Wow!
What a weekend for the Hatchlings!
Wade, Bob, Chrystal, Kay, David, Larry and Martha called during the weekend, as well as our good friends, experienced St Louis callers Mac, Deborah and Judy. We were also treated to calling by our Cape Girardeau cousins Kathy and John Coffmann, as well as the Gail Hintze and Michael Fuerst from Illinois, Jerome Grisanti from western Missouri, Jim Williams from Kansas, and David Kirchner from Minnesota. Dan from Illinois led a workshop on dances in unusual formations.
My lord, we learned a lot. We learned that, if you call a no-walkthrough medley, you should call each dance an even number of times (an odd number leaves someone out at the top). We found out that some dances just can't be danced in a crowded hall or one where people inevitably bunch up in one corner of the hall because you can't get across the set when you're closer than shoulder to shoulder. I'm not sure if we learned what to do about it, but we learned that some moves don't work too well on a slick floor, either.
On the whole, I was really proud of our contribution - in less than a year, six of the Hatchlings were good enough to provide a third of the callers at a great dance weekend.
Okay, one dance broke down but was recovered with aplomb without the band stopping at all. Quite a few times we hadn't planned how to get back to your partner to end the dance with a partner swing, and our communication with the bands about going out wasn't always, um, perfect, and we didn't always get the calls out before the moves, but honestly, even in the presence of other really excellent callers, we didn't look so bad! Of course, with such good dancers, all you really need to do is read the card right.
One set of calls went awry, but provided one of the most fun events of the weekend. The dancers, who had gotten the dance into muscle memory, refused to dance to the wrong calls, but instead started calling the dance themselves. The band was playing "Liza Jane", and the crowd was lustily singing the lyrics ("Going down to Cairo, goodbye, goodbye, Going down to Cairo, goodbye Liza Jane"), mixed in with the calls ("Swing!", "Long Lines!", "Hey!"). When the calls from the microphone converged with the calls from the floor, the crowd cheered mightily. We discussed how we could make something like that happen on purpose. Someone remembered that George Marshall sometimes gets dancers to call the moves while they're dancing. I'd love to find a way to do that.
The English with Contra Subtitles workshop went swimmingly. There were about fifty or so attendees, but I counted only seven from St. Louis! Either my count was wrong, or we have a lot more work to do to convince St. Louis contra dancers that English is a wonderful dance form - and part of the contra tradition. But the workshop surely proved that we have a shot at doing just that! Bob and Chrystal and Kay did a great job of getting everyone moving and enjoying the pleasures of sweeping moves done to joyful music. (The Tu'Penny Uprights: Kristin, Paul, and Martha, plus Pam from Cincinnati, played the music). We got a lot of positive feedback afterwards, and there were certainly a lot of smiling, laughing people who were cheering at the end of the workshop. So I'm counting it as a win.
I'm bone-weary from a weekend of little sleep and lots of paying attention, but so happy to have smart, talented and loving friends, and a FINE dance community. Bless you all.
M
E
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5 comments:
Tired doesnt even begin to describe it.
I just want you to know that after you and Pam pointed out that I wasnt giving the band "2" in the right section of the music that I made a concious effort to correct it that night when I called. I totally had to pay more attention since I wasnt used to doing it that way--BUT I'm pretty sure I got it right. :)
It was strange. Several of us (including me, by the way) had trouble giving the "2" in the B2 section at our workshop. Too much to think about, I guess. Mine was because I was administering a mercy killing to Key to the Cellar. One line was doing fine, but the other one never...quite...got it...figured...out. I was rattled enough by that (and by the, um, "interesting" way the band played the tune near the beginning, with essentially no melody and not that much harmony or differentiating rhythms either) that I didn't even check the good line to make sure we were going out after everyone was in at the top. I just killed it. I got pretty amazed and possibly nasty looks from the band for that, I can tell you! I also forgot to use the universal fingers-across-the-throat signal that indicates the need to stop NOW. That would have helped.
Some callers, and not just Hatchlings, were routinely giving bands the signal at the top of the A - that really confuses me! Most good bands will just roll with it, and you'll never find out that you made them have to think. (Is it "including this one" or "this one and one (or two) more"?)
If you're calling to a band that plays the tune the same way every time through, then giving the signal in the B2 that you want ONE more time is probably the best way to go. No band really likes having to think much, and that's the simplest method. But for bands that are improvising, changing the texture a little each time, you tell them BEFORE the second-to-last time, so they can drop back a bit on the penultimate time through to set up the big wow finish. There might be bands that want more notice than that, but I've never played in one.
And how do we know how much notice a particular band wants, and when they want it, and to whom you give the notice? Ask. Check with the band beforehand. Just because my bands want to have everyone see the signal in the B2 before the second time from the end doesn't mean that every band wants that. Bands appreciate your doing it the way they're used to. They especially appreciate it if you have called to them before and you remember what they like!
Now if I could just start following my own advice...
M
E
I was just plain wrong. I had practiced giving the "2" at the start of the A1 of the first of the "2". I've been practicing it like that so much it took concious effort to change my mind. For some reason I thought that was the way to go about things. Oh well.
Trust me. You weren't the only one.
Somewhere along the line, a bunch of people have gotten that impression. So long as we understand the logic, we can help pass the "B2 alert" along to other callers.
If someone knows of another point of view on this, I'd love to hear it...
M
E
Congratulations to the callers in the Hatchling Group -- I think you did a very fine job collectively and individually. (And the Hatchling buttons are so cute!)
Some observations from Sunday night: there were little breakdowns but no major train wrecks. That's my first criterion for success. People were moving and having fun, sometimes because of the calling, sometimes despite the calling. Whatever the reason, it's a great feeling to be part of that fun, and I hope you all take that in.
Martha was right that one of the funnest moments was when the crowd called the dance to "Liza Jane." It's what an artist would call a "happy accident," when something unintentional turned out to be better than the original (planned) outcome. The teaching moment: it's easy to get lost in Old Time music -- the AABB structure is not as apparent as in New England style tunes -- and often it's best to just trust the dancers.
In a different situation, Wade was calling when the dancers got off from the music. He calmly gathered us up to a hands-four (while the music continued) and restarted the dance in the A1. In that case, some dancers were trying to extend the swings to 132 beats, which of course isn't the dance as written, so you can't always trust those dancers....
I'm still learning and growing as a caller, and it's great to see how you guys are growing with such great community support.
As with any (artistic) endeavor, one's expectations often grow faster and wider than one's actual abilities and skills, so be gentle with yourselves and each other.
--Jerome
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