[Callers] What to do with a really bad new dancer?

[Donna Hunt via Callers]

You might consider including the new dancer into your discussion.  He "seems to have some kind of impairment and walks very stiffly", I think he might be the best one to tell you the things that he has difficulty with and then you can brainstorm how best to assist him.  Having someone in the discussion who is good a modifying the dance would be great.  

Certainly doing 1/2 instead of 1 1/2 for Allemandes, down the hall in small steps and turning sooner if possible, circling using that dancer as a "pivot point" so the other dancers circle around him, heys can be shortened or use hands to give leverage.  

You might ask this dancer to sit out a few dances an evening citing his challenges and then coordinate with the caller for the evening planning those dances that include full stars progressing to full stars or other moves that require a full count piece.

 

 My guess is that if he will work with you (and you want him to remain a member of the community) then brainstorming and giving tips from the mic will help the community adapt to include him. 



Donna Hunt




 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Marie-Michèle Fournier via Callers <callers at lists.sharedweight.net>
To: Caller's discussion list <callers at sharedweight.net>
Sent: Mon, Mar 6, 2017 3:17 pm
Subject: [Callers] What to do with a really bad new dancer?






Hi everyone,

   Lately a new dancer has started coming to our dance and he is bad enough that he will often make the set break if the dance is moderately challenging. He seems to have some kind of impairment and walks very stiffly which means he will often not be on time for a figure and also often does not remember what is coming next.

  We want to be inclusive but at the same time his presence negatively impacts other dancers in his set and while some of the experienced dancers will take one for the team and dance with him, it is an unpleasant experience to be his partner. Unfortunately, we always have many new dancers and having one couple not be where they should be can really throw them off in some dances so I feel like I have to push and pull him around to be on time, despite the fact that it's a little rude.

   A recent caller to our dance called him a "speed bump" which was quite accurate. I'm sure other dances have had experience with similar troubles, does anyone have advice on how to deal with this so that other dancers still have a good time yet we are nice to this problematic dancer?

Thank you

Marie

ContraMontreal

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