i have a set speech that i almost always use (either in the beginners' class
or early in the evening if no class) -
"hi, my name is xxxxx, and my job tonight is traffic control. your job is
to have a good time. if anything goes wrong on the dance floor tonight,
it's MY fault (point at yourself - make a big deal - the experienced dancers
will help you make fun of yourself, guaranteed!!). but if everything goes
right, i get all the credit, ok!??!
i'll be keeping an eye on you tonight. if you get lost, i'll see it, and
i'll fix it. that's my job. so if you're lost, and you hear me screaming
"SWING YOUR PARTNER SWING YOUR PARTNER SWING YOUR PARTNER!!" - well, i'm
talking to you! don't worry about anything, just swing your partner and
everything will be ok."
then i make sure to point out "recovery points" in dances during the first
half of the evening (i.e. during the walkthru i might say something like
"...and swing your partner - should be the same partner and same side as
last time!") and hopefully most of them will remember that.
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Jerome Grisanti" <[email protected]>
Reply-To: Caller's discussion list <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Callers] A funny incident
List-Post: [email protected]
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 11:24:13 -0500
Cynthia,
I've had people drop out, or sometimes just confused as to which minor
set they were in, leaving a lump of people not knowing whom to
interact with. Sometimes I've been able to physically go to the group
and take their hands and say "let's just pop down to the bottom (or
top) of the set and jump in from there." Unfortunately, if the dance
has "out of minor set" interaction, such as a shadow, this fix may not
be available.
That's where the humor comes in: how do I, as the caller, own the
confusion and make it OK to be a dancer who got confused.
So, anyone heard any good "attention shifting" humor lately? Or a
non-humorous response that still makes it OK.
--Jerome Grisanti
On 9/1/06, [email protected]
<[email protected]> wrote:
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> 1. A funny incident (Cynthia Phinney)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 12:07:43 -0400
> From: "Cynthia Phinney" <[email protected]>
> Subject: [Callers] A funny incident
> To: "Callers Shared Weight" <[email protected]>
> Message-ID: <[email protected]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Ah, the impacts of technology. I was recently calling for a contradance
at
> the Maine Social Forum. It was a crowd of primarily beginners, with only
a
> smattering of experienced folks. During one of the dances, one young man
got
> a cell phone call. He stepped out of line to take the call! His partner
> carried on for a moment or two, but then the line started to break down.
I
> had to jump into the line and grab his partner - calling while we danced
-
> to keep it going. It worked. Fortunately I'd had a little practice on
this
> at another dance earlier this summer when an elderly gentleman simply
> decided to step out and sit down during a - thankfully - very simple
dance -
> and I had done the same thing rather than stop or let the line crumble.
>
> Just wanted to "share"
> :-)
>
> -cynthia
>
>
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> End of Callers Digest, Vol 25, Issue 1
> **************************************
>
--
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0714
502-876-4280
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