Newer Caller Workshop

10AM to 5PM Saturday Feb 21, 2009

Rec Hall
900 Golden Wheel Park Drive
San Jose, CA 95112
(AKA 1450 Oakland Rd on Google Maps) Map

A special thank you to Diana Hilliard for much help making this happen!

Preliminary Schedule

Saturday February 21

10:00AM		Hall opens. Setup. Meet & greet
10:15AM		First-time caller exercise
11:00AM		Moving dancers around
12:00AM		How to resolve the square: Introduction

1:00PM		Pizza provided (you may bring your own lunch)

1:30PM		Practice resolving the square
2:00PM		How to resolve the square: Waves
3:00PM		Practice resolving with waves
3:30PM		Singing calls (or other topic by request)
4:00PM		Dance: Mainstream / Plus, star tips?
5:00PM		Hall closes

Detail on the Special Sessions

First-time caller exercise

I recommend learning these figures:

#1
Join Hands Circle Left
Allemande Left
Right And Left Grand
Promenade Home

#2
4 Ladies Chain
Circle Left
Ladies In Men Sashay
Ladies In Men Sashay
AL RLG Prom

#3
Sides Lead Right
Circle To A Line
Forward And Back
Slide Thru
Square Thru 3
AL RLG Prom

Moving dancers around

We'll look at...

Formations and legal calls
Getting the dancers into standard arrangement
Flow, hand use, etc.

We'll do some team calling. Perhaps we'll get into standard facing lines and ask you what you would want to call next.

How to resolve the square: Introduction

We'll look at...

Unscrambling the dancers (power calls)
Formations for resolve and how to get into them
Calls that move dancers to where you want them

We'll work as a team to decide what we could do in various situations

Practice resolving the square

Practice what you learned before lunch. Someone will call into facing lines with everyone with their partner and you get to figure out if they're "in" or "out" of sequence and call the correct "get-out". OR... You can call yourself into your own mess and then try resolving!

How to resolve the square: Waves

We'll look at...

Calls that move dancers to where you want them
How to convert from waves to familiar resolving formations while preserving your partner parings

We'll work as a team to decide what we could do in various situations

Practice resolving with waves

Practice what you learned. We'll let you call yourself into a mess and resolve. We may give you a goal: for example call into a left handed tidal wave then resolve.

Singing calls

Universal Singing Call Figure
Heads Prom 1/2
Square Thru
Right And Left Thru
Veer Left
Ferris Wheel
Centers Square Thru 3
Swing & Promenade

I highly recommend learning at least one complete singing call record. Try to obtain a copy of a tune that you like (talk to me or your club caller) and start learning. Once you've learned the figure on the record, you can practice doing one verse with the Universal Singing Call Figure (or a variation on it).

Dance

Calling at the dance is completely your option. You may even decide at the last moment. We'll keep everything informal and give you the feel of calling a tip with real dancers.

I'd like to encourage you to call at the dance as it is such an important learning experience, even if you have other calling opportunities. The dancer skill has historically been extraordinarily high which makes calling a true joy.

Typical Session

My goal is to keep things moving. Explanations will be kept to a minimum with the focus on everyone calling as much as possible. An exercise designed for everyone will be provided for every session, however each caller may use their mic time any way they want. (call patter, do a singing call, sight resolve the square, read cards, test choreo, practice voice, etc...)

Typically one caller will be taking a turn and a second will be waiting "on deck". When a caller finishes, the "on deck" caller immediately steps up to the mic and begins their turn. Another caller will volunteer to be next waiting "on deck". When you're not calling or waiting on deck, you can plan your next tip, get feedback, or be a dancer for the other callers. Rotate out when you need a break. We'll take "unscheduled" 5 minute breaks when everyone needs a breather.

Homework

While this is a self paced workshop with no requirements, I think you'll want to get the most out of this rare and coveted time behind a microphone with 8 dancers at your disposal. There are some things you can start working on that will benefit you immensely...

Know the Callerlab Mainstream List (1-68). See if you can rattle off every call on the list from memory (in no particular order). Test yourself: Count them and look to see which calls you missed. Try to say these first next time. A command of the list makes nearly every aspect of calling MUCH easier.
- Callerlab Mainstream List [PDF]
Memorize the figures in yellow boxes above. These figures have been carefully selected to give you the maximum benefit from your time spent memorizing them. Let your time on the mic be focused on technique rather than remembering what to call.
Try writing a sequence:
Heads ...blah, blah, blah, you fill it in... Promenade Home

Don't feel that you have to win an award, just get familiar with the process and come up with a list of questions to ask at the workshop. I have magnetic "checker" sets that can help you with this - ask me.
Learn at least one singing call. Start with singing calls that you like - the ones you already sing along with. Even if you don't consider yourself a singer, even if you never intend to call below C1, learning singing calls - lots of them - will do more to help you sound like a caller than anything else. Talk to me about music from my collection you can use for practice.
Take a peek at this article: How To Resolve. This is pretty much the method I'll be teaching. If you're already familiar with the process, you can begin practicing early in the day rather than waiting until we cover it.

Details

A professional sound system, music, and mic will be provided. Of course you may bring and use any of your own stuff. I'll have square dance checker sets and definition books you might want to purchase. I'll also have a laptop with software loaded for automatically moving the dancers when you issue calls. Sorry, I can't sell the software, but you can look here, here, and here. (The last one is free and works up to C4!).

Since Diana got us a hall for free, admission is free. We will collect some money from those that want to share the pizza. Dancers are welcome any time during the day and would be appreciated.

Feel free to drop in and out. Attend any part of any session. I would appreciate knowing when you think you might be attending so that I can plan food and possibly adjust the schedule.

Invite anyone you think would benefit and/or contribute.

Rich Reel 8 Feb 2009