It may be worthwhile to ingratiate yourself with the existing square dance communities in Austria. I believe they call in English; there's certainly considerable overlap in moves (allemande, do-si-do, chain, right and left through). They may not swing as much as we do in contra, but certainly worth visiting if they're close, maybe even worth taking classes. It's a different flavor, so take an attitude of "I'd like to learn from your tradition while trying to grow this other tradition."
If I visit Austria I'd love to drop in. Jerome On Wed, Feb 12, 2025, 5:36 PM Jerome Grisanti <[email protected]> wrote: > Brian, > > It's one thing to learn calling for dedicated dancers who already know the > tradition and can in fact help you. Your challenge — calling for people who > aren't (yet) in the tradition — is something I'm well familiar with. You > will be the "expert," looked up to, and you will find the most success > initially with very simple material that often doesn't even look like > contras. Finding a way to make all these dances varied and fun as you help > build skills toward a dedicated contra dance is a long term project. > > As well, the organizational piece is yet another skill. If you have other > folks willing to help, recruit them and cherish them. > > Jerome Grisanti >
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