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!
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2 comments:
All of the "calling" I've done before has been in the realm of Morris, which is quite different; really just prompting, and there is no attempt at any musicality.
But perhaps it doesn't have to be that way. After all, I started dancing English country mainly to improve my Morris dancing; will attempting to call English dancing improve my prompting for Morris?
I certainly would consider giving calling a try. I'm also interested in creating new dances once I've gotten my feet wet!
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