One can also be miffed at having to repeatedly swing a shadow who one finds
very pleasant as a person, but just awkward to swing with (too tall, too short,
distributes his/her weight during a swing in a way that strains some part of
you). Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217 239 5844
On Tuesday, September 8, 2015 1:30 PM, Mac Mckeever via Callers
<[email protected]> wrote:
I agree with Michael - I can't see any reason I would want to call a dance
with a shadow swing. If the rest of the dance is that good - modify it to get
rid of that swing.
Chances are you are going to make at least one dancer very uncomfortable. I
avoid any figures that introduce that risk (not a big fan of men's chains
either).
There are lots of great dances out there - so I don't see a need to knowingly
offend dancers with the few dances that contain risky figures. Warning them
ahead of time creates a very awkward situation on the floor and someone is
going to lose.
Mac McKeever
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Perry Shafran via Callers <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 8, 2015 1:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow Swing Disclaimers?
I'm going to go with Andrea's well-written note on this. I understand that the
goal is to prevent people from dancing with people who really make them
uncomfortable (i.e. creepers). However, if you suggest "if you need to make
changes, do so now", that will open up the potential for people to refuse a
shadow for ANY reason (they smell, they're too fat, they're too old, they're
not my BFF, they're the same gender, they're a beginner, whatever), and that
could cause a whole world of hurt - especially in a community where we welcome
all and celebrate differences in people. There is no graceful way to do this,
really, that I can think of.
For the most part, if there is someone that a person does not want to encounter
in a dance, much less be a shadow, that person will find a different line to
dance in. At least that has been my experience. Callers should not be
encouraging people to find someone "better" than the potluck shadow that they
got. I would suggest not calling a dance with a shadow swing - that would ward
off potential problems with shadows people don't want to swing and also prevent
the hurt that would come with suggesting people make changes for whatever
reason.
Perry
From: Maia McCormick via Callers <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 8, 2015 11:06 AM
Subject: [Callers] Shadow Swing Disclaimers?
Hey all,
First, a disclaimer: Some people on this listserv thing shadow swings are
problematic. Some don't see any issue with them. This is NOT the conversation I
want to have in this thread; I ask that you respond to the question I'm asking
and do not debate my premise--at least not in this particular thread. This
should help keep this thread on track and hopefully reduce excess noise and
go-nowhere discussions on this listserv. Thanks!
Anyway, the actual question I wanted to ask (whew!)--
There do exist some really fabulous shadow-swing dances that I would love to be
able to call, as long as I could do so without putting anyone in an
uncomfortable position. Do folks have ideas for ways to mitigate the potential
harms of shadow swing dances? I was considering, at the beginning of the dance,
having dancers identify their shadow and mentioning, "this will be a shadow
swing dance, so if you need to make any changes, do so now" (or something like
that)--haven't gotten the wording down-pat, but the idea is giving dancers
advance warning of a shadow swing so they can move (thereby changing their
shadow) if they need to. Any thoughts on this method? Suggestions of others?
Cheers.Maia
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