Either this topic hasn't inspired any comment, or I have not been receiving the posts. I did have some thoughts about it, and without seeing any of the original thread, here goes:
New callers (in my experience) don't start out at local dances by calling a whole evening. They start by calling one or two dances in an evening, and then move up to half an evening. And by calling at 'open calling' dances. After this they may get the opportunity to call a whole evening. Then perhaps calling at other regional dances. In this way they begin to get recognized. I have heard of some people taking some calling workshops and then trying to get hired for "bigger" gigs, and as 'out of town' callers. For me, this indicates a lack of respect for all the people who have worked at calling a long time before they started calling nationally. Dancers have become very focused on the talent: name recognition of the band and caller. There are few dances where with open stage for bands and callers. To get the name recognition, both bands and callers have to start locally, build a following, before they should expect to be hired for "bigger" gigs, where name recognition is a big part of how the organizers choose who is on stage. Plus, organizers don't want someone to be learning or developing skills in a situation where dancers expect more than that. Local dances are appropriate for development. While I might consider an unknown caller for a local dance, I would never consider one for a special/weekend dance. Jeffrey Rovner chicago > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:organizers- > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Chrissy Fowler > Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 7:31 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Organizers] booking performers - balancing act > > Hi all, > > There has been an interesting discussion on the shared weight callers > list, which is relevant to us as organizers. > > Basically, one of the newer/developing callers was sharing her > frustration about feeling shut out of the "bigger" gigs, in part > because some of those organizers weren't interested in experimenting > with "untested" talent, in part because they wanted to maintain certain > 'standards' of skill and performance. > > I could see her point, as a caller wanting other gigs, but also can see > the point of the organizers, whose first responsibility is not > necessarily to cultivate growth in the caller/musician community but is > rather to run a series that meets the expectations of the dancers and > the organizers themselves. > > Anyhow, I was curious about what the rest of you organizer folks might > think about this tension and how you've balanced it. > > I'll send a condensed version of the content of the caller emails > (without names and extraneous details) in a subsequent msg. > > - Chrissy Fowler > Belfast, ME > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > http://www.belfastflyingshoes.org > home 207-338-0979 cell 603-498-3506 > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get thousands of games on your PC, your mobile phone, and the web with > WindowsR. > http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/108588800/direct/01/ > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
