Poconos Day 1
Apr. 1st, 2006 06:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
billeylerThe folks that put together this weekend are nothing if not organized. I thought that when we checked in at noon that it forebode of shakiness, since none of the callers had room reservations, but it all turned out fine. Wally made sure we had sound checks in the hall and that the equipment for my hall was set up hours before the first dance. The gift baskets are all set up in a fine display near the main halls. The registrant packets are very thorough and informative. The weather is great, although I don't have a need to go out. Apparently the big thing around here off-season is shopping in the little tourist towns nearby.
With a couple of naps tucked into the afternoon, I had dinner with John Marshall and his (quiet) wife Mary. Great yak going, with the Claspers coming up in the conversation more than once. I hadn't gotten to know John very well, but we've known who each other are since the '89 convention in New York.
The guest callers started off the evening with 30 minute warmup sessions, but those went really, really badly, at least for Brian and Kent. Brian couldn't get his dancers through anything at all...even an allemande left seemed to be beyond the dancers in his pilot square. Kent didn't have a square until it was nearly time for me to start calling. I don't know how it went with the Anne warmup room. Not good start for either dancer or caller confidence.
My schedule for calling was Mainstream, then C1/C2, then A1/A2. They all went reasonably well, considering everyone had to dance on carpet, and nearly everyone was wearing sneakers. We were hard pressed to get two squares together for the Mainstream. Drew Allen called an unprepared sounding C1 tip at the beginning of my C1/C2 session, and he had to slowly walk the dancers through each sequence. Twice. Not pretty. He had NO energy or confidence in his voice. I appreciate that guest callers are given opportunities during flyins, but this particular timing for them is unfortunate and continues to reinforce that GCA = inexperienced. Ack!
I didn't have more than 3 squares at any point. I suspect most of the dancers were all clustered around the Anne hall. I know there's were well over 120 people here by the time the dance started.
The after party in the bar was sociable, although I didn't get a chance to yak with Anne at all. Crawled into bed and fell into a sound sleep at 12:30.
And right now at 9am, there's a small dog tied to a tree with a leash has been yapping for over an hour. Time to go shower and get ready for the day!
With a couple of naps tucked into the afternoon, I had dinner with John Marshall and his (quiet) wife Mary. Great yak going, with the Claspers coming up in the conversation more than once. I hadn't gotten to know John very well, but we've known who each other are since the '89 convention in New York.
The guest callers started off the evening with 30 minute warmup sessions, but those went really, really badly, at least for Brian and Kent. Brian couldn't get his dancers through anything at all...even an allemande left seemed to be beyond the dancers in his pilot square. Kent didn't have a square until it was nearly time for me to start calling. I don't know how it went with the Anne warmup room. Not good start for either dancer or caller confidence.
My schedule for calling was Mainstream, then C1/C2, then A1/A2. They all went reasonably well, considering everyone had to dance on carpet, and nearly everyone was wearing sneakers. We were hard pressed to get two squares together for the Mainstream. Drew Allen called an unprepared sounding C1 tip at the beginning of my C1/C2 session, and he had to slowly walk the dancers through each sequence. Twice. Not pretty. He had NO energy or confidence in his voice. I appreciate that guest callers are given opportunities during flyins, but this particular timing for them is unfortunate and continues to reinforce that GCA = inexperienced. Ack!
I didn't have more than 3 squares at any point. I suspect most of the dancers were all clustered around the Anne hall. I know there's were well over 120 people here by the time the dance started.
The after party in the bar was sociable, although I didn't get a chance to yak with Anne at all. Crawled into bed and fell into a sound sleep at 12:30.
And right now at 9am, there's a small dog tied to a tree with a leash has been yapping for over an hour. Time to go shower and get ready for the day!
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Date: 2006-04-01 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-01 04:45 pm (UTC)And it would be nice if we all had slick-soled shoes for carpet and were warned when we'd need them. And after that happens, we'll have cheap, affordable health care for all....
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Date: 2006-04-01 11:16 pm (UTC)Do tell - our ears weren't burning last night - should they have been?
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Date: 2006-04-02 06:12 am (UTC)