Hi Maia,
On your (2), I know it sounds really unfriendly, but I would actually advocate kicking people out. With an advanced dance the publicity should be clear about what level of skill is expected, and if someone isn't able to do that the organizers should refund them and ask them to leave. For example, the (on hiatus) Challenging series in Concord MA has on their website and flyers:
What does it mean to be an “advanced dancer” at this series?
* Knowing how to do more than just the basic moves with confidence (Contra Corners, Roll Aways, Diagonal Heys, Pass the Ocean, moves with Shadows, etc).
* Enjoying no walk-thru dances and more challenging choreography.
* Executing flourishes safely and on time without disturbing others.
* Assisting your partner and neighbor to the next move—while being friendly and welcoming to those who may be having trouble.
If you're the caller in the situation, I would say something to the organizers and let them handle: I don't think callers should be ejecting people like this, and the decision of what sort of advanced dance to run is one the organizers should fully own.
In general, and not mostly for this reason, I like the idea of running advanced dances as double dances, with an advanced dance, a break for dinner, and then your regular evening dance. In this situation this has the benefit that if they're really excited about dancing and just got confused about whether the session was open to them you're not asking them to leave for good, just to come back after dinner.
If as an organizer or committee you don't feel that it's okay to ask people to leave if they are clearly not up to the choreography of an advanced dance, I think you probably shouldn't put on an advanced dance. Which is a very reasonable thing to do! Many organizers have decided that advanced dances are not compatible with the kind of community they're trying to build.
Jeff
I attended an advanced dance this afternoon that was intermediate at best, and had a few raw beginners in there, and it got me wondering:
1. As callers, what do you do when a bunch of intermediate and/or beginner dancers show up to an advanced session?
2. As organizers, what do you do to try and keep your advanced sessions... advanced? (Either in messaging or at the dance itself?) Obviously I'm not advocating for kicking anyone out, but if a bunch of newbies show up at an advanced session, both they and the dancers who came for gnarly stuff are going to have a less-than-ideal time.
3. As dancers (/organizers/callers), how do we elevate the dance level of our local communities? I'm talking about increasing familiarity with some of the less common moves (contracorners, left hand chains, etc.) but also about building awareness of the dance and recovery skills, and technical things like giving satisfying weight, swinging correctly, guiding linemates into the next figure, etc.
I welcome any thoughts and musings!
Cheers,
Maia (Brooklyn, NY)
--Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194
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