I had a Girl Scout Dance coming up Sunday and I was thinking how I would
get 150 six to nine year old girls to know which hand was right and which
hand is left. On the way to my contra calling gig on Saturday, the thought
arose that right hand sounds very close to red hand. On the way to the
I'm sure every caller has been there, just as every dancer was once new and
stumbling, and no matter how long we've been doing it, every one of us will
make mistakes. You will take stock, and try to note patterns and correct them.
But striving for perfect is never going to result in being
As you and others have suggested, there are two parts to one's response -
what you say to yourself, and what you say to the dancers. I think the
latter is more important, and it is of course affected by what you say to
yourself. Being able to respond humorously, recognizing that like everyone
This is what is important - it is why we go to dances.
"the dancers adjusted and all had a good time, and I still had the hall’s trust
and goodwill at the end of the evening”
And I think it is fun as a dancer to occasionally have to cope with messed-up
dancing due to dancers, callers, or bands
I have learned that owning my mistakes publicly is an important part of
moving forward. Sometimes I use humor to soften the blow. Another very
important thing I have learned is to make the next dance a great dance.
Something fun, with guaranteed success. Our mistakes bother us more that
they
Great topic, Maia -
I'm reminded of what a college environmental science professor once said: "The
solution to pollution is dilution." In terms of your question, I find one
solution is to call more gigs; that way, there is less time to brood over
mistakes, and the errors become less
Maia,
I agree with what others have said about attitude being the most important
tool, and to be gentle with yourself.
I will sometimes tell the beginners lesson that they shouldn't get caught
up on making mistakes, we all make mistakes, in fact tonight I will make a
mistake to increase their
Seth Tapfer said something in a callers' workshop once that has become my
"go to" for this sort of issue. Everyone makes mistakes, it's how the
caller reacts/responds (do it with a sense of humor and NEVER blame the
dancers) that makes all the difference in the world.
I just came off a dance
Ah yes!
Indeed it is a familiar feeling. So this pep talk is as much to myself as
it is to you.
- Live performance means that there will be mistakes.
- It is not possible to learn anything without making mistakes. If you are
not making any, you're not learning.
- Identify a few things that could
Maia,
I used to self-flagellate all the time when I had average gigs or made a lot of
mistakes during the evening that I could have done better. I know that
sometimes it seems that dancers give you the evil eye after you've made a
mistake or two, and it can feel uncomfortable.
I got some
So after a gig, I find myself haunted by one or two missteps from an
evening — the rolling start that was a little muddy, the thing I didn’t
teach clearly enough so the dancers never quite got it — even though the
dancers adjusted and all had a good time, and I still had the hall’s trust
and
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