I keep a log for my own records of my programs and observations (about the evening, sequence of dances, my teaching, etc.) -- sure, it helps me not repeat myself when I call two local dances in the same month, but mreh, only other callers or a very small handful of dancers would notice me repeating a dance or two in a situation like that. Mostly I use this record to force myself to reflect on my calling, which is super value for finding both things that are working well and things that I could improve on.
On Wed, Mar 7, 2018 at 1:02 PM, Donald Perley via Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > Our dance format features multiple callers in an evening. I recall > one week we had 2 of the callers call the same dance (different names > for the same > dance) and very few of the dancers noticed. As mentioned, different > music (especially tempo and time signature) can make it feel like a > different dance. > > On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 10:28 PM, Mac Mckeever via Callers > <[email protected]> wrote: > > This seems to me to be a lot of effort with very little benefit. There > are > > thousands of dances and each caller has their own approach to > programming. > > It is rare for a dance to be called two nights in a row. When I do see > that > > happening I often ask other dancers around me if they remember it - and > no > > one ever has. > > > > How would the next caller get access to this info? The logistics would > seem > > difficult and unnecessary. > > > > I do not even keep track of what dances I have called. I start off fresh > > when planning a program. If I called somewhere and they ask me back next > > year - no one will notice if a couple dances are the same. It probably > means > > they were really good ones. > > > > I agree that a different band, etc can make the same dance feel very > > different and that a lot of dances are very similar. It bothers me more > > when a caller programs an evening with several dances that all feel the > > same. > > > > Mac McKeever > > St Louis > > > > > > On Tuesday, March 6, 2018, 8:22:25 PM CST, Winston, Alan P. via Callers > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Oddly enough, I was just in Seattle at the end of February and had a > > conversation about this with Lindsey Dono, who told me to my surprise > that > > dancers at Lake City, at least, will complain about getting the same > dance > > two weeks in a row, and said that there *was* a log kept of dances called > > locally. > > > > So, Amy, I suggest checking with Lindsey and see if the effort is already > > under way. > > > > In the SF Bay Area, I think our dance populations kinda slop around, so > that > > while a core of people may go to the central Bay Area dances (SF, > Berkeley, > > Palo Alto), East Bay people may also go to North Bay dances (San Rafael, > > Petaluma) and North Bay people may go to Berkeley or SF but not usually > Palo > > Alto, while Monterey Bay people (Monterey, Santa Cruz) go to those dances > > and some come up to Palo Alto, and some South Bay people (Palo Alto, San > > Jose, etc) go to Santa Cruz or Monterey. The result is that every dancer > > does the dances that are called at the dances they happen to go to, it > would > > be a huge coordinating effort to keep all the dances at different dance > > series with somewhat-overlapping attendance separate, and nobody but > callers > > seems to care anyway. > > > > For me personally, different band, different tune set pretty much equals > > different dance even with the same figures - but also dances that are 3/4 > > the same figures as other dances feel like the same dances anyway. > > > > -- Alan > > > > On 3/6/2018 6:07 PM, Amy Wimmer via Callers wrote: > > > > Huh! I never thought of that for the dance we run. I keep a file of each > gig > > and the dances I called at each. I also write on each dance card the date > > and location of each time I've called it, so I don't repeat myself too > > often. > > > > There's a record of contra dances called at Northwest Folklife Festival. > I > > don't know how far back it goes. > > > > I'll talk to my fellow organizers about starting this at Emerald City > Contra > > Dance. > > > > -Amy > > > > On Tue, Mar 6, 2018, 5:42 PM Kalia Kliban via Callers > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Dance logs, a cumulative record for a series of which dances have been > > called on any given evening, are very common in the English dance > > community but vanishingly rare in the contra community. Why is that? > > They're really helpful for incoming callers, and it's probably nice for > > the dancers not to keep getting the same dances week after week. > > > > I've only ever known of one contra series that kept a log, and it's > > probably because I suggested it when they started out (the Queer Contra > > series in Oakland, CA). Are there any contra organizers out there who > > maintain a dance log? Those of you who do, how do you get the dance > > lists from the callers? The Oakland series had a little book on the > > stage and the callers would write their programs down as they went or at > > the end of the night. > > > > Part of it comes down to record-keeping on the part of the callers. I > > keep a personal log of all the dances I've called so I can avoid > > repeating myself when I return to a given venue. That makes it easy for > > me to produce a set list after the fact if an organizer wants to fill in > > a gap in the log. Fellow contra callers, do you all keep records of > > what you call, and if you don't, how do you avoid repeating yourself or > > remember what worked well (or not) the last time you called at a > > particular place? > > > > If you work with something like Caller's Companion, do you update the > > program list with what you actually danced as opposed to what you > > programmed? > > > > Just curious about other people's process on this. > > > > Kalia in Sebastopol, CA > > _______________________________________________ > > List Name: Callers mailing list > > List Address: [email protected] > > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > List Name: Callers mailing list > > List Address: [email protected] > > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > List Name: Callers mailing list > > List Address: [email protected] > > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > List Name: Callers mailing list > > List Address: [email protected] > > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > > _______________________________________________ > List Name: Callers mailing list > List Address: [email protected] > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >
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