over the past few decades, we have held 51 dance weekends using the open/multiple caller format (each caller gets 2 dances) and dancing at least 7 hours each night (often longer). We have never attempted to track this and have not had a problem with caller using the same dances or ones that are similar. Reasons include - callers form various regions have different favorites, callers are frequently dancing before they call so they know what has been done recently and, most importantly - most dancers don't really care. I have often changed my dance because I thought it was similar to recently called ones - but really didn't have to.
The only problem I remember was when we had a really hot square danced fiddler and the callers called about 8 squares in a row (but they all knew they were doing it) We did get a couple unfavorable comments on that one. Mac Mckeever St Louis ________________________________ From: Brian Hamshar <[email protected]> To: Caller's discussion list <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 1:44 PM Subject: Re: [Callers] practice vs. preparation Becky's comments about keeping records of what dances are called are interesting. My experiences that this is often done at longer events with multiple callers in the same day, but I've never heard of it done at a community dance series. I do agree that it would be easy to do and potentially beneficial to many. Brian Hamshar Virginia Becky Nankivell <[email protected]> wrote: >Andy Shore (Tue, 29 May 2012 14:05:31) wrote: > >"How did the previous caller fair and were there any pitfalls or >problems in that session that I can learn from or avoid? What dances >have been called thus-far and should I avoid ones that are too similar >(e.g., there were LOTS of dances with "balance the ring, california >twirl" progressions called this weekend.)" > >Once upon a time when I was starting calling and also involved with >organizing the multiple-caller contra dance in Tucson, Arizona, we >maintained a notebook where each caller (or an organizer) recorded the >dances that had been called in an evening, and a few other notes on >the evening. The idea was that this would be a resource that a caller >could use in planning the next dance. > >I don't know that any of the callers except for me actually ever used >this (and I know I didn't use it frequently), and after a few years >the practice was dropped. > >This still seems like a good idea to me for venues where there are >multiple callers. I know that I keep a record myself so that I don't >call the same dances too frequently at one venue, (and in planning an >evening I check for the distribution of figures). If you're not a >regular dancer at a venue (whether you're visiting, or just dancing >less frequently), without some record it's hard to know what's been >called. > >Nowadays, an electronic record would be easy to share, via web posting >or a file. Our not using the TFTM notebook was probably because the >dance planning happened at each caller's home, and the notebook wasn't >handy. > >Are there communities that are keeping such records and making them >available? Comments on that from organizers and/or callers? > >The trick is, as with any record keeping, it requires someone or some >people to make sure it happens and to keep track of the file(s)... > >As an additional note, I believe the dance records are still in the >TFTM archives, and undoubtedly show some interesting changes in the >style of dances called. As someone with an interest in dance history, >I think it would be great if there were more records like this out >there. > >~ Becky >_______________________________________________ >Callers mailing list >[email protected] >http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list [email protected] http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
