On Oct 10, 2016, at 1:34 PM, Read Weaver via Callers <[email protected]> wrote, in reference to wrist-hold stars:
> When I’m teaching, I make the point that it’s pretty much the only move in > contra where you _shouldn’t_ give weight even though you could—human wrists > being neither strong nor flexible in that direction. And that if someone > behind you is uncomfortably giving weight, you can just let go and turn it > into a single file for yourself, since you’re not giving weight to aid the > circle's momentum anyway. In a wrist-hold star, I think it feels best if everyone, (including the person behind me), does give at least a *little* weight--maybe not enough to achieve any significant transfer of momentum around the star, but enough so that there's some sense of connection rather than each dancer just laying their hand like a dead fish on the wrist ahead. The amount of "weight"/force needed to get a such a feeling of connection is much, much smaller than the amount involved in carrying even a typical ten-year-old child in a "four-handed seat" of the sort shown on page 4 of this document; http://adminopsnet.usc.edu/sites/default/files/all_departments/FireSafetyEmergPlanning/CERTLiftsandCarries.pdf Of course, if someone has a weak or injured wrist, the other dancers should give consideration for that priority over their own preferences about just how strongly connected they'd like the star to be. --Jim
