Club Night & Evaluation

[bjarvis]

I called the regular club night for the Chesapeake Squares tonight: two Mainstream tips, a handful of Plus tips and a single Advanced tip. It was... interesting.

caller_dayle was on hand to give me an evaluation and offer some suggestions for things I should change or work on for future.

I thought the first tip went fairly well but he pointed out that I was unconsciously adding some unnecessary verbal commentary & feedback on mic during the tip. It was mostly harmless --one square was having difficulty so I would try to occasionally add a comment that their rebuilt formation was indeed correct or at least consistent with the other square, etc.. Dayle pointed out that while it wasn't harmful per se, it could be distracting for some dancers who are already burning up their synapses just trying to remember the actual call definitions. For the rest of the evening, I was to refrain from any speech on mic except for the calls themselves or cues if absolutely required. If I could turn this off & on as needed and was more self-aware of it, it would then become a useful tool in future rather than a habit or reflex.

Sticking to that plan was much harder than it sounds. Dead air just didn't sound right. Dayle did point out that silence is itself a tool when used judiciously. In any case, yes, turning a reflex into a managed tool would definitely be a Good Thing.

The other major item I must work on is smoothing out vocal delivery. When I started calling, I was hesitant and shy on mic: the calls were delivered feebly, without conviction and utterly without energy. It seems I've swing a little too far in the opposite direction so I now need to ratchet back the assertiveness & staccato delivery for something smoother and more consistent in intonation. Going comparatively deadpan for the balance of tonight sounded just as uncomfortable to me as the aforementioned dead air, but the point is to break my default inclination so that I can bring it under control and use the full range of expression at will as a tool in future.

My next calling gig is with the DC Lambda Squares on Thursday. It will be a challenge, but anything worth doing usually is.

Comments

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

You should have heard "now-local Albuquerque-caller-booked-part-time" this weekend at the A&C. For every single call, he had a clever pun or joke or jab or SOMETHING in the 'dead air' until he said the next call. Even I who has lots of verbal garbage got tired of it in a hurry. Too much to process and too much not funny. He's been calling for maybe 30+ years, with maybe 20 years of that full time. Other callers know him. He's been around.

I call this uncontrollable need to fill 100% of the call-time with verbal stuff the "former-caller-from-Shreveport Form."

I'm sorry I still haven't heard you call since that weekend in the Poconos three years ago.

Dayle is right. If the calling itself isn't working, then just call the calls with nothing else, working on indestructibly perfect timing. Any fluff-fill comes later.

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

I call this uncontrollable need to fill 100% of the call-time with verbal stuff the "former-caller-from-Shreveport Form."

Sounds like TV sportscasters to me, who have a pathological dread of dead air. Radio announcers I can understand, coz sound is all there is; but soundtrack to a visual medium is an extra. But most sportscasters appear constitutionally incapable of holding their tongues, and most of what obstructs the airwaves is inane. Much of it I can tune out (mostly by not watching in the first place); but you're right, when dancers are not all that certain and trying to process, extra information easily becomes too-much-information.