Re: [Callers] Implied Messages in First-Timer's Orientation (Was: Head Mikes and Mike Heads)

On Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 6:36 PM, Michael Barraclough <michael(a)michaelbarraclough.com> wrote: And there I agree with you. The purpose of the intro workshop is not to teach the moves. It is to make people feel comfortable and welcome and to provide basic info (like where are the restrooms). Intro workshops are purely optional. As Mac mentioned we often have third or fourth time dancers gladly join in the intro workshops 'cause they enjoy them. That is the point. We have people who do just fine without ever taking part in one. That is just fine, but not all new dancers can do so. A well run intro workshop is fun for the dancers and the callers. It lets us talk about things that very few callers, if any, bother to mention during the walkthrough (rightly so -- you don't want the first walkthru to take ten minutes) Things like thumbs(ouch), and ways to cope with being dizzy, and the local culture/etiquette concerning who can ask whom to dance (anyone and anyone, but the newbies don't know that) are important, but not really appropriate topics for a walk-through. They distract from the teaching of the dance. If the caller repeats this information during the first few walkthroughs every week, the caller is training the regulars to ignore the caller. The regulars know that this is the same old message they've heard dozens of time (like the stewardess explaining how to fasten your seat belt -- sheesh) They end up discussing their week with their friends (loudly) and flirting with the new dancers, etc. What message does THAT send to new dancers? Speaking of observations (with due modesty). The dancers often laugh and clap at the end of the intro workshop, and I have had many dancers seek me out later in the evening to thank me for the workshop. That is why I did not react well to Greg's message which (to me) took a perfectly reasonable question based on observed facts and turned it into a condemnation of the questioner's attitude based on Greg's theory of what was going on in the mind of the person asking the question. Dale -- I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.   -E. B. White