Calling Party

Lots of new things at once--blogging and calling--hmmmm.....

I have got to admit that being a newbie on the dance scene, I just assumed callers were really talented musicians or dancers who just knew how dancing should go and were able to pick up a card and read the instructions appropriately timed to the music. The concept that callers actually practice/studied ahead of time never entered my mind. (You may now all chuckle wisely at my novice perceptions)

For those of you who don't know, I'm a completely new dancer(unless you count the grapevine from our high school production of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown"). In a hundred years I never expected to be dancing, let alone with more than one group--and LOVING it! So I still find myself in a state of amazement to think that I just spent a great afternoon discussing the role of a caller, how a caller might prepare for calling a dance, the dynamics that a caller can use to influence the dancers, and actually putting some of those things into practice.

This afternoon Martha and I met at Kay's house to do precisely the things I just mentioned. I must say that I learned quite a lot this afternoon. First of all, I realized I didn't even know where to start. I mean...I know what the caller does...I cant do my part as a dancer without a caller unless it's something I have memorized, but....how do I get from the floor to the callers spot? Well, we chose a dance we all know to practice with--Jefferson and Liberty. They let me do the walkthru, so I had to imagine that there were people in the room who didn't know what was going on and "teach" it to them trying to keep things clear and concise. (good imagining on Kay and Martha's part too since I think they could do that dance deaf and blindfolded) We also took turns practicing timing the words with the music. When I am on the floor, to me there is nothing more frustrating than getting the call 2 beats into the music when I already should have started, or I am already doing it. Getting the right words out in time is harder than it looks/sounds I found out--heaven knows the music wont wait for me to get it right. Kudos to those callers who make it sound easy.

Anyway...this is getting to be a novel...so...I had a great time today. We worked thru different ideas, laughed a lot when we couldn't spit words out fast enough and just had a fun time. I hope more people can come next time--more brains to pick for info/ideas and of course bodies are better than ghosts even if it is just practice!

Who should try calling?

Charles brings up a good point.

He says he would like to participate as a musician and dancer, but that he wouldn't make a very good caller. I think a lot of us feel that way. I know I do.

Leaving aside the fact that the rest of us think Charles would make a good caller, we don't really know who could be a caller until they've tried it long enough to give it a good go. Our purpose should be to provide a safe place to just try it out - with kindly delivered constructive comments, and round-table discussions of what we're aiming for. Experienced callers who are interested in improving should also be invited into the group to try new dances and to help the rest of us with their expertise. But mainly, we should be looking for dancers (and musicians?) who haven't tried it before, and encourage them to do so.

In such an atmosphere, who knows what talent may emerge?

At the same time, I do also think we should welcome those who really prefer to support the aims of the group by dancing or playing music. Given enough time and laughter, they may change their minds - and become the next Joseph Pimentel or Bruce Hamilton - but on their own schedule!

Comments?

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And they're off! (but you knew that)

Last Sunday, Bob and Kay and I got our feet wet as contradance callers. Bob had called a couple of times before, so he was our expert. We got together over dinner and, after dinner, roped in one of our dinner companions to make a fourth for testing out contra dances. Bob called a dance he had written, which worked great in the living room - then he realized that the partner swing was up and down the line, not on the side, so he rewrote it on the spot.

Kay and I got together one more time after that to practice calling to the music. Well, they say that if you have a bad dress rehearsal, the performance will be good...I think we each practiced in our back yards a couple of times, but by Sunday we were good and nervous about it. It seemed to go off okay, though. The fans were forgiving and supportive, and I only made one truly glaring error, easily corrected by the dancers, and Kay claims she lost track of where the music was, but you couldn't prove it by me. I was sitting on stage behind the curtain keeping track Just In Case, but finally left the stage when I realized she just wasn't going to get lost.

So we all managed it. I missed Bob's calling, but he was still smiling when I saw him, so that's a good sign. For me, it was my first time calling (unless you count the time I had Becky Hill by my side, feeding the words in my ear and giving me a nudge every time I was supposed to call), so just surviving was good news. It was Kay's first time calling contra, though I hear tell she's called English before... She was a natural.

Who are we? Why are we here?

We're contradancers. And English Country Dancers. And musicians, some of us. And basically newbie callers. We want to encourage good calling, good dancing, good music, traditions, evolution of traditions, and fun.

To that end, we have started to get together in hitherto undisclosed locations to practice the ancient and dark art of contradance and English Country Dance calling. This blog will serve to alert us to our double secret meeting locations and times and to give us a place to collect together the resources we need for our task.

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