- when balancing forward and back, reminding folks not to wrench shoulders. "Remembering that everyone has different length arms, and without dislocating anyone's shoulders, balance forward and back."
- direction of balance in a box circulate, i.e. right+forward and left+back (as opposed to just right / left or forward / back)
- direction of a turn alone, i.e. that it's customary to turn facing the person on the side with you
- stretching long lines up/down the hall to avoid gaps/crunching/spreading out the sets too much; noting when particular dances should be kept tighter or more spacious
During a demo:
- I often find it's worth it to demo a pousette into a swing, and in particular letting go of inside hands / robin swinging left arm up so lark can catch their shoulder blade. (This one is explainable without the demo/from the mic, tho)
- Which way to turn and face on the side during a square through: "pull by your partner and consider your neighbor next to you. If you want to turn and face them, there's an easy way (demo turning directly to face) and a hard way (demo turning the wrong way around to face). You want to turn the easy way."
- How to catch and swing out of a petronella spin or similar: a) by convention the lark is doing the catching/is the anchor point, so if they need to omit a spin to do that accurately then they probably should. b) robins should lift up left arm to avoid elbowing the lark. c) larks can hint their position to the robins with a touch, esp. on the shoulder blade, before robin is done spinning
Writing this up now, I'm noticing that most of my style tips are choreo-specific. I haven't yet found a good way to effectively explain e.g. how to give weight in a swing from the mic (and I'm not sure I would even attempt it--though that's another conversation). I want to work in the mechanics of offering/declining flourishes but I'm still figuring out how best to do that. (It feels like I need a particularly relevant bit of choreography as an excuse, unless the spinning on the floor is particularly egregious.)
I haven't thought about this in a particularly systematic way but uh, here's what I've done in the past, hope any of this is helpful!
I'm enjoying reading people's thoughts!! If others chime in though, I'd sure appreciate if you clarified which style tips you give in the lesson and which you give during the dance itself--either while on stage or in a quick demo. (I thiiink this was the subject of the original question?) I can give style tips in a lesson context all day long, and am more curious about ones that can be delivered effectively during the dance itself.
Cheers,
Maia
--Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194