...
if the experienced dancers are jumping the gun, i have
no problem saying,
early in the evening, something like "i know a lot of you know this, but
for my own (the caller's) benefit, if everybody would do this TOGETHER, i
can make sure everybody has it and we'll be dancing sooner. thanks for
your cooperation!"
My own verbiage:
"Experienced dancers, the learners will get this the fastest if they hear
me say it and see you do it at the same time, so they can tell what words
go with what moves.."
...
as a matter of principle, i NEVER say "...this may
be
difficult/hard/confusing..." EVER. the caller's in charge. if you tell
them it's hard, they'll believe you and it WILL be hard. if i say
something like "...this isn't hard, just a little different...", and
i'm
convincing, then they won't think it's hard and it WON'T be hard!
i approach every dance assuming that the dancers CAN do whatever i ask.
99% of the time, they believe/trust me, and there is no problem.
WORDS OF WISDOM -- and WELL SAID!
Cheers,
Amy