Saturday, April 1, 2017

Hints and Techniques for Square Dance Callers (April 1, 2017)

Let's celebrate April with several hints and techniques for better calling.

Memory Calling

Has this ever happened to you? You're calling a song. Things start out great. But near the end of the song, you forget the words. This common problem has a simple solution. When learning a new song, play the music backward. That way, you can practice the end of the song first, and it will remain fresher in your mind.

Showmanship

Would you like to express more emotion and feeling in your singing calls? You probably already use facial expressions such as smiling. But do you move your eyebrows enough? Eyebrow movements transmit tremendous meaning. Raise both eyebrows, or just one, and the message speaks louder than words. Practice your eyebrow movements often.

Recruiting

Have you ever been stuck in a traffic jam where everyone slowly creeps along? And when you eventually get to the front of the blockage, you discover that the huge line was caused by one stalled car on the roadside? Clearly, people consider the sight of a stalled car irresistibly appealing. They'll wait in line for HOURS just to catch a glimpse. This basic human urge can help you recruit new dancers. At your next open house, park a stalled car inside the dance hall. People will line up for miles just to see it.

Teaching

Do you teach by definition? Consider the plus call "anything and Roll". The definition requires you to turn an additional one-quarter (90 degrees) in the direction you were already going. Consider, from Ocean Waves, "All 8 Circulate ... and Roll". The original outfacers walk a curved path, so they "roll" by facing right or left. But what about the original infacers who walked straight ahead? They are required to rotate one-quarter more ... but HOW? There's only ONE answer: they must fall to the ground, flat on their face.

Styling

Consider the call "Right and Left Grand, Every Other Girl with Every Other Hand". Your dancers probably do an ordinary Right and Left Grand. But that's so wrong. Here's the correct way: do a RIGHT Pull-by with your partner. IGNORE THE VERY NEXT PERSON (thus satisfying the "Every Other Girl" directive). Now give a LEFT (thus satisfying "Every Other Hand") Pull-By to the next person (i.e. your original opposite). Ignore the next, give a RIGHT to the next, etc. It takes TWO trips around the square (four pull-bys and four "ignores") to properly dance "Every Other Girl with Every Other Hand".

Choreography

Be very careful with Mini-Waves. Let's review. An Ocean Wave is "a formation of THREE or more dancers". And a mini-wave is "an Ocean Wave consisting of TWO dancers". Combine the two equations: a mini-wave is a formation of THREE or more dancers, consisting of TWO dancers. Huh?? Three dancers suddenly become two dancers?? That's a huge problem! A mini-wave makes dancers disappear! Experts have long puzzled over the continued decline in dancer population. Now we know why. Mini-waves make dancers disappear. Stop using mini-waves.

Speaker Placement

Race car drivers already know this trick. It's called "slip-streaming". Whenever you use two speakers, place one speaker directly in front of the other. Sound from the first speaker clears a path so that sound from the second speaker can follow along smoothly in the wake. Make sure to alternate your speakers, i.e. the front speaker this time becomes the back speaker next time, so that your speakers will wear evenly.

Go Green

Save energy. Set your amplifier to the lowest possible volume. Of course you'll need to yell into the microphone, but that's a small price to pay for being eco-friendly.

Dancers Moving to Higher Levels

We bemoan the fact that dancers want to move up to higher levels, yet callers are to blame. How often do callers tell dancers to "move up"? We tell them to Square UP, Circle UP four, dance UP to the middle and back, Spin the Top and the Boys Move UP, etc. Callers constantly tell dancers to move UP, and then we're mystified when they actually do move UP. To nullify the "move up" effect, simply call "Chain DOWN the line" more often.

Voice Effectiveness

It's important to grab people's attention so they will listen carefully. Fact: the sound of a crying baby is impossible to ignore. So ... when you call intricate choreography, and you want dancers to pay close attention, punctuate each command by screaming like a baby who needs a diaper change. Your dancers will listen better and thus they will dance better.

Music

Chinook Records, headquartered in Washington state, partnered with another state resident: ultra-billionaire Bill Gates. He agreed to give One Million Dollars (if you're Bill Gates, that's merely pocket change) to one lucky Chinook Records customer. To earn your chance at a cool million, visit Chinook Records website ( www.chinookrecords.com ) and buy music. The more you buy, the bigger your chance to win. You saw this announcement on the internet, therefore you know it's true. Forward this to all your friends.

April Fools

Happy April Fools Day from Chinook Records!

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Name That Call

Are you looking for a simple way to make your calling easier for dancers to understand (and thus they'll dance better and have more fun)?
As callers, our job is to say the names of calls. We do a good job when we say each call name correctly.

How can we know the correct name for each call? Simple! Look at the Callerlab Mainstream (or Plus or Advanced) list, where you'll find one (and only one) name for each call.


Abbreviated vs. Complete

Dancers must hear a call, recognize it, then do it. If we abbreviate, we add an extra undesirable step: dancers must now translate "what they heard" into "what was meant".

Examples:

Abbreviated: Circ
Full: Couples Circulate

Incomplete: Pass the O
Complete: Pass the Ocean

Unfinished: Reverse Flutter
Finished: Reverse Flutterwheel

Part of a call: Weave
A full call: Weave The Ring


Made-Up vs. Real

When we use synonyms, dancers need extra time and effort to translate, with increased risk of misunderstanding.

Examples:

Almost Real: Bend Your Line, Bend My Line, Bend That Line, Bend it
Real Call: Bend the Line

Fake Call: Hairy-Legged Ones, Trade
Real Call: Boys Trade

Ersatz: Flutter Flutter Peanut Butter
Bona-Fide: Flutterwheel

Made-up: Chain The Girls Across
Real: Four Ladies Chain

Not real: Well Now The Girls Go In While The Gents Sashay
Real: Ladies In Men Sashay

Mispronounced: Re-sickle like an old dill pickle
Accurate: Recycle

Requires Translation: Spin Your Top, Spin That Old Top
Ready To Use: Spin the Top

Dancers learn real call names during lessons. It's only fair to use those same real call names after lessons.
 

Benefits of using real call names instead of made-up names:

1. Better timing (because dancers no longer need to translate).
2. Better dancing / fewer breakdowns (because calls are easier to decipher).
3. More fun (because of the above two reasons).
4. The caller gains a reputation for being knowledgeable and precise.


Cluttered vs. Clean

"Please hide the calls in a stream of babble, to make hearing and interpreting the calls far more tedious" ... said No Dancer Ever. For smooth dancing, dancers need a clear call name, without audio clutter.

Examples:

Jumbled: Well Now You Circle Up Four, Burst Right Out To a Line Of Four
Clean: Circle to a Line

Imposter: Double Plow Right On Thru
Genuine: Double Pass Thru

Gobbledy-gook: Well Now That First And Third, You'll Bounce Right On Up To The Middle of the Ring, Then Bounce Right Back
Clean: Heads Forward and Back

Cluttered: Rollaway With a Half Sashay
Clean: Rollaway

Error-prone: Let's Square Thru
Clean: Square Thru
("Let's" is easily misunderstood as "Left".)

Cluttered: Do a Swing On Thru, Get Me Two By Two
Clean: Swing Thru
(The cluttered version forces dancers to listen intensely to ten words and pick out two vital words. The clean version contains only the vital words and is therefore five times easier than the cluttered version.)

Cluttered: Well Now You'll Walk All Around The Little Left Hand Lady
Clean: Walk Around The Corner

When we say actual calls (instead of audio clutter), dancers gain because they can hear and enjoy more of the music.
 

Speaking of Music

Now that your calling is newly improved and your dancers are having more fun, surely it's time to celebrate with some great new music from Chinook Records.

Examples of how to get Chinook music:

Abbreviated: Surf It
Complete: visit the website www.ChinookRecords.com

Made-Up: Hit The Cat
Real: Browse the Chinook Music Catalog

Cluttered: (this entire article), LOL
Clean: Give your dancers a special treat of high-quality new music from Chinook

Reasons why www.ChinookRecords.com is your best place to get music:

1. Browse hundreds of instrumental and vocal tracks for free
2. Enjoy safe secure checkout with instant download of MP3s
3. Get the cheapest price in the universe.

Hurry, before we change our mind and raise the price two dollars to match everyone else. :)

Back to our Calling Tip:


Now vs. Later

When dancers receive a call late, the undesirable "stop-and-go" dancing can develop. For better calling and smooth dancing, give the next call efficiently.

Examples:

Delayed Delivery: There's your Corner, Look 'em in the Eye, Get Around That Corner, with a Little Dosado
Quick Delivery: Dosado
(Quick is better because dancers get the call sooner)

Flow-Stopper: Let's Have All Those Boys Do A Run
Flow Enabler: Boys Run

Delayed: Centers make an Arch, are you ready? Outsides Dive In.
On Time: Dive Thru

But I'm Not THAT Bad!

You're probably thinking, "My calling is much better than these examples". You're right! The examples show extreme cases. It's pointless to measure ourselves against bad examples.  The real question should be, "Can my delivery be improved?". Even if your answer is "My Delivery Is Always Perfect and Cannot Be Improved", it's still a great idea to keep practicing so that your delivery remains clear, concise and accurate.

Name That Call

Question: you're the caller, and it's the moment you've been waiting for.  It's time to say the name of a call. Which exact words do you say?

Why not say the real name of the call?

When we use real call names, we improve our timing, increase accuracy, enhance our professional reputation and bring greater dancer enjoyment.