Woody's mention of jazz brought up a deep memory for me. I was patter-calling a square in Ann Arbor, and the fiddle player walked over to stand very close to me. He started playing a shuffle in harmony to my patter. I got into the dance such that all my thought processes disappeared. It was just me, the music, and the dancers. It was a life-changing experience for me. I say my calling shifted from left brain to right brain that evening. I wonder if this is what other callers experience when they call without cards. I still refer to my cards for contras, especially at the beginning and end of a dance, but the calling comes from deep inside me. Susan
On Sat, Jul 31, 2021 at 9:36 PM Woody Lane via Contra Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > This has been a fascinating thread, with a huge amount of valuable > information, perspectives, and technical options. > > I am impressed by those callers who can call from memory. Since for > contras I don't have a good one. (Squares seem to come naturally to my > memory; contras not so much). I still use cards. And my backup is a > potpourri of photocopies of the cards and a pile of pdf versions of them. > Although with all the ideas expressed in this thread for digital notes and > backups, I am considering expanding and trying some. > > But I was thinking that, memorizing or not, using virtual or not, using > cards or not -- this is a bit like playing jazz. There's no single best way > to play jazz. Likewise, I think there are lots of ways of creating a good > evening with calling. Some rules -- like watching the dancers and reacting > to the them and the musicians -- are universal, but every caller plays the > way that works for them. All these techniques should not make a caller feel > bad or inadequate. On the contrary, they illuminate the wide array of tools > that we have access to, each in our own way to make the best of all that > jazz. > > Woody > -- > Woody Lane > Caller, Percussive Dancer > Roseburg, Oregon > ------------------------------ > > On 7/28/2021 9:45 AM, Susan English via Contra Callers wrote: > > As I begin to travel again, I want to leave my dance cards home and access > all my material virtually. I have 2 questions: > > 1. Which virtual method (or app) do you prefer for accessing your dance > instructions and notes? > 2. What is your back-up plan at a dance if you can't get on the internet? > > Susan [image: 🎶] [image: ☺] > 330-347-8155 > woosterdance.com > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > -- Susan [image: 🎶] [image: ☺] 330-347-8155 woosterdance.com
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