Re: [Callers] Another occupational hazard for callers

[billinhi--- via Callers]

You might also consider how to make a test as to whether there is UV in 
your environment.
I did a little research and turns out there is a little trick you can 
perform.

Highlighter markers rely on UV to make them glow.
So if you use one to write on a dark or preferably black piece of cardboard,
under non-UV you can't see anything, but under UV the lettering glows.
It would be nice to know how good a test this is under real conditions.
Maybe you want to put one in your deck of cards.
Bill

Anne Lutun via Callers wrote:

When was the last time you got a tan at an *indoor* contradance?

No, this is not a joke. I got sunburned while calling this past 
Saturday (March 3rd, in Pennsylvania).


How is this possible? Probably a damaged metal halide bulb in the 
community center gym where the dance was held. Apparently this is a 
problem that occurs sporadically in gyms all over the country, as I 
found out after a google search:


https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2004/05/19/damaged-metal-halide-lamps-can-cause-indoor-sunburns-56964/ 



https://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationSafety/AlertsandNotices/ucm116540.htm 



I'm very fair-skinned and burn easily, but I'm not the only one who 
was affected — the musicians got sunburns as well, and two of them 
have (mild) eye irritation symptoms. It's only when we compared notes 
yesterday that we realized what had happened.


We will all be ok, and thankfully there haven't been any reports of 
dancers being affected — it was a large and lively crowd, and we kept 
them moving! Other than the burns, it was an absolutely wonderful dance.


The problem had not occurred before at this monthly event because the 
bank of lights that we now think the culprit bulb is a part of is not 
usually on. It was needed that night because some of the other lights 
had burned out.


I would like to commend the dance organizers for taking the problem 
very seriously. Once informed, they immediately contacted the 
community center management, who in turn promised to address the issue 
right away.


I don't mean to alarm anyone, but next time you call in a gym, you may 
want to wear sunscreen!


Anne Lutun
Philadelphia, PA



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Re: [Callers] Leading, consent in embellishments

[Jack Mitchell via Callers]

My friend Ron Blechner wrote a wonderful piece

a
few years ago about "lead" and "follow" as being how one can dance
whichever role in contra you are dancing.  I commend it to your attention.
It's tangentially related, but that's not really what you were asking
about.

A few thoughts on that:

Any lead *offered *from one dancer to another should be just that -- an
offer -- and not a command.  It shouldn't be so forceful that it can't be
refused.  Additionally, the person leading the flourish should be ready for
the person to refuse (or not to respond) and be ready to continue with
whatever courtesy turn  or completion of a swing would have normally been
expected.

I believe that the response to any lead can be one of three (or possibly
more) response: "Yes!", "No!" and "What was that??!" and that if you get
either of the latter two responses those should be taken as a "no" and the
one leading that move should continue on with whatever the default version
of that move might be.

So, how do you ask that "question"?

   - You can just ask verbally.  A long time dancer in our local community
   will, when he encounters me in the line dancing the lady's / right side
   role, ask me "Twirling today?"  And we've been dancing in the same
   community for approaching 20 years now.  I have had others ask as we start
   swinging if I am ok being dipped.  (The answer is almost always yes, but
   occasionally it's not, and it only takes a second.)
   - A lot of swing exits / flourishes, can be "pre-led".  There is some
   part of the lead that you can start just a couple of counts before you
   would actually do it.  This can be a way of asking that question.  It also
   allows your partner to be ready to change which direction they're going,
   and generally to use much less force in the lead.  A few examples
   Starting to bring the joined hands in a swing up just a bit a few counts
   before the twirl would happen, or bringing the "gent's" left hand to the
   "lady's" shoulder, and then using very light pressure on the back of the
   "lady's" left shoulder and the front of her right to cue the twirl out of
   the swing.
   - We will frequently say in the newcomers lesson that a sign of an
   offered twirl is for the twirling person's partner to lift their joined
   hands (either the "pointy end" hands in a swing or the left hand in a
   courtesy turn, and that if one is not desiring a twirl at that particular
   moment, that one should pull that hand back down.  To that I would just add
   that as the person leading the twirl raises the appropriate hand, no
   reaction / limp arm probably is best to take as a "No" or at least as a
   "What was that??" and move along.  If it's your partner, you can always
   talk about the various flourishes and try again.

So I suppose what it mostly comes down to is:

   1. Many leads should be able to be able to be refused / ignored
   2. If you're dancing with someone you don't know, and you want to lead
   something that is difficult to do in a refusable way (dips come to mind),
   ask.


   - Even if you encounter someone you do know if you don't have time to
  ask (and haven't made previous arrangement), try to make sure your leads
  are refusable.  [I'm thinking particularly of the various ways that the
  same role dancer can twirl a neighbor as they pass in a hey, and the time
  on the friday of a dance weekend when someone forced a twirl in
a hay on my
  wife when she had already planted her foot and wasn't ready to be
  twirledmessed up her knee for the rest of the weekend and
that was the
  last dance she did.]


I can give you other examples if you'd like, but this is already getting a
bit rambling.  Hope that some of it is useful!  Let us know how the
workshop goes!

Jack


On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 12:22 AM Jeanette Mill via Callers <
callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Hello
>
> I am devising a workshop for a festival here in Australia, and have long
> been of the opinion that there are no "leaders" in contra dance couples.
> Moves should be executed with mutual consent, especially embellishments
> such as turning under out of a ladies' chain. Conventions such as waltz
> hold swings are really useful here. In Australia, other related dance forms
> use a variety of swing holds, which lead to confusion and interruption of
> flow. I plan to place some emphasis on conventions of holds, such as
> allemande and star holds.
>
> I would value people's opinions on this, as it may ruffle some long-held
> conventions. Any words of wisdom from the gender free dance community would
> be especially welcome.
>
> Also, I believe that if dancers are to enjoy embellishments, they must be
> by mutual consent. This is so difficult to establish in a microsecond. I
> would value any thoughts on how to advise reaching this consent in the
> context of a contr

Re: [Callers] Leading, consent in embellishments

[John Sweeney via Callers]

Angela’s point about managing your weight is really important.

 

I hate the term “give weight”!

 

I really don’t want your weight, in swings or allemandes or anything else.

 

I am happy, though, to counterbalance your mass in order to stop centrifugal 
force pulling us apart.  It is dancing, not wrestling!

 

Good connection is all you need.

 

Leaning backwards or sideways actually slows you down (check your physics) – 
all it does is tire your partner out as they try to stop you falling over.

 

Strength and lack of weight control can also mess up flourishes.

 

A strong lead is about clarity, not strength.  I often demonstrate by getting 
someone to blow on my hand – as their breath hits my hand I spin – I don’t need 
their help to spin – I just need to know that they want me to spin.  (Though, 
with two good dancers and good technique, a little help can generate multiple 
spins.)

 

Another good rule is: whenever your hand gets up to eye-level relax all your 
arm muscles – tension in moves like that slows the move down or even prevents 
it working.

 

Happy dancing,  

   John   



John Sweeney, Dancer, England   j...@modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 
574  

http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events & DVDs 
   

http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent 

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