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C1 Boot Camp Report
Our C1 boot camp event is now over except for the paperwork. Whew.
I'm delighted to report that, as the coordinator, there were only two trivial flaws (folks thought the instructions to the parking garage were vague, and I should have ordered more pizza for Saturday lunch). All else happened exactly as I had hoped with all the desired benefits.
Recap: The event was a one-weekend square dance class, teaching the entire challenge-1 list of calls. Registration fee: $75, Dayle Hodge calling, all dancers must be proficient in the prior level (A2). Dancing ran Friday (7:30-10:30PM), Saturday (9AM-4PM) and Sunday (9AM-3PM).
Square dance clubs frequently don't communicate well with their members. Flyers were sent to a large number of IAGSDC member clubs using their announced address for correspondence per the IAGSDC web site. Several attendees mentioned they saw no flyers and heard no announcements at their club's regular dance events. It is possible that the flyers were simply tossed or ignored as promoting a "geographically undesirable" event. It's possible the club hasn't updated their IAGSDC profile. It could be the club's contact person hasn't checked the mailbox or attended any event at which the flyers could have been brought or word disseminated. Who knows?
Our local registrants knew of the event because I made frequent announcements at club nights in DC and Baltimore, as well as approaching individuals I thought would be strong candidates. Most out-of-towners found out either through personal contact with a DC friend or via Dayle making a mention while calling for one of their events.
In any event, future promotion should probably be done by contacting the clubs' newsletter editors directly for a calendar announcement, by repeating frequently on the appropriate e-mail lists and by promotion via word-of-mouth. More lead time would also help: we were putting this event together with about 40 days' notice.
E-mail to the LGCWSD list had mixed results. At least two people mentioned seeing the announcement. I received one angry e-mail from a challenge dancer, decrying how we were destroying square dancing by allowing "clearly unqualified dancers" to "cheat" their way up to C1. I dismissed it as a bitter rant from a level snob defending his/her turf by accusing A2 dancers of being level-snob wanna-be's. Still, I have to wonder how many other people thought in the same vein without actually sending me an e-mail of their disgust.
Despite the lack of a full-power publicity campaign and a handful of last-minute cancellations, we had a full house thanks to several late registrations and three showing up unexpectedly at the door. Thus, we had 19 dancers, not including angels (experienced folks who volunteer to help us newbies [no charge for angels]); we had set a max of 20. Folks came from Detroit, New York City and Atlanta, as well as locals. About half had prior C1 experience; half were complete novices. Four are callers.
Having the extra dancers meant that we had unexpected revenue. Rather than pass the hat for lunch pizza, I used the budget surplus to pay for the pizza entirely, providing effectively a free lunch on both Saturday & Sunday.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kent4str and I also brought soft drinks, veggie & fruit trays and misc snacks to ensure everyone was fully fuelled throughout the weekend.
As planned, Dayle taught us the entire C1 list in three three-hour blocks; we then danced & practised in the fourth block. I think this is about as fast as anyone can hope for a course as our minds were quite full by the end of each day. Having to travel to Virginia from Maryland and spend extra time in prepping the space & cleaning following had its own personal toll.
I had read through the call descriptions for weeks prior to the course to help my learning experience, but I think it didn't help me much. Reading calls is like reading Shakespeare: it can be done, but you're getting the story the wrong way. Shakespeare isn't meant to be read: it's meant to be acted on stage. Similarly, reading calls does little for me as it doesn't translate well into actual body movement, steps, handholds, moving with other dancers or even internalizing the pace & timing. Reading & studying the lists however did help me recognize my own limits in advance, familiarize myself with the breadth of knowledge required of me and generally set expectations of the course and my own performance.
Am I now a proficient C1 dancer? Hardly. I would prefer to think of myself now as a C1 newbie, competent in the basics but lacking in experience. I'll join a square for gentle to intermediate C1 but would resist a difficult or take-no-prisoners tip out of consideration for the others in the square.
I still move slowly through regroup, rotary spin, relay the shadow, linear action and percolate. Weirder manifestations of concentric calls and some phantom calls will also likely ambush me in the near future. Interestingly, chain reaction and tally ho (among others) were not the obstacles I thought they'd be.
I had been mulling over the next step in gaining C1 experience with little progress.justetthon has C1 dances on Monday evenings and provided us flyers for promoting the events to our new grads; alas, kent4str and I are teaching DC Lambda Squares' mainstream class on Monday nights so we can't attend (although we might if (a) the MS class decides they don't want to dance on Columbus Day and (b) justetthon's group is). Luckily, one of the class registrants knew that a space was available in the Landmark area of Alexandria, VA, on Wednesday nights and Doran McBroom (another C1 class attendee; kneeling row at the far left in the above photo) has agreed to call for us to help get us up to speed. Donna Breeden --kneeling row at the far right in the above photo-- is coordinating this series: we should start in a couple of weeks and run through the end of the year. kent4str and I should be able to join justetthon's C1 on Mondays in January, presuming a potential schedule conflict doesn't manifest.
I don't forsee much opportunity to call C1 material in the near future but as soon as possible I will begin writing some as an intellectual exercise. I hope to have some simple --and tested-- choreography ready to present at ACDC in February of 2007.
 |
C1 Boot Camp Graduates of the DC Lambda Squares' Challenge-1 Boot Camp Weekend, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2006, with caller Dayle Hodge (laying in front) |
I'm delighted to report that, as the coordinator, there were only two trivial flaws (folks thought the instructions to the parking garage were vague, and I should have ordered more pizza for Saturday lunch). All else happened exactly as I had hoped with all the desired benefits.
Recap: The event was a one-weekend square dance class, teaching the entire challenge-1 list of calls. Registration fee: $75, Dayle Hodge calling, all dancers must be proficient in the prior level (A2). Dancing ran Friday (7:30-10:30PM), Saturday (9AM-4PM) and Sunday (9AM-3PM).
Square dance clubs frequently don't communicate well with their members. Flyers were sent to a large number of IAGSDC member clubs using their announced address for correspondence per the IAGSDC web site. Several attendees mentioned they saw no flyers and heard no announcements at their club's regular dance events. It is possible that the flyers were simply tossed or ignored as promoting a "geographically undesirable" event. It's possible the club hasn't updated their IAGSDC profile. It could be the club's contact person hasn't checked the mailbox or attended any event at which the flyers could have been brought or word disseminated. Who knows?
Our local registrants knew of the event because I made frequent announcements at club nights in DC and Baltimore, as well as approaching individuals I thought would be strong candidates. Most out-of-towners found out either through personal contact with a DC friend or via Dayle making a mention while calling for one of their events.
In any event, future promotion should probably be done by contacting the clubs' newsletter editors directly for a calendar announcement, by repeating frequently on the appropriate e-mail lists and by promotion via word-of-mouth. More lead time would also help: we were putting this event together with about 40 days' notice.
E-mail to the LGCWSD list had mixed results. At least two people mentioned seeing the announcement. I received one angry e-mail from a challenge dancer, decrying how we were destroying square dancing by allowing "clearly unqualified dancers" to "cheat" their way up to C1. I dismissed it as a bitter rant from a level snob defending his/her turf by accusing A2 dancers of being level-snob wanna-be's. Still, I have to wonder how many other people thought in the same vein without actually sending me an e-mail of their disgust.
Despite the lack of a full-power publicity campaign and a handful of last-minute cancellations, we had a full house thanks to several late registrations and three showing up unexpectedly at the door. Thus, we had 19 dancers, not including angels (experienced folks who volunteer to help us newbies [no charge for angels]); we had set a max of 20. Folks came from Detroit, New York City and Atlanta, as well as locals. About half had prior C1 experience; half were complete novices. Four are callers.
Having the extra dancers meant that we had unexpected revenue. Rather than pass the hat for lunch pizza, I used the budget surplus to pay for the pizza entirely, providing effectively a free lunch on both Saturday & Sunday.
kent4str and I also brought soft drinks, veggie & fruit trays and misc snacks to ensure everyone was fully fuelled throughout the weekend. As planned, Dayle taught us the entire C1 list in three three-hour blocks; we then danced & practised in the fourth block. I think this is about as fast as anyone can hope for a course as our minds were quite full by the end of each day. Having to travel to Virginia from Maryland and spend extra time in prepping the space & cleaning following had its own personal toll.
I had read through the call descriptions for weeks prior to the course to help my learning experience, but I think it didn't help me much. Reading calls is like reading Shakespeare: it can be done, but you're getting the story the wrong way. Shakespeare isn't meant to be read: it's meant to be acted on stage. Similarly, reading calls does little for me as it doesn't translate well into actual body movement, steps, handholds, moving with other dancers or even internalizing the pace & timing. Reading & studying the lists however did help me recognize my own limits in advance, familiarize myself with the breadth of knowledge required of me and generally set expectations of the course and my own performance.
Am I now a proficient C1 dancer? Hardly. I would prefer to think of myself now as a C1 newbie, competent in the basics but lacking in experience. I'll join a square for gentle to intermediate C1 but would resist a difficult or take-no-prisoners tip out of consideration for the others in the square.
I still move slowly through regroup, rotary spin, relay the shadow, linear action and percolate. Weirder manifestations of concentric calls and some phantom calls will also likely ambush me in the near future. Interestingly, chain reaction and tally ho (among others) were not the obstacles I thought they'd be.
I had been mulling over the next step in gaining C1 experience with little progress.
justetthon has C1 dances on Monday evenings and provided us flyers for promoting the events to our new grads; alas, kent4str and I are teaching DC Lambda Squares' mainstream class on Monday nights so we can't attend (although we might if (a) the MS class decides they don't want to dance on Columbus Day and (b) justetthon's group is). Luckily, one of the class registrants knew that a space was available in the Landmark area of Alexandria, VA, on Wednesday nights and Doran McBroom (another C1 class attendee; kneeling row at the far left in the above photo) has agreed to call for us to help get us up to speed. Donna Breeden --kneeling row at the far right in the above photo-- is coordinating this series: we should start in a couple of weeks and run through the end of the year. kent4str and I should be able to join justetthon's C1 on Mondays in January, presuming a potential schedule conflict doesn't manifest.I don't forsee much opportunity to call C1 material in the near future but as soon as possible I will begin writing some as an intellectual exercise. I hope to have some simple --and tested-- choreography ready to present at ACDC in February of 2007.
no subject
You'll be able to get some practice at Harpers Ferry, I'll be there.
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Pray for my squares! :-)
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I think that for most people, once you get to challenge, a class (whether it's a blitz or a once-a-week-for-a-long-time thing) won't make you a proficient dancer. That always takes floor time.
See you in Cleveland. Maybe I'll even dance in your square.
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Kris Jensen flew to California a few years ago to do a one-weekend C3A kamekaze workshop. Her only opportunity to DANCE the level is at convention, where I know she's spend a good bit of time at C3A the past couple of years.
I don't call a one-weekend thing a "cheat" but a challenge (not a pun)...there WERE some ground rules laid. I feel bad if some of the dancers relied ONLY on Dayle's teaching, without a solid A2 foundation and without some reading of the definitions. I bet they'll get a lot more out of the definitions after having walked/danced through some of the calls.
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Having survived the course, I now want to go back through the definitions again, looking for stranger starting positions which we didn't get to for lack of time.
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you're welcome at Ettseteras
Re: you're welcome at Ettseteras
Re: you're welcome at Ettseteras
GCA caller slots at AC/DC?
GCA slot at ACDC
Re: GCA caller slots at AC/DC?
Re: GCA slot at ACDC
Re: you're welcome at Ettseteras
And thanks for thinking of us... it's really appreciated!