We have an introductory lesson before each contra and I always start
with circle left and circle right and into the middle and out,
exactly as Keith describes. I count during the movement, and call
just before the counts, then I do it again and deedle a tune and
prompt again. I use it to point out that you use a walking step
during the dancing, that the dancing is in phrases of 8, that there
is one step per beat, that I will prompt just before each move. I
encourage the dancers to be connected to the other dancers with a
bend to the arm and a bit of pull, tension, or "weight" in the hold.
Even for new dancers that get this easily (and there are a few who
don't) going through this may make those who are nervous about
dancing feel confident that they'll be able to follow the teaching
and do the dancing. I don't feel it is patronizing at all - it's an
orientation.
Martha
On Apr 29, 2011, at 9:00 AM, [email protected] wrote:
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: easy ONS dances where partner is kept? - report
(Keith Tuxhorn)
2. Re: easy ONS dances where partner is kept? - report (Tina
Fields)
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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:25:19 -0500
From: Keith Tuxhorn <[email protected]>
To: [email protected], "Caller's discussion list"
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Callers] easy ONS dances where partner is kept? - report
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
I once had a caller say to me "I would never patronize a group by
teaching
them circle left and circle right." But he didn't really get the
point: I'm
not teaching circle left and circle right. The purpose of the first
dance of
the evening is to teach them to listen to the caller.
Beth, whatever caller said this to you is probably not a very
observant
caller. Sounds like he's assume that hearing and hitting a beat is
something
inbred in us all, and just like breathing for anyone who's ever
danced, when
there's a huge percentage of people who either aren't raised with a
sense of
rhythm, or have to take time to learn it.
I called a farmers' market dance two weekends ago. Because the
experienced
dancers arrived late, my first group dance was with 7-8 mothers and
their
3-6-year-old kids who'd been hopping around to the band's warmups.
I called
"Circle Dance" at about 1/3 speed so the moms could lead the kids
around--it
was great! I did a few dances with the regular dancers, then the moms
requested another dance for the kids. I did the same dance, this
time with
the regular dancers included in the half-speed version. they all
enjoyed it.
Beth, you said it (as did Tony, Dudley, and others): Make sure the
dancers
succeed, at whatever level they're dancing. Approaches should
change for
every audience you call for...
David, great point about how to keep people involved. Make them
earn their
cake....!
Keith Tuxhorn
Austin, TX
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:56:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tina Fields <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Callers] easy ONS dances where partner is kept? - report
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Beth said,
"I "teach" people to listen to me during the first dance. I
start with a big
circle. I teach the group the following: Walk to the left, walk
to the right,
go into the center 3 steps, come back and do-si-do. After that
I start the
music and call hash of those. I also add promenade on the fly
during the
dancing. I once had a caller say to me "I would never patronize
a group by
teaching them circle left and circle right." But he didn't
really get the
point: I'm not teaching circle left and circle right. The
purpose of the first
dance of the evening is to teach them to listen to the
caller. Since the
dance is hashed, they never know what is coming and they must
listen. Saying
"listen" doesn't work, you teach them to listen with your
voice. Making them
listen is the key. If you get them on board at the beginning
the evening
everything else will go well."<<<<SNIP more good stuff
Yes, I agree completely - and that's what I did. By saying I began
with a "hash
circle dance" I meant something very similar to your method: we did
circle L, R,
into the middle w/ a shout, do-si-dos w/N & P, plus allemande and
swing, with
variations. And they were into it. But still, a few dances later,
once the
dancers had been walked through a dance and also done it a couple
of times to
the music, one line got off & it was clear that they weren't
hearing my prompts
(due to sound glitches), or weren't heeding them if they did hear
them. Their
excitement fed their cheerful chattering, so that was overall an
okay thing -
after all, who wants a deathly silent barn dance? (Yeah, Beth, I'm
with you
about the 'tude!) So I didn't know what to do besides keep calling
and go over
there to physically prompt some big group moves like "head gent
leads gents
single file around the line of ladies now" as well, which I did.
Their being off, plus talking a lot, plus the sound weakness is
what made me
think that it would have been a good idea, when I taught the next
one, to
overtly mention the importance of continuing to listen to the
caller. (I don't
know, though, as I didn't think of that till the dance was over.)
Would you do something else in this case? Writing this after
musing over your
commentary, I think now maybe I should have initially hash-called
more over the
music in real time. I did it fully w/o music and a couple of times
through with,
but didn't do it long up to tempo, so maybe some of the dancers got
the idea
that once the music started, they were on their own. Hm. Thoughts,
ideas, more
strategies welcome. These little things can really affect a dance!
David M. then brought up the shrewd strategy of not letting ONS
dancers sit down
(meaning they might stay away forever). Again, I agree - I've
experienced that
too, and am totally on board with the plan to continually "dance
for 45 minutes
before they cut the cake". Yet in this case, even though I held
that intent
(albeit with two planned halves as the organizers wanted 1.5 hours
of dancing),
a couple of times the dads bolted for the cool drinks in the
kitchen as soon as
a dance stopped! So I just let it go with their flow, then called
them back for
another dance after a little while when their faces seemed less red
again. :->
And they came. Their daughters did need to earn their badges, after
all.
Given that behavior, would you do something different? If so, what?
Beth, also thanks for the tip about Marian Rose's books.
Tina
------------------------------
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End of Callers Digest, Vol 80, Issue 14
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