All great suggestions. I would also like to add that when I first started calling, I did many of the things already listed, but I also practiced. I practiced with imaginary people in my living room: practicing (out loud!) the walk-through, practicing the calling, dancing in each position while I practiced the calling.... I also taped a lot of callers and listened to them in the car, trying to call with them. I memorized dances and practiced calling them in the car as well.
Good luck! sue Sue Hulsether [email protected] www.suehulsether.com 608-632-1267 Cell 608-629-6250 Home P.O. Box 363 Viroqua, WI 54665 On Jul 8, 2015, at 1:46 PM, susanelberger via Callers wrote: > I'd also be careful about what you plan to call. It's very exciting to call > complicated figures, but it may be worth considering doing relatively simpler > dances as you develop your self confidence. Simple doesn't necessarily mean > boring, and in fact can leave more time for dancers to enjoy the music and > each other than complicated dances do, where you have to keep calling for a > longer time to make sure that the dancers can manage without you. > > Susan Elberger > Lowell, MA > > From: Claire Takemori via Callers <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2015 4:10 PM > Subject: [Callers] How to teach various steps to beginners? > > Hi. I just called my first contra dance at camp last week. I didn't die, so > I'm thinking of working with our son's nature class to do some family dances. > > In the meantime, I will try to call a contra when I can as a guest at our > local dances. > > Do you know of a source/s (would you share yours) that has good clear > wording for how to teach things like Hey, Pull-by, California Twirl, > Petronella, Rory O'more, etc? > > I will ask good callers if I can record their teachings when I'm at dances > with lots of beginners..... > > Where else can I learn good, simple wording? I sure don't want to reinvent > it myself...... > > Thanks! > claire takemori > > _______________________________________________ > 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
