Re: [Callers] American with Style

I'd like to see the phrase "good contra dancers use a buzz-step swing" changed--I'd say really good contra dancers sometimes use a buzz step and sometimes use a walking step, depending on the choreography or music; medium-good contra dancers use a buzz step for all swings. I'd point out that the wrist-grip (which I believe you're calling pack-saddle) star is the one move in contra dance where you should not give weight--human wrists neither bend that direction nor have strength the other direction, so it's uncomfortable to be pulled by the person behind. My understanding is that English are used to doing a particular dance fewer times than Americans. You sort of refer to this, but you might make more a point of it--we like to get into it to the point of not having to think about it. "Appalachian Sufi dancing." --Read Weaver Jamaica Plain, MA http://lcfd.org On Mar 10, 2012, at 1:49 PM, Colin Hume wrote: