On 5/31/2017 6:41 PM, Claire Takemori via Callers wrote:
Hi everyone.
I’m looking for advice. I’m calling a FFF next Sat and live in SF Bay Area,
where the average person has never heard of contra dance. I got advice from
Alan Winston, who called the contra dance a couple years ago when it was a 2
day event and the contra was Sunday evening. Now it’s a 1 day festival and the
contra is Sat 630-10pm. The other dance that evening is Blues/Fusion, which
I expect will have a HUGE crowd. There is also a contra dance about 30
minutes South of the venue and a waltz evening 30 minutes East, so I’m not
confident that a bunch of experienced contra dancers will show up. I’m sure
some will, as many are also musicians who will be volunteering that day.
I'm encouraged by Jim's response that there was a good experienced
dancer turnout last year on Saturday night. That's going to make your
life considerably easier.
It’s in a high school gym, so I know to keep calls short and clear due to
acoustics.
I’m wondering about offering a 20 minute lesson before the dance???
I don't think that's a bad idea, but I think many of the people who need
it won't be there. In my experience people tend to trickle in as their
workshops end or they come back from dinner. You could get in touch
with dance coordinator Cassandra and try to get a lesson on the
printed/posted schedule, if it's not already too late.
-- Alan
