Agreed! Interestingly, you can actually "get used to" a dance (or a life) filled with novelty. People who are used to having dances with lots of new things in them get upset when you do all glossary dances.
M E On Sun, Dec 4, 2011 at 11:11 AM, Mark Hillegonds <[email protected]>wrote: > Hi all, > > I'm starting a new thread to respond to Greg's comments below. This post is > not about whether Greg's approach is right or wrong. If the people who > attend his dances are happy, then that's what really matters for Greg and > his dancers. > > I'd like to broaden the discussion to a more general idea of avoiding "mild > confusion" and not pushing dancers beyond that comfort zone. > > I've noticed that when I have trouble calling, it's almost always the > perpetual beginner dancers who complain about doing something new. They > aren't able to see beyond their own limited abilities. I once called for a > community who was used to dancing only certain moves and to a few local > callers. I was almost thrown out for having the audacity to have the men > start a hey. This community was so ossified it was no longer open to doing > anything outside of its normal routine. > > New dancers don't know that this move is considered easy and that move is > considered hard. They don't know what they should or shouldn't be able to > do. I'd argue that the primary reason they're at the dance in the first > place is because they want to do something different than the same ol' > thing > they usually do. They're looking for new and interesting challenges. > > It's my opinion that dancers need to "exercise" their dancing bodies and > brains, much as one exercises one's muscles. If we don't push ourselves a > little, as callers and dancers and organizers, then we and our communities > will atrophy. > > Mark Hillegonds > > cell: 734-756-8441 > email: [email protected] > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Greg McKenzie > Sent: Sunday, December 04, 2011 10:57 AM > To: Caller's discussion list > Subject: Re: [Callers] Borrowing call terminology from modern square > dancing > > I think standardization is a good thing, in all forms of engineering. > Personally, I stick to calling dances that require only a small set of > standardized figures. My goal is to keep this art form available to the > most people possible. I know that I, personally, would not have kept > dancing contras if a lot of new calls had been thrown at me every time I > attended. My goal is to keep that venue open to the general non-dancing > public. > > So I would not use the call. I have a number of dances in my collection > that I no longer use because they contain calls that could cause "mild > confusion" for some dancers. Of course, almost all of the dances I call > are open to the general public. > > - Greg McKenzie > >
