Calling after long hiatus

In an attempt to sign into my own blog, I stumbled across, and was surprised to see, that the Jovial Beggars have a blog already. Little did I guess that this was not the Jovial Beggars blog at all, but a much larger cooperative affair in which Kimberly had become involved.

Thanks to Martha’s kindness, I will go ahead and post what I was going to say last week about my recent calling experiences.

I spent much of the last three years in Virginia Beach. During that time, I engaged in almost no English Country Dancing and even less calling. In fact, I may not have called at all. Since returning home in May, I have had two calling experiences.

First, our friends in Bunker threw a small dance there, and I called Draper's Garden. The group was small, the music quiet. There was no need for a microphone. I had full freedom to walk up and down the line calling as I went. I got to re-taste the difficultness of calling, but this was an easy dance, and I think I did alright. At least, I was able to keep most everybody in time with the music, which is a rare thing it seems. I could not help commenting afterwards what a beautiful couples dance Draper's Garden is. So many dances have you dancing half of the dance with your corner. Those dances are great, but sometimes you want to actually be dancing with your partner. This one is such a dance, and it is slow and it is simple. So, if you have something to say while you dance, this dance is a great one during which to get it said.*

Second, I tried calling at a small private dance in the kitchen-dining room of my own home. We only had six couples. I called several dances in a row, dancing while calling. This definitely reaquainted me with the difficulties that can come with calling and dancing simultaneously. I made many many mistakes. But I had a great time nonetheless, and I hope everyone else enjoyed the experience of dancing in my house as well (the floor never caved in, so that's got to count for something...though I had my worries as the twelve of us did our 2 (or 3 or 4) two-hand turns during Yellow Stockings).

*It is possible it wasn’t Draper’s Garden at all and that I’m forgetting the name, and somebody might look up the steps to the dance and say, “What is this quack talking about?”

JBH