What dancers tend to forget about/not think about/not realize is that the two people involved in a chain are doing quite different moves. One is moving forward and the other backing up. One has to change position and then change orientation to accommodate the courtesy turn. Each learns their own role, but generally doesn’t realize what the other person is doing, or thinks about how they would do that if they were in the other role.
When I teach a chain that is other than a “standard” ladies chain, I go back to square one, slowly walking through it to make sure they each know which hand to use, where it should be, which direction they need to be going to get to the courtesy turn. Those who have never role changed before grumble a little at first, but most pick it up and even seem to enjoy experiencing the other role after a few times through. Jim Thaxter Columbia, MO On Sat, May 10, 2025 at 7:46 AM Sam Whited via Contra Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > I suspect that this was more willful ignorance than any actual > difficulty (they're an experienced group, I'm pretty sure they can > figure out how to do the same move they all know already with the other > hand, most of them even dance both roles already). It's not up to me to > ruin their fun of course if they just want to do "the traditional way" > for some reason, but I do wonder if just calling it something different, > over time, would get them accustomed to it and then eventually get them > doing it without thinking about it, making the dances more fun for > everyone. > > This is one of those places too where I like to joke "new people, I'm > going to need your help teaching the experienced dancers this move". > Since they just do what you tell them and haven't learned the bad habit > of "it must be done this one specific way" yet. > > —Sam > > On 2025-05-10 08:38, Jeff Kaufman via Contra Callers wrote: > > "When trying a chain left with a group of experienced dancers recently > > I got a lot of grumbling about how 'difficult' things were, which > > seems silly, maybe I should start trying to normalize 'this is just > > like any other move, sometimes you'll go one direction, sometimes the > > other' " > > > > There are a lot of moves we usually do in one direction, from "almost > > always" (circle left, dosido) to "very nearly 100% of the time" > > (petronella, contra corners, swing). I see chains as in between these > > two groups: left hand chains are less common than circle right but > > more common than left hand contra corners. But I don't see something > > fundamentally silly about having moves that are only done in one > > orientation, at which point it's not surprising that the mirror > > version would be difficult. > > > > Jeff > > > > On Sat, May 10, 2025 at 7:26 AM Sam Whited via Contra Callers > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On a slightly tangential note, I've called this a "chain" or a > > "[right > > hand role term at this dance] chain", but I kind of like the idea of > > saying "chain by the right" instead to normalize that it could be in > > either direction. When trying a chain left with a group of > > experienced > > dancers recently I got a lot of grumbling about how "difficult" > > things > > were, which seems silly, maybe I should start trying to normalize > > "this > > is just like any other move, sometimes you'll go one direction, > > sometimes the other". > > > > —Sam > > > > On 2025-05-10 05:24, John Sweeney via Contra Callers wrote: > > > > > > This video demonstrates the standard Chain Figure and how to do > > it well. > > > > > > We also teach you good technique for adding twirls, and variants > > such > > > as the Open Chain and the North Country Chain. > > > > > > While it is traditionally known as a Ladies' Chain, it is also > > known > > > as a Second Corner Chain, a Robins' Chain, a Right-Hand Chain, > > Chain > > > by the Right, Chain Across or just Chain. > > > > > > I hope you enjoy the video and find it useful! > > > > > > https://youtu.be/dS8LxpVHB3M > > > > > > Happy dancing, > > > > > > John > > > > > > John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 01233 625 362 & > > > 07802 940 574 > > > > > > http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Contra Callers mailing list -- > [email protected] > > > To unsubscribe send an email to > > [email protected] > > > > -- > > Sam Whited > > [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] > > -- > Sam Whited > [email protected] > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >
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