I suppose it's something I sometimes do--I think of it as punctuating the phrasing (it's something I'd only do if I can do it right on the beat). I think I particularly like it when I've been consistently finding people who are either ahead of or behind the phrasing, and then find someone who's right on it. Not being able to clap with someone (e.g., dancers at the end of the line & the move is forward-and-back), which I think is comparable in force, would come as a surprise to me, warranting a "Gentle, please" sticker on the person for whom it's a problem (though I realize all you have to do to avoid that clap is not put up your hand, which you can't really do on an allemande).
--Read Weaver Jamaica Plain, MA http://lcfd.org On Feb 18, 2014, at 9:12 AM, George Mercer wrote: > I guess this is tangential to the hands/allemande discussion, but it has > been a source of personal pain for me for some time. Over the past decade > or so more and more people, many of them pretty good long-time dancers > (both men and women), have approached me for an allemande with a percussive > force akin to a punch or slap. Wham! I have a variety of hand/arm issues > and the percussive impact of the initial allemande contact sends a jolt all > the way up to the shoulder. I have been forced to hold my hand/arm back > until the last second (when the force has dissipated) or even set it up so > the other dancer whiffs past my hand altogether. When did whacking > someone's hand for an allemande become acceptable or appropriate? This may > not be a problem for others, but for me it has the same result as the death > grip, bent wrist, thumb wrench, and other allemande problems -- pain. > Thanks.
