I don’t call them much because I only have one or two dances of that type in my box, and I usually pass them by for more interesting dances.
I agree with Joe Harrington about inclusiveness and “service” dances. Don’t we all? Or don’t we. If there are people with whom you don’t want to swing, maybe you could start a club and take applications. Maybe part of the application could be that applicants have to swing the core group of dancers to be rated for acceptance. Or consider that for a 32-bar dance you might have to swing a shadow for about 7 seconds for each iteration of the dance, and let’s say the dance repeats 13 times; oh heavens, you’d have to spend a whole 91 seconds for the whole dance swinging with that shadow. Just think of all the other things you could have been doing with that 91 seconds. Life is short! Jim Columbia, MO (yeah, we’re out in the middle of the country far away from the right and left coasts, so it takes us a few years to catch up on all the trends) On Wed, Jul 17, 2024 at 12:53 PM Joe Harrington via Contra Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > Solid B. As a dancer I love them. They happen so rarely that they’re a > treat. Are there really all that many people I actively DON’T want a swing > with? No. > > Sure, I enjoy swinging with some more than others. But, I probably do 50x > as many “service dances” (as in, no, I didn’t really want to dance with > that person, but someone needs to, because we are an inclusive community, > and I didn’t have the heart to say no) as shadow swings. By stats, the > shadow swing will be much better than a service dance. Maybe I get one or > two shadow swings a year, vs. several service dances a night. > > I’m just speaking my own thoughts about my personal dance experience, > here, and not saying others need to apply the same logic to themselves. > > —jh— > > > On Wed, Jul 17, 2024 at 1:07 PM Gabrielle Taylor via Contra Callers < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> I recently danced in two dances with shadow swings, one at NEFFA and one >> at the experienced ("zesty") dance in Boulder, CO. In both dances, it >> seemed like spending so much time with the shadow wound up making dancers >> more confused, since if anyone got switched around then the dancers would >> worry about finding their original shadow. Getting switched around is >> especially common with experienced dances nowadays, since many dancers will >> swap roles with their partners, and of course there's just the risk of >> someone messing up. In addition, there's the concern that others brought >> up, where it's a lot of interaction throughout the dance with a partner >> that you didn't choose. >> >> I'd personally stay away from them, unless you have an _extremely_ >> confident group of dancers or the dance just really needs the swing there. >> >> Thanks, >> Gabrielle Taylor >> >> On Jul 17, 2024, at 08:39, Maia McCormick via Contra Callers < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> Prompted by some recent conversations, I’m curious how folks here feel >> about shadow swings! >> >> 1. As a caller, do you: >> A) not have an issue with shadow swings, and program them freely >> B) not tend to program them just bc they don’t come up in your >> repertoire, but have no issue with them >> C) not program shadow swings as a matter of principle >> D) some secret fourth thing (feel free to elaborate!)? >> >> 2. How do you feel about shadow swings as a dancer? >> >> Will weigh in with my thoughts later, both to avoid biasing the >> conversation from the outset, and also because I’m currently in transit 😅 >> >> Thanks for participating in the data gathering! >> >> Cheers, >> Maia >> >> -- >> Maia McCormick (she/her) >> 917.279.8194 >> _______________________________________________ >> 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] >> > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >
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