Kalia, I don't live in a place where it's possible to book 11 date in 8 weeks unless I do some significant traveling. No offense, but I don't know who you are or where you live...How far away are the 11 dances you've booked? to get anything like that I'd have to drive 1000 miles, minimum. But I'd agree with Perry on the essentials: eat well, drink lots of water, get as much sleep as you can, and leave time to enjoy the drive so you're not in a panic mode.
I make a new dance program for every dance I call. If it's less the 75% different from the last several dances I've called, I feel like I'm cheating my own talent, as well as the dancers who expect me to do something special for them. Keith Tuxhorn, caller Austin TX On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 4:47 PM, Colin Hume <[email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, 11 Sep 2013 12:50:39 -0700, Kalia Kliban wrote: > > My question is for the other callers who call a lot, especially if > > you travel to do it. What sorts of things to you do to take care > > of yourself when your schedule is really intense? How do you keep > > your calling fresh, and your attitude good? Do you have any > > personal routines that help you focus? > > I was calling at Whitby Folk Week in August (4 evening dances and 7 > workshops) then drove for four hours to get to Southam in time for a > long weekend there (2 evening dances and 4 workshops). I was > exhausted before I got there! But the adrenaline kicks in and I > believe I still did a good job. Taking care of myself - I sleep when > I can! I sometimes lie down at the back of the stage between an > afternoon workshop and an evening dance. I didn't do much dancing at > Southam because I knew my first priority was the calling. As for > keeping the calling fresh and my attitude good, it may be partly that > I have a large repertoire and therefore no chance to get bored! I > only repeated three of the Whitby dances at Southam, and one session > title ("Squares and Contras to make you think"). I don't have any > routine to help me focus, but the focus is certainly there - I'm not > thinking of anything else while I'm calling. People ask me to > announce things and I say "Yes, I'm perfectly willing to, but I won't > remember - come up and remind me". I even forget to try and sell my > own CDs. > > The other thing that keeps my attitude good (or so I hope - you'd > better ask the dancers) is that I really enjoy calling, particularly > getting people through difficult dances and getting them to dance > better, but also the banter between me, the band and the dancers. > I see myself as an entertainer, not just a teacher, and I believe that > comes across as part of my attitude - I want people to enjoy their > dancing. > > > There's a local square dance caller who does something like 320 > > gigs a year. I need to ask him sometime how he does it, but he's > > always moving too fast to engage in conversation. > > I imagine he's a full-time professional, and that's a different world. > I would hate to feel that I had to take all those gigs just to pay the > mortgage! > > Colin Hume > > Email [email protected] Web site http://www.colinhume.com > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers >
