bjarvis: (Chesapeake Squares)
[personal profile] bjarvis
Tonight was the first of two first-nighter events.

For folks who aren't yet members of the cult square dance community, these are open house nights where potential recruits are invited to meet & greet, have some refreshments and perhaps learn a few simple square dance calls, all without commitment or obligation.

We had three newbies, one of which had been at a prior open house but was unable to join because of academic commitments. He's now available and eager to sign up. The other two seemed enthusiastic, so I hope we'll see all of them again next week, perhaps with a few others.

I handled all of the calling at last week's club night so I was content to let Kent take the lead on this evening's fun. I do academic style very well, but the format of the open house employs Kent's folksy style better than mine. I was on stage with him the whole time, helped demonstrate some posture and hand do's & don'ts and added my own take on some items from time to time, but it was largely Kent's show.

My particular point of pride this evening though was the demo patter. I had planned to call a simple Mainstream level patter to show some of the styling and figures (as well as keeping the angels somewhat entertained) but I was going to keep it very simple so as to not scare off our potential recruits. The square that formed, however, insisted on a Plus tip. I argued against but they were adamant so I caved in agreed to their request. And it was perfect. I sight-called the patter with not a single pause in flow, error in handedness, accidental calling of an impossible call from a given position and resolved the every time on both short & long figures while ensuring it looked & felt fun --'cause it was-- yet not too scary.

This isn't a big deal for the more experienced callers who may be reading this, but being able to finally award myself a grade of 'A+' is personal milestone. Now I just have to repeat this again next week to prove to myself it wasn't a fluke. Yay me! :-)

January 2021

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