19 Mar
2009
19 Mar
'09
7:52 p.m.
Linda Leslie wrote:
In large halls, another approach is to divide the hall
in half
(longways). The dancers will need to remember to keep the lines
separate, but it does make for much shorter lines, and the chance to
be the active couple sooner. To keep things separate, I have used
"safety cones", which actually work pretty well!
When I started contra dancing in San Francisco in the mid-1980s, which was in a
hall much longer than it is wide, Charlie Fenton would have us make lines
*across* the hall (10-12 couples) for chestnuts rather than along the hall (18+
couples) for contemporary equal contras. This eliminated the need for safety
cones, or for remembering anything. By the time I got there the crowd was used
to it so it didn't take as much explaining as it no doubt did the first time.
-- Alan
--
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Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025
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