Last fall, I tried to call my first guest set at the Victoria Contra. There were many issues with the set, but suffice to say, it did not go well. I ended up having to bring the experienced caller back onstage to support me.

This was why I was a little nervous when I was invited to call a guest set at the Victoria Contra Dance. However, I think that I have fully redeemed myself in the Victoria Contra community now, and I am feeling excited to call half of a dance on March 25th.

My Dances

A photo of the two dances that I called at the March 11th Victoria Contra. Heart of Glass and Awesome Double Progression

Awesome Double Progression – Donna Calhoun

This was the first dance I called. It is a very simple glossary dance except for the fact that it is a double progression (meaning that couples progress twice down the set in one round of the dance). I chose this dance because it is an easy way to introduce double progressions, something that I am trying to include more and more in my repertoire.

A video of Awesome Double Progression

Heart of Glass – Carey Ravitz

I chose this dance because it has different directions for the different roles, meaning that it was a good chance to teach Larks and Robins as roles, something that I am pushing for more and more.

Both of these dances have some tricky elements while still being relatively forgiving. It was my first time teaching a hey, which I think went relatively well all things considered, although there were some inexperienced dancers who seemed to have a little bit of a hard time with the figure.

A video of Heart of Glass

Larks and Robins

This was the first Victoria Contra where I tried calling “Larks and Robins” for the roles rather than “Ladies and Gents.”

I reminded my dancers before both dances who would be dancing the “Lark” role and who would be dancing the “Robin” role.

I heard a little bit of grumbling about the change, but most people caught on quite quickly, and I feel confident that Victoria Contra Dance is ready for the shift from Gents and Ladies to Larks and Robbins.

I had one dancer come to me at the end of the dance and ask me very earnestly about the switch from Gents and Ladies to Larks and Robins, and we had a good productive conversation about inclusive dancing and practicing new roles.

I always appreciate when dancers come to me after dances with genuine questions, compliments, or thoughts about how specific dances work.

Lessons

  • Hold the mic at a consistent distance from my mouth. Handheld mics can help with this when you want to call and signal the band at once.
  • Remind dancers of their role at the beginning of every dance.
  • Having a teaching script is really helpful. Print it up.