Are you asking about grapevine step? A twisting step, where you alternate the right foot going in front of and behind the left as you walk sideways. It’s how circles (of 4 or 8) are done in modern western square dancing, and in the last several years increasingly seen, to the dismay of all right-thinking people, on contra dance floors.
Read Weaver Jamaica Plain, MA http://lcfd.org > On Jun 26, 2015, at 9:01 AM, Rich Sbardella <[email protected]> wrote: > > Read, > I did not understand your reference to grapevining in MWSD. Can you > elaborate? > Rich > > On Fri, Jun 26, 2015 at 8:50 AM, Read Weaver via Callers > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > wrote: > In my separate beginners’ workshops, I have people take allemande hold, and > then move around as fast as they comfortably can (“faster than you ever would > in a dance”), paying attention to what that feels like in their hands and > arms. I then have them do it again, starting fast and then slowing down a lot > (slower than in a dance), keeping that same feeling in their hands/arms. Then > I’ll have them do a 2-hand turn with that same feeling (my workshops most > often combine contra & English), and then a circle of 4. I talk about the > circle 4 being the most boring move in contra when it’s done without weight, > and pointing out that it has quite a nice feeling when everyone is giving > weight. (That’s also where I explain grapevining—why it’s done in MWSD > (giving weight isn’t part of their style, so grapevine makes it a more > interesting figure), and why it’s a bad thing to do in contra (because it > makes it so much harder to give weight).) > > Giving weight is the first thing I teach in a beginners’ session, partly to > emphasize how important it is, and partly because it gives me the opportunity > to point out everywhere else where you do it, including just a little like in > a courtesy turn. > > Read Weaver > Jamaica Plain, MA > http://lcfd.org <http://lcfd.org/> > > > On 6/24/2015 11:29 AM, Rich Sbardella via Callers wrote: > >> > >> How do you descibe giving weight, and how do you teach it for circles, > >> allemandes, and, swings? > >> Rich > >> Stafford, CT
