Hey all, In the case of a hall with many same gendered couples, I am not sure how the shadow helps the person playing the opposite gender role, if they even can be said to need the opposite gender interaction. Let us assume a couple made up of two women. A shadow, by definition, is a partner analogue, so the person playing the W will likely get a man as her shadow, several men if there are several shadows, but the woman playing the gent will get all women shadows. For her, should she desire opposite gender interaction, a same gender gypsy, or swing, or allemande serves the purpose a shadow never could. Just saying I don't believe gender imbalance should be the excuse to roll out a shadow dance. Groundhog Day seems a better opportunity! One further point, shadows are so called because, at least in all the instances I can summon to mind, they follow you through the dance, or you follow them. At any rate, you are linked. While the first introduction may be a surprise, this does not make it a mixer unless the line gets very confused and you lose your original shadow as a result. I take your point about not everyone enjoying repeatedly swinging a person randomly destined to be their shadow, but it is after all, just a dance, and unless they are very horrible indeed, fun can be had with most anyone, and it is over soon enough. Perhaps with that in mind Luke, if you are going to have a number of shadow dances, let the interaction with the shadow be different in each dance: one a swing, the next allemandes, the next a gypsy, a do si do, what have you. Sounds fun. Wish I could be there. :) Andrea
Sent from my iPhone On Dec 25, 2011, at 2:27 PM, Greg McKenzie <[email protected]> wrote: > I call dances with shadows. They are particularly good for times when > there is an imbalance of genders because same-gender couples get to > interact with an opposite-gendered shadow. With added non-partner > interaction shadow figures tend to lower what I call "partnering pressure" > because you still have significant interaction with someone other than your > partner. I can see why some people don't like shadow swings. To some > extent shadow swings can turn a contra into a forced "random" mixer where > you swing with an unexpected "partner" (shadow) every time. They have some > of the same disadvantages as mixers. > > One shadow dance I like is "Every Second Counts" by Jim Kitch. It has a > shadow gypsy which allows good interaction but avoids some of the > awkwardness you can feel with a particular swinger you might not be > comfortable swinging with--either for physical or social comfort. And if > the "shadows" wish they can conspire to swing instead of gypsy. > > - Greg McKenzie > > On Sun, Dec 25, 2011 at 6:22 AM, Luke Donforth <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hello all, >> >> Ground Hog's Day is more than a month away, but I wanted to send the >> question out now. What are your favorite dances with shadows (or trail >> buddies)? >> >> Thanks >> >> -- >> Luke Donforth >> [email protected] <[email protected]> >> www.lukedonev.com >> _______________________________________________ >> Callers mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers >> > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
