Alan wrote:"A caller can make any dance difficult, and a caller can put across
an intrinsically more difficult dance with clarity, confidence, and precise
prompting. So some of that suitability of dance to crowd has to deal with the
state of the caller. This makes it hard to write down a rating on a card
that's going to have meaning when you use it."
Alan: I completely agree. Occasionally, I've found myself bumbling through a
walk-through for what seems like an especially boggling dance, only to have the
caller announce the dance's familiar title (and on one occasion, the title of a
dance I had called without trouble the night before).
Another aspect to consider is the dance flavor of the local community.
Depending on the main "crossover dance" (if any) of the majority, the same move
can easily be taught to one group while completely flummoxing another.
Communities that more frequently dance squares are much more comfortable with
pull-bys, for example, while communities with many English Country dancers are
less phased by mad robins, heys, etc. I've noticed this more and more as I've
started calling dances further away from my home turf, and have begun asking
organizers about other popular styles of dance within their community to try to
get a sense of this beforehand.
The music is also a major factor in determining difficulty. Is the phrasing
hard to hear? Does the phrasing match the dance? Mismatched choreography and
music can subtly but profoundly increase the challenge level of a dance.
Conversely, an excellent match can make a quirk of a "stretch dance" easier to
remember. Matching seems to be especially helpful on dances with isolated
balances on the 5th beat (Balance the Hey, for example) instead of the 1st (any
dance with a balance and swing). More broadly, selecting dances that the band
can't match well seems like an easy recipe for trouble. At one of my early
gigs, I couldn't figure out why all of the slinky dances I tried seemed to be
giving experienced dancers problems. During the break, someone pointed out that
my band had two modes: "bouncy" and "barnburner." The elegant dances I tried to
call didn't fit the strengths of the band, and I modified my program for the
second half.
-Lindsey DonoTacoma, WA
From: Jerome Grisanti via Callers <[email protected]>
To: callers <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2015 9:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Callers] Difficulty rankings?
Erik and Alan make good points.
I also think it's worth the exercise to try to rank dances, and individual
figures, by difficulty as a way of thinking about what makes a dance hard or
easy.
For example:
Which is easier to teach (or to learn): chain, hey, right & left through?
That analysis is worthwhile, even if sorting your cards by such rankings is
problematic.
--Jerome
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
“Dance like no one is watching... Because they are not... They are checking
their phone.
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