asked if I had any footage of the teaching, so that learning could be obtained from all the mistakes. Of course I had just spent several hours dissecting all the fantastic things that went so well, ( Wasn't hard to see why we were on different octaves as callers [?]), it hadn't even occurred to me the potential mutual benefit. BTW...if you want objective feedback on you calling, and you have access to video camera, it doesn't get any more objective. Caution: Do be prepared for the brutal truth! Bob On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 10:35 PM, Bill Baritompa < staf...@ext.canterbury.ac.nz> wrote: > Hi Lynn, > > > > Why am I asking? As a CDSS board member particularly interested in > contras, > > I'm brainstorming about what a long-distance mentoring program could > look like. > > A long-distance mentoring program would be great. And Bob your idea > sounds > promising (your video dance archives are a useful resource). Even using > skype in some > way might be helpful. > > When I learned to call MWSD, I was very lucky to be mentored by an > excellent > local caller, Kelvin Love, here in Christchurch and helped by > understanding dancers > who were willing put up with my first steps. In Japan, "Fancy" Tanaka took > me under > his wing and allowed me to call regularly for his club. Both these men > have a fantastic > understanding of how to move dancers in unbroken flowing patterns, and > this imparted > skill has helped me greatly when working out contra dance choreography. > > Calling for contra has come from dancing to and learning from > visitors who have > come to NZ. Bev Bernbaum, Mike Boerschig, Bob O'Brian, Gaye Fifer, Steve > Gester, > Alice Millmoe, Andrea Nettleton and Susie Rudder have all be extremely > helpful when > they have been here. I've learned much from them. > > SW is a great resource, and off list a number of people have been > very helpful to me. > In particular Bob Isaacs has been very generous answering some technical > questions, > David Millstone has helped me get dancing established here with his advice > and resources > he has provided to me. I enjoy Linda Leslie's regular continuing help and > encouragement > and honest appraisal of my ideas. > > Of course nothing is better that personal contact. On our recent trip > to San Francisco, > it was great to finally meet you Lynn, and our brief conversation when you > drove me home > from the dance was a kind of mentoring for me :-). Sharing ideas with > Alan Winston and > Jim Saxe at the special 'woolshed' dance series arranged by the BACDS > really made me > feel part of the contra community. > > Success with your mentoring program. I'm happy to help if I can. > > Cheers, Bill > > > ______________________________**_________________ > Callers mailing list > call...@sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/**mailman/listinfo/callers<http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers> >
