Calling Party January 7, 2009

Nice calling party tonight. It was one of those nights when only the callers came, so we didn't get much "real-world" experience, but we had fun trying out some more complicated dances. Probably the highlight of the evening was figuring out the John Tallis canon. It's both easier and harder than you might imagine.

In a funny way, learning to call may make the Tallis canon easier - we're used to calling steps four counts before you do them, so it seems perfectly obvious if you're a second corner! (Maybe second corners always have an easier time of it.) We also found it easier to count just to four (instead of the usual eight) when we were trying to get it right, so that each half's moves made sense separately and together.

What was really really hard, however, was the progression. Since you dance with your corner, not your partner, you feel you ought to be progressing the same direction, but no! Also, there's a tricky bit where you have to chevron out and in, keeping from bumping into the person you're passing in order to progress. I'm still not clear about what to do there.

Kent called a nice smooth dance he wrote with gypsies and swings and circles and Mad Robins - there, the hard part was remembering where you are in the dance since many of the moves are repeated - but it was good fun and a great dance for our more flirtatious dancers. Not that many of us fall into that category. No sir. Uh-uh...

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