Greg Rohde posted a link on FaceBook the other day, highlighting a fantastic performance by the Great Bear Trio and caller Joseph Pimentel at Winter Warmup last December. I was disappointed that the video showed only the dancers and the musicians, but at least the calling was audible.
And masterful calling it was, too. Joseph Pimentel is certainly one of the best callers I've ever had the pleasure of dancing to. Listen to the audio on that video, and pay attention to how he calls. If I practiced for twenty years, I'd be lucky to have half that skill and talent.
Two things really stand out for me. First is the way he actually sings his calls, matching the tone and mood of the music perfectly, blending his performance with that of the musicians. Second, I love the way he uses things like "hold that ring" and "take a deep breath now" to keep the dancers right on time. Amazing.
Sure wish I had been at that dance! I did have the opportunity to dance to Joseph's calling, both contra and English, at Nashville's Playford Ball weekend in March. It was magic.
1 comment:
Oh, amen!
Joseph is in fact, one of the reasons this whole enterprise started. He called English dances to a crowd of contra dancers at River Rendezvous about mmmmph years ago, with two minute walkthroughs and happy contra dancers doing terrific English dancing, showing that it can be done.
It'll be a while before we can do half of what he does, but at least we know what direction we're heading...
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