Preparations

[bjarvis]

I'm now taking a break from writing more square dance choreo.

kent4str and I have some guest calling spots at the upcoming Make Magic in the Woods, this year's fly-in hosted by the Independence Squares of Philadelphia. kent4str will be calling a half-hour block of Mainstream & Plus; I'll be calling a half-hour of A1. One of us ( will be co-hosting the intro-to-plus session with Chris Phelan.

A1 is an awkward level, IMHO. The separation of calls between A1 and A2 seem largely arbitrary; without an obvious system, I find it difficult to expertly list which calls come from which list. So I sit here in the living room writing modules and cross-checking against the CallerLab lists for A1 purity.

Some time tonight, I also have to look over the materials for Monday's Mainstream class, our first real class session with the new students.

Comments

The unspoken rule. [Warning: snarkiness ahead.]

[allanh.livejournal.com]

"With a couple of exceptions ... if it's fun to dance or useful to call, it's in A2."

Re: The unspoken rule. [Warning: snarkiness ahead.]

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

That must be how A1 and A2 were divided!

"Is that call fun?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"OK, it's in the A2 list. How about that one?"
"That call sucks."
"A1 then."

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

In the 80s, I used to know A1 from A2...but it's all a blur to me now. A1 is mostly just Plus+Plus for sight calling, since it's mostly the weaker dancers that haven't gotten through A2 confidently.

Someone saying from the floor "Let's do an A1 tip!" leaves me a bit skeert. I'm one of those old fogies that's behind getting rid of A1 as a separate convention identity altogether, other than as a bookmark to say "we're about 1/4 way through the Advanced program, and we rushed through Plus anyway just to get here" (in spite of A1 being 1/2 the calls).

[canseefour.livejournal.com]

A1 was never intended as a dance level, it was just a teaching order with A1 being the first half and A2 the second half of the Advanced dance program. When we learned it waaaay back in the late 70s, we just learned Advanced, so I've never had a clear idea of the breakdown between the two, and Barry always has to be very careful if he has to call A1. It's not his favourite thing to do either.

[justetthon.livejournal.com]

isn't it true, though, that in some parts of country, A1 is a definite and recognized level, where both dancers and callers know what is on the list (and what isn't)... a pain as it might be for the rest of us?

[bearfuz.livejournal.com]

"A1 purity." Hee hee. That makes me giggle.

[deege.livejournal.com]

As far as I'm concerned A1 is a steak sauce.

We learned all the A calls mixed up together; I couldn't tell you which is which (A1 vs. A2), and truthfully the whole thing combined just didn't seem like such a big deal.