Hatchlings
What's a Hatchling?
Hatchlings are people who like to keep learning. They're always trying to find a better way to do things. And they're learning to call dances.
"We're contradancers. And English Country Dancers. And musicians, some of us. And callers. We are basically an incubator for newbie callers, though we welcome anyone who believes you're never done learning. We want to encourage good calling, good dancing, good music, traditions, evolution of traditions, and fun."
If you'd like to start calling, simply come to a Calling Party and start practicing!
For another look at the Hatchling phenomenon, read the CDSS article, "Developing Callers in St. Louis" by Martha Edwards, that appeared in the Summer 2009 CDSS News.
You can read some stories and tips about calling at our blog, which used to get updated a lot more frequently before we all started using Facebook: see http://dancecaller.blogspot.com
Hatchlings, Fledglings, and Callers
Once some of us started calling dances, we felt we needed to mark our progress in some way, so we made up "levels" of Hatchlings. We call anyone who has ever called a dance, even stumbled (or sailed!) through their very first one at a Calling Party, "Hatchlings". The next level, which is achieved by calling 1/3 to 1/2 a dance (let's call it four dances in a row), is named "Fledgling". We quickly realized this could get ridiculous, so the next (and final) level is "Caller". Here are the folks who have participated at some time or another as Hatchlings in St Louis:
- ‡Billy Boyer
- ‡Larry Boyer
- †Martha Edwards
- Joe Felsen
- †Chrystal Gallaci Jones
- ‡Bob Green
- ‡Kimberly Hall
- ‡Karen Jackson
- †David Keller
- Kent Koeninger
- ‡Wade Pearson
- ‡Missy Reisenleiter
- †Kay Tomlinson
- †Dale Wilson
†Fledglings
‡Callers.
If you know of Hatchlings, or Fledglings, in other cities, let us know, and we'll honor them here.