In the last few years, I find myself dancing a lot more dances that end with Circle left 3 places and pass through
What I find is that about 3/4 of the dancers take 8 counts to do the circle 3 places, then a brief but indeterminate amount of time to do the pass through, and then arrive late to the next couple & next figure. (The other 1/4 take 6 counts to circle, 2 to pass through, and are then on the music's phrasing for the next figure.) It seems to me likely that this is frustrating to almost everyone. The "eight and late" dancers think "what a stupid dance, I can't get where I'm supposed to be in time," and the "6 + 2" dancers think "why are 3/4 of the people not here when I get here?" I haven't done a careful study, but I did just go to an experienced dance, and my impression is that the 3/4 - 1/4 ratio doesn't change with level of experience (though the experienced dancers, whatever their timing is, do it with more confidence). And I don't think there's anything all that surprising about that: we hardly do anything in contras to a count of 6 or 2. (If I've noticed any pattern, it's that contra dancers who also do English are more likely to dance it 6+2.) I do it 6+2, since it's the only way I can see to both dance to the phrasing and not be late to the next figure. It seems like a caller could point it out which might help some (though dancers' experience that everything is in a count of 8 or 4 is pretty ingrained), but the avoidance of teaching seems to prevent that--I don't recall any caller ever saying anything about it. Have others noticed it as an issue? (And am I right that it's a relatively recent issue?) Thoughts on what to do about it, if anything? --Read Weaver Jamaica Plain, MA http://lcfd.org
