Thanks to all,. Ron asked:
> Asking seriously: > > Why? > WARNING: The following discussion assumes that most of human behavior--including decision-making--is performed subconsciously. This fact has been established for many years by numerous studies and much observation. My experience is that there are many callers--as well as many other lay people--who reject the basic research of cognitive science out of hand and who reject any suggestion that they, and other dancers, will be influenced by anything that they are not consciously aware of. If you sincerely believe that all of your own actions are based solely upon rational, conscious thought you should stop reading now and delete this message. The information below will be seen as meaningless gibberish to you. It could cause your head to explode. Don't do it! This is not a debatable point. We are also often unaware of the subconscious reasons for decisions that we, ourselves, regard as conscious and rational. Good calling is subtle stuff. Like mixers, dances with less partner interaction will contribute to an environment where the partnering decisions made by dancers become less significant. After only one or two dance slots with little partner interaction, at least some of the regulars will "pick up" on the feeling that finding that "special" partner is not such a big deal right now. Combined with other subtle hints and actions this strategy by the caller will encourage or allow more generous partnering decisions in the hall. I refer to this feeling--that finding a particular kind of partner is important, or the feeling that finding a partner *quickly *is important--as "partnering pressure." There are numerous factors that increase partnering pressure. A gender imbalance, for example, will increase partnering pressure for both genders. Poor audio quality--which makes it difficult to understand the caller, and which consequently makes dancing with first-time dancers less satisfying--is another. There are many more factors that affect partnering pressure. High partnering pressure can cause a cliquish atmosphere in the hall. It can encourage "center set syndrome" and it can interfere with efforts to integrate newcomers into the hall. Lower partnering pressure is a situation that almost all dancers will welcome and it is a worthy goal of good callers. The caller can work to lower partnering pressure using a number of different strategies. Programming dances with specific qualities is one such strategy. Choosing dances that minimize the importance of partner interaction is one of those programming strategies. It will have little effect on its own. But when used in conjunction with a number of other actions it can foster a more community-spirited atmosphere. I use numerous strategies when I see symptoms of high partnering pressure: People lining up very quickly; center set syndrome, lots of folks "saving a place in line" while their partner gets some water, etc. The programming strategies are best used early in the evening because it takes one or two dance slots for dancers to "get" the sense that your partner is not the only person you are dancing with and that the folks partnered with first-timers are having as much fun as--or even more fun than--everyone else. I want easy dances that will build the confidence of all of the dancers and create a sense that everyone will have a good time no matter; where in the hall they are dancing, the skill level of their partner, or their own skill level. I try to program dances like this during the first half of the evening. I try to avoid dances with no partner swing at all because they engender complaints. But I will try to reduce the importance of partnering decisions in the early part of the evening. It is not the best strategy for this purpose. It is only one of many. You need a toolkit of strategies to integrate the hall successfully. Anyway, that's the way I do it. Your Pal, Greg McKenzie ********************
