[Callers] How to Describe a Ricochet Hey

[James Saxe via Callers]

On Jun 18, 2015, at 6:43 AM, Dale Wilson via Callers <callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> ... I [spend] a lot of time thinking about how to teach dance moves

So do I.  And I think Dale says some good stuff.

> during a workshop and during a walk-thru (they are different.)

[Dale, I'd be interested if you'd care to amplify on the remark
"they are different" and particularly if you have specific
examples of what you might do differently when presenting
the same figures in a "workshop" situation vs. a walk-through.]

> 
> A couple guidelines:
> 
> 1: Make it concrete.   "Gents look at each other."  That's concrete. Look at the place your neighbor is standing -- that's concrete (ish)

Even more concrete would be "Gents *point* at each other".  If
they point instead of just looking, then

    * you (the caller) can visually confirm that they have
      heard and understood your instructions;

    * dancers who didn't catch your instruction might see what's
      happening around them and maybe figure out their part in it
      ("The people around me are doing something; I guess it's
      time to start paying attention.  Oh, someone's pointing at
      me; I guess I should point back."); and

    * dancers who did catch your instructions can see whether
      there are other dancers nearby who aren't on track (e.g.,
      someone who's woolgathering instead of pointing, or
      someone who's pointing in the wrote direction) and perhaps
      manage to wave at them and get their attention.

[Alas, the idea of "point at <designated person> and *keep
pointing* so that the caller and your fellow dancers can see"
can be a difficult sell to some dancers.  They seem to think
that it's enough that they have mentally identified the
designated person and to see no value in giving a visual
indication of that fact.  We've all seen the similar situation
where some dancers seem satisfied with mentally identifying
their own minor set and don't bother to take and hold hands
four for the benefit of those below them.]

> Imagine a slice of pizza.  Nope.

Despite having heard the pizza slice analogy recommended by a
caller whose teaching I generally admire highly, I nonetheless
share Dale's skepticism.  Dancers who already understand how
to do a ricochet hey may recognize that their path vaguely
resembles the perimeter of a giant pizza slice.  But the ones
who need help are the ones who don't already understand--the
ones who want to "ricochet" directly back on the same path they
came in on or who want to "ricochet" their way to the far side
of the set.  And I think those people will have no idea what
"pizza slice" the caller is talking about.

Possibly if you do a demo, and if you can get all the people
near the demo set to hunker down or back away so that everybody
in the room has a 100% unobstructed view of the action, and if
you point at the floor and describe the edges of the imaginary
pizza slice as you walk them, maybe that will put the idea
across to the people who didn't already get it.  (Or maybe not.)
But if you just stand on the stage and tell people to imagine a
pizza slice, I'm not convinced it will do much to help the
dancers who need help most.

> ....
> 3) Try to serve up the teaching in bite-sized chunks (ooh--an analogy).

Yup.  In Dale's previous message, he wrote:

> Gents look at each other.  Now look at your neighbor.   When I say 'GO' (not now) you will meet
[that is, you will meet the other gent, not your neighbor]
> in the center and push back to your neighbor's place.

For new dancers, and even for some experienced dancers learning
a new figure, the description above is already approaching the
limit of how much you can reasonably ask them to visualize ahead
of time without moving.  In this case, I don't see an easy way to
ask for much less visualization into the future, but it's a good
thing not to be asking for more.

The total amount of action people can hold in their heads goes up
if the action can be grouped into familiar chunks.  Experienced
dancers who already understand heys and ricochets could likely
cope with being told something like

    When I say 'GO' (not now) men will start a hey for four
    by left shoulder, but when the men meet again in the center,
    they'll ricochet and swing their neighbors.

They might not visualize where everybody would end up as a result
of those actions, but they'd understand enough so that you could
say "GO" and then prompt them through the actions.  If you tried
having a typical group of brand new dancers stand and listen
while you described the same action by enumerating all the little
pieces of the hey, they'd of course be hopelessly overloaded.

--Jim