John, I agree with you on the saddle-style/classic Eastern star. What I was referring to are the very infrequent individuals I encounter that want to do an allemande by "hooking" my offered upright hand with their closed fist & wrist-cocked lower forearm. I have no idea where they got this but there are a couple of gents in my area that do this as their standard move.
On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 5:04 AM, John Sweeney <[email protected]>wrote: > My experience is the exact opposite. I have never felt any discomfort > in a box star, but often have problems in a hands-across star. In a > hands-across star you can often get your hand gripped uncomfortably by > the person opposite, or yanked off-centre by them, or it devolves into > an uncomfortable lump in the middle, especially when someone decides > that the two pairs of hands need to be joined (they don't) and uses > their thumb to clamp all the hands together. > > I was taught this a long time ago: > Rule #1: Everyone has the right to get on the dance-floor and have fun > without getting injured. > > Another key rule is: > Always start at zero tension and build up to the minimum that you need > to execute the move. > > For example, when you start an Allemande you don't need any tension > other than that necessary to hold your hand up in the air. It is only as > you gain angular momentum that you need to tense up to counter the > centrifugal force, keeping your body in the same relative position and > your hand in the middle. The tension should increase steadily and > equally so that you maintain a good counter-balance. > > Another good example is the box star. You just gently hook your hand > over the person in front. You don't apply any pressure in any way; you > just hook your fingers so that you are connected to the person in front. > During the star, IF you feel the need to hurry the star, YOU have the > OPTION to speed up and pull the person behind you a little faster. If > anyone in the star feels uncomfortable as the star speeds up they can > just straighten their fingers so that their hand slides off. > > Too many dancers use unnecessary force. They need to learn that it is > about technique, not strength. And if you are leading a lady into > twirls or swing variations then a strong lead is about clarity, not > about strength. > > As callers I believe we should all slip a couple of brief hints into our > calling every time we call. There are always newcomers at events, so we > can direct the hints to them in the hope that some of the "experienced" > dancers will pick them up. > > Happy dancing, > John > > John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 01233 625 362 & > 07802 940 574 > http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events & DVDs > http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent > > From: Don Veino <[email protected]> > > >From an earlier post - I also abhor the "wrist hook" allemande. When I > encounter that I always attempt to shift to a hand grip. Failing success > on that I simply let go. It can do a real job on your tendons, not to > mention the sweat factor... :( > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers >
