Here's something I did on the spur of the moment once: I was calling at my home dance when about 15 new young dancers showed up during the first dance of the evening and clumped in the entrance corner. I stopped the dance, welcomed the new folks, and asked the experienced dancers on the dance floor to thank their partners and invite a newcomer to dance. Everyone was gracious about it, we reformed sets, and I just ran the same first (beginner friendly dance) some more.
This worked well, and I'd try it again under similar circumstances. Richard On Aug 25, 2010, at 11:25 AM, Richard Hart wrote: > Jeanette, > > If the late arriving new dancers do not out number the dancers already > present, there are two things that can be done: > > 1. Acknowledge and greet the new arrivals. Then tell them these dances are > easy, but they should dance a couple of dances with experienced dancers > first. Most regular dancers, here at least, would take that as a hint to ask > the new people to dance, and also make the new arrivals feel that that is the > right thing to do. > > 2. Then for their first dance, I'd chose a well connected dance, one where > most of the figures involve having at least one other dancer in your hand(s). > (Star instead of R&L, allemande instead of do-si-do or gypsy, circle instead > of square through, etc). A couple of dances that I like for this situation > are Cranky Ingenuity by Bill Olsen, The Nice combination by Gene Hubert, or > even Roll in the Hey by Roger Diggle (for some time later with a combination > of beginners and experienced dancers) > > If the arriving beginners do out number the existing experienced dancers, you > could do what Don Primrose does in Nelson every summer. That is to > immediately do a simple circle dance. This lets the new arrivals dance with a > lot of dancer, and it also gives them a chance to practice a few basics. Then > ask everyone to dance the next contra with their last partner in the circle > dance. > > These approaches work here where the new arrivals usually have an average age > of about 18. With older dancers, of course, your mileage may vary, and you > may need to make further adjustments. ;-) > > Rich. > > Jeanette Mill remarked on 8/25/2010 9:43 AM: >> I had the pleasure of touring interstate on the weekend and calling for a >> dance workshop and dance. I worked out the programs on the assumption that >> the overall skill level would probably be lower in the evening dance than >> the workshop. (The Saturday night phenomenon). So, having survived by >> adapting the program to err on the side of easier dances, after a group of >> about 8 total beginners arrived part way into the dance, I am keen to hear >> other people's ideas on dealing with this. >> >> Cheers >> Jeanette >> >> >> The piano - 88 little mistakes waiting to happen; Peter Barnes >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Callers mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers >> >> >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
