Hi Joseph,

              “Giving weight” is a highly technical term stolen from other more complex dance genres.  It is too easily misunderstood.  People actually expect you to take some of their weight!  They lean; they hang; they pull; etc.  Please don’t! :-) 

              I absolutely do NOT want any of your weight! (I have enough of my own!).

People use the term without explaining this.

              “Giving weight” means controlling your centre of gravity so that you are connected to your partner.  It is much better to talk about connection.  (See also http://contrafusion.co.uk/Contra.html#connection ).  (More about weight in the Swing here: http://contrafusion.co.uk/Contra.html#swinging ).

              You can see a video of me demonstrating “giving weight” at https://youtu.be/Uvbp5HiCiBo?si=akxwoMu2fbUupsBm&t=137

              The exercise that I show there is one you can get dancers to try. Make them do a slight sit by themself without falling over.  Then take two hands with your partner and both do a slight sit.  Then let go.  I you fall over you were pulling too hard!

              The continual yanking by people who are throwing their weight around can cause injury, including repetitive strain injury if it is a constant factor of their dancing.

              People use far too many muscles when they are dancing.  We had a new dancer today and I was showing him how to do a Roll Away.  He started pulling me hard with his connected hand and kept pulling strongly.  I explained that his initial pull – just moving his hand gently a few inches then relaxing – was enough.  Having initiated the Roll-Away the other dancer will complete it by themself.  He tried that and saw how easily we both completed the move without any effort.

              I hope that helps.

            Happy dancing,

                   John                      

John Sweeney, Dancer, England   john@modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574

http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent

From: Joseph Erhard-Hudson <josephatthecoop@gmail.com>
Sent: 16 January 2024 19:12
To: John Sweeney <john@modernjive.com>
Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Re: Workshop activities for helping dancers improve their skills?

John,

Thanks for sharing your teaching notes with us. 

I’m intrigued by one paragraph in particular:

Connect and relax. Be responsible for your own weight! Don't "Give weight"! Keep your arms firm but elastic.

Since “give weight” has been customary parlance for maintaining firm connection (at least that’s how I’ve always understood it) for so long, I’m hoping you can say more about what you’re asking them to do, or perhaps not to do. This is not to cast doubt on your notions, but to help me understand the diversity of the ways callers conceive and convey the hallmarks of good dancing technique. 

Joseph

On Tue, Jan 16, 2024 at 10:25 AM John Sweeney via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

Hi Emily,

              Two of the most important skills to teach are Swings and Allemandes.  They are very frequent and often danced very badly.

              You can see some of my teaching notes at http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/AlliesMan.html with links to my Allemandes and Swings pages for more information.

            Happy dancing,

                   John                      

John Sweeney, Dancer, England   john@modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574

http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent

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