This is one of my favorites too!! Cheryl Joyal 630-667-3284
Sent from my iPhone On Aug 23, 2016, at 8:33 PM, Bob Green via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: The dance I like for introducing the ladies chain, if I have a band that will work with me on tempo, is Carpet Vectors by Robert Cromartie. The tempo has to stay on the slow side so that the circles left and right are not rushed. The sequence is a circle left and chain to your partner, then circle right and chain back to your neighbor. http://dancevideos.childgrove.org/contra/contra-modern/344-carpet-vectors-by-robert-cromarties-duple-improper Bob Green > On Mon, Aug 22, 2016 at 10:18 AM, Luke Donforth via Callers > <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > Hello all, > > I've been thinking about glossary dances, and building vocabulary for new > dancers. I'm curious what your favorite dance is for teaching a ladies chain > for a crowd of mostly new dancers? Or if you don't have a specific dance, > what do you look for in a dance to make the chain as accessible as possible? > > Just a chain over? Or a full chain over and back? > Chain to neighbor? Chain to partner? > What move best precedes the chain to set it up? > What move best follows the chain that still helps new dancers succeed? > Other factors you consider? > > I don't have a go-to favorite, but I'll walk through some of the things I > think about: > > I very seldom call a dance with a full chain. Experienced dancers don't whoop > and holler over them, and for new dancers, I'd worry the confusion would > snowball. > > Programatically, in a hall with a reasonable mix of new and experienced > dancers, I shoot for the first chain to be to neighbor so that the new > dancers can feel it with different experienced dancers; rather than new > dancers (who will partner up and clump, no matter how many helpful dance > angels you have) continually chaining to each other. If I were trying to > teach a chain to ALL new dancers... well, I doubt I'd teach a chain to > completely new dancers... but if I were, I'd probably go to partner. > > For moves, while I love the chain->left hand star transition; I'm not > convinced it's the best for teaching the chain. It often goes B2 chain->star, > find new neighbor; and the new neighbor from a left hand star is non-trivial > for new dancers. Possibly a dance where the chain->star wasn't followed by > the progression would work, but it's such a great progression when they're > ready for it; I don't see many of those dances. chain->star->left allemande > maybe? I do like long lines either before or after the chain as a set-up; but > not on both ends. I'm not sure which side of the chain the lines help more. > The Trip to ___ dances that end with chains and start with women walking in > to long wavy lines flow well, but I don't know that they're the best for > teaching chains, since the long wavy line is another new piece. > > Anyway, just some of my thoughts (started by the other thread about simple > glossary dances). I look forward to hearing what others on Shared Weight have > to say about the dances they use to teach chains (and I certainly won't be > offended if folks tangent off into gent's chains; just start a new thread ;-) > > Take care, > > > -- > Luke Donforth > luke.donfo...@gmail.com > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers@lists.sharedweight.net > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers@lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
