Stage Four

4. "I just called my first dance!"

Ok, "just" is not quite accurate. Try 2 weeks ago. September 24th is more like it, but truth be told I havent had time to put this all down until now. At the break someone said to me..."Hey Chrystal, why dont you call Chrystal Saylor next half so you can have a little practice for the 12th." Oh yeah...progressing on to Stage 4.5 very quickly(will explain later). Got to put that calling meeting stuff to practice. I called! I did it! With minimal to no apologies.

So, I got up there and the first thing I thought was, "OH CRAP! I've never called with a live band before--I cant stop and start over! OH NO! When do I--how do I end this thing?" Best answer in life....ask for help. I just told Paul, Charles & Peter that I have never ended a dance before and I would need help with ending it. Easy as that. They pointed out to me not to leave the top couple stranded at the end of the dance and suggested a time to end and we did.

Soooooo....the walk-thru. Martha you would have been disappointed in my walk-thru. It took 3 maybe 4 times. I just kept thinking--taking too long, taking too long. But I figured out why. Because of the way the dance is set up, I needed to orientate everyone in the set FIRST OFF as to who their actual corner was because later each dancer is dancing with his/her corner(who is now right next to you and appears to be your neighbor). I think I have figured out a way to streamline the walk-thru so people get less confused--Are you confused yet?

So now I am quickly progressing to Stage 4.5. Friday Oct. 12th I will be calling several (3+/- given the time) dances since our regular caller Peter is out for the evening. So, it's not quite half, but definitely new experiences to be had.