The closest thing I can think of that was an invasion was when someone brought a bus of visiting international students. They didn't have adequate language skills to follow directions, and their cultural differences created a lot of awkward moments. Thankfully, our other gracious dancers took them in hand and helped them follow along, giving personal tutoring as needed. I think sometimes as callers we try to make everybody happy (I try to do that myself), but we forget that we have some gracious and ingenious folks on the dance floor who will (hopefully) gladly jump in and help out the new folks one on one. I think your new president had a good short-term solution, but I hope these women will realize it's not for them. People generally don't know what they're getting into when they come to their first contra dance. Some are pleasantly surprised while others don't come back. That's okay.
Get TypeApp for Android On Jan 21, 2023, 12:05 PM, at 12:05 PM, Joe Harrington via Contra Callers <[email protected]> wrote: >I have no clue what happened with the white on white, which also killed >the >last half of the message. Read all the way through the second half and >then see if it's an invasion! :-) > >I had just done about a 25-minute gentle intro with circle keepers and >mixers, when the ladies walked in. I was balancing losing my regulars >and >the newbies who had come on time with keeping the new dancers. > >--jh-- > > >On Sat, Jan 21, 2023 at 11:08 AM Meg Dedolph <[email protected]> >wrote: > >> well, maybe I wouldn't use the word "invasion." :) >> >> Did some of the regular women dancers join the line of newcomers? >Might >> have been a great opportunity for some folks to practice the role >they >> don't usually dance, which is a terrific way to become a stronger >dancer in >> general, and also make new folks feel welcome. A line made up of only >new >> dancers (for whatever reason) is usually something callers like to >avoid. >> What about throwing in some circle mixers to learn terminology, only >> remove the progression and dance it as a keeper? Or throw in some >whole-set >> dances like you get at community dances, which often don't progress >the way >> contras do. >> >> Meg >> >> On Sat, Jan 21, 2023 at 9:25 AM Joe Harrington via Contra Callers < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> We had an interesting and challenging situation come up at Contra >>> Knights, the UCF student contra club, last night. I’m interested in >your >>> thoughts and advice, in case it has come up before, which it must >have. I’m >>> going to relate it as I perceived it, though someone more perceptive >might >>> have made some observations early on that would have alerted them to >the >>> nature of the situation. >>> >>> Last night was the second dance of the semester and officer >elections >>> were scheduled during the break. Just at the end of my newbie >lesson, a >>> group of nine women dribbled in as a group. They were really >>> enthusiastic to learn, and they were about 30% of the people in the >room at >>> that point, so I rewound the lesson a bit to at least teach them the >swing. >>> >>> They had joined the teaching circle with their purses and backpacks. > I >>> invited them to put their stuff on the chairs at the sides, >including their >>> jackets, as we dance to up-tempo pop music and it can get sweaty. >That’s >>> where it got interesting. Some put their stuff down, but they >couldn’t >>> take off their jackets. That’s when I noticed some of them wearing >>> headscarves. Ok, no worries, wear jackets, that’s fine. We love >diversity >>> here. >>> >>> I tried matching them with experienced dancers, which some accepted >and >>> some did not. Some said they just wanted to dance together and not >with >>> anybody else. O-kay. I explained that in this dance we all dance >with >>> each other in a sequence and we don’t control whom we’re dancing >with. >>> Well, that’s ok, as long as we don’t touch men. >>> >>> This, of course, explained the refused partners; they were all men. >How >>> are we going to manage that in a gender-neutral dance? It’s not >like I >>> could put them in the men’s role. Someone suggested they turn all >moves >>> into do-si-dos. I was at a momentary loss, when our club >president-to-be >>> (elected later in the night) suggested putting them in a line of >their own. >>> That made them happy, though it was a very short line. >>> >>> Then the rest of what turned out to be the Lebanese Student Society >came >>> into the room. Their meeting in a neighboring room had just ended. >There >>> were more women, enough to make the small line danceable. There were >a lot >>> of men, and they had a really difficult time taking partners. I had >minor >>> sets with five or six dancers (yes, experienced dancers can do it). >I told >>> them it would not work that way, but they said they’d make it work, >and >>> nothing I could say got anywhere. I was conscious of the original >dancers >>> who had been there 30 minutes now, had done the workshop, and were >eager to >>> dance. >>> >>> So, the men also got their own line, but things in that line got a >bit >>> crazy during the first walk-through. Possibly because of the >discomfort >>> some may have felt dancing with other men, many there were more >interested >>> in goofing off or boasting to one another than in paying any >attention to >>> me, even after I cranked the mic volume way up and admonished them >to be >>> quiet and listen. There was some genuine interest in that line, and >one of >>> the louder argument points I heard was someone shouting to quiet the >line, >>> as they were here to learn. >>> >>> At this point there were around 30 Lebanese students in two lines of >3-4 >>> minor sets each and 20 originals, who had joined through the newbie >>> session, which was evenly split between newbies and experienced >dancers. >>> Their line was quiet, but getting quite impatient at this point. I >was >>> afraid to lose them. I was really afraid of what would happen in the >>> election later on if the Lebanese club stayed, as they outnumbered >the >>> originals. >>> >>> It became clear that the Lebanese men were not going to get far, but >they >>> didn’t realize it yet. I really didn’t want to throw them out, since >some >>> really did want to learn and we are an inclusive club with too few >members. >>> I did say I would kick them out if they didn’t quiet down, which >worked >>> momentarily. >>> >>> I decided to forge ahead and call to the group of 20. Either the >guys >>> were going to get it or they’d maybe leave. If their noise disrupted >the >>> line of originals, then I would ask them to leave. I put on a tune >and >>> called an easy dance, cranking the volume above the din. The >originals >>> danced it fine and seemed to have a good time. The guy line >dispersed and >>> said they’d come in time for the workshop next time. The ladies left >with >>> them. >>> >>> The originals nearly all stayed. We had a fun rest of our night and >held >>> our officer election. While last night was a unique event, 50% >newbies is >>> common and we think it’s why we get so few dancers to stay in the >club more >>> than three nights. So, one of the changes is a new, occasional, >no-newbies >>> night, so the experienced dancers can dance something more complex >than >>> Airpants. >>> >>> Are there ways to calm an unruly crowd? I have a fairly decent >one-night >>> stand routine, but I worried I’d lose my originals if we went over >to that. >>> I felt I could have taught them something if only I could just have >gotten >>> their attention. Throwing them out would have been uncomfortable, at >best. >>> >>> So, could I have done this any better? Has your dance ever been >invaded, >>> and how did you handle it? >>> >>> Thanks, >>> >>> —jh— >>> Joe Harrington >>> Faculty advisor and caller to Contra Knights, the UCF contra club >>> Organizer, Greater Orlando Contra Dance >>> Contraknights.org >>> FB, Ig: Contra Knights >>> [email protected] >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe send an email to >>> [email protected] >>> >> > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >To unsubscribe send an email to >[email protected]
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