Thank you all for your excellent advice! I realize I should have mentioned that the 2 times I’ve crashed were during no-walk-thru medleys. So I didn’t have the option of just letting the dancers sort it out themselves, since both times I faltered in the first or 2nd time thru the 3rd dance in the medley. Hash calling might have been a bit more of an option then than in a regular dance because they’re expecting me to be changing things up. But I still agree it would likely have confused folks—the advice received has been MOST helpful!
Also it goes without saying that my future mistakes will most often NOT be during no-walk-thru medleys. So all this advice (on how to recover during a regular dance) is EXTREMELY helpful! Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions! I feel (a little) less nervous, having a plan in case things fall apart! BTW, in case anyone is about to write and say I shouldn’t be calling medleys if I’m a beginner, they were both at open mic sessions during a caller’s workshop. It was a time to safely stretch my boundaries, and I was grateful to have those experiences there, rather than at my home dance! :-) Thanks, everyone! Becky > On Sep 22, 2019, at 8:36 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Yeah, I agree with everything said here. If you DO decide to go the hash > calling route, definitely let the crowd know that you’re doing something > different and deviating on purpose: with a “listen up” or something like > that. > > Often the dancers DO sort themselves out, and the dance can just go on. If I > screwed up a call, I like to make an extra big point of it the next time > through—either saying it louder/more deliberately, getting the hall to “say > it with me: long lines forward and back” or something—to acknowledge that _I_ > fucked up and it wasn’t the dancers’ fault. > > On Sun, Sep 22, 2019 at 7:21 PM David Harding via Callers > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > wrote: > I agree with Jim. As a dancer, I've danced through a fair number of > bouts of caller confusion. My two cents: What seems to me to work best > is for the caller to know at least one point in each dance that we might > call an anchor point. "Oops, I slipped up there. Find your partner and > swing on the side." Or something, preferably with their partners > because if they are lost they probably don't know who their neighbors > are at the moment. From that point, tell them to wait for the music, > then continue from there. Waiting is easier than responding to hash > calling, especially unexpected hash calling. > > Dave Harding > > > On 9/21/2019 10:01 PM, jim saxe via Callers wrote: > > Becky, > > > > I may be off-base about this, and I'd welcome differing opinions from other > > list members, especially if they're based on actual experience, but I > > expect you would find some dancers who seemed *amazingly* resistant to > > dancing a hash-called recovery routine of the sort that you describe. It's > > just not the sort of thing contra dancers are trained to expect. > > > > Some of the dancers who can most easily remember how the dance was supposed > > to go (if you hadn't muffed a call and sent things of the rails) will want > > to continue doing what they "know" they're supposed to do and try to help > > their partners and neighbors to do the same. Unless they think you're > > going into a contra medley, they may think the calls for your attempted > > recovery routine are just more mistakes. > > > > The least skilled dancers--the ones who are most dependent on the > > surrounding dancers to get them through the pattern of a dance--may just > > have their brains totally full of stuff like "Uh-oh! Something feels wrong! > > I'm confused! What's going on here? It's probably my fault! Oh, dear; oh, > > dear; oh dear!" and not have any attention left over for listening to your > > calls. And if they do try to listen, they might expect that you are > > attempting to tell them how to do the dance they've just been doing (as > > opposed to the improvised thing you're actually calling) and they may be > > surprised that what you say isn't putting them into a familiar place. And > > if they do get to a place that seems familiar, they might next try to do > > the thing they have been habituated to do when they get to that familiar > > place, even if it's not what you call at that point, and even if doing that > > habitual thing won't help them recover because they're at the "familiar" > > place 8 or 12 bars later than they would have been there in the original > > dance. Moreover, those less skilled dancers may also have "experienced" > > dancers nearby trying to "help" them do whatever those experienced dancers > > "know" should come next, which, as I said earlier may not be your recovery > > routine. > > > > If the dance is fairly straightforward, with no out-of-minor-set > > interactions (so that, for example, there are no interactions with > > "shadows" and you don't temporarily progress to new neighbors then revisit > > previous neighbors before progressing for good) a possible recovery method > > would be to admit that you goofed and then, as the end of the tune > > approaches say something like "OK. Just look for your next neighbor > > somehow. WAIT for the music. ... Ready ... set ... Balance and swing" (or > > some other appropriate thing if the dance begins a different way). > > > > Then you may still have to deal with couples that somehow get stranded > > between two foursomes. The usual rule in this case is that the stranded > > couples should go to the bottom of their set. If they don't know to do > > that on their own, you could tell them: "If you're left out, go to the > > bottom" or "If you don't have another couple to dance with, go to the > > bottom" or "Left-over couples, just go the end of the line." And they > > might do it. Or they might react as if somebody had just turned off your > > microphone and erected an inch-thick plexiglas wall in front of the stage. > > > > There might also be some people who have found a new neighbor to start the > > next round of the dance but who are somehow in a different foursome from > > their partner. If they can't sort that out on their own, I can't think of > > anything the caller can say over the mic that will help, short of bringing > > the dance to a stop and getting everyone to regroup. > > > > Here's a story that comes to mind, not about a recovery routine but about a > > different attempt to get dancers to do something on the fly that I hadn't > > explicitly taught during the walk-through: I was calling to a small group > > of mixed-skilled (but on average not very skilled) dancers in small city a > > few hours away from the nearest "hot" contra dance scene and for some > > reason I had just picked a dance in which only the #1 couples go down the > > hall and return. I guess I hadn't taught the role of the #2 dancers in > > maintaining the position of the set, and I saw that the sets were > > stretching and drifting further down the hall with each repeat. So next > > time I sent the 1s down the hall, I said something like "2s move up". No > > effect. Hmm. Maybe the 2s weren't used to identifying themselves as such. > > So next time after sending couple 1 down the hall, I tried something like > > "The rest of you, take a step up." No effect. Maybe they weren't used to > > interpreting "up" in that context. So ... "Couple one go down the hall. > > [Loudly and clearly:] The rest of you take a step or two toward the stage." > > I might as well have been whispering into my sleeve. I'm not sure even one > > person got the message. So I just let the dance run a few more times, > > drifting gradually down the hall until I decided to end it. As I said: > > Completely unexpected call == Mic off; plexiglas wall up. > > > > --Jim > > > >> On Sep 21, 2019, at 5:11 PM, Becky Liddle via Callers > >> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > >> wrote: > >> > >> I’m a very new caller. I do pretty well, but occasionally I’ve lost my > >> place in a dance and the dancers (of course) crash. > >> I won’t always be able to avoid a crash, but would like to avoid the > >> complete crash and burn. That is, I’d like to be able to recover after I > >> mess up, so the dancers can finish the dance. My tentative plan is below, > >> but I’m making it up, and would love both feedback on my plan and/or other > >> suggested methods of rescuing a dance that has gone off the rails: > >> > >> I’m pretty good at knowing where we are in the music, so if I can maintain > >> my head I’m hoping I'd be able to do an extremely simple hash call to get > >> back to the top of the song: > >> > >> I’m guessing what I’d do is say “find your partner and swing on the side” > >> and then hash calls that amount to going nowhere (Circle or star all the > >> way around, LL forward and back, neighbour do-si-do, partner allemande > >> once around—others?) until 8 bars before the top of the dance (if it’s > >> improper), then say “circle left 3 places” to get them back in the > >> original hands-four position. Then start calling the dance at the top. > >> Does that work? Is there some other approach you’d recommend instead? > >> > >> And if it is a Becket dance, I just do the same thing but without the > >> circle left ¾ bit at the end? > >> > >> Are there other tips you have for recovering and/or for killing time > >> waiting for the music to start over again? > >> > >> Any other recommendations to keep everyone in a good mood if/when I mess > >> up? Good self-deprecating jokes/comments? > >> > >> Thanks! > >> Becky > >> _______________________________________________ > >> List Name: Callers mailing list > >> List Address: [email protected] > >> <mailto:[email protected]> > >> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > >> <https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> > > _______________________________________________ > > List Name: Callers mailing list > > List Address: [email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]> > > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > <https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> > > _______________________________________________ > List Name: Callers mailing list > List Address: [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > <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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