Good point Erik. Also, if you travel, different groups can have vastly different cultures. Some years ago I was asked to call a zesty contra in another state. I assumed they would want to do a lot of zesty dances and planned accordingly. The food was placed outside the dance floor in a long hall from the start. After the first dance, which seemed to go well, everyone disappeared outside to eat and talk just as I was saying "take partners for the next dance". After a five minutes while I worried that they hadn't liked the dance I'd called, people drifted back and lined up again and about 10 minutes later I did the next dance. Same thing. I finally realized that it was their custom to break after each dance, and relaxed and stopped trying so hard to get them back and lined up. I got through about four dances in the first half and four in the second, where I had expected to do more like 11 or 12 total for the time. At the end of the night, people came up and said, Wow, you really got us through a lot of dances!
Martha On Apr 22, 2015, at 6:59 PM, Erik Hoffman via Callers wrote: > On the question of paying attention: > > A while back, in one of these e-groups, someone pointed out that we contra > dancers keep talking about "community." This post pointed out that we contra > dancers go to a dance, and, often forsaking applause (yet another topic...), > run off to find our next partner and line up for a dance. This posting > compared that to country-western dance, or swing dance, where they would sit > around a table and talk, get to know others through chatting, and not dance > every dance, but have other social things happen. It got me to thinking: > > Often, after people have lined up, they talk with each other, their partner, > their minor set, or other people around them. Often callers strive to get > everyone to shut-up so they can start the dance. I've come to believe this > time of conversation is the main time we get to know a little about each > other and is thus a "community building time." > > My practice now is to say into the mic in a regular talking voice, "Are you > ready?" If the general banter keeps going on, I wait a couple beats, and say, > again, "Are you ready?" After two to four times of asking the question, > someone will say, "Yes!" Then another might do a loud, "Shhhh!" When people > finally quiet down, I teach the dance. > > ~erik hoffman > oakland, ca > > On 8/4/2014 10:26 AM, barb kirchner via Callers wrote: >> sometimes when dancers aren't paying attention, it's because there are too >> many other things going on in the hall. >> >> sometimes it's the band warming up or sound checking, but i've seen all >> kinds of things going on - bake sales, people on their mobile devices, a >> group of beginners coming in who don't yet know dance etiquette, or maybe >> the dancers are having trouble hearing you. sometimes musicians talk loudly >> behind the caller (i'm a musician and a caller) and it's hard to understand >> the caller because the chatter can be heard through mics or pick-ups. >> >> you can't fix some of those things, but you can address retail events in the >> hall, cell phones, sound system, etc >> >> are your experienced dancers modelling good dance etiquette? are you >> teaching efficiently, or are you spending so much time talking that people >> lose interest? >> >> sometimes, i just start the walkthru anyway. as soon as people realize that >> most people are starting to swing, they get a little more interested :-) >> >> cheers, >> barb >> >> >> > Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2014 13:05:57 -0400 >> > To: [email protected] >> > CC: [email protected] >> > Subject: Re: [Callers] When the dancers aren't paying attention >> > From: [email protected] >> > >> > It depends why the dancers aren't paying attention. Are there lots of >> > experienced dancers, such that the walkthrough isn't really necessary? >> > Are they ignoring walkthroughs the first time through because they >> > know there will be a second one? Are they just having a lot of fun >> > with their friends and prioritizing that above listening to the >> > caller? How does the dance go once it starts? >> > >> > A few strategies I might try: >> > >> > * Not bother with the walkthroughs entirely. If the crowd is ignoring >> > the walkthroughs because as a whole they don't need them, then just >> > call the dance. This means only picking dances that can be called >> > no-walkthrough, but there are still a lot to choose from. >> > >> > * Give the dancers a bit longer between dances before starting the >> > walkthrough. If they're chatting with neighbors and catching up, let >> > them do that for a bit. Then once you start the walkthrough go >> > quickly. >> > >> > * Ask the band for rolling starts, where they play music under the >> > walkthrough. This makes it harder for people to talk and feels more >> > like dancing. You don't have time to explain complex things, so you >> > have to give that up, but it's much more forgiving than straight-up >> > no-walkthrough. >> > >> > >> > >> > On Mon, Aug 4, 2014 at 11:08 AM, Maia McCormick via Callers >> > <[email protected]> wrote: >> > > At Falcon Ridge this weekend, I saw a couple of different styles of >> > > dealing >> > > with that frustrating state of affairs when 50%+ of the hall just isn't >> > > paying attention to the walk-through. I'm curious if you all have any >> > > particular strategies you employ here, thoughts on how to deal with this, >> > > how to get the attention of the hall, etc. >> > > >> > > In dance, >> > > Maia >> > > >> > > _______________________________________________ >> > > Callers mailing list >> > > [email protected] >> > > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net >> > > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Callers mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Callers mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
