Exactly, it's the hand that confuses me.

On Jul 6, 2016 1:40 PM, "Alexandra Deis-Lauby" <adeislauby@gmail.com> wrote:

Left hand? 

On Wed, Jul 6, 2016 at 1:56 PM, Dale Wilson via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

When I'm dancing the lady's role the only thing I consciously think about is putting my right and on the Gent's shoulder as we start to swing.  If I get that right, everything else seems natural (to me).

Dale 

On Tue, Jul 5, 2016 at 9:13 PM, tavi merrill via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

Regarding swing position: With good frame, differences between the roles in giving weight are slight. But not all dancers are accustomed to good frame. 

I find a mirrored ballroom hold (both dancers have right hand on the other's shoulder blade, left hand on the other's shoulder) offers several advantages:
       - In general, it's a good hold for dancers to know as it saves space in crowded halls.
       - It facilitates spinning out from a swing, useful when dancers encounter "string of swings" choreography
       - It allows both dancers to experience both sides of good frame 
The one challenge is that dancers need to remember which side they are ending the swing on, as it removes "pointer hands" from the equation. 

This a bit of a tangent, but related to the chain: If we just called gents chains (by either hand! the courtesy turn for a left-hand chain isn't REALLY that complicated, folks) more often, role differences WRT chain would be a moot issue, and both roles would be better equipped to understand/offer/ask/decline flourishes. All for the effort of teaching one move well, one move that's out there in good choreography waiting to be used. 

Susan, I'm assuming this workshop is at a gender-free series, but geared to encourage attendance by dancers who aren't yet accustomed to gender-free dance? Having danced both roles widely and called a bit of gender-free, I'd be happy to chat by phone or IM. Feel free to ping me on facebook - Tavi Merrill

 

On 7/5/2016 11:32 AM, Susan Pleck via Callers wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm to lead a workshop/extended intro lesson at a local dance this
> Saturday on gender-free dancing/dancing the "other" role/switching
> roles.  Not having done this before, I'd appreciate any thoughts or
> advice about what this should include.  For the gender-free aspect,
> I'm not sure there's much to discuss, really; ir'd be more just giving
> dancers a chance to practice responding to different terms.  For
> dancing the other role, though, what points of emphasis do you think
> would be most useful?  Two that come to mind are swing
> positioning/giving weight, and figures such as a chain where the
> actions of the two roles are different.

_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net

--

Turn Observation into Data. Turn Data into Information. Turn Information into Knowledge. Turn Knowledge into Wisdom. Turn Wisdom into Beauty. Turn Beauty into Love .

_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net