Richard wrote:
> 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.
I had a similar experience calling an English dance. We had about 20 dancers,
and near the end of the first half, a teen group who were sleeping over at the
church where the dance was held turned up. There were about as many of them as
of us, so I explicitly welcomed them, said that they could dance with each
other soon, but asked them to do at least the first dance with one of our
experienced dancers, who got the idea and went and asked them. Then I called a
very symmetrical dance ("Lass of Richmond Hill", I think), where members of a
couple did pretty much the same thing. Did 1 walk through, told the
experienced dancers that I expected them to manage waiting out at the end and
so on, started the music, and off we went.
Bruce Hamilton says that Erna-Lynne Bogue told a story of calling a contra when
the proverbial busload of Girl Scouts showed up. She told the band she needed
their hottest tune, encouraged experienced dancers to partner up with newbies,
and then called Scout House Reel - very connected, simple dance. With hot
music, hot fun.
It's helpful to remember that everybody there wants to make it work; it's not
just a problem for the caller, but an opportunity for everybody.
-- Alan
> 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
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
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--
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Alan Winston --- [email protected]
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025
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