Announcing a Callers Gathering with David Smukler in Belfast on Saturday, June 8 from 9:00am to 4:00pm at the First Baptist Church of Belfast, 95 High Street, Belfast, ME.
This workshop is for dance leaders, callers, and others interested in community dancing (traditional social dances for the uninitiated, all ages, special events, one-off dances, etc) The gathering is participatory, with a focus on the material itself, rather than skill-building. We’ll learn from the dances and each other! Cost is $25-50 per person, sliding scale, which includes creature comforts (snacks, coffee/tea, lunch) and an expanded repertoire of dances.
Our facilitator, David Smukler, is helping us model our gathering on a long-running event he’s been involved with in upstate New York, the CNY Callers Gatherings. Other inspiration comes from Pourparler, an annual gathering of community music and dance leaders.
Pre-registration is required. When you sign up to attend, you’ll submit 3-5 dances (including instructions) that you are interested in thinking about with the group. During our time together, we’ll alternate dancing through two or three sequences with sitting down for some in-depth discussion about them. The discussions start with questions like: What opportunities does this dance offer? Are there potential problems to be aware of? What situations is it best for? Could it be tweaked? How? The conversations may also lead to thinking about dance and dance leadership more generally.
You will come away with a collection of all the dances, notes from our discussions, and (hopefully) some new insights about what makes for successful community dance experiences.
To register, contact Chrissy Fowler [email protected]