"Challenge" calling?

Just returned from a square dance weekend—lots of fun, way too much food, not enough sleep… all the things we love about dance weekends.

There were two nationally known callers trading off hour-and-a-half time slots in two halls—Mainstream and Plus-level in the gym, Challenge and Advanced dancing in the cafeteria (cement floors all around; need I say more about that?).

One of the callers was great at calling the advanced dances—I watched some of that and it was obvious that those dancers were having a wonderful time. But when her turn came in the other hall, where I was dancing, she either couldn’t or wouldn’t “dumb it down” so that the rest of us could dance, even when the dances were supposed to be Mainstream!

The moves she called were “legal,” all right, but somehow she managed get us so far out of our accustomed positions that it reached the point where it was not fun but chaotic. I’m a fair-to-middling square dancer—been dancing, on and off, for nearly 30 years, including some of what we used to call all-position dancing—and even I nearly walked off the floor twice when she was on because I couldn’t do anything she was calling—NOTHING. I looked around, and seven of the eight squares on the floor had broken down—this happened repeatedly. It wasn’t just me who felt that way: Saturday night one entire square walked off the floor.

Now, when you’re a caller, don’t you try to call more or less at the level of the room? I kept thinking about Mac’s advice for us to have a simpler dance in our back pocket to pull out if the floor breaks down. As a dancer, I like a dance that’s just beyond my comfort zone as well as the next person. But if you as a caller challenge your dancers, shouldn’t it be a challenge, not an attempt to see how many of them you can break down?

Luckily, the second caller was fabulous and wonderful to dance to. Lots of dancing from unaccustomed positions in the square, which was fun; I learned a lot, that’s for sure.

New Order of Dances for April 6

We had a wonderful Calling Party last night - lots of good folks were willing to help us get ready for the dance. I think we were about 15. I didn't do a count, but I seem to remember three foursomes dancing, one person calling and a couple of people sitting on the couch sipping wine, didn't we?

Anyway, the dances went mostly okay, though there were some scary spots. We have revised the list a bit - here's the new version:

1. Blackbird Pie by Joseph Pimentel - Martha
2. Reel Easy by Cary Ravitz - Joe
3. Al's Safeway Produce by Robert Cromartie - Chrystal
4. Rendezvous by Dan Pearl - Kay
5. Right Hand Lady - traditional Square - Wade
6. Al's HeyDay#2 by Al Olsen - Joe
Waltz

Break

7. Blue Persuasion by Chrystal Gallacci - Chrystal
8. You Can't Get There From Here by Carol Ormand - Wade
9. XYZ by Bob Green - Bob
10. Chain the Swain by Becky Hill - David
11. Delphiniums and Daisies by Tanya Rotenberg - Martha
Waltz

As I sit here, I'm wondering if we shouldn't make the first half shorter. We went through the easy dances pretty fast and yet people were ready for a break after the fifth dance. Maybe that's an omen. Also, we sometimes manage to get a clogging performance out of Leila and Ellie, which would take up some more of the time, so I'm wondering if we shouldn't put one of the dances in an optional spot in the second half.

M
E

Balance & Spring SLYC 2008 kickoff

Glad to hear ECD went well.

Don and Jeanne, Greg Rohde, David Keller, Genevieve Brown and Michael Cox came to our dance last night to seed the dance with some experience. And about 15 ladies and about 12 gents between 14 and 25 (years old). Eileen, David and I shared the calling.

Lots of good things happened last night. It was worth the pain. You know, the pain of seeing a dance not work well despite your best intentions because you overestimated their ability and your own (mine in one case) when a simple explanation and demo would have helped them so much. And I do feel the dancers pain when things don't go well. And my respect for people like Mac and Deborah grows. But still there is that nagging - gosh, I can do that. Just let me try it again! I'll do it right this time. Now I know.

For April 25th, maybe the hatchlings would like to repeat their April 6th program. You learn so much from calling live on-stage to real dancers which include beginners. The next time is so much better.

Larry

Order of Dances for April 6

Here's the third or fourth iteration of the order of the dances Wade and I worked out. Your comments are welcome!

1. Dog Branch Reel by Bob Dalsemer - Martha
2. Reel Easy by Cary Ravitz - Joe
3. Al's Safeway Produce by Robert Cromartie - Chrystal
4. Dancing at the Rest Stop by Bill Olson - Kay
5. Right Hand Lady - traditional Square - Wade
6. Al's HeyDay#2 by Al Olsen - Joe
Waltz

Break

7. Blue Persuasion by Chrystal Gallacci - Chrystal
8. You Can't Get There From Here by Carol Ormand - Wade
9. XYZ by Bob Green - Bob
10. Thanks to the Gene by Tom Hinds - David
11. Delphiniums and Daisies by Tanya Rotenberg - Martha
Waltz

We'll have to be pretty efficient to get through six dances in the first half, but it seems pretty doable, I think.

Ideas? Thoughts?

M
E

ECD on the 24th

I'm calling 2 dances at English on Monday the 24th. If I'm not mistaken it may be a mixed bag of callers. We would love to have all of you come and dance. Focal Point--7pm workshop with dancing from 7:30-9:30. Bring a snack to share if you feel so inclined.

Also, mark your calendars for May 3rd for the annual Playford Ball. It's always a good time! Details to come.

~chrystal

Extra Practice Wednesday March 26

We had a good practice last night, but a few things still need to be worked out, huh.

Here's the revised list:
Martha - Dog Branch Reel and Contra TBD - perhaps Delphiniums and Daisies
Chrystal - Al's Safeway Produce and Blue Persuasion
Joe - Al's Heyday and Reel Easy
Bob - XYZ or Roll in the Hey
Wade - Right Hand Lady Right Hand Round and Contra TBD
David - Thanks to the Gene or Frederick Contra
Kay - Dancing at the Rest Stop

That's eleven dances, possibly one too many. Not sure what to do about that. We may have to be very efficient.

We decided it would be a good idea to have an extra practice next week, so that we can call the whole program twice before April 6.

M
E

Hatchling Dance - which dances shall we do?

Here's the list I wrote down tonight:
Wade - a contra and a square
Kay - Dancing at the Rest Stop
David - 1 or 2 contras
Bob - XYZ, or Roll in the Hey, or Jefferson and Liberty or Essex
Martha - some beginning of the evening dance, and something medium
Joe - Al's Heyday and a Cary Ravitz dance
Chrystal - Concertina Chair (?) and Blue Persuasion

As you figure out which dance(s) you'd like to call, post them here with their descriptions, so we can discuss where everything might fit in a good program.

M
E

Calling Parties on March 4 and 5

Tuesday's calling party took place on the night of the largest snowfall St Louis has seen since 1995, and yet eight hardy people showed up to dance English Country dances. What a bunch! Kay and Deb and Chrystal and Joe and Wade and Alice and Bob and I practiced our turn singles, our leading up and our casting down to a fare-thee-well. I did Turning by Threes again, and Key to the Cellar, and they're getting better...The music for those two dances is just heaven. One of the high points of the evening was doing both Fenterlarick and Chrystal's rewriting of Fenterlarick as a contra dance.

That, and digging cars out of the snow after we were done.

Tonight's dance was planned to be more of a mixed bag, sort of like this second picture. But it was mostly contra, and very interesting. Greg brought a couple of dances to try his idea of teaching engage/disengage in contra dance by having various people blindfolded. We danced Becky Hill's Box the Gnat contra with one woman in each minor set of four blindfolded, then two women, then two men. Then we did Gene Hubert's A Nice Combination. Interestingly, the first dance was difficult for the men to dance blindfolded, and easier for the women, while the second one was the reverse. We discussed our experiences but did not quite figure out why.

Doug called a lovely wedding-type dance which featured a poussette. Bob called his XYZ dance, which worked beautifully this time. Kay and Chrystal and Wade and Joe and David and I also called a dance or two, and lovely Reida came to dance.

We talked about the upcoming Hatchling dance April 6 and made a list of who the callers will be and what they would like to call. We'll work out in a different post which dances we'll be likely to do.