For hey, mad robin, etc.: "This next move we're going to learn is a fancy
way of getting right back where you started."

And for a full hey (esp. combined with the above): "look at your
[partner/neighbor] and say, 'whatever happens, I'll meet you here for a
balance and swing.'" (This may seem silly, but I think that having dancers
*do* something with the information give them, even if it's just to repeat
it aloud in a silly way, makes them internalize it better than you just
talking at them over the mic.

I'm sure I have a LOT more. That and whenever the band is taking a while to
get ready, I usually offer(/threaten) to tell jokes...

On Wed, Mar 4, 2020 at 2:37 PM Jerome Grisanti via Contra Callers <
[email protected]> wrote:

> I don't do this now because of changing norms, but formerly during lessons
> I would note that "promenade" was French for "walk," and "do-si-do" was
> French for "back to back," and when I had dancers in their first hands-four
> and had the ones cross over, I noted that we now had a "he-she-he-she"
> circle, which is French for "boy-girl-boy-girl."
>
> Also, at the end of a square, "Thank your partners. Apologize to your
> corners." (Not to be used if squares fell apart, only if all went well).
>
> As people are taking hands four: "Neighbors do-si-do. [pause] If you
> missed it, you still end up in hands four. Ready?"
>
> --Jerome
>
>
> Jerome Grisanti
> 660-528-0858
> http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
>
> "Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and
> power and magic in it." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 4, 2020 at 9:03 AM Richard Hart via Contra Callers <
> [email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I sometimes hear callers use quick one liners to make dancers smile, to
>> keep their attention, and to help them remember a move. Here’s a couple I
>> have heard and use during walkthroughs sometimes.
>>
>> 1. For a petronella turn:
>>
>> “Take hands in a ring.
>> Balance the ring.
>> Look at the person in your right hand.
>> They don’t know you are looking at them because they are looking at
>> someone else.
>> You will be standing exactly where they are...... “
>>
>> 2. For an a la main left:
>>
>> “Raise your left hand as if you were going to do an a la main left.
>> Now do an a la main left.....”
>>
>> What other similar one liners do others use - if any?
>>
>> Rich Hart.
>>
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
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