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!
1 comment:
Yes, it was a fun time! And Chrystal and Martha did a great job. Calling English is HARD!!!!
Rather than trying to call, I decided to try teaching “St. Louis,” which is such a lovely dance, and one I've been wanting to learn to call for a long time. We only had the three of us, and the ghost kept forgetting if s/he was a man or a woman (the rest of us kept it perfectly straight at all times, of course), so it got tricky. That, and the fact that I consistently called the last figure wrong…. Oh well. At least I was consistent.
For the record, the ones, at the bottom, turn single downwards at the very end….
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