Richard said:
 "My first dance with a courtesy turn may use it with a promenade,
 depending on the crowd. Then move on to dances with a chain or R&L.
 Once the turn is understood and well done, the others are easy."
 And thus we come to why teaching moves with a courtesy turn is so much
 easier in New England (where promenade and courtesy turn are both done in
 the same position).  Oh how much easier if we all did a "New England
 promenade."
 J
 On Fri, Sep 2, 2016 at 11:47 AM Richard Hart via Callers <
 callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
  I usually try to separate the courtesy turn from
the chain. A courtesy
 turn is used in a number of moves, including R&L through, and a
 promenade. Practice that first with your partner. Man backs up and the
 woman gores forward, with arms around your partner's back. .Remember
 to stop facing the right direction, and as a caller remember to tell
 dancers which way to face. This can be done in a couple of minutes or
 so.
 My first dance with a courtesy turn may use it with a promenade,
 depending on the crowd. Then move on to dances with a chain or R&L.
 Once the turn is understood and well done, the others are easy.
 I agree with Erik (and Dudley!) The walkthrough and instruction should
 be short. They'd all rather be dancing, so don't introduce much new
 stuff in any single dance.
 And thanks for this discussion. I love seeing new dances to try and
 new possibilities to teach when there are a lot of beginners.
 On Mon, Aug 22, 2016 at 11:18 AM, Luke Donforth via Callers
 <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
  Hello all,
 I've been thinking about glossary dances, and building vocabulary for 
 new
  dancers. I'm curious what your favorite dance
is for teaching a ladies 
 chain
  for a crowd of mostly new dancers? Or if you
don't have a specific 
 dance,
  what do you look for in a dance to make the chain
as accessible as 
 possible?
 
 Just a chain over? Or a full chain over and back?
 Chain to neighbor? Chain to partner?
 What move best precedes the chain to set it up?
 What move best follows the chain that still helps new dancers succeed?
 Other factors you consider?
 I don't have a go-to favorite, but I'll walk through some of the things 
 I
  think about:
 I very seldom call a dance with a full chain. Experienced dancers don't
 whoop and holler over them, and for new dancers, I'd worry the confusion
 would snowball.
 Programatically, in a hall with a reasonable mix of new and experienced
 dancers, I shoot for the first chain to be to neighbor so that the new
 dancers can feel it with different experienced dancers; rather than new
 dancers (who will partner up and clump, no matter how many helpful 
 dance
  angels you have) continually chaining to each
other. If I were trying to
 teach a chain to ALL new dancers... well, I doubt I'd teach a chain to
 completely new dancers... but if I were, I'd probably go to partner.
 For moves, while I love the chain->left hand star transition; I'm not
 convinced it's the best for teaching the chain. It often goes B2
 chain->star, find new neighbor; and the new neighbor from a left hand 
 star
  is non-trivial for new dancers. Possibly a dance
where the chain->star
 wasn't followed by the progression would work, but it's such a great
 progression when they're ready for it; I don't see many of those dances.
 chain->star->left allemande maybe? I do like long lines either before or
 after the chain as a set-up; but not on both ends. I'm not sure which 
 side
  of the chain the lines help more. The Trip to ___
dances that end with
 chains and start with women walking in to long wavy lines flow well, 
 but I
  don't know that they're the best for
teaching chains, since the long 
 wavy
  line is another new piece.
 Anyway, just some of my thoughts (started by the other thread about 
 simple
  glossary dances). I look forward to hearing what
others on Shared Weight
 have to say about the dances they use to teach chains (and I certainly 
 won't
  be offended if folks tangent off into gent's
chains; just start a new 
 thread
  ;-)
 Take care,
 --
 Luke Donforth
 Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com
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