Caller Workshop

On Nov. 3rd Becky Hill conducted an afternoon caller workshop for prospective callers at Oberlin. She started by giving tips on teaching the various moves of the dances, with particular emphasis on teaching the newcomers to our dance. She supplied an comprehensive handout. Each of the students got a turn at teaching moves to the rest of us who obediently did what they said--as opposed to what they meant.

We then progressed to laying out the phrasing of the calls, determining how far in advance to start mentioning each next move in advance of the music beat it starts on. "Two beats before B2? Do I hear three beats?" Then each in turn got a chance to call their chosen dance. Just as important as calling correctly almost all the time might be, being able to recover yourself and your line when you don't shares this priority.