Yup! Understood! Suggestions were only meant as a way to attract those who might be shy about joining in… Linda
On Jul 27, 2015, at 2:07 PM, Mac Mckeever <[email protected]> wrote: > What we do and what I think Alan is referring to is a bit different. He > already has a critical mass of experienced dancers - so he can do beginner > level contras and even a bit above that level. You often end up with about > 1/3 new dancers. > > We have done this many times without having to go to one night stand type > dances. It is really good at encourage the new people to attend a regular > dance. We have often set up in areas where there is good cultural diversity > to help us out in that area. > > We used to do about one a month in good weather - but have tapered off > lately. We need to start these up again. > > Mac Mckeever > > From: Jack Mitchell via Callers <[email protected]> > To: Linda Leslie <[email protected]>; Alan Winston > <[email protected]> > Cc: [email protected] > Sent: Monday, July 27, 2015 9:58 AM > Subject: Re: [Callers] "Flash Mob" dances > > LInda-- > > I love those ideas for getting folks out on the floor. So simple. Thanks! > > > On Mon, Jul 27, 2015 at 10:51 AM Linda Leslie via Callers > <[email protected]> wrote: > What a great idea, Alan! I hope you are able to continue this as a successful > annual event! > Whenever I find folks are reluctant to join in dances (weddings, parties, > etc.,), I find a surefire solution is to begin with a no-partner circle. I > hold hands with the “volunteer” dancers, and snake around the area, picking > up folks as we go by them. You can encourage folks with happy smiles, “Join > us!” and other exhortations….Once we have a good group, I close the circle, > and do hash calls: circle left, circle right, single file left, right, all > f&b, “everybody over 50 into the center and back”, etc., etc. I then from a > circle left, become the lead again, and spiral the circle in, then back out. > It is wonderful how this simple movement to music, and the surprise of > reversing the spiral makes people happy, From here, I would have people pair > up and do a very simple circle mixer, which gets them used to the P change > idea. Then the simple contras. > > Looking forward to seeing the other suggestions that folks offer you! > warmly, Linda > > On Jul 26, 2015, at 11:52 PM, Alan Winston via Callers > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Over in San Jose we've just done a second annual not-really-flash-mob > > dance. Symphony Silicon Valley does a free public series of Pops concerts, > > get permission from them, pick one, get a bunch of volunteer dancers and a > > pickup band, print up some flyers and put up a sign with the sponsoring > > organization logo and URL, We put up a sign with the name of the > > organization, set up in the path of foot traffic to the concert spot, and > > do an hour and a half (or so) of easy contra dances, encouraging passersby > > to join in and hooking them up with more-experienced partners. > > > > This is successful in terms of getting some exposure, and today we got > > somewhere between a half-dozen and a dozen new people to actually try it, > > and probably moved 25 flyers. Nobody got hurt, some of the dancers stayed > > for several dances, etc. We flushed out some old square dancers (who of > > course wanted to swing once around and wait for the next call) and some > > previous non-dancers of various ages. > > > > (I was calling. First round was missing many volunteer dancers and had > > multiple newbies, so I did a one-night-stand dance ("Up the Sides and Down > > the Middle") rather than a duple-minor contra; then Cranky Ingenuity, > > Inflation Reel, Kitchen Stomp, and Delphiniums and Daisies.) > > > > Posting to ask if people who've done this kind of thing have any tips or > > tricks to get things going. > > > > As caller I relied on my volunteer dancers to do the recruiting, and people > > had different comfort and skill levels doing that. Is there something I > > can tell them that will increase their comfort in talking to strangers? > > > > Thanks! > > > > -- Alan > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 > -- > Jack Mitchell > Durham, NC > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > >
