Hi Folks, Made it through Maberly… Wooohoooo! Thanks so much for all the advice. All of it was helpful from the ideas on programming (David, Tavi, Chrissy), to names of dances (Richard), to the corrections on a dance (Linda). A few others provided advice too… thank you as it made a big difference. :)
Here's a wee bit of a recap: -Welcome lesson went really well. I had modelled much of my lesson off of Bev Bernbaum & George Marshall as well as a few other notes I had made here and there. Yeaaa Bev and George – it set up the rest of the evening in a great way. -I made a number of changes to the program prior to the dance based upon the feedback I received. I ended up doing 10 of the 12 programmed dances and while I had other backup dances I didn't go to them. The careful planning of building each dance on what had previously been covered paid off. Program as it played out: Family Contra, Swallowtail's First, The Baby Rose, Mad Scatter, Contraindicated, BREAK, Heart Beat Contra, New Fall Reel, Rock the Cradle Joe, Who's in the Middle, and Monday Night in Ballard. -All dances went really well except two. The bumpy dances were Rock the Cradle Joe (wavy lines threw the beginners) and Who's in the Middle (music was really challenging for dancers to follow + beginners were uncertain about the changing middles). I had to totally bail on Who's in the Middle after we tried it twice. That's ok though. :) -Teaching points went really well and I took a fair bit of a community tone. After the dance I heard from a few of the experienced dancers that there were a lot of spaghetti arms in the crowd. I had talked a fair bit about giving weight/connection during the welcome lesson but I might try a reminder or two in the evening in the future. -I felt that two walk throughs were needed for every dance except the last one. I would like to get down to one in the future but it was a chatty crowd with lots of beginners so that was ok. :) -After the end of the dance, I quizzed a lot of the experienced dancers. They didn't miss the down the hall nor the heys and felt that there was lots of variety in the program. They also didn't notice that all of the progressions were at the end of B2 which was good… that seemed to help the large beginner population. -In the New Fall Reel, Bal before swing in B2 was too much for the crowd so dropped the balance after the first few times through the dance. Seemed to help with the flow a lot. -Dealt with a few interesting bumps. :) -----A woman came into the hall in a wheelchair prior to the beginning lesson. It was the first time I had seen someone at a contra in a wheelchair and while I know there are strategies to incorporate, I knew it was over my capabilities my first night. I went over and checked in with her… she was wanting to just watch. (Helpful for me as I was a wee stressed out with things about to start.) -----A woman fell the third time through the first dance in the middle of a balance the ring. We stopped the dance. I was worried but kept really calm. Turns out she hurt her wrist but was otherwise fine. (Makes me want to find out even quicker how to get callers insurance in Canada) -----Soundsystem had lots of challenges including, my mic having clicking notes, the band dropping out here and there. Anyway, I had better sign off. What a great learning opportunity though… my brain is blown. :) Emily
