[Callers] Buzz Step Swing

[Rich Sbardella via Callers]

Tom,
I have called MWSD for years and contra is relatively new to me.  I always
try to arrive at dances early enough to participate in the introduction
session.  Some callers teach the buzz step, and others completely ignore
the swing.  As a dancer, a good swing is essential to my enjoyment.  If I
encounter a neighbor that cannot swing, I often ask her for the next dance,
and gently relate the concept of giving weight.  In my opinion, giving
weight is the most critical didderence between MWSD and contra dance.
I enjoyed reading your perspective.  I would be interested in your
"programming" methodology.  Perhaps you could elaborate.
Rich


On Sun, Jun 21, 2015 at 9:46 PM, Tom Hinds via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Maia,
>
> Personally I really don't give a hoot which swing people teach. I've
> voiced my opinion and I'm ready to move on.  My real concern is my own
> dance in C'ville which seems to be going down hill.  Callers have done such
> horrible jobs teaching the lesson that the board voted to have me teach all
> of the lessons.  What's important to me is that the swing is taught well
> and safely no matter which one is chosen.  I've responded to some of your
> points in sprinkles below.
>
> On Jun 21, 2015, at 1:52 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers wrote:
>
> Tom, at a guess, Aahz is not talking about NOT spending time on the swing,
> nor about neglecting to teach dancers how to start/end one--just that the
> finer points of technique aren't a priority for the beginner's lesson.
>
>
> Yes that's a guess.  And he wasn't real specific in his first email.   I
> believe he mentioned sashayed in a latter email so that's probably what he
> meant, ending a swing with the lady on left, man on the right.
>
> John mentions the bad habits that even experienced dancers may have while
> swinging, such as:
>
> - grip, clamp, squeeze, hang, press
> - hold their partner in the wrong place so it is uncomfortable
> - use too much strength and try to do silly things like making their
> partners feet leave the floor
> - lean sideways or backwards
> - start twirls too late and when they are facing the wrong way so that they
> end up in the wrong place
>
> What's your conclusion and what's the bigger picture?  Perhaps the dance
> community is full of bad teachers and/or bad students or something else is
> going on..........Or is all of the above OK?  We're not MWSDers or ballet
> dancers are we?
>
> I find it pretty telling that this list of habits actually has nothing to
> do with footwork! In my opinion, the reason to teach walking swing instead
> of buzz-step to beginners is that there's SO MUCH ELSE to concentrate on.
>
> NO!  NO, NO, NO!!!!   I have to strongly disagree with you here.  There
> isn't SO MUCH ELSE to concentrate on.  I have no doubt that I program a
> dance night way differently than you or the others do.   How I program and
> how I teach the lesson are unique to me and both fit together and the
> newbies are never overwhelmed by SO MUCH ELSE.
>
> I haven't seen you or the others call but I have to say that there's this
> stage that some of us go through where we perceive the beginners as
>  deficient and therefore need to be stuffed with all of these rules, moves
> etc.  so that we can have a REAL modern urban contra dance.  I went through
> that stage but I'm over it now.  I see it in many callers.  The real secret
> to calling as far as I'm concerned has to do with personality and emotions,
> not moves.  For me, dancing is a vehicle to community.
>
> Perhaps the dancers in your area have certain expectation of a dance
> level.   I'm fortunate here in C'ville that the dancers don't have those
> expectations.  They are real laid back.
>
> I didn't say this yet but I've come to the conclusion that one's calling
> is a system.  If you value or choose one aspect in that system you, by
> default choose other aspects.  Programming and the beginning workshop
> should fit logically together.   There's so much that goes into programming
> and there's so much that goes into choosing one's system that I find this
> little discussion about swing to be a bit meaningless.  In C'ville in the
> last two years, those who didn't teach a swing at all had lousy programs-I
> mean most of the floor went home at the break-it's that bad!!  The two seem
> to be correlated.  If you're unskilled in one you tend to be unskilled in
> the other.
>
> The more things we can abstract away, the easier a time beginners will
> have learning what's left. If you're focusing on strange new footwork (and
> I find that buzz-stepping beginners tend to think that the buzz-stepping is
> the most important part of the swing, and concentrate more on that than on
> their frame), it's harder to pick up things like giving weight, a proper
> hold, etc. But everyone already knows how to walk!
>
> I consider the way I teach a buzz step swing to be efficient, maybe taking
> 5 minutes for a small group.
>
> Maia, perhaps you should watch my beginning workshop.
>
> At the end of my workshop they are ready!!!.  The integration of the
> beginners into the evening's dance is seamless.  If they survive the
> beginning lesson (which they all can) the rest of the evening is literally
> a piece of cake because of the way I program.  I'm human and it doesn't
> always go well but in general it does.
>
>
> I would also add that I would much rather dance with someone doing a
> funky/odd/strange/unpracticed walking swing than a
> funky/odd/strange/unpracticed buzz step.
>
> I've also come to the conclusion that everything that goes on at a contra
> dance can be boiled down to plain emotions.  I recently watched a caller
> who is a very good showman.  I think he's insecure.  He doesn't show
> compassion also so he fails as a caller-doesn't establish a relationship
> with any of the dancers.   I also think he's afraid to teach (fear of
> boring the experienced dancers) so he does a rushed job of all of his walk
> throughs.  The beginners have their own emotional reaction to this:
> frustration big time.
> Perhaps you think that we humans are rational.  But the truth is we are
> emotional and the emotional side of us bring in the rational side to
> justify what we want.  As I see it, most of this talk is just BS-rational
> sounding BS for what we really feel and value.  I value the buzz and
> therefore feel like teaching the buzz step swing.  John also values the
> buzz so that's what he does.  Someone else may not value the buzz or
> doesn't know how to do it, so that's what they feel like doing.
>
> I find that there are fewer ways to mess up a walk, and that there's less
> potential for your partner to be uncomfortable or perhaps harmed than with
> one of those galloping, out-of-control excited-pony buzz step swings.
>
> Just my two cents!
>
> Cheers,
> Maia
>
> On Sun, Jun 21, 2015 at 1:38 PM, Amy Wimmer via Callers <
> callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> I love John's idea of teaching the buzz step as individuals first,
>> then as couples. The most frequent complaints I hear from men is that
>> women hang on them and don't hold up their own weight during a swing.
>> The most frequent complaint I hear from women is men pulling them off
>> their feet and going too fast. If they can learn to hold themselves
>> upright on their own first, then everyone will have a much more
>> enjoyable experience.
>>
>> -Amy
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Jun 21, 2015, at 3:44 AM, John Sweeney via Callers <
>> callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>> >
>> > Yes, of course I always tell dancers that they can walk instead of
>> buzz, but
>> > the buzz-step is so much more fun that it seems crazy not to teach it
>> when
>> > every dance is going to have a swing and usually two.
>> >
>> > <Digression:> Yes, I love swinging, and have been loving it for fifty
>> years
>> > now, but why does every new dance have to have two swings?  Oh no, not
>> > Neighbour Balance & Swing, Circle Left 3/4, Partner Swing again - that's
>> > half the dance gone with nothing new or interesting in it! (And
>> changing the
>> > Circle Left 3/4 to Men/Ladies Allemande 1 & 1/2 does not make it more
>> > interesting!)  I write lots of dances with one or zero swings - a
>> zero-swing
>> > dance can have so much good stuff in it that the dancers don't even
>> notice
>> > there is no swing; they are having too much fun. It always puzzles me
>> when
>> > people take a great one-swing dance and re-choreograph it to add a
>> second
>> > swing, losing part of what made it a great dance just for the sake of
>> even
>> > more swinging. <End of digression.>
>> >
>> > I found it interesting that Ron said, "the buzz-step swing gets axed if
>> I'm
>> > short on time".  If I only had time to teach one thing then the only
>> thing I
>> > would teach would be the buzz-step swing, and how to finish it so you
>> end up
>> > in the right place.  I can't think of anything else that newcomers can't
>> > learn during the walk-throughs.
>> >
>> > Question: If you were calling for a group with a dozen newcomers in the
>> hall
>> > out of 100 people, and the organizers said you could have two minutes
>> > teaching before you started the first walk-through, what would you
>> teach?
>> > For me the answer is obvious, every dance has a buzz-step swing; teach a
>> > buzz-step swing.
>> >
>> > Another reason for teaching swinging is that there are a significant
>> number
>> > of "experienced" dancers who have bad swinging habits.  I dance all
>> over the
>> > USA and the UK and wherever I go there are always some people who:
>> > - grip, clamp, squeeze, hang, press
>> > - hold their partner in the wrong place so it is uncomfortable
>> > - use too much strength and try to do silly things like making their
>> > partners feet leave the floor
>> > - lean sideways or backwards
>> > - start twirls too late and when they are facing the wrong way so that
>> they
>> > end up in the wrong place
>> > - etc.
>> >
>> > If just a couple of those dancers pick up on any of these points and
>> improve
>> > their swinging then you have done good work!
>> >
>> > Yes, I hate it when callers talk too much and take time out of dancing
>> time.
>> > But this can be really short:
>> >
>> > Sample teach:
>> > = = = = = = = =
>> > Hi, I'm John.  We have some new people here today and they are going to
>> > spend half an hour swinging tonight, so please let's spend a minute or
>> two
>> > on showing them how it's done.  And all you great dancers out there why
>> not
>> > see if you can't make your swing even better for you and your partners.
>> >
>> > This is called a buzz-step swing.
>> >
>> > First, let go of you partner completely. Put your left toe just behind
>> your
>> > right foot like this. Now walk fast on the spot. Now push with your left
>> > foor as though you were on a skateboard and turn clockwise by yourself
>> on
>> > the spot. Relax your knees so you don't bounce up and down.  See how
>> > smoothly.you can turn with the minimum of effort.
>> >
>> > Now take your partner in a ballroom hold - the man's hand on the lady's
>> > shoulderblade - it is far more comfotable for the lady if you hold them
>> up
>> > high.  Now relax - make sure you are not pressing on any part of your
>> > partner.
>> >
>> > And swing - it should be a gentle embrace where, as a single
>> counterbalanced
>> > unit, you glide smoothly and effortlessly around. Smile at your partner
>> and
>> > you won't get dizzy.
>> >
>> > Now think of your joined hands as an arrowhead and finish pointing at
>> the
>> > other couple.
>> >
>> > If you are having trouble with the buzz-step then you can always just
>> walk.
>> > = = = = = = = =
>> >
>> > I just timed that and it took less than 90 seconds. Surely that is worth
>> > doing!
>> >
>> > Yes, some of them won’t get it, but for those who do you have just
>> greatly
>> > enhanced their enjoyment of the evening.
>> >
>> > Anyway, that's what I think. :-)
>> >
>> > Happy dancing,
>> > John
>> >
>> > John Sweeney, Dancer, England john at modernjive.com 01233 625 362
>> > http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
>> >
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