Re: [Callers] New contra dancers and similar figures (Greg McKenzie)

I totally agree with Greg's suggestion to utilize your experienced dancers in the training of newcomers. They can gently lead the individuals through the figures which, from the stage, you can only describe. However, you have to be able to reclaim the attention of all the dancers when you are ready to proceed to the next figure. The last thing you need is "teachers" talking over the caller and confusing the newcomers even more. It is a slippery slope from asking them to help with figures to having them talk over your walk-through. > Alan, > > Thank you for this great question. Situations like this are all too > common. I see this as a problem of integration. The core principle I use > is to remember that: > > The caller always takes full responsibility for anything that happens in > the hall. > > If first-timers are not integrated with the regulars, this is the caller's > problem, not the dancer's. At an open public contra dance, integration of > the hall can be seen as a primary indicator of how well the caller is doing > their job. The opposite of integration is disintegration...and that is a > bad thing at contra dances. > > So how can the caller assure full integration of the first-timers? The > answer to that question gets at the heart of good contra dance calling, and > goes beyond the scope of this discussion because there are many, many > techniques, strategies, and skills that affect this complex goal. Much of > it has to do with building the confidence of the dancers. > > The ideal situation is that the regulars feel confident and enthusiastic > about partnering with first-timers and look forward to that as one of the > primary reasons they attend the dance. The goal is to make dancing with > first-timers *more *fun than dancing with other regulars. > > I think most callers start calling because they really enjoy teaching > dance. This is all well and good. But we need to remember that the > regular dancers enjoy this process as much as the caller. One key to > achieving full integration is to empower the regulars to become leaders who > have a key role in the process of welcoming newcomers. That means building > their confidence through precise, clear calling and structuring your calls > so that the regulars--as well as the first-timers--get the information they > need at just the moment they need it. > > The caller has the resource of dozens of intelligent and helpful hands on > the dance floor that are more than willing to help the caller *show *the > dancers all of the moves. My experience is that when the caller uses that > resource skillfully, the regular dancers respond immediately with boundless > enthusiasm. The excitement of seeing your partner "swept in" to the > excitement of contra dancing is an ecstatic one. We all remember that. > When other regulars see how this process is working most of them will, > naturally, want to be a part of it and are much more likely to partner with > a first-timer for the next dance. > > Part of this strategy is to be willing to "step back" and allow the > regulars to take th lead role in this process. > > I would like to hear how other callers use this strategy in their calling. > > Greg McKenzie > West Coast, USA > > ************************ > > On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 12:52 PM, Alan Winston <winston(a)slac.stanford.edu >> wrote: >> Gang -- >> >> Wasn't really sure of the subject line, but thought I might as well not >> say "memetic entrapment" because who would want to read it? >> >> Anyway, a phenomenon I've noticed several times over the years is that >> some fraction of people who were in a beginner workshop and who in the >> walkthrough of the dance were able to do something like "women chain to >> partner, women allemande 1x, partner balance and swing" are no longer > able >> to do it, instead pretty reliably doing "women pull by, partner swing" > and >> confusion. [That one's recoverable, although if they then stop swinging >> early and move on to the after-the-swing figure it can require > attention.] >> This is likelier to happen if both partners are new, and likeliest to >> happen if all four in that set are new. But that couple that's new will >> have that problem repeatedly. When I see that I continue to prompt the >> figures, maybe with more emphasis - Ladies CHAIN and COURTESY TURN - and >> it doesn't seem to make any difference. >> >> (I'm reminded of something that happens to beginning English dancers. >> "Back to back" (non-spinning do-si-do) and "Cross and go below" start > the >> same way - striding out to pass partner by the right shoulder. If > there's >> a do-si-do in dance #1 and a "Cross and go below" in dance #2, they'll do >> the cross and go below in the walkthrough once they get the idea, but > once >> the dance is up and running, when it comes time for that move they'll try >> to do-si-do, with resultant levels of chaos. That one has the obvious >> feature that even if half of the partnership is doing it right the other >> half can't see them, so there's no feedback about anything going wrong >> until the 2s move up to fill the spot that one of the 1s is still in, or >> only one of the 2s moves up, or neither of the 2s moves up.) >> >> This either doesn't happen to dancers who have been coming for a while or >> is corrected quickly if it does, maybe by noticing what everybody else in >> the line is doing. >> >> My hypothesis is that these are people who are still drinking from the >> firehose. (The first time you come you hear everything important about >> contra dancing and probably get exposed to half or more of the common >> figures. It's a big cognitive load. The second time you hear the same >> things again and get exposed to many fewer new-to-you figures, and by the >> third time you might be successfully associating the figures with the > names >> - the flow of novelty is at a trickle and easy to absorb.) They're not >> ignoring the caller, per se, but they don't have CPU left over to process >> the prompts and in any case the words aren't really meaning anything to >> them yet; if a prompt changes what they're doing they're going to take >> four-six beats to get organized enough to respond to the prompt. ) >> >> This will get sorted out if they keep coming back, probably. But they > may >> be less likely to return if they were confused and overstretched through >> the whole evening, and this is the kind of thing that leaves you > confused. >> What do you guys do about this kind of thing? I already keep prompting >> clearly and in a timely way, refrain from shouting "No!" over the >> microphone, don't lose my cool (a place that took me a while to get to, >> incidentally). What else can I do to help these people succeed? >> >> [Also happy to hear alternative views of what's going on inside these >> people.) >> >> -- Alan >>