Eastbourne International Folk Festival had a strong commitment to Caller Training, and we are pleased to continue this tradition.
Good new callers are hard to find, and we want to give them every encouragement!
The three Callers' Workshops will be led by Kathryn and David Wright, and are aimed at:
- Existing callers who are keen to progress their calling skills and technique,
- New and aspiring callers who are keen to develop the skills for successful calling,
- Dance Club organisers who wish to support those who call at their clubs.
The content of the sessions will depend to a great extent of the levels of experience of those attending so, ahead of the festival weekend, we will be asking participants to pre-register and give some information about themselves to assist in the planning of the workshops.
- The first session will take to form of a discussion about various aspects of teaching and calling dances and ways to produce a good experience for both callers and dancers.
- In the second session we will be joined by Keeping Thyme as musicians and will look at the relationship between the dance and its music and ways in which callers and musicians can work together to support the dancers.
- The third session, with Keeping Thyme again providing the music, will give participants the opportunity to call and to receive one-to-one feedback from Kathryn afterwards. Guidance on the choice of dances will be issued to callers ahead of the weekend.
Gendered terms will be used in the workshops, although emphasis will be placed on strategies to make calling clear and supportive.
All of the sessions are potentially of interest to dancers who are at the “receiving end” of calling and we will certainly welcome dancers to the third session to be “guinea pigs” for callers to practice on.
Could those who are planning to participate in the Callers' Workshop Sessions register their interest to Kathryn and David before 1st March, giving a brief indication of their level of calling experience? This will assist in the planning of the sessions and also give an indication of the number taking part in the practical calling session. Guidance on the choice of dances to call will be circulated to participants in early March.
Kathryn and David can be contacted at
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Those who wish to call will also need to register by emailing Mecki.
The Caller's Round will be led by an experienced caller — we'll let you know who!
This is your chance to ask questions about any aspect of calling, discuss, even disagree, in a friendly and supportive atmosphere.
We encourage you to express your ideas and maybe air the problems you face as a caller.
