BIDA is a perfect example of the grownups being in charge. It's especially terrific in that some of the grownups are so young.
M E On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 2:23 PM, John W Gintell <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Message: 2 > > Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 09:52:08 -0800 > > From: Greg McKenzie <[email protected]> > > To: Caller's discussion list <[email protected]> > > Subject: Re: [Callers] Calling medleys for the first time > > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed > > > > > > Bob Green wrote: > >> In some communities, a different approach is taken - to help avoid > >> breakdowns while switching dances on the fly, trying to see that less > >> experienced/skilled dancers have a partner the can give them a little > help > >> along on the way. I favor this approach as I believe it tends to make > the > >> overall dance experience better. > > > > I would be very interested in any techniques or strategies you, as > > the caller, would use to achieve this behavior: "...trying to see > > that less experienced/skilled dancers have a partner the can give > > them a little help along on the way." I am particularly interested > > in what callers do to encourage more generous partnering behaviors in > > a medley. How do you achieve that "We're all in this together," > > sentiment that Larry Jennings speaks of? > > > > - Greg > > I think it is a good idea for callers to add little bits of dance culture > instruction during their teaching and remarks. Many people start coming to > Contra Dances without knowing the culture and it isn't always easy to "get". > New dancers are sometime shy and don't want to ask experienced dancers to > be partners; of course some experienced dancers are snobs but I think most > want to make the evening fun for everyone - reminders about > changing/selecting partners can help. I like dancing with inexperienced > dancers and I think it helps make me a better dancer because I have to be > more aware of everyone and learn how to help in a constructive fashion with > hand gestures instead of too many words that can't be heard. > > Here's an example of something that organizers can do: at the BIDA dance in > Cambridge (http://bidadance.org/index.html) they have some very nice > posters hung around the wall that talk about having fun, changing partners, > etc. They have been working hard on being inclusive on getting new dancers - > they have a beginners workshop before each dance. The I in BIDA stands for > Intergenerational, the A for Advocates. > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > -- For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats
