On 2/10/2014 2:14 PM, Alan Winston wrote:
(Erik Hoffman is a master of getting them moving; I've seen him walk
out on the floor and just good-naturedly start allemanding with some
random person, somehow pulling focus without saying a word.)
*It probably helps that I'm sort of big. I can draw attention pretty
easily...*
5) I have The Talk with the people booking me (for weddings,
especially). I tell them that if they want the dance part to be
successful they have to be involved; if they think the wedding party
can go off for pictures for two hours while the guests dance that
probably won't fly. We typically set expected start times and hard
end times (which I'm willing to overstay if the band is cool, etc, but
they shouldn't expect that just because the food was late and the
toasts ran over that our 10:00 pm end time can be an 11:00 pm end
time, or whatever it is. We're available for the agreed upon time.)
Note: If the bride and groom are in the contra dance community and
they tell you most of the guests will be contra dancers, great; you
can maybe call contra dances. But it's likely to turn out that
there's a bunch of not-previously-dancing family, and you can't get
them to split up and dance with the experienced dancers, so you still
need to have stuff in your bag. (A few mixers are good.)
*If the bride & groom are contra dancers and want the dances to be
contras, I give them a Big Warning! I've managed to avoid the couple
that need Chorus Jig as Their Wedding Dance. I have heard horror stories
of a half-hour of teaching, then everything falling apart...* *But there
are times when there is a true contra dance wedding, with the majority
of dancers being contra dancers, and, after the first two or three
simple dances, contra dancing does happen.*
8) You have to be happy to be there, calling or not calling, leading
the dorkiest, least challenging things, enjoying figuring out the
thing that will work for the 17 people who got up to dance, and if you
can't be delighted to be there in a situation that's just the opposite
of calling dances for an experienced crowd, don't take the gig.
*
**I've learned from watching people try that calling for Weddings,
Parties, and One Night Stands is an art, and not all callers are cut out
for it. Grace and humor help, as well as the love of the simple dances.
I have called the Virginia Reel & Blobs a million times, and still love
them. I love the joy on dancers faces, the chance to share something I
still love, with the music I love and see it enliven people. It makes me
happy, and that seems to help make others happy. Yes, I have learned
this: if I have fun calling and playing, attendees are more likely to
have fun. If I find myself joyous when others find joy in the dance, and
the playfulness of participating, that joy and playfulness expands.*
All for now,
~erik hoffman
PS, I tried to make my replies in a color, but, for whatever reason, my
email program wouldn't let me. It does, however, permit bold -- which I
use to make the separation between reply and original message.
