Maia,
I used to self-flagellate all the time when I had average gigs or made a lot of
mistakes during the evening that I could have done better. I know that
sometimes it seems that dancers give you the evil eye after you've made a
mistake or two, and it can feel uncomfortable.
I got some advice from an organizer that really noticed how I was taking my own
self flagellation - I should go easy on myself. Most dancers really appreciate
what callers do (knowing that many of them just don't want to call because
they'd rather be dancing), and probably understand that it's probably not easy
to put yourself up there.
So now when I do make a mistake, notice the dancers aren't quite getting it or
something occurs a little rough, I just take that as a learning experience and
hope not to make that mistake the next time. It's a mental exercise to be
sure, but I'd recommend trying the same thing at a future dance, except
consciously be aware of what happened last time and make efforts to correct
that. Once it works better a second time, you'll forget that you made a
mistake at en earlier dance and chalk that up to a bad evening. We all have
them from time to time.
Perry
From: Maia McCormick via Callers <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, November 6, 2017 11:10 AM
Subject: [Callers] Moving past self-flagellation
So after a gig, I find myself haunted by one or two missteps from an evening —
the rolling start that was a little muddy, the thing I didn’t teach clearly
enough so the dancers never quite got it — even though the dancers adjusted and
all had a good time, and I still had the hall’s trust and goodwill at the end
of the evening.
Is this a familiar experience for anyone? Assuming you’ve already learned the
lesson to be learned there, how do you move past it and stop
self-flagellating?Would love to hear some people’s thoughts!
Cheers,Maia_______________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
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