You know, I just realized, regarding the "sidelines" discussion ... no
one's yet mentioned "booking ahead". In the context of
getting-new-dancers-partners, I thought it might deserve its own thread.
Simply put: Booking ahead is a big threat to including new and/or
infrequent dancers.
When I was a newer dancer, and finally getting known as a fun dance partner
with enough people, there was the inevitable "I want to dance with all my
friends!" tendency that most newer dancers get. I booked ahead, sometimes
two dances ahead. I never booked *all* of my dances for the night, and I
did seek out and dance with people I didn't normally, on a regular basis.
Still, once I reflected upon it, it limited my dance partners somewhat.
I cut down to only booking "next dance". Then I cut down the number of
times in a night that I do that. Now, I will never book ahead as a rule,
but allow exceptions, usually for out-of-towners that I don't get to see
often, or a dancer that I simply haven't had the chance to dance with for
several weeks. I've found that I don't sit out any more often, I'm still
dancing with friends for about half my dances in the evening, and I'm
having just as much fun. At the same time, I don't have to worry about
remembering who I booked, nor about offending anyone by, "Sorry, got the
next one booked already!"
Nowadays, I'm a pretty okay dancer. And there are some dances I can walk
into, and people are super-friendly and I have no problem finding a
partner. Yeah, me being a kilt-wearing, name-button-sporting dancer with
decent dance shoes usually is an extra tip-off to people, too, in the same
way that if I saw a lady walk in that I didn't know, but she was wearing a
big multi-colored twirly shirt and dance shoes, I'd probably assume she
would be a good dance partner.
But... there are dances where it's difficult to find partners if you don't
know anyone. And then for introverts (which makes up a surprisingly high
percentage of the contra dance community), it's an even more difficult
task. When a dance finishes, and you blink, and everyone's partnered and
lined up within 30 seconds ... you know it. People have to be booking
ahead.
Frankly, booking ahead can be viewed by new dancers as unfriendly behavior.
At the head of my list of dance values is that contra is meant to be a
community dance. I believe that booking ahead, more than a few times in an
evening, is contradictory to this primary value.
If I had to speculate, I would hypothesize:
1. Dance organizers are very aware of who does this at their dances,
already.
2. Dance organizers are afraid to speak up about it, because they're afraid
of scaring off their "cool, hip dancers".
3. This can't possibly be a new problem. Haven't there been good solutions
to this in the past? Haven't there been dances that have realized they're
exclusive, and wanted to change, and successfully done so? What approaches
have they taken that are successful?
4. A dance community has to *want* to change this. They need to state
"inclusion of new dancers" as a value that they hold high.
I don't have a solution, but I do think that this ought to be a priority
discussion with dance organizers and callers.
Also, I'm optimistic that even one good dancer changing their behavior, and
clearly stating *why* they stop booking ahead, can have a strong influence
on other dancers. It was a couple of other dancers stating that they
stopped booking ahead at all that made me really reconsider my own booking
ahead; when I tell people that I don't book ahead, I have had some good
discussions stem from it, and I think I may have influenced a dancer or two
in that they can tone down how often they book ahead.
In dance,
Ron
http://contradances.tumblr.com
Do you know the title and author of this dance?
A1: gents into center to a long wavy line of gents, bal; Ladies into center of line of ladies, bal; (Gents wait for them)
A2: W A R 1x; PS
b1: down hall, turn as a couple
B2: C L 3/4, N S
Seth Tepfer
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I have attached a document (I hope that works) with a list of ideas for callers to help foster equal dance opportunity. This springs from the recent thread called "Sidelines" or something like that. I took your ideas, some of them verbatim, and compiled this list. Please use it, adapt it for your community, and respond if you see something questionable or missing.
Thank you all so much for your thoughts and ideas. I learned so much from this little project.
Jill
Hey all, going over many notes - I am looking for a Peter Stix dance, I can't find a notation or reference for it and the books I have with his dances do not include it. Perhaps I have it notated incorrectly?...
"Expert Bits" ?
Thanks -
Laurie P
West MI
I have the order in for the reference - 'No Rest For The Wicked'.
If someone has the book, can you send me a note- I lost my notes on two dances in the reference, and want to prep. I'm concerned that the book will take a while to get here and I work out of town so I'll miss delivery.
Thanks!
Laurie P
West MI
Triangle Country Dancers (Durham/Chapel Hill, NC) is hosting a callers
workshop with Carol Ormand April 13-14 (she is also calling for our
Friday dance on the 12th), and we still have a few slots available. I'm
including the description for the workshop below.
If you are interested in attending, please let me know or register at
http://www.tcdancers.org/workshop/ We do need to finalize the
participant list ASAP because Carol plans to contact all participants a
few weeks before the workshop to discuss goals for the workshop.
Jack
Callers' Workshop with Carol Ormand - April 13-14
Madison, Wisconsin caller Carol Ormand is beloved throughout the dance
community for her smooth and unflappable style, wickedly fun dances, and
penchant for keeping all the dancers on the floor smiling. Carol's
enthusiasm, paired with her clear and efficient teaching, creates a
delightful dancing experience for beginners and veteran dancers alike.
Carol will be in the Chapel Hill, NC area the weekend of April 12-14.
She is calling for the Triangle Country Dancers regular Friday night
dance on April 12th and on Saturday we will have an all day workshop
designed to improve a specific calling related skill. Calling well can
be a great source of pleasure. In the workshop, each participant will
get to focus on improving one calling-related skill. By the end of the
day on Saturday, you will know how to make progress on the skill of your
choice and on all of the other topics covered that day. Anything related
to calling is fair game: creating an inviting atmosphere, programming an
evening, communicating with the band, efficient yet effective
walk-throughs, effective use of a microphone... whatever you most want
to work on next. On Sunday, we'll gather to reflect on what we've
(collectively) learned and to plan our (individual) next steps in that
work. Participants are also invited to join Carol for an informal dinner
(probably at Weaver Street Market) on Friday evening before the dance.
Cost for the workshop is on a sliding scale from $40-90. The Saturday
workshop and evening dance will be held in a private home near Chapel
Hill, NC. Meals on Saturday are included in the cost of the workshop.
The location of the Sunday wrap-up is still to be announced. If you have
any questions, please email Jack Mitchell at: jamitch[number three][at
sign]mindspring.com <http://mindspring.com/>. This event is supported in
part by the Outreach Fund of the Country Dance and Song Society
(www.cdss.org <http://www.cdss.org/>).
Dear callers,
Like many of you, I've collected a few dances whose titles and authors I
don't know. Since I always find it interesting to read when other people
post their unidentified dances, I thought I'd reciprocate. I've included
the name of the caller who called them, if that helps. Does anyone
recognize these?
(Transcription errors are always possible; corrections are welcome.)
? 1 (from Warren Blier)
becket
A1 gents allemande L 1+1/2
neighbor swing
A2 right and left thru
ladies chain
B1 circle left 3/4, pass thru up/down
next ladies allemande L 1 while gents orbit 1/2
B2 partner balance, swing
? 2 (from Lisa Greenleaf)
improper
A1 square thru 2 up/down ((new) neighbor R, partner L)
this neighbor swing
A2 long lines
ladies allemande R 1+1/2
B1 partner balance, swing
B2 ladies chain
square thru 2 across (partner R, this neighbor L)
? 3 (from Lisa Greenleaf; the author is from Denmark)
becket
A1 circle left 3/4, pass thru
next neighbor swing
A2 long lines
pass thru to wave (no balance), swing thru
B1 full hey, pass partner R
B2 partner gypsy, swing
(In the swing thru, it can flow better if gents just pass left instead of
allemanding left 1/2.)
? 4 (from George Marshall)
improper
A1 ladies walk forward to long wave, balance
ladies allemande R 1/2, balance wave
A2 gents walk forward to long wave as ladies back up, balance
gents allemande L 1/2, balance wave
B1 gents walk forward, partner gypsy, swing
B2 circle left 3/4; neighbor swing
? 5 (from Bob Isaacs, who I think is also the author)
becket
A1 circle left 3/4, pass thru to new neighbor
single file promenade the set up/down (gents outside, ladies inside)
A2 turn over right shoulder and promenade back (ladies outside, gents
inside)
neighbor swing
B1 long lines
ladies allemande R 1+1/2
B2 partner balance, swing
(The tricky part is remembering who your new neighbor was.)
? 6 (from Mary Wesley)
becket
A1 slide left to new neighbors, ladies allemande R 1+1/2
neighbor swing
A2 long lines
gents allemande L 1+1/2, fall back into a ring
B1 balance ring, petronella turn
balance ring, petronella turn
B2 partner balance, swing
(Ladies should make sure to catch gents spinning out of the allemande to
form a ring.)
Thanks,
Yoyo Zhou
