Re: [Callers] Strategies for changing skill levels

Jeanette, If the late arriving new dancers do not out number the dancers already present, there are two things that can be done: 1. Acknowledge and greet the new arrivals. Then tell them these dances are easy, but they should dance a couple of dances with experienced dancers first. Most regular dancers, here at least, would take that as a hint to ask the new people to dance, and also make the new arrivals feel that that is the right thing to do. 2. Then for their first dance, I'd chose a well connected dance, one where most of the figures involve having at least one other dancer in your hand(s). (Star instead of R&L, allemande instead of do-si-do or gypsy, circle instead of square through, etc). A couple of dances that I like for this situation are Cranky Ingenuity by Bill Olsen, The Nice combination by Gene Hubert, or even Roll in the Hey by Roger Diggle (for some time later with a combination of beginners and experienced dancers) If the arriving beginners do out number the existing experienced dancers, you could do what Don Primrose does in Nelson every summer. That is to immediately do a simple circle dance. This lets the new arrivals dance with a lot of dancer, and it also gives them a chance to practice a few basics. Then ask everyone to dance the next contra with their last partner in the circle dance. These approaches work here where the new arrivals usually have an average age of about 18. With older dancers, of course, your mileage may vary, and you may need to make further adjustments. ;-) Rich. Jeanette Mill remarked on 8/25/2010 9:43 AM: