Re: [Callers] mentorship

Lynne, I have not had a formal mentor, as such, but owe a great deal of gratitude to this list, and especially to Tony Parkes & Dan Pearl for their great warmth and willingness to share. Both have taken time to answer questions and/or sit and chat on the sidelines of a dance talking w/ me about

Re: [Callers] mentorship

Funny you should mention that LynnIve had this idea kicking around about a video project...I'll forward you some stuff off list first. bob Green On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 6:08 PM, lynn ackerson wrote: > Why am I asking? As a CDSS board member particularly interested in

Re: [Callers] mentorship

Why am I asking? As a CDSS board member particularly interested in contras, I'm brainstorming about what a long-distance mentoring program could look like. - Original Message From: "Winston, Alan P." To: Caller's discussion list

Re: [Callers] mentorship

Over in English country dance land, I've gotten a lot of help from Bruce Hamilton over the years (auditing his weekly caller classes in 1985, taking caller classes at English Week), and also taken a bunch of English and contra caller sessions from other leaders like Scott Higgs. I did a year

Re: [Callers] mentorship

Lynn, I was lucky enough to be one of the many callers mentored by Larry Jennings. He completely changed my ideas about caller responsibilities. I owe him so much. One of the very specific things he did was to force me to recite "walk-throughs" in front of him, over and over, until I developed

Re: [Callers] mentorship

I was introduced to Dudley Laufman by a friend in the spring of 1994. I attended and sat in as a musician with many dances led by him for many years while I lived in NH. He also let me talk shop with him at his place in Canterbury, NH, and let me borrow titles from his huge personal library of

Re: [Callers] Don't teach proper formation unless you need it

If by partner interaction you mean touching then I'd agree with you. If by visual connection then there's a lot of it. But not just partner - in this area the R for MM are done the old style (or what I'm told is the old style): pull by with hands and then do a parallel/tandem CT shoulder to

[Callers] Don't teach proper formation unless you need it

On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 2:18 PM, Don Veino > wrote: > My wife was originally not fond of > Money Musk, until she got a chance to dance it with a great partner at > Ralph Page/UNH and "got it". Interesting... I like Money Musk, but of all the dances I know

Re: [Callers] mentorship

I don't have a formalized single mentor but draw on the established regular callers in my area (or internet extended area :) for advice and feedback. At least one of these callers created opportunities for me to try out larger venue public calling which nudged me over the hump to try doing a full

Re: [Callers] Don't teach proper formation unless you need it

I feel lucky that in our area these dances are occasionally part of a standard "social dance" program (from whence they originally came). While I can no longer claim to be a new dancer, when I was one I got exposed to these dances and it opened my dance horizons, enough so that I wanted to seek

Re: [Callers] mentorship

We have a local group (Mad Robin Caller's Collective) that helps new callers along. In the past couple of years we've had workshops focused on total beginners, squares, and chestnuts. There are practice sessions where you can try out and get critiqued on both calling and walk through for a new

Re: [Callers] Don't teach proper formation unless you need it

Dave wrote: > Sure, there are times at festivals where callers might program a > particular theme and > discuss dance history, or experienced dances where callers might teach > complex dance figures, but these are not the open, public dances that > you're talking about. > I'm glad we are in

Re: [Callers] Before the First Walk-Through (Was:"Don't teach proper formation unless...")

On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 11:30 AM, Greg McKenzie wrote: > The instruction that newcomers should find someone who has danced at least > one night contains a very strong implied message to the regulars.  The > regulars are the ones who know who the newcomers are, and the message

[Callers] mentorship

In your calling career, do you now or have you ever had a mentor? If so, who was it and what specific things did they do to help you grow as a caller and a person?     thanks,     Lynn

Re: [Callers] Don't teach proper formation unless you need it

Greg, Your comments seem to be a bit of a non sequitur-- I'm not sure that I've ever heard a caller give "lectures" or talk about what a person who wrote a dance said once when calling dances. Sure, there are times at festivals where callers might program a particular theme and discuss dance

Re: [Callers] Before the First Walk-Through (Was:"Don't teach proper formation unless...")

David wrote: > The old hands (old feet?) are more comfortable being the center of > attention than would be the case if I asked all the newcomers to raise > their hands. > I never ask anyone to raise their hands. The regulars know. The instruction that newcomers should find someone who has

Re: [Callers] Don't teach proper formation unless you need it

Very well put, Greg. Thank you! Brian Hamshar Virginia Greg McKenzie wrote: >David wrote: > >> As as a long-time New England caller, I admit to a special fondness for >> the so-called chestnuts, most of which are in proper formation; I think >> that dancers can appreciate

Re: [Callers] Don't teach proper formation unless you need it

David wrote: > As as a long-time New England caller, I admit to a special fondness for > the so-called chestnuts, most of which are in proper formation; I think > that dancers can appreciate having these in their repertoire as a > connection to the long traditions of music and dance we inherit,

Re: [Callers] Before the First Walk-Through (Was:"Don't teach proper formation unless...")

Several typos in last post. Fingers moving without brain being fully engaged. Here's what I meant to say: The old hands (old feet?) are more comfortable being the center of attention than would be the case if I asked all the newcomers to raise their hands. David

Re: [Callers] Line Formation (Proper, Improper)

I started dancing 22 years ago in Vancouver and continue in Ottawa. In both of these communities we line up proper, take hands four and cross over when we are told to do so by the caller. Many these days do cross over in advance of being told, and almost all our dances are improper. But I have

Re: [Callers] Before the First Walk-Through (Was:"Don't teach proper formation unless...")

--- Greg wrote: "I get the attention of the hall and say: "If you are new to this kind of dancing please find a partner who has danced for at least one night..." I certainly agree with Greg that having experienced dancers partner with newcomers can be really helpful. I'd suggest that the

Re: [Callers] Don't teach proper formation unless you need it

David: Always enjoy hearing you in soapbox mode. On the dip and dive, there's also Dip and Dive by Tom Hinds. It's in one of his earlier books - Bob > Date: Mon, 7 May 2012 09:18:06 -0400 > From: david.millst...@valley.net > To: call...@sharedweight.net > Subject: Re: [Callers] Don't

Re: [Callers] Before the First Walk-Through (Was:"Don't teach proper formation unless...")

Martha wrote: > This is probably a regional or specific community thing. In our village, St > Louis, Missouri, we just line up improper, and there's a bit of a confused > scuffle if a caller decides (rarely) to call a proper dance. Even though we > do that, our callers usually say, just for

Re: [Callers] Don't teach proper formation unless you need it

--- Martha wrote: This is probably a regional or specific community thing. In our village, St Louis, Missouri, we just line up improper --- end of quote --- I'd agree that what Martha describes is increasingly the norm, especially in relatively new series and outside of New England. There

Re: [Callers] Don't teach proper formation unless you need it

This is probably a regional or specific community thing. In our village, St Louis, Missouri, we just line up improper, and there's a bit of a confused scuffle if a caller decides (rarely) to call a proper dance. Even though we do that, our callers usually say, just for tradition's sake, "Line up

Re: [Callers] New England Contra Dance History - Old Timers Talk

Small correction. I should have said Flurry rather than NEFFA. Michael Barraclough www.michaearraclough.com On Sun, 2012-05-06 at 23:14 -0400, Michael Barraclough wrote: > There was a wonderful session at this year's NEFFA hosted by David > Millstone. It featured a panel consisting of Bob

Re: [Callers] New England Contra Dance History - Old Timers Talk

Thanks, Michael! Just watched the first clip. Wonderful! Richard On May 6, 2012, at 11:14 PM, Michael Barraclough wrote: > There was a wonderful session at this year's NEFFA hosted by David > Millstone. It featured a panel consisting of Bob McQuillan, Ralph > Sweet, Dudley Laufman, Bill

[Callers] New England Contra Dance History - Old Timers Talk

There was a wonderful session at this year's NEFFA hosted by David Millstone. It featured a panel consisting of Bob McQuillan, Ralph Sweet, Dudley Laufman, Bill Spence and Andy Spence with David Millstone in the chair. Fortunately, it was captured in 6 videos which are available on You Tube. I