Back to the original Q, sort of... I went to a 1-day caller's workshop in OKC in '01 where I caught the calling bug a little, but the locals who taught did no "mentoring" to anyone who took the workshop after that.
In '05 I decided to take the plunge, and told the local Austin TX callers. Several of them did an afternoon workshop for me and a woman who was also interested. From that point, we were eased into the weekly Wednesday dance here. I called 1-2 dances in someone else's program for several months, then was given half an evening a couple times. After 4-5 months, I was put into the caller rotation, and had a full dance every 5-6 weeks. As for mentoring, which I define as a regular and more intense contact with someone with more experience... I have pretty good presentation skills, not nervous in front of crowds, so I probably didn't need as much help there as others. I also had a good understanding of timing your calls, because I had taught aerobics years before, and the "tell 'em just before you do it" idea is the same... So, my help was in the area of what words/phrases to use while teaching and calling, and how I was using my voice during those times... Chuck Roth, Dale Rempert, Marc Airhart were all helpful. But here's a problem many of you east of the Mississippi, and west of the Rockies, may not have... The four Texas dancing towns are isolated by distance from every other state. We are so far away that the only times we see callers from elsewhere in during dance weekends, and the rare occasion when a caller passes through TX. So, the mentoring pool for callers is the people currently calling in TX, and usually just the town you're in, because it's a long drive between towns. And, with no disrespect to any current TX callers, if the talent of your calling pool is not the best, then getting any mentoring from those folks isn't likely. I'm not saying the callers are bad performers, but many of them are still thinking through the more basic levels of calling that I, and several others, have already got a grasp on. I'm also not saying I wouldn't listen to anyone's suggestions. I'm thinking about mentors being people who have a certain overall level of quality skills with a good understanding of the process, for this post. On the east and west coasts, you have the blessing of many talented callers passing through, either just coming to dance because they live in the area, or they've been hired to come by. At least on the east coast, with the closeness and quantity of people and dances, it's literally physically easier to find a mentor. Of course, videos, Skype, and phone calls can all connect us with mentors. I suspect those would work better for callers who had some of the basic concepts down. For continuing and periodic guidance and help over the years, I thank Joseph Pimentel, Seth Tepfer, Carol Ormand, Nils Fredland, Rich Goss, and Bob Green. Keith Tuxhorn Austin TX
