Tom, I have called MWSD for years and contra is relatively new to me. I always try to arrive at dances early enough to participate in the introduction session. Some callers teach the buzz step, and others completely ignore the swing. As a dancer, a good swing is essential to my enjoyment. If I encounter a neighbor that cannot swing, I often ask her for the next dance, and gently relate the concept of giving weight. In my opinion, giving weight is the most critical didderence between MWSD and contra dance. I enjoyed reading your perspective. I would be interested in your "programming" methodology. Perhaps you could elaborate. Rich
On Sun, Jun 21, 2015 at 9:46 PM, Tom Hinds via Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > Maia, > > Personally I really don't give a hoot which swing people teach. I've > voiced my opinion and I'm ready to move on. My real concern is my own > dance in C'ville which seems to be going down hill. Callers have done such > horrible jobs teaching the lesson that the board voted to have me teach all > of the lessons. What's important to me is that the swing is taught well > and safely no matter which one is chosen. I've responded to some of your > points in sprinkles below. > > On Jun 21, 2015, at 1:52 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers wrote: > > Tom, at a guess, Aahz is not talking about NOT spending time on the swing, > nor about neglecting to teach dancers how to start/end one--just that the > finer points of technique aren't a priority for the beginner's lesson. > > > Yes that's a guess. And he wasn't real specific in his first email. I > believe he mentioned sashayed in a latter email so that's probably what he > meant, ending a swing with the lady on left, man on the right. > > John mentions the bad habits that even experienced dancers may have while > swinging, such as: > > - grip, clamp, squeeze, hang, press > - hold their partner in the wrong place so it is uncomfortable > - use too much strength and try to do silly things like making their > partners feet leave the floor > - lean sideways or backwards > - start twirls too late and when they are facing the wrong way so that they > end up in the wrong place > > What's your conclusion and what's the bigger picture? Perhaps the dance > community is full of bad teachers and/or bad students or something else is > going on..........Or is all of the above OK? We're not MWSDers or ballet > dancers are we? > > I find it pretty telling that this list of habits actually has nothing to > do with footwork! In my opinion, the reason to teach walking swing instead > of buzz-step to beginners is that there's SO MUCH ELSE to concentrate on. > > NO! NO, NO, NO!!!! I have to strongly disagree with you here. There > isn't SO MUCH ELSE to concentrate on. I have no doubt that I program a > dance night way differently than you or the others do. How I program and > how I teach the lesson are unique to me and both fit together and the > newbies are never overwhelmed by SO MUCH ELSE. > > I haven't seen you or the others call but I have to say that there's this > stage that some of us go through where we perceive the beginners as > deficient and therefore need to be stuffed with all of these rules, moves > etc. so that we can have a REAL modern urban contra dance. I went through > that stage but I'm over it now. I see it in many callers. The real secret > to calling as far as I'm concerned has to do with personality and emotions, > not moves. For me, dancing is a vehicle to community. > > Perhaps the dancers in your area have certain expectation of a dance > level. I'm fortunate here in C'ville that the dancers don't have those > expectations. They are real laid back. > > I didn't say this yet but I've come to the conclusion that one's calling > is a system. If you value or choose one aspect in that system you, by > default choose other aspects. Programming and the beginning workshop > should fit logically together. There's so much that goes into programming > and there's so much that goes into choosing one's system that I find this > little discussion about swing to be a bit meaningless. In C'ville in the > last two years, those who didn't teach a swing at all had lousy programs-I > mean most of the floor went home at the break-it's that bad!! The two seem > to be correlated. If you're unskilled in one you tend to be unskilled in > the other. > > The more things we can abstract away, the easier a time beginners will > have learning what's left. If you're focusing on strange new footwork (and > I find that buzz-stepping beginners tend to think that the buzz-stepping is > the most important part of the swing, and concentrate more on that than on > their frame), it's harder to pick up things like giving weight, a proper > hold, etc. But everyone already knows how to walk! > > I consider the way I teach a buzz step swing to be efficient, maybe taking > 5 minutes for a small group. > > Maia, perhaps you should watch my beginning workshop. > > At the end of my workshop they are ready!!!. The integration of the > beginners into the evening's dance is seamless. If they survive the > beginning lesson (which they all can) the rest of the evening is literally > a piece of cake because of the way I program. I'm human and it doesn't > always go well but in general it does. > > > I would also add that I would much rather dance with someone doing a > funky/odd/strange/unpracticed walking swing than a > funky/odd/strange/unpracticed buzz step. > > I've also come to the conclusion that everything that goes on at a contra > dance can be boiled down to plain emotions. I recently watched a caller > who is a very good showman. I think he's insecure. He doesn't show > compassion also so he fails as a caller-doesn't establish a relationship > with any of the dancers. I also think he's afraid to teach (fear of > boring the experienced dancers) so he does a rushed job of all of his walk > throughs. The beginners have their own emotional reaction to this: > frustration big time. > Perhaps you think that we humans are rational. But the truth is we are > emotional and the emotional side of us bring in the rational side to > justify what we want. As I see it, most of this talk is just BS-rational > sounding BS for what we really feel and value. I value the buzz and > therefore feel like teaching the buzz step swing. John also values the > buzz so that's what he does. Someone else may not value the buzz or > doesn't know how to do it, so that's what they feel like doing. > > I find that there are fewer ways to mess up a walk, and that there's less > potential for your partner to be uncomfortable or perhaps harmed than with > one of those galloping, out-of-control excited-pony buzz step swings. > > Just my two cents! > > Cheers, > Maia > > On Sun, Jun 21, 2015 at 1:38 PM, Amy Wimmer via Callers < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> I love John's idea of teaching the buzz step as individuals first, >> then as couples. The most frequent complaints I hear from men is that >> women hang on them and don't hold up their own weight during a swing. >> The most frequent complaint I hear from women is men pulling them off >> their feet and going too fast. If they can learn to hold themselves >> upright on their own first, then everyone will have a much more >> enjoyable experience. >> >> -Amy >> >> >> >> > On Jun 21, 2015, at 3:44 AM, John Sweeney via Callers < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> > >> > Yes, of course I always tell dancers that they can walk instead of >> buzz, but >> > the buzz-step is so much more fun that it seems crazy not to teach it >> when >> > every dance is going to have a swing and usually two. >> > >> > <Digression:> Yes, I love swinging, and have been loving it for fifty >> years >> > now, but why does every new dance have to have two swings? Oh no, not >> > Neighbour Balance & Swing, Circle Left 3/4, Partner Swing again - that's >> > half the dance gone with nothing new or interesting in it! (And >> changing the >> > Circle Left 3/4 to Men/Ladies Allemande 1 & 1/2 does not make it more >> > interesting!) I write lots of dances with one or zero swings - a >> zero-swing >> > dance can have so much good stuff in it that the dancers don't even >> notice >> > there is no swing; they are having too much fun. It always puzzles me >> when >> > people take a great one-swing dance and re-choreograph it to add a >> second >> > swing, losing part of what made it a great dance just for the sake of >> even >> > more swinging. <End of digression.> >> > >> > I found it interesting that Ron said, "the buzz-step swing gets axed if >> I'm >> > short on time". If I only had time to teach one thing then the only >> thing I >> > would teach would be the buzz-step swing, and how to finish it so you >> end up >> > in the right place. I can't think of anything else that newcomers can't >> > learn during the walk-throughs. >> > >> > Question: If you were calling for a group with a dozen newcomers in the >> hall >> > out of 100 people, and the organizers said you could have two minutes >> > teaching before you started the first walk-through, what would you >> teach? >> > For me the answer is obvious, every dance has a buzz-step swing; teach a >> > buzz-step swing. >> > >> > Another reason for teaching swinging is that there are a significant >> number >> > of "experienced" dancers who have bad swinging habits. I dance all >> over the >> > USA and the UK and wherever I go there are always some people who: >> > - grip, clamp, squeeze, hang, press >> > - hold their partner in the wrong place so it is uncomfortable >> > - use too much strength and try to do silly things like making their >> > partners feet leave the floor >> > - lean sideways or backwards >> > - start twirls too late and when they are facing the wrong way so that >> they >> > end up in the wrong place >> > - etc. >> > >> > If just a couple of those dancers pick up on any of these points and >> improve >> > their swinging then you have done good work! >> > >> > Yes, I hate it when callers talk too much and take time out of dancing >> time. >> > But this can be really short: >> > >> > Sample teach: >> > = = = = = = = = >> > Hi, I'm John. We have some new people here today and they are going to >> > spend half an hour swinging tonight, so please let's spend a minute or >> two >> > on showing them how it's done. And all you great dancers out there why >> not >> > see if you can't make your swing even better for you and your partners. >> > >> > This is called a buzz-step swing. >> > >> > First, let go of you partner completely. Put your left toe just behind >> your >> > right foot like this. Now walk fast on the spot. Now push with your left >> > foor as though you were on a skateboard and turn clockwise by yourself >> on >> > the spot. Relax your knees so you don't bounce up and down. See how >> > smoothly.you can turn with the minimum of effort. >> > >> > Now take your partner in a ballroom hold - the man's hand on the lady's >> > shoulderblade - it is far more comfotable for the lady if you hold them >> up >> > high. Now relax - make sure you are not pressing on any part of your >> > partner. >> > >> > And swing - it should be a gentle embrace where, as a single >> counterbalanced >> > unit, you glide smoothly and effortlessly around. Smile at your partner >> and >> > you won't get dizzy. >> > >> > Now think of your joined hands as an arrowhead and finish pointing at >> the >> > other couple. >> > >> > If you are having trouble with the buzz-step then you can always just >> walk. >> > = = = = = = = = >> > >> > I just timed that and it took less than 90 seconds. Surely that is worth >> > doing! >> > >> > Yes, some of them won’t get it, but for those who do you have just >> greatly >> > enhanced their enjoyment of the evening. >> > >> > Anyway, that's what I think. :-) >> > >> > Happy dancing, >> > John >> > >> > John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 01233 625 362 >> > http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Callers mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net >> _______________________________________________ >> Callers mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net >> > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > >
