Around Atlanta we've had some discussion that "giving weight" sometimes just doesn't work that great with new contra dancers.
And some report that new dancers sometimes misunderstand and may hang on you a bit, (weight?) giving you more work to do.
It's such a key thing to do our best within a beginner lesson. Beginners that get it are so much fun to dance with, and have more fun from the first night!
Amanda and I have tried a few things in welcome sessions:
> We talk about giving the other dances good connection, some tension, like a shock absorber or your arm being like a spring between 2 people in the circle.
> We sometimes ask them in the circle to lean back slightly and feel that connection/ tension, and say that's what we want the entire dance, in an allemande, circle, or any dancer connection.
> We sometimes demonstrate a very short "limp armed circle left" and ask wasn't that pretty unsatisfying? Now lett's compare to being connected with arms in a "W" with "reflexive tension".
> When we teach the contra swing, after discussing arm position, feet position, that you can go slow or fast, looking at each other, I usually mention that "to feel connected, I as the Gent/ Lark like to feel some PRESSURE on my hand which is on the Lady's shoulder blade." And then demonstrate how two people can easily "swing" more like a balanced "top" if they have this connection.
Great topic!
Rob
Thanks John, I really appreciated this article as I am always looking for ways to describe this particular art of connecting in dance, without saying "giving weight".
I most recently have been using the term "strong connection" (but I like "good connection" instead, and will use this going forward!)---
and before practicing the allemande in the intro session, I have people join hands in an allemande position, and simply try taking turns rocking gently from side to side- aiming to get to a point where when one person rocks sideways, the other person is moved with them.
I also get people to rotate around the circle and try this with at least 3 different people, so if they were unfortunate to be a weakly-connecting person connecting with another weak-connecting person in the first round, they hopefully get to experience something different in the next round.
It seems to be producing some success, but not 100 percent success (By which I mean, I'm always jumping in to demo things with different dancers, and I still occasionally encounter someone who has been through the intro session but still takes my hand like a limp noodle).
Would love to hear what other folks do in their intro session, to get people to feel this "good connection" in their bodies.
Descriptors help some people, but I think most of you will agree that an exercise that gets people to *feel* it will be most effective!
That said, good descriptors *are* part of the recipe, and I loved and noted down the following phrases from your article John, that I plan to make use of going forward:
A good connection should allow for:
- a shared centre of gravity
- shared momentum
- moving as a single entity / dancing so that you and your dance-partner(s) move as one unit
- moving with a shared flow
- hands joined firmly but elastically
- arms behave like springs
- aim for elasticity, not rigity
In summary, always aim to be "well-connected!"
Thanks again!!
Kat K in Halifax
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