Here's what I've seen work well. Once in a while a friend at a dance
will tell me that they have brought a friend who has never danced
before and ask me to dance with her. While dancing with a new dancer, I
may also point out the better dancers in the line and suggest that she
ask some of them herself. (most people are happy to dance with someone
who tells them that they have been highly recommended!) I would not
hesitate to ask a few of the better dancers that I know to dance with a
guest who has never danced before. This helps to avoid the problem of a
new dancers sitting out much of the time if there are more women then
men at the dance and it also solves the problem that you describe, at
least part of the time. In many cases the better dancers need to be
pointed towards a new dancers, as they often find an experienced dance
partner quickly (and end up in the center set - but that's another
problem...)
So the bottom line is communicate:
1. Ask good dancer friends to dance with your new dancer friend.
2. Point out better dancers to your friend and ask him/her to ask them
to dance.
Sometimes callers can help as well. As a caller, welcome new dancers and
ask experienced dancers to help them. Ask new dancers to dance with
experienced dancers and ask experienced dancers to look for and dance
with the new comers.
These things can help to keep a new dancer coming back, and also can
provide others to help "protect" your friend, if necessary.
Rich Hart.
Chris Weiler wrote:
A fellow dancer sent this question to me and thought it would be a good
thing to discuss. As dancers on the floor, how far do we go to protect
the friends that we bring from the less pleasant side of the contra
dance scene and provide them with a more pleasant experience?
Chris
I was wondering if I could ask your both your thoughts
and/or provoke a discussion on the callers discussion
list.
Last night I brought a guest to the VFW, who had never
contra danced before.
... So this leads to a question of - what
should I have done? Made lots of booking for her with
guys I know are good dancers?
There is also the inherent problem of - I know who the
good female dancers are, but who the good male dancers
are is more from an impression or reputation.
Any thoughts appreciated! Actually I had hoped to
bring another couple of people last night, one of whom
is truely statuesque, and would I am sure have
produced a feeding frenzy amongst the male (and
perhaps some of the female!) dancers...
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