[Callers] Suggestions welcome

[Aahz Maruch via Callers]

On Wed, Jun 10, 2015, Michael Barraclough via Callers wrote:
> 
> The regular Phoenix 2nd Saturday Contra is having a contra dance with
> the Desert Valley Squares Club (an LGBT MWSD group). In addition, the
> Desert Valley Squares have been advertising this dance heavily in the
> local LGBT community as part of their recruitment drive.
> 
> Any suggestions as to how best to handle this mix (regular contra
> dancers, MSWD dancers and non-dancers) would be most welcome.

I'd do one, maybe two MWSD tips as demos (assuming you call MWSD).
Otherwise, treat basically the same as any other contra night that has
lots of beginners (maybe with more mixers).  The square dancers will be
more experienced than the non-dancers, but they will struggle a bit with
the differences in styling and the phrasing focus (unless they've had
previous contra experience).

If you have a chance ahead of time, maybe rehearse contra-style buzz-step
swing with the square dancers (definitely make clear that they can do a
walking swing instead).

You might want to send this to the square dance club, it explains how
contra dances work from a square dancer perspective:

http://www.tiac.net/~mabaker/how-contra-dances-work.html

Because gay MWSD almost exclusively uses gendered terminology to
interoperate with straight squares, your choice whether to make this a
gender-free dance (I'd consult with the club).

You might ping Kris Jensen (gay square caller in ABQ who also does
contra), she may have specific suggestions due to some familiarity with
Desert Valley.

http://krisjensen.com/
kris at squarez.com
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