A Fistful of Callers

We are lucky to have so many thriving lesbian and gay square dance clubs in the Bay Area. The voice of a caller coupled with music can be heard on most days somewhere within an easy drive. With a myriad of classes, club nights, dances, fly-ins, peel-offs, and pool parties, we’re never far removed from our art and recreation. We couldn’t do it without the immensely talented pool of callers we have. Think what a treasure we have in such voices.

Below we have taken interviews done separately with three callers and simulated a conversation among them.
 
Ron Maskers: How long have you been calling Michael?

Michael Levy: It depends on what you mean by ‘Calling’. Six years total but most of the time it was one tip every few months. With any regularity I’ve been calling for about three years.

How about you Andy?


Andy Shore: I’ve been calling since 1989 so this would be my 14th year. At first I called for a performance group in San Francisco doing singing calls only. Then I did a couple of single tips at Record Nights for Foggy City Dancers and El Camino Reelers. I’ve been teaching for Foggy City since the late summer of 1992. I also do a few fly-ins a year as well as a few singles dances.

Ron Maskers: I’ve been teaching for twenty years. I just finished teaching a Western Star Dancers Mainstream class and now I’m teaching the Plus class that began in July. In my early 30’s I called for SAGE (Senior Action in a Gay Environment). Then I quickly jumped into an all men’s outdoor group, Sundance. I also helped start the Time Squares. I’ve called at dozens of clubs throughout the U. S. and at many organizations, for instance California Men’s Gathering (CMG), nudist gatherings, and church gatherings, etc.

Michael Levy: Of course none of us are callers until people think we’re good enough to be Callers! I started by listening to the call side of a record and repeated what I heard. Then I trained at GCA (Gay Callers Association). It hosts a three-day school right before Convention. There three professionals help both the experienced and the beginner develop and enhance new skills.

Andy Shore: The GCA started in 1989. It’s usually an abbreviated school without a full curriculum. Most schools that cover the full CALLERLAB curriculum are from 5 to 7 days. Ours is only about 3 days but it gives you a feeling for the basics of choreography, how to move dancers around and resolve squares, how to get people back to corners or partners. It gives you some idea of what to work on and study as well as how to continue progressing.
There’s also an organization of callers named CALLERLAB, which has a suggested Caller School curriculum. Caller School was formed in the 70’s I think. There are CALLERLAB accredited caller coaches who pass certain requirements to receive accreditation.

Ron Maskers: It’s interesting the different approaches callers use to move dancers around. Some callers sight call; they work without written material. They watch and extemporaneously move the dancers around. Other callers use modular calling; they memorize a variety of short dance routines that they can combine in different ways. In the third kind of calling they use cards or notes that have written routines. Most callers who have been calling for a long time use all three approaches.

Andy Shore: Up through Plus I call extemporaneously just watching the floor and calling from what I see. At Advanced I use a mixture of that and written material. When I call C1 I only pretty much use written material. On my computer I have about 600 records. When I digitized I went ahead and transferred them even though I don’t use them all. In learning singing calls it takes time to get the metering right and know the music. I don’t spend as much time practicing with my new music as I should, sometimes I just wing it.

To be Continued

Our Class Caller

My name is Richard Reel. I’ll be teaching this class. I’ve been calling since 1998 and dancing since 95. That year I went to a Nudist gathering and all the good looking guys where square dancers. I said, “What’s up with that? Well OK I want something interesting to do!” My New Year’s resolution that year was to take a Mainstream class. Now I dance at the C3 level.

I went to Caller’s school here in San Francisco in 1996 but didn’t do anything with Calling at that time because I was learning 3D and wanted to concentrate on Challenge Dancing. I really learned to call while studying by myself, although I did step in on the famous Jill Sybalsky Callers School.

I call regularly on Tuesday and Wednesday at the El Camino Reelers. I do an A2 warm up. I occasionally call for other groups when someone asks. One of my rules is I never ask to call; it’s only by request. I’m a non-pushy Caller. One night at Diablo Dancers I had what every Caller dreams of, a perfect night. It was almost spiritual because while I was calling everybody was laughing and having a totally good time. The energy was bouncing off the wall. All the music and singing figures were good. I felt like if I died then or if I quit calling all together I would have achieved everything in calling that any Caller would ever want.

Right now I sight call using a memorized set. I have a web site, All8.com where I teach how to call. I created it because I was learning it myself and wanted to write everything down while it was fresh. If you go there you’ll find a link called “Make-up your own singing call figure.” I figured that once I got good, if that should ever come I wouldn’t remember all the little pieces. I comfortably call through Plus and maybe you could say I’m comfortable at Advanced. I’ve been calling Advanced for almost a year. I can pretty much make a very nice flowing dance at Advanced. I’m not convention level but close. Like I say I’m almost good.

I’m trying very hard to relax while calling, that’s the most important thing. My equipment is home made. It’s all wired so that I don’t have to do any set-up and takedown. I can just pick-up, flop and call. I’m using MT3 format to record and edit my records. I make sure there are no scratches; they are balanced and sound real nice. In digital form it’s easy to pick the songs that I want to do.
There are many different things that have to be right about square dance music. It has to be punctuated and there can’t be instruments where your voice is; you have to be out of the way. It can’t be too dark or to smooth and lyrical. It needs to be happy, bouncy, light.

Music is something that I work extremely hard at but that probably doesn’t show. I’m trying to find alternative music and it’s been very difficult. I carry a little voice recorder to dances and elsewhere so that I can make notes to myself. If I hear a song I like I write it down or make a voice note. When I get home I record it.
I also buy music from a subscription service and have built up a vocabulary of music to work with. To be honest with you it’s really hard to find just the right song for square dancing. I may call though a hundred songs or more even to get one piece of Alternative music.

There’s a square dance music service online or through mail order that publishes square dancing songs. Usually the record has a side with no caller on it, which you call from, and a side with a Caller on it where you can practice. For Alternative music I search out Karaoke, instrumental music, things like that that are commercially available. Then I try to adapt it, speed it up, slow it down, add a little bit of beat and re-balance it. A music-editing program can make it suitable for square dance.

To be continued.