Richard said: "My first dance with a courtesy turn may use it with a promenade, depending on the crowd. Then move on to dances with a chain or R&L. Once the turn is understood and well done, the others are easy."
And thus we come to why teaching moves with a courtesy turn is so much easier in New England (where promenade and courtesy turn are both done in the same position). Oh how much easier if we all did a "New England promenade." J On Fri, Sep 2, 2016 at 11:47 AM Richard Hart via Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > I usually try to separate the courtesy turn from the chain. A courtesy > turn is used in a number of moves, including R&L through, and a > promenade. Practice that first with your partner. Man backs up and the > woman gores forward, with arms around your partner's back. .Remember > to stop facing the right direction, and as a caller remember to tell > dancers which way to face. This can be done in a couple of minutes or > so. > > My first dance with a courtesy turn may use it with a promenade, > depending on the crowd. Then move on to dances with a chain or R&L. > Once the turn is understood and well done, the others are easy. > > I agree with Erik (and Dudley!) The walkthrough and instruction should > be short. They'd all rather be dancing, so don't introduce much new > stuff in any single dance. > > And thanks for this discussion. I love seeing new dances to try and > new possibilities to teach when there are a lot of beginners. > > On Mon, Aug 22, 2016 at 11:18 AM, Luke Donforth via Callers > <[email protected]> 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 > > [email protected] > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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
