The "Ex-potential" Memory System

By Ron Reiman.

Do you have trouble memorizing the figures of singing calls? Do you find it difficult to substitute easier figures into a singing call so that you can use it for beginners? Perhaps you could benefit from a system where you only need to remember (or change) small portions of the figure, a system that has the potential to increase your repertoire exponentially. This "ex-potential" system is just as useful for hoedowns too.

Memorizing

Most singing call figures can be broken down into small segments. You can usually recognise a "Get in" which sets you up, the "Action" which moves the dancers around the square, and the Get-out that takes the dancers back home.

The task of learning a figure becomes much easier if you memorize each part separately. Let’s look at an example:

  1. Heads promenade ½ way, walk in and square thru 4 hands
  2. Right and left thru, pass thru, trade by
  3. Swing thru, boys trade, swing corner, promenade

    4. Each part contains only two to four moves, which is very easy to remember. When you add the patter words, including the tag for the promenade, this amounts to ten to fifteen seconds of calling for each part.

    Just knowing this fact makes the task seem less daunting. Have a close look at any particular call that has been giving you trouble, and see if you can separate it into parts as described above.

    Try to memorize each part one at a time. When you become confident with the first part, you can work on the next etc.

    Figure Substitution

    By breaking the figure into parts, you can change one section, or the entire sequence. The secret is substituting a section with a choreographic equivalent. Let’s use the same example as before, changing just the "Action" part:

  4. Heads promenade ½ way, walk in and square thru 4 hands
  5. Right and left thru, 8 chain 2
  6. Swing thru, boys trade, swing corner, promenade

    7. Now let’s change the "Get-out"

  7. Heads promenade ½ way, walk in and square thru 4 hands
  8. Right and left thru, 8 chain 2
  9. Touch ¼, scoot back, swing corner, promenade

To take advantage of this, you only have to memorize the "new" bits, because you already know the rest.

The secret is to devise several equivalents that require approximately the same number of beats to dance, them interchange them in singing calls and hoedowns. You will need equivalent "Get ins", "Get outs" and "Action sequences". Here are some more examples:

Equivalent Get-ins:

  1. Heads square thru 4, dosado
  2. Heads promenade 1/2 way, pass the ocean, extend
  3. Heads touch 1/4, boys run, dosado

Equivalent Action Sequence:

  1. Swing thru, boys run, bend the line, right & left thru
  2. Swing thru, boys run, 1/2 tag, walk and dodge, partner trade
  3. Touch 1/4, split circulate, boys run, right & left thru

Equivalent Get outs:

  1. Pass the ocean, recycle, swing corner, promenade
  2. Flutterwheel, slide thru, swing corner, promenade
  3. Pass the ocean, boys cross fold, swing corner, promenade

There is a maximum of 27 possible ways to combine these modules - which is a lot of variety. Bear in mind that not all combinations will dance smoothly, and some may not time out to exactly 64 beats, so you might not want to use them all. However, if you even use half of them, there is plenty to work with. Here are some of the possible combinations:

Heads square thru 4, dosado, swing thru, boys run, 1/2 tag, walk and dodge, pass the ocean, recycle, swing corner, promenade

Heads promenade 1/2 way, pass the ocean, extend, swing thru, boys run, bend the line, right & left thru, flutterwheel, slide thru, swing corner, promenade

Heads touch 1/4, boys run, dosado, touch 1/4, split circulate, boys run, right & left thru, pass the ocean, boys cross fold, swing corner, promenade

Heads square thru 4, dosado, swing thru, boys run, 1/2 tag, walk and dodge, pass the ocean, boys cross fold, swing corner, promenade

Etc., etc., etc.

Why not work out a few yourself.