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I've been skimming the Another Approach thread, as I haven't had
time to really process it, though I look forward to examining the
ideas, internalizing concepts, and using it.<br>
<br>
But, on the point of having different ways to say things, YES!<br>
<br>
When I'm dancing, I never try to teach in the walk through. I might
ask the caller a question. And I hate it when a caller says
something like (as happened recently), "end the hey and stand back
to back with your partner.... No, back to back.... No, on the other
side, and stand back to back..." and on and on, not really seeing
how people were misinterpreting this, doing exactly what she said,
but now how she wanted them to do it. Another unnamed caller used to
say, after describing something in a very ambiguous manner -- in a
way I could interpret in a variety of ways, did in fact, and I was
incorrect -- and then would say, in effect, "Dancers, you're just
not listening to me!"<br>
<br>
I always look, both during the walk through and during the dance,
and try to see what is confusing to dancers, and adjust my
instruction to their need in a general way.<br>
<br>
Devices I use:<br>
Room Geography! Does one wall have windows, the other not? Turn
your back on the band, or face the band. Etc.<br>
Partner: Face your Partner or Neighbor<br>
And all the conventional ones: Right, Left, Up, Down, Middle,
Outside<br>
Even with these "standard" ones, I try to think, "if someone doesn't
understand "outside," how else can I say it? It might be, "step
outside the set, that is, take a step away from your partner." <br>
<br>
Always, look for different ways to say moves, and hone in on the one
that will help those in need.<br>
<br>
~erik hoffman<br>
oakland, ca<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 6/3/2015 10:34 AM, Jacob Nancy Bloom
via Callers wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAJPS8NihB8swy_qXxdc+9uwRLU+SAd-=GDybKBd2yYb2x02XnQ@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">You
raise a good point. It took a long time for someone to
impress upon me that, although I have no problem with
positional calling, many people do. Different people have
different strengths.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">When
calling for a group of beginners, I've found that things go
more smoothly if I know several ways to describe an action,
and use them all. "Look for the next, look away from the
couple you've been dancing with, for a new person." Some
people will understand that they are dancing with one couple
after another and turn the right way when I say "Look for the
next", some are orienting themselves relative to the other
couple and find "look away from the other couple" clearer, and
some do not have a strong positional sense but will look
around for a new person to dance with. Different calls work
best for different dancers.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">Jacob</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 11:58 AM, Aahz
Maruch via Callers <span dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net"
target="_blank">callers@lists.sharedweight.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">On Wed,
Jun 03, 2015, Jim Hemphill via Callers wrote:<br>
><br>
> I realize that it is much easier on callers to just
substitute a label for<br>
> ladies and gents on their calling cards. It shifts
the burden onto the<br>
> dancers who haven't grown up in a genderless dance
environment as their<br>
> brains translate the label into a term they are used
to. Positional<br>
> teaching and calling is more challenging for the
caller. Not every dance<br>
> will lend itself to this technique but I bet with a
little thought most<br>
> would.<br>
<br>
Positional calling is also considerably more difficult for
at least some<br>
dancers. My perception is that changing the "gender"
label is pretty<br>
easy for most dancers -- at least, I've never seen many
people struggling<br>
with it, and I do see people struggling with contra
corners (which is the<br>
most common use-case in standard contra dancing).<br>
</blockquote>
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</blockquote>
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