Was any video or audio recording done? Would love to hear/see some of that.
Jack
On 3/24/2013 11:58 PM, Michael Fuerst wrote:
I just returned from Pigtown Fling dance weekend outside of Cincinnati, with
featured caller Susan Petrick, who has a unique, effective style for teaching
dances. During walk-throughs she never stops talking. The time callers often
pause and wait for the dancers is instead filled usually with her telling about
either the position the dancers will be after the figure, or advice about a
flourish or end effects. Thus very few dances, even the more intricate
ones, required a second walk-through. Susan noted her pleasant surprise
rarely needing a second walk-through, noting the collective skill of the
dancers, but her technique contributed. Even if during the walk-through
dancers are chatting and miss the figure, they know where they should end up
and correctly position themselves.
I speculate that if Susan had realized what the collective skill level of the
dancers would be, she might have chosen a slightly more challenging set of
dances for the two general sessions (Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon)
she called.
This contrasts with Colin Hume's equally distinctive and effective style of
making very witty remarks while teaching a dance to hold the dancers'
attention.
Callers can usefully copy Susan's technique. I doubt many callers can
mimic Colin.
Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217-239-5844
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
[email protected]
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
