<div dir="ltr">I've run into dancers as a caller and on the floor who fit this description - men and women both. Most of the time the problem seems to be that they can't get where they need to be on time, or they end a figure facing the wrong direction. <div><div>But here's something that I learned in retrospect from an evening spent calling a small community dance with a pair of women who were moving too slowly for the music and who kept dancing together. I'd call a dance and identify these problems and think to myself, "Pick a different dance for the next one with a little more slop time in it and more figures where you are holding hands with someone and not on your own, or maybe an uneven dance." So I'd do that, but then I would notice that the women, who had gotten tired during the previous dance, had decided to sit out the dance that I'd picked to best meet their needs on the floor and prevent breakdowns!</div><div>So then I'd go back to my original plan for the *next* dance, but there they'd be, back up on their feet, having rested!</div><div>It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out the pattern. Now I know to watch for folks who had a hard time during one dance choosing to sit out the next and regroup.</div><div>But, y'know, as soon as I think I have something figured out about dancers, humankind throws me a curve ball.</div><div>Meg</div><div><br></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Mon, Mar 6, 2017 at 7:41 PM Winston, Alan P. via Callers <<a href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net">callers@lists.sharedweight.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" class="gmail_msg">
I've seen some responses on the organizers list and here, and I've
thought about the persistent rock-in-the-stream dancer we had in
Berkeley (who did, eventually, start modifying the dances so he
could get where he needed on time, and who indeed various women
would ask to dance or he'd be asking the new young women dancers and
confusing them horribly).<br class="gmail_msg">
<br class="gmail_msg">
One thing I'm noticing from the similar stories and responses is
that all the rocks in the stream I'm hearing about are male, and
it's falling on experienced women dancers to save the dance from
them.<br class="gmail_msg">
<br class="gmail_msg">
Is this just a problem with small sample sizes? Has anyone
encountered this kind of dancer, the kind who really structurally
can't ever be good at it, spreads confusion, and yet keeps coming
back, in female form? <br class="gmail_msg">
<br class="gmail_msg">
-- Alan</div><div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" class="gmail_msg"><br class="gmail_msg">
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<div class="m_-50884373446995622moz-cite-prefix gmail_msg">On 3/6/2017 5:24 PM, Mary Collins via
Callers wrote:<br class="gmail_msg">
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<blockquote type="cite" class="gmail_msg">
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<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;font-size:small">We have a dancer here in
Buffalo that has a hard time hearing and ear-mind
process-motor response time is very very slow. (I worry about
him driving). We have a loose house rule that the regular
good lady dancers pair with this gentleman. Otherwise he will
ask newbies to dance, and often is at the end of the line,
after the walk through. When you dance with him you have to
call to him through the dance and guide him to where he needs
to be. This is how we have dealt with our own issue.<br class="gmail_msg">
<br class="gmail_msg">
</div>
<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;font-size:small">In your case, you might want to
invite him to your beginner's workshop where you can address
some of the issues you have seen him experience (i.e. the 1/2
alemande instead of the 1 1/2 of the call, or a shorter
swing. Play up the better never than late thing and talk
about flourishes and how they are not really a necessary part
of the dance experience.<br class="gmail_msg">
<br class="gmail_msg">
</div>
<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;font-size:small">the others have mentioned other
ideas that are really good.<br class="gmail_msg">
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</div>
<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;font-size:small">Good luck Marie!<br class="gmail_msg">
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<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;font-size:small">Mary in Buffalo<br class="gmail_msg">
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<div class="m_-50884373446995622gmail_signature gmail_msg" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_msg">“Life is not about waiting for the storms to
pass ... it's about learning to dance in the rain!” ~
Unknown</div>
</div>
</div>
<br class="gmail_msg">
<div class="gmail_quote gmail_msg">On Mon, Mar 6, 2017 at 3:13 PM,
Marie-Michèle Fournier via Callers <span dir="ltr" class="gmail_msg"><<a href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net" class="gmail_msg" target="_blank">callers@lists.sharedweight.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br class="gmail_msg">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote gmail_msg" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<div class="gmail_msg">Hi everyone,<br class="gmail_msg">
</div>
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.<br class="gmail_msg">
</div>
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.<br class="gmail_msg">
</div>
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?<br class="gmail_msg">
</div>
Thank you<br class="gmail_msg">
</div>
Marie<br class="gmail_msg">
</div>
ContraMontreal</div>
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