That Tony Parkes dance looks good, but I'd never be able to use it with this crowd. In years passed, I tried to teach them swings -- but I guess everybody still has cooties at 18 years -- never worked -- plus, you have a good number of girls dancing with girls and boys dancing with boys and it makes some of them uncomfortable. This is a crowd that, when I tell them, let's make a big circle all around the room, they have trouble with the concept of what a circle looks like. Not to re-mention the acoustics.
As a contra dancer, I understand flow from figure to figure, but Swat the Flea into a right shoulder DSD wasn't a problem with this crowd. But thanks for sharing Tony's dance. I don't remember ever seeing it before. On Sat, Jun 17, 2017 at 4:55 AM, John Sweeney via Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi Linda, > Re your Box ‘n’ Swat: I have a somewhat similar dance in my files: > > Circle Mixers Are Fun (by Tony Parkes) > > A1) Into the Middle & Back x 2 > > A2) Partner Right Hand: Balance & Box the Gnat; Partner Dosido > > B1) Partner Left Hand: Balance & Swat the Flea; Partner Seesaw (Left > Shoulder Dosido) 1 & 1/2 to meet your New Partner > > B2) New Partner Balance (OR Gypsy) & Swing > > Note that your sequence of Swat the Flea into Dosido involves > passing by the right when you are holding left hands. Tony’s sequences > above allow much easier flow and connection as you can pull past with the > connected hand. > > Last time I had the challenge of working with a room full of noisy > youngsters (most of whom didn’t speak English) I just led by example, > starting with a Grand March then did: > Sausage (Circle) to the Left/Right (Till I was at the top) > Long Lines Go Forward & Back > Top couple Gallop Down (I just took the person opposite and galloped); > Next Couple; Next Couple; Next Couple > Repeat > > Once they has used up a bit of energy I was able to get them to > quiet down a bit! > > Happy dancing, > John > > John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 01233 625 362 > http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > -- *Looking forward,Linda S. Mrosko* *102 Mitchell Drive* *Temple, Texas 76501* *(903) 292-3713 (Cell)* *(903) 603-9955 (Skype)* *contradancetx.com <http://www.contradancetx.com>* *www.zazzle.com/fuzzycozy* <http://www.zazzle.com/fuzzycozy*> (Dance buttons, t-shirts, & more)*
