Hi Joseph,
“Giving weight” is a highly technical term stolen from other more
complex dance genres. It is too easily misunderstood. People actually expect
you to take some of their weight! They lean; they hang; they pull; etc.
Please don’t! :-)
I absolutely do NOT want any of your weight! (I have enough of my
own!).
People use the term without explaining this.
“Giving weight” means controlling your centre of gravity so that
you are connected to your partner. It is much better to talk about connection.
(See also http://contrafusion.co.uk/Contra.html#connection ). (More about
weight in the Swing here: http://contrafusion.co.uk/Contra.html#swinging ).
You can see a video of me demonstrating “giving weight” at
https://youtu.be/Uvbp5HiCiBo?si=akxwoMu2fbUupsBm
<https://youtu.be/Uvbp5HiCiBo?si=akxwoMu2fbUupsBm&t=137> &t=137
The exercise that I show there is one you can get dancers to try.
Make them do a slight sit by themself without falling over. Then take two
hands with your partner and both do a slight sit. Then let go. I you fall
over you were pulling too hard!
The continual yanking by people who are throwing their weight
around can cause injury, including repetitive strain injury if it is a constant
factor of their dancing.
People use far too many muscles when they are dancing. We had a
new dancer today and I was showing him how to do a Roll Away. He started
pulling me hard with his connected hand and kept pulling strongly. I explained
that his initial pull – just moving his hand gently a few inches then relaxing
– was enough. Having initiated the Roll-Away the other dancer will complete it
by themself. He tried that and saw how easily we both completed the move
without any effort.
I hope that helps.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 01233 625 362 & 07802 940
574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
From: Joseph Erhard-Hudson <[email protected]>
Sent: 16 January 2024 19:12
To: John Sweeney <[email protected]>
Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Re: Workshop activities for helping dancers improve
their skills?
John,
Thanks for sharing your teaching notes with us.
I’m intrigued by one paragraph in particular:
Connect and relax. Be responsible for your own weight! Don't "Give weight"!
Keep your arms firm but elastic.
Since “give weight” has been customary parlance for maintaining firm connection
(at least that’s how I’ve always understood it) for so long, I’m hoping you can
say more about what you’re asking them to do, or perhaps not to do. This is not
to cast doubt on your notions, but to help me understand the diversity of the
ways callers conceive and convey the hallmarks of good dancing technique.
Joseph
On Tue, Jan 16, 2024 at 10:25 AM John Sweeney via Contra Callers
<[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:
Hi Emily,
Two of the most important skills to teach are Swings and
Allemandes. They are very frequent and often danced very badly.
You can see some of my teaching notes at
http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/AlliesMan.html with links to my Allemandes and
Swings pages for more information.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
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