Trust me (or find three others and try it), you can give weight, I've
often had it done to me--not just gripping hard, but pulling. When I
teach beginners, I teach not to, and I teach that it's ok to just
drop your hand if the person behind you does it. Since you're not
(supposed to be) giving weight, there's no momentum advantage to
holding hands, so you're not messing up timing by dropping your hand
(unlike in a hands-across star, where giving weight could, if the
choreography calls for it, allow you to move faster/farther).
If I ran the world, I'd get rid of the wrist-grip star altogether--
giving weight for me is central to the connected-to-other-people
aspect of contra dancing.
--Read Weaver
Jamaica Plain, MA
http://lcfd.org
On Mar 11, 2012, at 12:47 PM, Dorcas Hand wrote:
The comment about giving weight in the saddle pack is unnecessary.
You really can't give weight in that position - but you can grip
too hard.
