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i agree with Eric. The world, even the contra world, is not always a
comfortable place. Within reason, we should be able to deal with it,
especially on the dance floor.<br>
<br>
Woody<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
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Woody Lane<br>
Caller, Percussive Dancer <br>
Roseburg, Oregon <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.woodylanecaller.com">http://www.woodylanecaller.com</a><br>
home: 541-440-1926 cell: 541-556-0054<br>
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><br>
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<br>
<hr size="2" width="100%">On 9/9/2015 3:39 AM, Eric Black via
Callers wrote:<br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:B2FEBFBE-3737-48BF-8E06-C81CC03C1091@eric-black.com"
type="cite">
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Wow. ISTM [It Seems To Me] that this is far more responsibility
for controlling social interpersonal interactions than the
programmer and/or caller at the mic should have to worry about,
even though we do worry about such things.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Sorry I don’t have opportunity to participate on this email
list more often. That Pesky Day Job [PDJ] and all…</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Short response: Don’t point out shadow partner interaction;
the dancers need to be adult about it, no one listens to the
Caller anyway, let alone anything said while they’re still
lining up.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Longer response:<br>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div>I really REALLY don’t think that there should be any
announcement calling attention to the fact that the next
dance has interaction with someone other than your chosen
partner. What, are we supposed to say “This is a duple
improper single progression with a shadow who is the same
active or inactive role one place below [or above] where you
line up”? </div>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Or should we say “Thank this partner, and ask another
partner for the next dance. As you line up, if there is
someone at the dance here tonight with whom you don’t want to
dance, please make sure that they are in a different longways
set than you, or that if they are in the same long set as you
that they are not in an adjacent hands-four from you either up
or down as you line up for the dance.”</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Are we dance choreographers supposed to create dance
sequences that don’t have any “serious” interaction with the
shadow partner, just in case the dancers happen to line up
such that someone on the floor has an “Ex” as a shadow
partner? Or someone who hasn’t showered recently enough?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>We already have the problem of MUC rejection of any dance
that doesn’t include both partner swing and neighbor swing;
this seems to be an injection of a problem of a potential
swing with a neighbor some dancers might not want to swing
with, yet such swings are still required.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I’m confused…</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><SoapBox></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Yes, I understand the many reasons for not having serious
shadow interactions, but I am proud that every local dance
community where I’ve been a member, from NH/Boston to CA/SF,
has understood that interpersonal conflicts will happen, and
yet social interactions are required. They understand how to
make everyone work together. Family schisms are inevitable.
Personal hygiene issues may arise.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I hope that everyone eventually can live the philosophy on
Jeremiah’s T-shirt: “Dance With Who’s Comin’ Atcha!"</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Even long-time couples break up. It’s painful to the
people involved and also to everyone surrounding. We’re
all Community here. Our Community is larger and more
long-lived than the simple “nuclear family” of two parents and
2.3 children. That means we get to “enjoy” many various kinds
of family ties, both genetic and non-genetic.
The Community connection carries us all through this specific
break-up episode. The Dance entertains us and it heals us and
it strengthens The Community.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I say this with a VERY PERSONAL involvement in this
community support.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Yes, we DO see what’s going on. Yes, we DO love both of
you, even if you’ve split apart, and even if there is a court
restraining order about you both showing up at our dance on
the same night (that’s a different discussion, and yes, it
does happen).</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>If there’s a personal hygiene problem, sometimes it simply
can not be helped. I myself could change shirts whenever the
band changes tunes and it still would not be often enough. In
such a case, please enjoy fresh pheromones; fresh sweat can be
enjoyable sweat. If it’s stale sweat, then by all means tell
the person that a shower with soap would make him/her a more
enjoyable dance partner. That’s a quiet face-to-face
conversation.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>BUT please dance for several seconds, smile, and move on.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>All that aside, any swing can be changed to an allemande
right once or twice (to taste), or an elbow swing, or a
do-si-do, or a gypsy (with varying amounts of eye contact,
again to taste). Experienced dancers, especially a split
dancer couple who encounter each other in line, will do
whatever they feel comfortable with. What a GREAT opportunity
to swap roles with your partner, given a little look-ahead!
(“Oh! that’s my Ex ahead; let’s swap!” or just take hands
with the palm-up signal that you’re taking the “Gent” role
next time) Painless and fun.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Never mind that experienced dancers often rewrite the dance
to change a non-swing dance move into a swing, even in the
middle of a hey; it’s just as easy to go the other direction,
to reduce interaction. That’s what dancers do. Just Be In The
Right Place At The Right Time.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>We always say that a neighbor interaction is “just one time
through the tune, just 30 seconds”. Well, a shadow
interaction is generally at most one 8-count thing; 4 seconds
repeated every once in a while as wonderful music plays.
Maybe double that for some dances, so then about 8 seconds
out of every half minute or so.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>It seems to me that we as social animals should be able to
deal with that.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Certainly we do this in our daily lives on the
street/office/garage/whatever. We can be civil and even
develop the ability to enjoy a 10-second interaction with an
ex we encounter in a public event.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>One of the things I love about contra dance is that it
gives us all an opportunity to “be” the persona we live the
rest of the time, or “be” someone else during The Dance.
We’re wearing a costume while we’re dancing, even if it’s not
obvious. Many of our dancers have an on-the-floor personality
which is quite different from the personality they exhibit the
rest of the time (such as while talking and enjoying
refreshments at the break during the evening dance).
Certainly I wear a different persona on the dance floor than
when I am at the break, and I’m someone else if I’m calling,
and someone else if I’m the dance organizer.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>THEN there’s the issue of identifying which of the various
people “near” you as you line up might be your
shadow/TrailBuddy. In a Becket dance it’s likely to be your
neighbor to the side in line, or could be next beyond them, or
the neighbor to the other side, or maybe the next beyond them.
I TRULY advise against spending too much effort in
identifying the “Corner/TrailBuddy” in advance, as the dancers
are lined up. In a duple improper, your shadow could be
ahead, could be behind. It depends on the choreography. And
it changes if someone drops out, or if someone joins in after
the walkthrough.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>That’s not the place to spend your precious seconds at the
mic as a caller. Get them moving and listening to the music.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div></SoapBox></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>We already have the problem of MUC [Modern Urban Contra]
rejection of any dance that doesn’t include both partner swing
and neighbor swing; this seems to be an injection of a problem
of a potential swing with a neighbor some dancers might not
want to swing with, yet such swings are still required.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I’m confused...</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>-Eric<br>
</div>
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