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<font color="#990000">Erik Hoffman Chiming in:<br>
<br>
In a beginners' workshop I will often do a quick demonstration of
a buzz step, but never explicitly teach it. I think it's not
opinion that:<br>
* thinking about footwork while trying to also figure out
figures is more than most beginners need<br>
* one walking while one buzz steps works fine<br>
I will say, "if you come back you'll find your feet figuring out
out." I might say, "if you try it, keep your right foot in front
of your left foot," with a small demo.<br>
<br>
Things I think are important to covey in that usually 20 minutes:<br>
Giving Weight<br>
No Grip! Gripping leads to hurt! (And I have a small mission
of encouraging callers to remover the word "grip" from their
calling vocabulary.<br>
Smooth transitions<br>
Swing Position<br>
Hands on shoulder blades<br>
Giving Support<br>
98 percent -- end with woman (raven) on right<br>
Geography<br>
Courtesy Turns<br>
Lady's Chain<br>
R&L Thru<br>
Balance - and - Balance & Swing<br>
<br>
And, that is a lot to absorb! I think adding footwork is just too
much.<br>
<br>
Maia wrote:<br>
Of course any teacher worth their salt will teach that a swing
always ends with the lady on the right.<br>
<br>
Since I've been dancing for a while, and, back in the day when we
used to do proper, active/inactive dances, and I still
occasionally call those, there are times when you don't end with
the lady on the right and the gent on the left, but instead end
backing away from your partner into the vacant spaces behind you,
as in ... Rory O'More!<br>
<br>
(I still think it's funny when callers say, "as in Rory O'More,"
or, "as in Petronella," and I look around and see 98% of the
dancers -- and possibly even the caller -- have never danced Rory
O'More or Petronella...)<br>
<br>
I agree with Tom on ending swing transitions offering timing and
other challenges:<br>
Swing and face the next neighbor -- potentially confusing<br>
Swing into a R&L Thru -- incorrect ending messes up timing<br>
Swing int a Ladies Chain -- doesn't need to be a problem, as
even ending up on<br>
the incorrect sides, the women (ravens) just put out their
right hands but<br>
often leads to timing issues because newcomers think they
must get<br>
into the correct spot prior to starting the chain...<br>
</font><br>
On 6/21/2015 10:52 AM, Maia McCormick via Callers wrote:<br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAHUcZGN4z2dtSB49rV2BP5KjyvaV79m8QuU5UvCzwgddhY1JJA@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">I agree that the buzz-step is not the be-all,
end-all of contra swing! I've been dancing for going on 5 years
and I pretty much exclusively walk-swing, because I find it more
comfortable and easy to control, and don't actually like
swinging extremely fast.</div>
</blockquote>
<font color="#990000">I completely agree with this, although I do
buzz. Then again, with new dancers who are still getting dizzy,
sometimes I just sway and slow turn...<br>
</font><br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAHUcZGN4z2dtSB49rV2BP5KjyvaV79m8QuU5UvCzwgddhY1JJA@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>John mentions the bad habits that even experienced dancers
may have while swinging, such as:</div>
<blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 40px;border:none;padding:0px">
- grip, clamp, squeeze, hang, press<br>
- hold their partner in the wrong place so it is
uncomfortable<br>
- use too much strength and try to do silly things like
making their<br>
partners feet leave the floor<br>
- lean sideways or backwards<br>
- start twirls too late and when they are facing the wrong
way so that they<br>
end up in the wrong place<br>
</blockquote>
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. 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!</div>
</blockquote>
<font color="#990000">Above, I'm putting this in my own words...<br>
<br>
Sometimes, if there's a call for it, during the break I'll give a
buzz-step lesson. A long time ago I was presented a way to do this:<br>
first: teach dancers to "gallop": right foot forward, the buzz
step in a straight line<br>
second: have dancers back away from partner, to opposite sides
of the room<br>
third: have dancers hold their "frame"<br>
fourth: set them off galloping towards each other. When they
meet, while still galloping, have them enter into swing position,
and they'll start going round in circles.<br>
It's fun! When I learned this, this teaching plan was attributed
to Todd Whittemore.<br>
<br>
erik hoffman<br>
oakland, ca</font><br>
<br>
<br>
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